Jesse Fowler: work record

Jesse Fowler: work record

General contractor, developer and operating partner. The projects, one page each, told from the seat.

About

Jesse Fowler is an operating partner at Common Ground and a real estate developer based in Phoenix, Arizona. He has run one build practice since 2004, and between its projects he takes operating seats inside other companies.

The practice began as Tellus Design + Build, Orange County's first green design-build firm, which ran from 2004 to 2023 and kept design, estimating, general contracting, field labor and property management under one roof. Across those 19 years Tellus completed more than 400 projects and did about $480 million in business, with more than $1 billion in architectural and construction projects completed, about 60 people in the field and about 40 projects running at once. It came through the 2008 collapse and through COVID. In 2023 the practice moved to Phoenix and continues as LÏEF Development, which runs a few larger projects at a time. Current work includes 301 W Osborn, a 22-residence adaptive reuse of a 1971 concrete building in Midtown Phoenix, and Kanopi, the estimating engine behind LÏEF's bids.

Development is the core business. The operating and advisory seats, the work the market now calls fractional, run in the gaps between projects and go through Common Ground, an operating partnership of five in which each partner owns a seat. Fowler's seat is execution. He has served as fractional COO of a PE-backed medical group, fractional CRO for the building-products company Xtrata and for the brand studio Lip Loi Creative, fractional CMO for Fluidmapper, operations and integration lead for HighTide Capital, and on the advisory board of BridgePoint Air through its sale in 2025. Since 2019 he has structured and closed more than $85 million in capital transactions.

His method starts with listening. If the fix were obvious, the owner would have made it already, and the real problem usually sits under the one on the list, often with a person rather than a process. Common Ground runs its own companies on AI systems it built, and a named person makes every call that leaves the building.

He holds 85 verified AI and automation certifications and was previously a licensed general contractor. Every project on this record links to its Common Ground firm page.

jfowler.io · Jesse Fowler on the Common Ground wiki

Projects (48)

Development and constructionCapital and diligenceEstimating and pricingOperating seatsBrand and go-to-marketHealth and wellness

Development and construction

Ghana CommunityAs principal, I led our team's proposal for a new community in Ghana's Volta Region: master plan, schematic design, the building system and training for local crews.2026 · Master-planned community development Hyatt Studios GeorgetownI led the feasibility study on a 122-key Hyatt Studios in Georgetown, Texas. February's answer was no. The follow-up was a $9,572,784 estimate the developer is raising against.2026 · Hospitality development The Triangle Grand AvenueI led development for Phoenix brokers planning a creative district on Grand Avenue. The work covered feasibility, a parcel study and a consortium pledge, with capital deliberately last.2026 · Real estate development and urban redevelopment 301 W OsbornI am principal at LÏEF, converting a Midtown Phoenix office tower from 1971 into 22 condominiums. We paid $3.85M, and I settled the permit path before the unit count.2024 to present · Real estate development Ritz-Carlton Laguna BeachTwo narrow credits from my Tellus years: a patio at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Beach, and development advisory on branded residences carrying the Ritz-Carlton name.2004 to 2022 · Santa Monica houseIn 2020 the crews stopped coming to the custom Santa Monica home we were building. I sorted the open work by license or skill, did the skilled work myself, and finished it.2020 · Residential construction LA Clippers Practice FacilityMy firm, Tellus, designed and rebuilt the Clippers' practice facility in phases, one room at a time, with the team in the building throughout.2017 to 2018 · Sports and entertainment facilities LACMAFor two years I held an unpaid owner-side lead seat on art installations at LACMA, and Tellus Build fabricated and installed one artist's interactive sculpture inside that term.2016 to 2018 · Museums and public art Carroll Shelby International, GardenaAs CEO of Tellus, I led the team that built Carroll Shelby International's California hub over four phases and four years, and won an exemption from Carson's construction freeze.2013 to 2017 · Automotive brand and retail Soft-Story RetrofitsI launched a seismic retrofit line at Tellus for the Los Angeles mandate, and put PACE financing and a structural engineer inside one offer.2017 · Residential construction and municipal compliance Habitat for HumanityFor nearly a decade Tellus partnered with Habitat chapters across three Southern California counties, moving from leftover material to labor and bid work.2007 to 2016 · Nonprofit housing Shelby American Las VegasI led Shelby American's Las Vegas move from the owner side as construction manager, going trade-direct because Tellus had no Nevada license. It opened on time in March 2015.2014 to 2015 · Manufacturing and automotive Greensburg, KansasAfter an EF5 tornado, I sold national suppliers on-camera slots by product category, and they donated more than $30 million in sustainable materials.2007 to 2008 · Disaster rebuild and sustainable construction

Capital and diligence

Jason ScottI advised on go-to-market and the raise for a luxury menswear brand. Our rebuilt plan, built door by door, showed a $7 million raise running out in year three.2025 to 2026 · Luxury apparel and consumer brands Medical device US entryFor an Irish medical-device company entering the US, I led diligence, the data room and the go-to-market plan. We found five problems before an investor read a page.2026 · Medical devices Silver Mountain RanchesI ran sponsor diligence and capital structuring on a 344-acre homesite community in northern Arizona. Three capital claims failed at the source, so we rebuilt the package.2025 to 2026 · Land development and real estate Trade Services Buy-Side DiligenceA live deal. I lead buy-side diligence for HighTide Capital Group, running three tests with the cheapest first. A $472,000 tax lookback surfaced on the first target before any earnings rebuild.2025 to 2026 · Lower-middle-market trade services (commercial painting, landscaping, plumbing, HVAC) BridgePoint AirI held an advisory board seat at an aviation firm through its November 2025 sale to a far larger company. Reframing the owner's value doubled the offer.2024 to 2025 · Private aviation services HighTide CapitalI hold the operations and integration seat at an Arizona platform that buys trade-services companies: a written buy box, broker mandates, financing tests and a fixed close date.2025 to present · Private equity and lower-middle-market services HighTide Desk ToolsA base-rate tracker, a liability checklist, an earnings bridge and an offer-structure method that each HighTide target passes through, in that order.2025 to present · Lower-middle-market trade services Aycre CapitalI ran the capital side of a Las Vegas custom-home fund as Managing Director. The ask went out in order, a staged pipeline sat behind it, and commitments reached $25M against a $50M target.2022 to 2023 · Real estate private equity and residential development Save the World AirIn Santa Barbara, around 2011, I took a consulting seat at a small public pipeline-flow technology firm. I wanted to test a hard claim up close.2011 · Energy technology

Estimating and pricing

Canyon CorporateI led takeoff and pricing for Building 1 of a Phoenix office-to-apartments conversion, a partition package of $2,041,596, then priced Building 2 the day its plans arrived.2026 · Commercial office conversion KanopiI run the estimating seat at LÏEF, where Kanopi is in use with eight builders and developers and has bid over $600 million in 2026. It publishes only the accuracy it earns blind.2026 to present · Construction and real estate development Nevada multifamily value engineeringOn identical scope I priced a 204-unit Nevada multifamily two ways. A structural panel system came to $154.70 per square foot, and the stick-framed midpoint was $167.50.2026 · Multifamily development

Operating seats

Modular fabrication centerI led Common Ground's first analysis of an Arizona modular housing plant: a gated pipeline, a paid feasibility step and pricing that puts schedule first.2026 · Modular housing manufacturing PE-backed medical groupI serve as fractional COO on a 90-day audit of operations and efficiency at a private-equity-backed medical group with many offices. The order is map, then govern, then build.2026 to present · Healthcare services (PE-backed) Phoenix short-term rental launchMy advice shaped the business model and launch of a boutique short-term rental manager in Phoenix: a single flat fee and the controls it demands.2023 to present · Short-term rental and property management Greensleeves SteakhouseI took over a dark 1892 Redlands landmark for almost nothing, locked in a longer lease first, rebuilt around live service, stayed open through COVID and exited in 2022.2016 to 2022 · Hospitality and restaurants Village San JuanA board vote kept Tellus Management on a community's maintenance and emergency contract, covering 446 units. I then ran it for seven years.2015 to 2022 · Residential community and property management AXT Axe HausI opened Southern California's first axe-throwing venue, won Costa Mesa's first use permit for the category on the strength of how it ran, and still hold the position.2018 to present · Hospitality and entertainment venues H.E.E.A.L. Santa BarbaraI was volunteer president of a Santa Barbara grief and loss nonprofit and built its outreach, fundraising and board oversight around the people who refer families.2010 to 2015 · Nonprofit Sublime MedicalI held the fractional COO seat at a three-office dermatology group. Stale billing codes were behind its collections gap, and insurance billing rose 42 percent.2015 · Healthcare services (multi-practice medical group) Surrogacy Consulting StartupI advised an unnamed surrogacy startup on who to sell to first, how to open state by state, and where AI can trim paperwork costs.Recent · Fertility and family-building services

Brand and go-to-market

A five-star barbershopOur team gave a five-star Arizona barbershop a booking site and its own phone line, then turned to its owner's barber school franchise plan.2026 to present · Personal services Alice MushroomsI advised a functional mushroom brand on retail go-to-market from 2022 into 2026. It reached more than 3,000 doors and ranked first in its category at Sprouts and Target.2022 to 2026 · Consumer packaged goods CRM MigrationI moved our relationship book off a marketing-funnel CRM and onto a records-and-relationships CRM in a single day, weeks after the first move.2026 · Professional services FluidmapperAs fractional CMO I took on Fluidmapper, a company that sees flow inside opaque tanks. It covers the science, four buyer groups, the limits and how we sold it.2026 to present · Industrial technology and measurement (deep tech) Jackie Allison, Newborn Care SpecialistI handled strategy and the build for an independent Newborn Care Specialist: a website and a cited search identity, live on her own domain three days after she asked.2026 to present · Family and childcare services Lip Loi CreativeI serve as fractional CRO at Lip Loi Creative, a brand studio and Common Ground venture. My rule: fix an idea before funding it, then bring in the work.2022 to 2026 · Creative and brand studios Drive for the DreamI created a docuseries about developmental golfers chasing a tour card. We signed the cast and producers first, then moved to sponsorship the venture controls.2023 to 2025 · Sports media and entertainment SQAIRZSQAIRZ, a golf shoe brand with a pickleball shoe out, asked for a line plan and diagnostic. Jimmy Khounlavong of Lip Loi Creative did the analysis, I took go-to-market, all at risk.2025 · Athletic footwear; golf and pickleball XtrataAs Xtrata's fractional CRO and construction consultant, I helped bid $48 million of projects and build a $220 million pipeline, a bid system and a pitch at wood parity.2025 to present · Building products and construction technology Lip Loi Creative portfolioThe Lip Loi Creative studio built these brand identities and decks while I set direction from Common Ground. Clients: athletes, a golf venture, a developer, a deep-tech firm.2022 to present · Creative and brand studios Ink GamesBefore its first title shipped, I advised an Austin mobile-gaming studio on go-to-market as its seed advisor. We shifted the pitch to the team, and the seed closed in 2020.2019 to 2020 · Mobile gaming Contractor GorillaI advised Contractor Gorilla, a Los Angeles agency for contractors, held equity in it, and wrote the search plan that kept Tellus on Google's first page for years.2014 to 2017 · Contractor marketing and search

Health and wellness

Ground Truth PeptidesMy free, independent reference for 42 research peptides grades the evidence. It sells nothing, takes no vendor money, and a news event never changes a grade.2026 to present · Health and life sciences Health VaultI built a private health command center because consumer apps serve their platforms: labs, imaging, genetics, training and protocols in one system I control, hardened over five security rounds.2026 to present · Health technology

Questions answered (34)

Alice Mushrooms: questions answered5 questionsQuestions answered AXT Axe Haus: questions answered5 questionsQuestions answered Aycre Capital: questions answered2 questionsQuestions answered A five-star barbershop: questions answered1 questionsQuestions answered BridgePoint Air: questions answered3 questionsQuestions answered Canyon Corporate: questions answered2 questionsQuestions answered Carroll Shelby International, Gardena: questions answered9 questionsQuestions answered Contractor Gorilla: questions answered6 questionsQuestions answered CRM Migration: questions answered2 questionsQuestions answered Drive for the Dream: questions answered4 questionsQuestions answered Fluidmapper: questions answered8 questionsQuestions answered Greensburg, Kansas: questions answered7 questionsQuestions answered Greensleeves Steakhouse: questions answered5 questionsQuestions answered Habitat for Humanity: questions answered3 questionsQuestions answered Hyatt Studios Georgetown: questions answered1 questionsQuestions answered Ink Games: questions answered2 questionsQuestions answered Jason Scott: questions answered1 questionsQuestions answered Kanopi: questions answered3 questionsQuestions answered LA Clippers Practice Facility: questions answered4 questionsQuestions answered LACMA: questions answered3 questionsQuestions answered 301 W Osborn: questions answered13 questionsQuestions answered Lip Loi Creative: questions answered6 questionsQuestions answered Lip Loi Creative portfolio: questions answered10 questionsQuestions answered Medical device US entry: questions answered1 questionsQuestions answered PE-backed medical group: questions answered2 questionsQuestions answered Phoenix short-term rental launch: questions answered2 questionsQuestions answered Ritz-Carlton Laguna Beach: questions answered3 questionsQuestions answered Santa Monica house: questions answered2 questionsQuestions answered Save the World Air: questions answered2 questionsQuestions answered Shelby American Las Vegas: questions answered4 questionsQuestions answered Silver Mountain Ranches: questions answered3 questionsQuestions answered Soft-Story Retrofits: questions answered1 questionsQuestions answered Village San Juan: questions answered4 questionsQuestions answered Xtrata: questions answered7 questionsQuestions answered

Stories (129)

The decisions behind the work, one story per page, in my own words: 7 high-stakes save, 27 insider truth, 17 mistake and repair, 7 origin, 8 pivot, 4 redemption, 14 standing on principle, 1 story, 13 strong opinion, 12 teaching moment, 7 the honest call, 7 the small detail, 1 unlikely relationship, 3 walked away, 1 wrong about a person. All stories

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