NAI Hallmark Welcomes Austin Kay
NAI Hallmark Welcomes Eric Yi

Austin Kay and Eric Yi Join NAI Hallmark as Vice President and Senior Associate | Retail Specialists

NAI Hallmark is proud to announce the addition of Austin Kay and Eric Yi to our brokerage team. Their combined experience in Jacksonville’s retail market brings significant value to NAI Hallmark as part of a strategic expansion of its full-service brokerage services to better serve existing and future clients.

Austin Kay joins NAI Hallmark as Vice President, Retail with several years of experience in both commercial and residential real estate, with the last 4 years focusing on retail investment sales and leasing. Since his transition to the commercial retail market, Austin has successfully closed more than $55M in transactions mostly by creating value adds to clients through landlord lease ups and re-selling stabilized investment properties.

“Communication is the key in any relationship, and we don’t take the importance of that lightly,” said Austin Kay. “This has not only helped us grow our working partnership, but our clientele also appreciates their inclusion in our project-based approach.”

Austin is a seasoned veteran of the industry and has been awarded CoStar Power Broker in Retail Leasing in 2016 and 2017. After spending most of his childhood in the Jacksonville area, Austin went on to finish high school and then off to the University of South Carolina where he received his Bachelor of Science, Business Administration double majoring in Marketing and Management. He remains active in the local South Carolina alumni chapter here in the Jacksonville area. Austin’s passion for real estate and love for the city of Jacksonville is clearly demonstrated in his work as he continues to help develop the city to its fullest potential. He has extensive knowledge of the local market and has leveraged his deep-rooted connections to Jacksonville to aid in his client’s success.

Eric Yi joins NAI Hallmark as Senior Associate specializing in retail landlord and seller representation. Eric grew up in the Mandarin area of Jacksonville and graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management. He started his career as a teacher at Darnell Cookman School of Medical Arts while also coaching football as an offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Stanton College Preparatory School. He learned through his teaching and coaching experience that success comes from detailed preparation and effectively communicating expectations. Eric takes a strategic approach with the properties and clients he serves as he works to develop and execute a game plan, working through inevitable hurdles to help clients and their businesses thrive. He believes that the process for finding opportunities is just as valuable as the end result.

“Our love for sports meshed with our competitive personalities have helped us take a true team approach as we develop a specific game plan for each of our projects,” said Eric. “Austin and I are excited to blend our proven processes with the NAI Hallmark global platform to better serve our network and further promote the retail landscape in Northeast Florida.” Eric’s drive for the commercial real estate sector in his hometown of Jacksonville runs deep and his long-term understanding in the area yields a genuine desire for building relationships and discovering new potential in the market.

“Austin and Eric are a terrific fit for our culture, and we expect them to make an immediate impact. They’re both incredibly passionate, relationship driven real estate professionals who love going above and beyond for their clients,” said Christian Harden, Managing Partner of NAI Hallmark. “These two have a keen understanding of the evolution of retail real estate and are poised to help their clients leverage that insight.”