New Reality Show Explores the Hidden World of Commercial Real Estate

Backstabbing brokers, glitzy homes, jaw-dropping renovations: Residential real estate has long been stuffed with made-for-television conflict and visuals — spawning hit shows like “Selling Sunset” and “Million Dollar Listing.”

Todd Drowlette, a 44-year-old broker based in Albany, New York, wants to prove that the less glamorous commercial side of the business — strip malls, office buildings, warehouses — can be just as compelling.

On October 12, A&E, the cable channel behind “Hoarders” and “Duck Dynasty,” will air “The Real Estate Commission,” a show about Drowlette’s travails and triumphs as a commercial real estate dealmaker.

The 8-episode series arrives as the idea of side hustles and DIY investments continues to captivate droves of Americans with aspirations for financial freedom. Drowlette promises that audiences won’t be disappointed as he attempts to offer a glimpse into a multitrillion-dollar industry normally dominated by billionaire developers and corporate investment giants.

“All the people who want to be rich, who hate their corporate jobs and want to invest in real estate, who don’t want to be a residential landlord,” Drowlette said. “There’s all these other things that you can be an investor for that don’t involve toilets or residential tenants.”

Drowlette said that the season will alternate between the leasing side of the business, where he helps clients, such as a large discount retailer, find store spaces, and his efforts to sell properties, like a rental apartment building outside of Syracuse and a rundown office building in downtown Albany.

He groans at what he says is the contrived melodrama of typical reality fare and insists his viewers will be treated to the authentic highs and lows of dealmaking. Filming transactions as they actually transpired, however, didn’t make for an easy production.

“A good deal falls apart three times before it actually happens,” Drowlette said.

In one instance, Drowlette found a building for an Albany law firm that wanted to own rather than lease its office space. Months of combing the market and then negotiations were filmed before the purchase unexpectedly crumbled in the final stages. The search and the filming had to start again from scratch to create a plot that could fill roughly 30 minutes of airtime.

“I definitely thought more than once, ‘How are we going to get this across the finish line?'” Drowlette said.

From humble beginnings to TV stardom

Drowlette grew up in Malone, New York, along the Canadian border, and was introduced to commercial real estate after college through a connection. He got an early career break by winning what turned into a years-long assignment to lease retail stores for Starbucks locations in upstate New York. A decade ago, he founded his own brokerage company, Titan Commercial Realty Group, in Albany, which now has eight brokers.

While much of real estate reality TV is set against the backdrop of big-money markets like New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami, “The Real Estate Commission” follows Drowlette mostly through sleepier places like upstate New York, Vermont, and Pennsylvania.

Justin Cerone, an executive producer on the show, said it’s the program’s stories, not its scale, that will grab viewers.

“It’s everyday people, for the most part — they’re relatable,” Cerone, who has worked on other reality shows like “Tiny House Nation,” said. “There’s a lot on the line. I think inherently there’s drama in that, and there can be lessons learned, and it can also be inspiring.”

Barbara Corcoran, founder of the upscale residential brokerage bearing her name and a star on the network mega-hit “Shark Tank,” where entrepreneurs bid for stakes in startup businesses, said the real estate genre of reality TV was overdue for new angles.

“People are so tired of the apartment shows at this point,” Corcoran said. “It seems like it’s every kind of version of it out there.”

She, too, questioned, however, whether a show about commercial real estate, a business famously complicated by mundanities like profit margins, insurance premiums, and taxes, would light up the screen.

Sometimes, however, seemingly ordinary material can turn into television gold, she added.

“When we had started “Shark Tank”, my best friends didn’t even watch it,” she remembered. “They said, a business show will never make it, it’s too dry.”

“Shark Tank” is about begin its 17th season on ABC and Corcoran said that cab drivers and strangers still stop to pitch her on their business ideas.

Ultimately, “a good story is a good story,” she said.

Corcoran, who hadn’t heard of “The Real Estate Commission,” said she was now interested in watching the show.

“It better not be too good, or I’m going to be jealous,” she said.