Revel

What Revel does

Revel is a privately held real estate consulting and development firm founded in 2016 in Atlanta by George Banks, a 28-year retail real estate veteran. The firm specializes in creating destination retail and food hall components within larger mixed-use developments, operating across four offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, and Detroit with a small team of approximately seven key personnel. Revel functions as a multi-role real estate partner, serving institutional clients — including REITs, pension funds, family offices, developers, and municipalities — as consultants, fee developers, joint-venture partners, and principals.

The firm delivers an integrated service stack across seven practice areas: Strategy (F+B strategy, feasibility, market studies), Look + Feel Design (conceptual through construction coordination), Branding (visual identity, naming, marketing materials), Development Management (feasibility through pre-opening), Leasing + Merchandising, Events, and Operations Management. Operations and events are executed through two sister companies — STHRN Hospitality Co (F+B management) and Southern Culinary & Creative (event design and execution) — which extend Revel's capabilities into hotel-like food hall operations and activation programming. Notable projects include Krog Street Market (Atlanta, opened 2014, first food hall in the Southeast), Dairy Market (Charlottesville, 2021), ROW DTLA, Grand Central Market (Creative Director role), Factory 52 (Cincinnati, opening 2023), The Interlock, Echo Street West, and Villages at Commonwealth.

Revel's revenue model is B2B professional services with project-based fees, supplemented by development fees, joint-venture equity participation, and principal capital deployment. GTM is enterprise field sales driven by direct relationships, referrals, and industry reputation, supported by thought leadership content (newsletter, blog, Instagram) and active participation in ULI and ICSC conferences. Customers include Asana Partners, Rubenstein Partners, 26th Street Partners, and the City of Burlington, among others. No public financials, funding rounds, or AI/technology platform are disclosed; the firm is bootstrapped with private founder ownership.

Name

Revel

Legal name

Revel, LLC

Website

https://revel.company

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Revel is a privately held, Atlanta-based real estate consulting and development firm that creates destination retail and food hall components within larger mixed-use projects, serving institutional clients (REITs, pension funds, developers, municipalities) across the U.S. through consulting, fee development, and joint-venture engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Estate Consulting and Development

NAICS

Real Estate Property Managers (53131), Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (53121)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531), Real Estate Dealers (For Their Own Account) (6532)

akta.pro primary industry

Commercial Real Estate Asset Management (BPAJAMAB)

Keywords

• Real estate consulting
• Mixed-use development
• Food hall consulting
• Retail placemaking
• Adaptive reuse development

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Fee-based consulting engagements for real estate developers and owners, advising on strategy, branding, merchandising, leasing, and operations for retail components of mixed-use projects.
2. Fee Development: Manages all components of development projects from feasibility through completion for institutional clients, earning development fees.
3. Joint-Venture Partnerships: Participates as equity partners in development projects, sharing in both risks and returns alongside institutional capital partners.
4. Principal/Own Developments: Develops projects as principals with own capital, having been involved as at-risk developers before founding the firm.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Revel is a real estate development and consulting firm that creates unique destination retail within larger mixed-use projects, specializing in food halls and experiential retail. The firm sells Strategy, Look + Feel Design, Branding, Development, Leasing + Merchandising, Events, and Operations services to institutional real estate owners, developers, and municipalities, and also participates as a joint-venture partner or principal developer on select projects. Operations and events are delivered through sister companies STHRN Hospitality Co and Southern Culinary & Creative.

Product overview

Revel is a real estate development and consulting firm that specializes in creating unique destination retail within larger mixed-use projects, primarily focused on food halls and experiential retail. The company operates as both a service provider and principal developer, offering a portfolio of interconnected services including Strategy, Look + Feel Design, Branding, Development Management, Leasing + Merchandising, Events, and Operations Management. The services are delivered through Revel directly and via sister companies STHRN Hospitality Co (for F+B operations) and Southern Culinary & Creative (for event services). Notable projects include Krog Street Market (Atlanta), Dairy Market (Charlottesville), Row DTLA (Los Angeles), Grand Central Market (Los Angeles), Factory 52 (Cincinnati), The Interlock (Atlanta), Echo Street West (Atlanta), and Villages at Commonwealth (Charlotte). The company operates offices in Atlanta, Detroit, and Los Angeles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategy Services Advisory services for institutional real estate owners and developers covering F+B Strategy, Retail Strategy, Concept Development, Vision Plans, Feasibility studies, Due Diligence & Pre-Development, Market Studies, and Financial Analysis.
• Look + Feel Design Services Design consulting covering Conceptual Design, Schematic Design, MEP Coordination, Tenant Design Guidelines, Construction Coordination and Landlord Work Letters, and Signage (tenant and project).
• Branding Services Graphic design and branding studio specializing in Visual Identity, Naming, Brand Strategy, Website Design, Art Direction, Marketing Materials, and Merch.
• Development Services Full development management from feasibility through entitlements, design, construction management, leasing and completion, including Deal Structures, Entitlements, Project Management, Community Relations, Construction Oversight, Pre-opening Planning, Monthly Reporting, Tenant Assistance, and Operational Assistance.
• Leasing + Merchandising Retail merchandising and tenant curation services for urban-infill and mixed-use projects, including active pursuit of unique tenants and leasing services primarily in Georgia with leasing team oversight nationally.
• Events Event conceptualization, design, budgeting and execution ranging from intimate chef demonstrations to large week-long festivals, managed through sister company Southern Culinary & Creative.
• Operations Management Comprehensive operational management for destination retail and food halls, including concept creation, project development, pre-opening services, management training, events and activations, financial analysis and underwriting, daily operations, and budgeting and reporting, delivered through STHRN Hospitality Co.
• Food Hall Development End-to-end food hall development and consulting, including adaptive reuse of historic buildings into multi-tenant food halls, from initial strategy through ongoing operations.
• STHRN Hospitality Co Bespoke F+B management company operating restaurants, bars, food halls, social clubs, and other hospitality-focused efforts on behalf of institutional real estate owners under hotel-like management contracts.
• Southern Culinary & Creative Sister company that conceptualizes, designs and budgets events both large and small, from intimate chef demonstrations to large week-long festivals, and can handle execution or work with in-house teams.

Quantifiable outcome

• Krog Street Market draws over 1 million annual visitors and has been repeatedly named one of the top food halls in the world
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• STHRN Hospitality CocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister company that operates restaurants, bars, food halls, social clubs and other hospitality-focused efforts on behalf of institutional real estate owners, under hotel-like management contracts. Provides day-to-day F+B operations for Revel-developed projects.
• Southern Culinary & CreativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister company that conceptualizes, designs and budgets events both large and small, ranging from intimate chef demonstrations to large week-long festivals. Handles execution or works with in-house teams for events and activations.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• JLL Retail: Global full-service CRE platform with a dedicated retail practice. Competes with Revel for institutional retail leasing, development advisory, and mixed-use mandates but operates at much larger scale across all property types.
• CBRE: Largest global CRE services platform; competes with Revel on retail and mixed-use institutional mandates, project leasing, and development advisory through its dedicated retail and capital markets teams.
• Cushman & Wakefield: Global CRE services firm with a strong retail and capital markets practice. Competes for the same institutional owner mandates as Revel but as a diversified platform rather than a retail-specialist boutique.
• SRS Real Estate Partners: National commercial real estate advisory focused heavily on retail and hospitality real estate services. Overlaps with Revel in retail tenant representation, project leasing, and owner advisory for retail-anchored mixed-use projects.
• Avison Young: Mid-size global CRE advisory with growth focus on retail and mixed-use investment sales. Comparable to Revel in retail-focused owner advisory and project leasing, but with broader service coverage.

Direct peers

• Time Out Market: Curated food hall operator/developer that combines F&B curation with destination retail and events programming. Comparable in food hall operations methodology and hospitality-driven tenant mix, though operates under a media brand.
• Streetsense: Boutique experiential strategy, branding, and placemaking consultancy with a similar hospitality-meets-real-estate philosophy serving mixed-use developers, hospitality operators, and retail landlords. Highly comparable in service mix and client base to Revel.
• Urbanspace: Food hall and curated retail developer/operator with adaptive reuse expertise in major U.S. cities. Directly comparable to Revel in food hall development and operations management, though Urbanspace leans more principal than advisory.
• WS Development: Large U.S. mixed-use developer known for destination retail and placemaking (e.g., Assembly Row, University Station). Comparable in focus on experience-driven retail within mixed-use projects, though at materially greater scale than Revel.

Others

• CallisonRTKL: Architecture and design firm with a strong retail and hospitality design practice. Adjacent to Revel in 'Look + Feel' design services and adaptive reuse of historic retail/industrial buildings, though not an operator or developer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/revel_re
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/revelllc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Revel