About Us

The Beginning

The original company, Demmon-Hunter, was founded in 1960 by Derk Hunter, a real estate broker with Cornish & Carey, and Roy Demmon. Demmon-Hunter evolved to Hunter Properties, Inc. thereafter and is well known throughout the region as one of the firms that has helped to define and improve development in Silicon Valley. The company initially established its reputation for commercial development in Santa Clara County by completing build to suit developments for Control Data, IBM and Digital Equipment. These and other projects within the Stanford Industrial Park were followed by the initiation of the first high-rise developments outside of downtown San Francisco. These iconic projects (The Alameda, 675 N. First Street and 2nd & Santa Clara Street) are still landmarks on the San Jose skyline to this day!

Setting a new standard.

Hunter Properties developed its first retail shopping center in conjunction with The Villages Community in 1980 and joined forces with Storm Land Company in 1986. For the next 35 years, the two principals, Deke Hunter and Ed Storm, developed more than 35 retail centers, including Old Town Los Gatos, McCarthy Ranch, Hamilton Plaza, Powell Street Plaza, Coleman Landings, and Almaden Ranch. The company’s retail experience has been a positive influence on other commercial development activities within the firm.

Defining the shape of Silicon Valley.

Over the last 25 years, Hunter Properties, through its various development entities, has leveraged its development experience to successfully complete several major real estate projects. More recently, the firm has focused on transit-oriented development (TOD) and mixed-use development. This came to fruition in both Redwood City and Santa Clara through the development of the Box Campus and Gateway Crossings, respectively.

Building Success with vision and integrity.

Due to strong tenant relationships, Hunter Properties is able to work efficiently on leasing new developments and the re-merchandising of existing properties. The active portfolio enjoys unmatched performance, rarely dropping below an average occupancy of 98%. The family orientation of the company coupled with the skill sets necessary to manage large complex transactions allow the firm to consistently participate in some of the most significant developments in the Bay Area, including its most recent award-winning projects at Coleman Highline and Cityline in Downtown Sunnyvale.

Our Team

Derek K. Hunter Jr.

President

Derek K. Hunter, Jr. (Deke) is the President of Hunter Properties, Inc. and Managing Member of Hunter Partners, LLC. Hunter Properties is a 60-year old real estate development and property management company currently with 22 different assets, totaling 5,500,000 square feet. The family-oriented company developed well in excess of 9,500,000 square feet during its history. Deke is involved with all new project developments, property management, leasing, and oversight of Bay Area Self Storage. Deke joined the company in 1982 after working for CBRE in San Francisco.

Deke is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, Urban Land Institute, the Policy Advisory Committee for Fisher Center of Real Estate & Urban Economics, and Self Storage Association. He annually participates as an instructor for the ULI Urban Plan program at San Jose State University and local area high schools.

Current projects include: Cityline (Sunnyvale), Coleman Highline (San Jose), Gateway Crossings (Santa Clara) and iStar (San Jose).

Deke is the President of the Rio Blanco Ranch in Colorado. He is an active fisherman, skier, swimmer, golfer, and beekeeper.

Sherri Prieb

Chief Operation Officer

Prior to joining Hunter Properties as its Controller in 1992, Sherri Prieb worked as a CPA and held controllership positions in the real estate, national franchise, and graphic arts industries. Her role with the company now includes managing loan, purchase and sale closings, legal review, due diligence, asset management, and financial analysis. Ms. Prieb obtained a Business Administration degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University.

Robert McMaster

Chief Financial Officer

Prior to joining Hunter Properties in 1998, Bob McMaster was a senior tax manager at KPMG for 8 years specializing in real estate and high net worth individuals. Subsequently, Mr. McMaster went to work for one his clients – Jaeger Management – and worked through the 1990’s real estate recession in Southern California creatively restructuring debt and refocusing the company’s objectives. Since joining Hunter Properties, Mr. McMaster has continued to focus on the company’s strategic use of debt as well as the implementation of tax strategies allowing the company to achieve a number of financial goals. In addition to managing the company’s debt and tax strategies, Mr. McMaster oversees our accounting department. He has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration as well as a Master’s of Science in Taxation.

Curtis Leigh

Principal | Partner

Curtis Leigh joined Hunter Properties as a Development Manager in 2004 and is now a Principal & Partner of Hunter/Storm. His major roles include deal structure analysis, financial modeling, pre-construction engineering, due diligence, leasing, and construction management. Prior to working at Hunter Properties, Mr. Leigh worked at Turner Construction for 3 years and worked in investment banking for 2 years. He completed his undergraduate courses with a Bachelor of Engineering in 1997 from Vanderbilt University and received his Masters of Business Administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2004.

Josh Rupert

Sr. Director of Development

Prior to joining Hunter/Storm in 2015, Josh was the Director of Real Estate for Seventy Seven Energy and Chesapeake Oilfield Services. In this position he was responsible for all aspects of the real estate cycle, including acquisition and disposition strategies, property management, leasehold improvements, and investments. As a member of Hunter/Storm his roles include design and construction management, financial analysis, tenant improvement coordination, and entitlements. Josh holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD and a Master of Business Administration from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA.

Todd Trekell

Development Manager

Todd Trekell joins Hunter Properties, Inc. with nearly 20 years of commercial real estate development experience focused in Silicon Valley. The majority of his experience has been in land acquisitions/dispositions, financial modeling, entitlements, deal structuring, project management, asset management and community engagement. Mr. Trekell is an active member of the Rotary Club of San Jose and sits on the Board of Directors of the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council, Boy Scouts of America. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Oregon State University and is a licensed real estate broker in the State of California. A Bay Area native, Todd enjoys fishing, skiing and traveling when life permits.

Hunter Partners, the development arm of Hunter Properties, is a commercial real estate development firm with an emphasis on ground-up construction, repositioning of assets, and value-add developments. Hunter Properties was founded in 1960 by Derk Hunter and partner Roy Demmon and transitioned to Hunter/Storm in 1986 when Deke Hunter and Ed Storm became partners. Curtis Leigh joined the team in 2004, followed by Josh Rupert in 2015. They then helped Deke form Hunter Partners in 2023. The company enjoys a strong track record by primarily focusing its efforts locally with most major projects located in the San Francisco Bay Area. This allows the principals to leverage their market knowledge and expertise evenly across three product disciplines. Recent award-winning projects include Cityline in Downtown Sunnyvale, Gateway Crossings in Santa Clara, Coleman Highline in San Jose and the Shops at Folsom Ranch. Other projects include Crossing 900 in downtown Redwood City, @First in San Jose, Bass Pro at Almaden Ranch, Village Oaks in San Jose, Sequoia Station in Redwood City and Evergreen in San Jose.

Our Clients

From multi-national corporations to locally owned, Hunter Properties has had the opportunity to develop a wide range of commercial, retail and industrial projects. Our success in every project starts with our approach and our ability to deliver beyond expectation for every client.