History
The story started with a passion for architecture, the built environment and how urban areas develop and grow. Blake Easterling, Founder of EastPort Retail, attended the College of Charleston, majoring in Historic Preservation and Community Planning. Immersion in the historic Charleston landscape afforded unlimited opportunities to understand the built environment. Upon graduation from College of Charleston, a short stint in Jackson Hole, WY and a summer pedaling rickshaws in Downtown Charleston, Blake attended Clemson University and obtained a Masters Degree in City and Regional Planning with an emphasis in Real Estate Development Planning, a curriculum of study that culminated in a year long site selection analysis for a regional retail group. It was the seed planted through the deep dive into site selection and strategy that allowed Blake to grow and develop into a leader in the site selection and development industries.
After several years with commercial real estate firms in the Charleston, SC market, Blake knew he wanted a new challenge and desired to expand into corporate real estate on a larger scale. Blake founded Retail Site Selection Services LLC (RS3), which evolved into what is now EastPort Partners, in 2010 and began assisting national credit retail and convenience store clients in site selection, entitlements and development from Florida to Pennsylvania, along the East Coast. During this time, RS3 was responsible for the closing approximately 35 retail deals across the territory.
In 2013, Murphy Oil Corporation, a Fortune 500 client, spun off the retail component of their business, establishing Murphy Oil USA (MUSA). Blake joined Murphy USA at that time to lead and manage the growth and development of what was essentially a massive start-up owner and operator of convenience stores across the country. Overseeing a team of real estate managers located throughout the US, Blake managed the site selection, deal negotiation, closing and development of over 140 retail locations in 24 states, from the Carolina's to Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami and everywhere in between.
EastPort Retail was founded with the sole purpose of combining vast corporate strategy, site selection, entitlement and development experience into one finely tuned package to provide the highest level of knowledge, personality, professionalism and service to local, regional and national, high growth start-up, private and public companies across the United States.