   Jon Hammer
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To say that San Diego developer Jon Hammer is driven would be a gross understatement. Two years ago he started Hammer Ventures (specializing in condo conversions) with $200,000, and today the company has acquired a half billion dollars in buildings. This year alone he has 392 units in six projects coming on the market.
And Hammer is only 28 years old.
“I have always been hyper-driven,” admits Hammer, whose office is in North Park. “I was that way at 2 years old. I’ve always been highly ambitious and not easily satisfied.”
Hammer’s ambition begins with an old family story. When his grandfather and granduncle returned to North Carolina from World War II, they were given the choice of either a prosperous general store or a large parcel of useless rocky land. His grandfather chose the latter. By the time Hammer came of age, the business closed.
“I love this business because it’s continually evolving,” he says. “There are high risks and high rewards. And the end result is tangible. There is a building at the end of the project. There’s never been a question of what I wanted to do.”
After earning a master’s degree at USC in real estate development, Hammer worked as a financial analyst for Shea Properties for more than a year, then as an acquisition specialist for Fairfield Residential in San Diego. He based Hammer Ventures on his graduate thesis.
“My business focuses on delivering affordable attached projects (supply) in a constrained market,” he says. “The affordability crunch in California isn’t going to get better and that’s driving huge housing deficits. Conversion is one of the few ways to provide housing that’s affordable. Many of my buyers are first-time homeowners who have been rental hostages for years.”
In 2003, Hammer Ventures had two projects open: Cerro Vista (81 units) and Lake View Townhomes (70 units). This year, the list is longer with Bay Pointe Townhomes (25 units, January), Windsor Park (64 units, April), Laurel Bay Condominiums (150 units, July), Lincoln Manor (41 units, August), Tanglewood Terrace (24 units, September) and Madison Avenue Manor (88 units, October).
Hammer also writes columns for Urban Land, a national trade magazine for developers, and serves on the executive board of the Urban Land Institute San Diego/Tijuana District Chapter and the San Diego Coalition for Home Ownership. He launched Young Leaders, a branch of the Urban Land Institute, which provides networking and educational opportunities for real estate professionals under the age of 35.
Even with the pace of home sales slowing recently, he sees this trend as a “healthy stabilization.” A healthy market means the future of Hammer Ventures is his main focus, as he admits he has no hobbies or recreational activities. “For the last six years, I’ve worked 90 hours a week,” he says. “That’s the only way to get this far, this fast.”
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