The Empire Team

Richard J. Felker, Principal

Richard Felker began his business career in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he owned and operated furniture/appliance stores. After 10 years or so, in the early 1970s, he moved into the real estate development business in Wisconsin, and for the last 27 years he has focused on real estate developments in the Phoenix metropolitan area. During his 40 years of real estate experience, Mr. Felker has developed over 100 projects valued at over $1 Billion. Those projects have included more than 1,845 apartment units; 128 apartment units converted to condominiums; 835 condominium units, 5,110 single family lots (consisting of lots sold to builders; custom lots sold to upscale buyers and single family/townhouse homes) and more than a dozen retail/commercial/office projects. His vision, ability to recognize current and future trends, extensive contacts with lenders, brokers and municipal and community leaders and his wealth of experience in all phases of residential and commercial development, financing, construction, and property management, combined with his ability to assemble and lead great teams, have all helped create the success of his investment/development entities, collectively known as The Empire Group. These accomplishments have led him to be the recipient of nine National Awards for Excellence for his projects, including recognition for Design and Excellence by the Pacific Coast Builders Conference, Professional Builder Magazine and the National Association of Realtors; Builders Magazine “Best in the West” Award, and the MAME Award.

Geoffrey Jacobs

Mr. Jacobs currently serves as a Principal with The Empire Group, LLC. Mr. Jacobs started his business career in the early 1990’s with a real estate company where he helped to plan mixed-use developments in mainland China. In 1998, he accepted the opportunity to work with Richard Felker, take responsibility for the commercial real estate operations of The Empire Group, and assume an ownership position in the company. His responsibilities include (a) acquisition, financing, planning, zoning, entitlement, development, improvement, and management of all of the Empire Group’s anchored and non-anchored mixed-use, retail, and office projects, (b) supervising the leasing of the company’s projects, including ground leases, build-to-suit leases, and space leases in company-owned shops buildings to such tenants as Staples, Ace Hardware, Fresh & Easy Markets, Circle K, Jack in the Box, KFC, and others, and (c) supervision of the sale of shopping center pad sites. In addition, Mr. Jacobs was responsible for the overall development, improvement, and operation of a series of gas stations developed by The Empire Group before he arranged for and completed the sale of the gas station operations. Mr. Jacobs is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers. In 1991, Mr. Jacobs graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in international finance. In 1992, Mr. Jacobs graduated from the Thunderbird School of International Management, where he earned his master’s degree in international management.

Michael E. Woolf – General Counsel

Michael Woolf has been a lawyer in Arizona since 1974. He was an undergraduate of Arizona State University where he graduated with honors in 1971 with a business degree. In 1974 he graduated from Arizona State University Law School, cum laude. Before being employed by The Empire Group as in-house counsel in 2006, Michael was a shareholder in the Phoenix law firm of O’Connor, Cavanagh, Anderson, Killingsworth, Westover and Beshears, PA and an owning shareholder in the Phoenix law firm of Mariscal, Weeks, McIntyre and Friedlander, PA. During his professional career, Michael has been a transactional lawyer with an emphasis on documenting business transactions, real estate financing, and all aspects of commercial, retail, and residential real estate, including extensive experience in construction, development, sales, brokerage, leasing and community development documentation. Michael has been honored by Phoenix Magazine as one of the top lawyers in Arizona. During his long history of representing Empire entities while with the above law firms, Michael has also represented national and local developers, homebuilders, lenders and real estate brokerage companies as well as many local non-real estate oriented businesses. Michael is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Homebuilders Association of Central Arizona; has been a member of numerous committees formed by the Arizona Department of Real Estate to recommend changes to Arizona real estate statutes and regulations; is a member of the American Bar Association, Arizona State Bar Association, Maricopa County Bar Association; and is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Daniel C. Hill, Construction Manager

Dan Hill has come to The Empire Group with 36 years of experience in residential and commercial construction as well as land development in Arizona and Colorado. Mr. Hill holds both commercial and residential contractors’ licenses in Arizona. Dan has extensive experience in all phases of construction from day to day operations including; contract negotiations, job estimating, permitting and inspection procedures. Dan is instrumental to the construction of the infrastructure improvements for company projects as well as the build-to-suit buildings and for-lease buildings constructed by the company. Mr. Hill also has extensive experience in single family home construction, including intricate custom homes. He has been a member of the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, the Small Business Association and the Better Business Bureau.

Tina Sanders, Project Coordinator

From inception of a project to completion, Tina Sanders has overseen or assisted with all aspects of construction including negotiating subcontracts for all trades, working with cities and their various ordinances for permitting and inspections, scheduling, working with lenders and interfacing with buyers/tenants for finalization and punch lists for their home purchases or retail space. Ms. Sanders has over ten years of experience in budgeting, job costing, preparation and processing of bank draws and processing of pre liens and lien waivers. Since joining the Empire team, Ms. Sanders has assisted in the development, construction, grand opening, and initiation of the daily operations and management of the gas stations and convenience stores and all commercial retail centers.

Michele Hoeliner, Accountant

Michele Hoeliner joined The Empire Group team in 2006 with 17 years of accounting experience. She brought with her an extensive background of accounting and is our full time bookkeeper. Michele has become a very integral part of the company as she is in charge of all the day to day accounting as well working with company outside accountants/auditors and preparation of financial statements and tax returns.