Kristi Kandel’s career didn’t start in real estate development — it started with an entrepreneurial streak that showed up early, growing up in Ohio with her first small business experiments well before any formal career path took shape.

That instinct eventually carried her into a sales and marketing background, and from there — somewhat unexpectedly — into large-scale real estate development. On this episode of Believe In Your Office, Kristi traces that entire arc and lands on a project that represents a meaningful shift in how she thinks about what development should actually accomplish.

Behind the Scenes of Family Dollar Development

Kristi spent years developing Family Dollar locations across small and mid-sized towns in California — work that exposed her directly to the unglamorous realities of large-scale development: off-market deal sourcing, land acquisition, and navigating permitting processes across hundreds of different municipalities.

What High-Mobility Development Taught Her

Working across so many different West Coast markets gave Kristi a granular understanding of how critical it is to actually understand local communities rather than applying a one-size-fits-all development strategy. She speaks directly to how adapting strategy to real local needs — rather than a standardized template — became a defining lesson of that period.

The Shift Toward Purpose-Driven Development

The most significant turn in Kristi’s career, and the centerpiece of this episode, is her move away from traditional development goals and toward purpose-driven, impact-focused projects. This shift is best represented by Elevate Southwest Florida — a concept for a multi-generational sports and wellness destination that integrates sports, wellness, food, entertainment, and childcare into a single environment designed to foster genuine community connection.

Repurposed Malls and the Future of Mixed-Use Spaces

Kristi also discusses the broader trend of mixed-use environments and repurposed spaces — particularly aging malls — as a significant opportunity in modern urban development. She connects this to funding innovation through community investment and nonprofit partnerships, a financing approach that differs meaningfully from traditional commercial development models.

Measuring Success Through Happiness, Not Just Occupancy

Perhaps the most forward-looking part of the conversation is Kristi’s interest in how data, health outcomes, and happiness metrics could shape the next generation of community development models — moving the industry’s definition of success beyond simple occupancy or revenue figures.

Kristi’s episode reframes real estate development as something far more consequential than building square footage — it’s about designing the conditions under which people actually connect, stay healthy, and build community.

Believe In Your Office is produced by Boomerang Office Furniture and Common Sense Office Furniture — bringing nearly 30 years of experience furnishing offices across Philadelphia, South Jersey, Delaware, and Central Florida. Visit boomerangofficefurniture.com or commonsenseof.com to learn more.