Founded in 2020, Bridger is a full-service commercial real estate company focused on our clients’ success. Our founders bring over 35 years of experience and top performance across a broad spectrum of commercial real estate fields. Bridger’s core pursuit is providing our clients and partners with a full suite of real estate services built on a unique platform -- Institutional Capability, Boutique Feel. Our belief is that all real estate is local, and our clients demand best-in-class service providers in their local markets regardless of that clients’ size or capitalization. We aim to provide top-tier service in a responsive and agile construct combined with an institutional mindset, always acting according to our core principle of integrity.
Merritt has been active in commercial real estate for over 20 years. Following a decade as a Commercial Real Estate Lender at JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch, Merritt spent 4 years with Flournoy Development Company as its Chief Investment Officer then reformed Paces Properties in 2012 and led it through its success until 2018.
Following Paces, Merritt founded Confluence Real Estate which is being folded into Bridger Properties. As a Lender, Owner and Developer, Merritt has learned it takes persistence, patience, knowledge, and creativity be successful.
Merritt is responsible for over $3 billion in real estate transactions, and brings extensive knowledge of retail, office, industrial, hospitality, self-storage, multi-family and senior housing to Bridger’s platform.
Merritt lives with his three children in Inman Park and is on the board of directors of A+ Squash and Action Ministries.
Jack Arnold founded Bridger Properties in 2020. His primary function is to oversee the company's day-to-day operations, as well as drive the company's strategic growth initiatives and investment activity.
A proven and trusted commercial real estate veteran and consistent top-producer, Jack brings over 16 years of experience to Bridger Properties, across a broad range of commercial real estate functions. Prior to founding Bridger, Jack spent seven years as Managing Director of Retail at Stream Realty Partners, where he founded the firm's Southeast Retail Team, building it to its position as a market leader.
Jack led the Retail Team's top-producing real estate services practice, which focused on project leasing, tenant representation and property management. Additionally, Jack drove the firm's retail and mixed-use investment activity. Prior to Stream, Jack served as Director of Retail Services at Carter and later Cassidy Turley, the successor to Carter's brokerage arm. Jack is consistently recognized as a CoStar PowerBroker for his performance.
A native Atlantan, Jack is a graduate of Washington & Lee University. He serves as a volunteer coach at Buckhead Baseball and NYO Football, and is an active member of the Peachtree Presbyterian Church. Jack currently lives in Buckhead with his wife and three children.
Though she speaks the language of the sought-after Millennial generation, Laura eschews labels and prefers to be considered a conduit for bringing young, dynamic businesses to Atlanta’s urban buildings with unusual architectural details that help tell the story of the brands inside. With her long history working with high profile developers, chefs and restaurateurs, Laura ensures that each brand is positioned for longevity, filling an essential niche in Atlanta’s culinary or cultural scene.
Laura brings over 20 years of experience, with prior roles at Vantage Realty Partners and as Director of Leasing at Paces Properties. Laura was instrumental in putting some of the city’s hotspots on the map: Chef Bruce Logue’s BoccaLupo, Castellucci Hospitality Group’s Bar Mercado, The Merchant (Howell Mill and Krog Street Market), Big Peach Running Company, Collier’s Department Store at Atlanta Dairies, and The Watchman by Kimball House at Krog Street Market. At Bridger, Laura represents and develops expansion strategies for James Beard Award-recognized restaurants like Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Chai Pani Restaurant Group’s Chai Pani (Decatur and Asheville) Buxton Hall BBQ (Asheville) and Botiwalla (Ponce City Market and opening soon in Charlotte’s Optimist Hall) as well as other high profile brands. Other leasing credits include Krog Street Market, Vinings Jubilee, Atlanta Dairies and Larkin on Memorial winner of the 2018 Urban Land Institute award for “Excellence in Adaptive Reuse/ Repositioning”.
Outside of work, Laura finds harmony in world travel, good books and yoga. She earned her BS in Real Estate from Georgia State.
Charlie Banks joined Bridger Properties in 2020 and currently serves as a Vice President of the Retail Transaction Team. In this role, Charlie’s day-to-day responsibilities include landlord representation, tenant representation and leasing business development. Additionally, Charlie assists with underwriting and sourcing potential acquisitions for Bridger and its clients.
Charlie brings over six years of commercial real estate experience to Bridger Properties and is consistently ranked as one of the top-producers in Atlanta. Prior to joining Bridger, Charlie served as an analyst at Stream Realty Partners in both the industrial and retail groups. He was instrumental in the growth of the Stream retail platform as a Senior Associate. Charlie has successfully represented many of the country’s top retail landlords, including Crow Holdings, Kimco Realty, Noro Management, and Time Equities, among many others. Charlie assists with and oversees the leasing of over 30 retail properties of every category. Prior to joining Stream, Charlie held roles in residential and commercial development as well as a sales position with a major national liquor distributor.
Charlie is a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a B.B.A. in Managerial Finance. He is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Young Atlanta Retail Alliance. Charlie currently lives in Marietta with his wife.
Chandler Bovitz joined Bridger Properties in 2020 as Vice President of Operations. His primary function is to assist with the implementation of the company’s operational processes related to its leasing, management, development, and advisory services platforms, with a focus on property management.
Chandler brings over 4 years of Atlanta commercial real estate experience to Bridger. Prior to joining Bridger, Chandler served as Property Manager with Stream Realty Partners and oversaw the day-to-day operations and functions of over 1.45 million square feet of retail, office and industrial assets for national, regional and local clients. Chandler is a graduate of the Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology and majored in Business Administration with a Concentration in Finance.
A native of Augusta, Georgia, Chandler is naturally an avid golfer. He currently lives in the Buckhead area of Atlanta.
Chris Hicks joined Bridger Properties in 2020 as Vice President of Property Management. His primary function is to oversee the company’s property management activities across all asset classes. Prior to joining Bridger Properties, Chris served as Vice President of Property Management for Stream Realty Partners where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Southeast Retail Team’s property management group, helping to grow the firm’s broader retail platform.
Chris brings over 18 years of top-level property management experience in all property types to Bridger Properties. Chris has built trusted relationships with vendors and tenants alike across the southeast through his previous management roles with The Shopping Center Group, Lincoln Property Company, Colonial Properties Trust and Southpace Properties.
A native of Birmingham, Chris is a graduate of The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Bridger Properties is an intentional evolution of the traditional real estate model. Our core pursuit is to provide a complete suite of real estate services to our clients and partners, utilizing our position as local market experts with national experience.
In addition to Bridger's primary service businesses, Bridger makes strategic investments on behalf of itself, its partners and clients. Bridger's Investments fall into two categories: programmatic and opportunistic. Bridger has institutional partners that identified Bridger as their regional investment platform, charging Bridger with executing those strategies. Bridger's opportunistic investments are the result of its unique presence in the market and are more situational in nature. Bridger invests in all asset classes and in all areas of the capital stack.