Ryan Peters is a commercial real-estate broker based in the Region. He’s the owner of StreetFront Real Estate. That’s not his only title, however, as he’s involved in the community in other ways, too, as the president of New Creations Men’s Center, Respite House, and Daybreak Men’s Shelter.
Peters graduated from Valparaiso High School. From there he went away to attend Indiana University Bloomington (IUB). He came back home from school at 19 due to the birth of his first son that occurred just nine days after he turned 20. Then he bartended and worked at a Walmart for a stint. He took on several fine-dining jobs, including one at the now-closed downtown Valparaiso restaurant Clayton’s.
Around the time he was 22 and 23, Peters began asking the regulars at the restaurant what they did for work, looking to try something new. Most informed him about the real-estate business, which is what inspired him to see what it could look like for him since he was interested in exploring an unknown world.
“I got into real estate about 18 years ago. I went back and finished my degree at Valparaiso University (VU), double-majoring in population geography and marketing,” he said. “When I got out of school, I thought I was going to get out of real estate, but I applied for a marketing position with CBRE, helping to run the Merrillville office.”
Following his time at CBRE, Peters became the real-estate development director at Luke Oil for three years. What came next was the founding of StreetFront Real Estate in 2019. His company specializes in commercial real estate.
For 10 years, Peters began to understand the complexities of real estate before beginning his own enterprise. He recognized a hole in what was being offered in the area, so he capitalized on his own initiative to cover sectors formerly overlooked.
“I looked around our market nearby, and there really was a limited amount of people who had much knowledge of commercial real estate. It’s very different from residential real estate and selling houses,” he said. “I started out doing a lot of the work that nobody else wanted to touch and built a name for myself.”
Peters exists and operates in a business where dealings aren’t settled or closed as quickly as they are with the sale of houses. He’s usually in the pipeline, but the joy of the job sometimes is the very waiting process because it brings to light the kinds of honor in the grind it takes to accomplish something.
Each day on the job differs from the day before, and which is always a thrill to Peters. He’s always factoring in variables of all sorts, no matter what they’re applicable to. Business varies on a daily basis, opening up plenty of room for different exciting things to happen all the time.
“I love that no day is the same. Some days, I spend a lot of time driving in the car, whether we’re touring sites or scouting properties for clients. Other days, I get stuck at a desk catching up on paperwork,” he said. “There’re a lot of numbers that go into commercial real estate, so understanding the market, general data, and demographics plays into it all.”
Because of his role, people are constantly asking Peters questions about what’s mysteriously being constructed at sites around town. His focus now, while naturally remaining on his company, is on the construction of a homeless shelter in Valpo, called Daybreak, as well as the maintenance of two halfway houses. His father started Respite House 15 years ago, and at this point in time they work together to address the problems of homelessness in the city.
Peters’ parents raised him to be selfless in two senses. His mother spent over 30 years as a school teacher, showing him the definition of devoted service. His father has spent years serving selflessly in helping the community, influencing his son to follow in his footsteps.
Family comes first for Peters. He’s married and has three sons, the oldest of whom is away at college. His youngest two sons stay active in sports, both playing soccer and baseball, so visiting the local fields is a frequent occurrence for the family. When it’s time to relax, they do movie nights cozied up together. Saturday mornings are for cartoons with the boys, while the evenings are for him and his wife to watch their TV shows.
Peters makes sure his oldest son knows it’s good to have hobbies. As for himself, in his leisure time, he coaches, reads, and plays Dungeons & Dragons when the chance presents itself. Through high school and into college, he developed his entrepreneurial skills and remained physically engaged.
“I ran my own record label. I started locally, but it kind of spread internationally. I had some bands from Australia and Europe, but then Napster hit my freshman year in college. I saw the way of digital music, and I felt like there would be no opportunity as an independent label, so I put that aside and helped the bands move on,” he said. “I also trained and wrestled professionally until my first son was born. I have a lot of memories from wrestling and trained in the class under CM Punk.”
Peters appreciates Valparaiso. To him, it’s a joy being here, and he recognizes a shared sense of general enjoyment among the city’s residents. The community provides, and the reality of that is clear to him.
“I think the people of this community love being here. The city has done a good job of focusing on providing things for families, like great parks or events downtown. It’s a great place to have family and friends. We’re close to Chicago, we’ve got the Dunes, and so there’s tons of stuff to do. I feel like it’s just a great place to be,” he said.