Real Talk: Real Estate Discussions with Andrew Kirsh

Episode: The Next Chapter of CRE: Brokerage, Data, and Duxre
Guest: Sean Fulp (Vice Chairman, Colliers; Founder, Duxre)
Date: February 4, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Andrew Kirsh sits down with long-time friend and industry leader Sean Fulp, Vice Chairman and Head of Capital Markets at Colliers and Founder of real estate proptech company Duxre. Together, they cover Sean’s journey from rural Alaska to CRE success, the state of the office market in California and beyond, and how Duxre aims to revolutionize real estate brokerage and data management through technology. Loaded with candid insights, memorable stories, and practical advice, the discussion offers a front-row seat to commercial real estate’s current challenges and coming opportunities.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Personal Journey: From Alaska to LA CRE (03:26–12:30)

• Sean’s Unique Background:

  • Grew up in remote Kodiak Island, Alaska, with 6 siblings; pre-internet, isolated, but formative (“I would never trade it for anything.” – Sean, 04:41).
  • Hosted a memorable client trip to Alaska, nearly killed by bears and remote adventures (“If we're going to get mauled, at least it's going to be a story.” – Sean, 06:52).

• Career Path in Real Estate:

  • Moved from Alaska to Sacramento State; first exposure to CRE at local racquet club.
  • Built a career in secondary and then primary CRE markets: Sacramento → San Francisco (post-GFC focus on CMBS, special servicing) → Los Angeles (capital markets, office specialization).

• Building Relationships in Distress:

  • Developed expertise and networks during the financial crisis with special servicers, foundational for his later career.

2. State of the Office Market: SF vs. LA, Policy Headwinds & Recovery (16:31–21:34)

• Northern vs. Southern California:

  • SF’s comeback led by AI, new political leadership, and institutional investor interest; functionally obsolete product remains an issue in LA.
  • “We're not there yet [in LA]. But in San Francisco ... you have real demand drivers and the biggest demand driver ... is fast moving and they've seen the story before.” – Sean, 17:10

• Policy Uncertainty:

  • Policy issues are “the number one thing holding these cities back” (17:10). Certainty and governance impact institutional investment everywhere, especially on the West Coast.

• Horizontal vs. Vertical Markets:

  • LA is spread out with many aged, less-relevant buildings. Downtown LA lags due to structural and amenity constraints.

• Signs of Bottoming Out:

  • Some LA submarkets have stabilized vacancy; analogies drawn to past cycles where timing the recovery is more lucrative than price.

3. The Debt Conundrum & Capital Stack (21:34–24:11)

• Operationally Healthy, Financially Challenged:

  • Many owners have well-leased, cash-flowing properties but face “a world of hurt” with looming debt maturity and lower valuations.

• Recapitalization is Everything:

  • The sector’s pain isn’t unique to offices; all CRE is cyclically challenged when “it’s debt that gets us in trouble... too much debt.” – Sean, 21:34
  • Real estate correction will depend less on new demand, more on “removal of these buildings that are 40, 50 years old ... haven’t had the capital invested ... to really perform at the level they need to perform at today.” – Sean, 23:24

4. Amenities, Repurposing, and Market Adaptation (24:11–26:53)

• Tenant Demands Rising:

  • New office ecosystems offer podcast studios, simulators, and even pickleball courts as amenities (24:11–24:53).
  • Downtown towers are being underwritten at only ~75–80% stabilized occupancy; repurposing and conversion are challenging but necessary.

• Urban Connectivity:

  • The coming “purple line” transit extension will further integrate Century City and downtown, potentially helping revitalize lagging markets.

5. Submarket Dynamics: Where’s the Action? (26:53–28:25)

• Best-Performing Markets:
  • South Bay (SpaceX, advanced manufacturing), El Segundo, and Culver City expected to rebound strongest.
  • LA’s Beverly Hills “always does well.” Hollywood and Burbank are challenged (AI, production industry disruptions).
  • Orange County & San Diego are “sleepier” with biotech in flux.

6. Transactional Volume & The Year of the Private Investor (28:49–33:04)

• 2025 Recap and 2026 Outlook:

  • “Our [Colliers’] transaction volume went up... we have a reliable capital stack now.” – Sean, 28:49
  • Predicts 2026 will be “the year for private investors and family offices,” as opportunity funds start to enter the office market after years of sitting out (29:35).

• How Are Buyers Making Money?

  • Discounted prices (10% cap deals) are providing cash flow; eventual demand rebound will restore NOI and value.
  • As obsolete buildings are removed and larger users (e.g., LADWP) buy for occupancy, “the market’s going to rebalance pretty quickly.” – Sean, 33:04

7. Return-to-Office and Changing Tenant Behavior (33:14–34:42)

• Shifting Away from Hybrid:

  • Pandemic-era hybrid and rotating shifts have “all failed.” Market in SF now “six days a week” in office for those with opportunity.
  • “When there’s opportunity, people show up.” – Sean, 34:24

• Remote Work’s Limitations:

  • “I run a technology company ... and everyone’s remote... but I would love to have those people in the office.” – Sean, 34:39

8. Duxre: Disrupting CRE Technology from the Inside (35:02–46:52)

• Origin and Inspiration:

  • Founded from Sean’s frustration with fragmented CRE tech and a desire to “control your brand, your relationships, your listings, your product.” (35:02–35:23)
  • Duxre is a purpose-built CRE operating system integrating marketplace, data, and workflows.

• What Makes Duxre Different:

  • “It’s the Shopify of real estate. It’s YouTube for creators.” – Sean, 40:14
  • Marketplace puts brokers/dealmakers in control (brand and data), not dependent on lead-gen via CREXi or LoopNet.
  • Operating system eliminates “application overload,” collapses 15–20 fragmented tools into one (“the hidden cost of software today is you have to hire someone to run your software” – Sean, 43:05).

• User Base and Vision:

  • Starts with brokers (“what I understand best”), expands to investors and occupiers.
  • Real power: centralizing data for true, AI-powered assistance with new agent Dash (“a thought partner for you” – Sean, 45:02).
  • “The interface of today is what we all see now with ChatGPT and Gemini—it’s a chatbot interface, but it needs to be an intelligent agent.” (46:26)

9. Building a Startup: Challenges, People, and Purpose (49:05–56:07)

• Personal Cost and Satisfaction:

  • Began in January 2020, doubled down during pandemic (“I am working harder than I’ve ever worked, literally weekends and evenings, and I’ve got a super supportive family.” – Sean, 47:59)
  • Stresses physical/mental challenge: “Now I understand why founders, most of them are in their 20s...” (48:26).

• Human Element:

  • Most eye-opening: leading a global, distributed team under adversity (employees coding in war zones, during illness, across continents).
  • “We are very fortunate to live the lives that we're living here in this country. ... That's probably the thing that has been most eye opening... the people side of it.” – Sean, 55:00

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tech Fragmentation in CRE:
  “If you go ... to your browsers, they sit down in their, at their work desk and they look at their computer screen, they've got 10, 15 browsers open... it’s one more application and people are like done with it. They, they're like, I need, I want a purpose built operating system...” (Sean, 36:45–37:13)

• On Market Rebalancing:
  “If we cut 2 billion square feet away off, off that like the market would, would right size pretty quickly. And that's, that's what's going to help...” (Sean, 23:53)

• On Return-to-Office:
  “All these little experiments that we've tried have failed. And so now it's, it's, I think we're going back to what was kind of what, what we all were living pre Covid.” (Sean, 33:54)

• On Building Duxre:
  “I want to build technology to allow people not to have to use technology. I want to build the invisible operating system.” (Sean, 49:27)

• On Startup Leadership & Empathy:
  “I have engineers in India that have been coding from their hospital bed with ventilators on during COVID... a designer in Ukraine right now who designs from bunkers... So, it really ends up being the journey that you're on.” (Sean, 54:35)

Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |--------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:31–03:26 | Conference insights, episode intro, reflecting on early content creation, and Alaska upbringing | | 07:52–12:30 | Sean’s journey from Alaska to Sacramento, career entry into CRE, rise through SF, then move to LA | | 16:31–21:34 | SF vs. LA office markets, policy and institutional investment hurdles | | 21:34–24:11 | Debt/recap challenges, nationwide CRE context, need to remove obsolete office supply | | 24:11–26:53 | Tenant amenities, repurposing strategies, urban integration via transit | | 28:49–33:04 | 2025 deal volume, crystal ball for 2026, “the year of the private investor” | | 33:14–34:42 | Return-to-office trends and failed hybrid experiments | | 35:02–46:52 | Duxre: inspiration, purpose, differentiation from LoopNet/CREXi, integrated AI future, agent “Dash” | | 49:05–56:07 | Founder lessons learned, people stories from international development team, impact on personal/family life |

Tone and Language

The tone blends camaraderie, candor, and practical optimism. Both Andrew and Sean are forthright, accessible, and focused on actionable insights, keeping the discussion relatable with personal stories, industry anecdotes, and entrepreneurial lessons.

For Newcomers & Industry Veterans Alike

Whether you’re a broker, investor, or just tech-curious, this episode is packed with advice on navigating market cycles (“The best buys aren’t when you time the price, it’s when you time the recovery.”), rethinking real estate tech, and the human journey of leadership and disruption.