Nick Hodge

Personal Experience

Nick Hodge brings 25 years of commercial real estate, corporate development, and private investment experience to the BBA Board of Advisors. Nick is the CEO, Founder, Fund Manager, and Principal of Essential Growth Properties (EGP), a Cincinnati-headquartered private real estate investment platform he founded in 2021 to acquire grocery-anchored retail centers across the country. Under his leadership, EGP has launched multiple funds to acquire a portfolio of properties, and has continued to scale through subsequent vehicles.

Prior to founding EGP, Nick spent approximately 20+ years at The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), where he most recently served as Vice President of Corporate Real Estate (This is the “internal title” at KR, same as Karl with GM vs. President)— leading site selection, development, dispositions, and real estate strategy for one of the largest grocery retailers in the United States. Nick is the third generation of his family to lead real estate at Kroger; his father and grandfather both built their careers there. He earned his degree while playing football for Washington & Lee University and has his MBA from the Max M. Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and serves on the ICSC Foundation Leadership team — the philanthropic arm of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Nick lives in the Cincinnati area and combines a Fortune 25 operating perspective with a hands-on, founder’s view of building, and capitalizing a real estate platform.