Delivering Certainty
of Success

Hawthorn Investors develops and acquires single tenant retail properties across the United States.

Hawthorn Investors possesses decades of commercial real estate experience to deliver the highest quality projects. To date, our team has successfully delivered more than 75 real estate development projects and acquisitions totaling over $1.5B of investment in 15 different markets across the United States.

Services

Development

At Hawthorn Investors, we work closely with national and regional brands to deliver build-to-suit and ground-up development projects. From site identification and due diligence to permitting and construction oversight, we manage the entire process with a focus on quality, speed, and long-term value creation.

Acquisitions

Our acquisitions team targets well-located net lease properties with strong underlying fundamentals and creditworthy tenants. We seek opportunities that offer durable cash flow and long-term upside, whether through single-asset purchases or portfolio transactions across a range of retail and service-based sectors.

Our Track Record

20 +
Joint Venture
Partnerships
50 +
Years of
Industry
Experience
$ 1.5 B +
of Investment
in Projects
& Acquisitions
15
Markets Across
the U.S.

Past & Current Projects

Chipotle logo.
Starbucks logo.
Dollar Tree logo.
Caliber Collision Repair logo.
Sherwin-Williams logo.
ALDI logo.
MOD Pizza logo.

Our Team

Who We Are

Austin Craddock, Principal/Partner
Austin Craddock
Principal/Partner
Joe Downs, Principal/Partner
Joe Downs
Principal/Partner
Jeremy Brown, Director of Construction
Jeremy Brown
Director of Construction

Contact

Thank you for
your interest in
Hawthorn Investors.

Copyright @ 2025 Hawthorn Investors, LLC. All rights reserved.
Austin Craddock, Principal/Partner

Austin Craddock

Principal/Partner

Austin Craddock is a St. Louis native with nearly two decades of experience in real estate investment, development, and redevelopment. Since 2005, he has focused on acquiring and transforming commercial properties across the Midwest, with a strategic emphasis on high-visibility retail, restaurant, and shopping center assets. Austin has led over $50 million in real estate transactions and built strong partnerships with national tenants such as Starbucks, Aldi, Sherwin Williams, Chipotle, and Caliber Collision. His practical experience, attention to detail, and long-term perspective have made him a reliable partner to tenants, brokers, and municipalities throughout the region.

He earned his Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri and is an active member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO). In addition to his professional work, Austin is involved in several nonprofit organizations—serving on the board of Bree’s Gift and supporting causes such as The BackStoppers and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Joe Downs, Principal/Partner

Joe Downs

Principal/Partner

Joe has 25 years of experience in multiple roles in the real estate industry, including engineering, design build project management, investment, development, management, and leadership. While with The Opus Group and The Love Companies, Joe led projects, teams, and market business units that delivered over 50 projects and $1.2 billion of investments across 12 markets in retail, industrial, multifamily, student living, office, life science, data center, and university asset classes. Joe also has extensive experience in Governance as President of the Cardinal Ritter Senior Services board, board director of the Opus Foundation, advisory board member of St. Louis University Civil Engineering, and board member of the Missouri Growth Association. Joe received an undergraduate civil engineering degree from Marquette University and an MBA from University of St. Thomas.

eremy Brown, Director of Construction

Jeremy Brown

Director of Construction

Jeremy has over 20 years of experience in construction project management, operations, administration and executive leadership. Jeremy has managed numerous projects and teams for many customers including Starbucks, Sherwin Williams, CVS, Walgreens, The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards, Target, FedEx Office, UPS, Charter/Spectrum, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, AT&T, Dollar Tree, Kohls, Edward Jones, Panera, and Flynn Restaurant Group, among others. At Hawthorn Investors, Jeremy oversees projects during the construction phase, and helps ensure successful delivery and experiences for project stakeholders. Jeremy graduated from the University of Missouri in 2002 with a BS in Management.