Article Source: bizjournals.com | Published: Aug 1, 2024 | By Josh Witt

Nine months after his death, the absence of Wichita real estate icon Nestor Weigand Jr. continues to be felt across the city, the industry and the company he was a part of for more than 60 years.

But J.P. Weigand & Sons, the commercial and residential real estate firm founded by Weigand’s grandfather in 1902, is pressing forward — led by the next generation of the Weigand family and president Kevin Dreiling.

Nestor Weigand III, who goes by Nes, quietly assumed the role of chairman at J.P. Weigand & Sons after his father’s Nov. 1 death. Nestor Weigand Jr. had been CEO since 1983 and served as chairman since 2001.

In his first interview since becoming chair, Nes Weigand, a 25-year real estate industry veteran based in London, said he’s focused on supporting Dreiling and the company versus making any major changes.

“I try to offer advice where I can,” said Weigand, who joined the J.P. Weigand & Sons board in 2012. “I try to offer some strategic direction where I can. But really I want to let Kevin run the company as he sees fit, because he’s most certainly deserved that. And that’s how my dad would want it.”

Weigand, 48, is the CEO and founding partner at Eastborough Partners, a private real estate investment firm that operates in Europe and the U.S.

Prior to Eastborough’s launch in 2022, Weigand worked for nearly 12 years at Siguler Guff & Co., a New York private equity firm, where he managed real estate portfolios. His experience also includes time at Citigroup, CBRE and Cityfeet.com.

Weigand said he speaks weekly with Dreiling, who became J.P. Weigand’s president in 2022 after serving as Landmark Commercial Real Estate president following a 20-year career at the Wichita-based Restaurant Management Co.

“Kevin Dreiling, is for sure, as my father would have said — and as I would certainly agree with — Kevin is the best president the company probably ever had,” said Weigand, specifically noting Dreiling’s instincts. “And on top of being a great president, he’s a great human.”

For Dreiling, the respect and admiration is mutual.

“He’s just a great, caring person,” he said of Weigand. “And our goals are aligned, our strategies aligned and our plans are aligned.”

While Dreiling and Weigand highlighted the positives of their working relationship, they also didn’t deny there are challenges for the firm.

“We’re still working through this difficult period after dad being gone,” said Nes Weigand, whose father was revered by many across the city and known by those in national and international real estate.

J.P. Weigand & Sons is the largest commercial real estate brokerage in the city, based on the number of full-time real estate personnel, according to WBJ data. It’s the fifth-largest residential real estate firm in the Wichita area, based on sales volume.

While Dreiling noted local competition and fallout from the National Association of Realtors settlement as two issues the company is presently navigating, he said broader challenges remain the same as they were prior to Nestor Weigand Jr.’s death.

“It’s the economy and the market,” Dreiling said.

Helping J.P. Weigand on its path, Dreiling and Weigand both said, is its team.

Nes Weigand said he’s seen agents and others who work at the firm demonstrate the integrity that his father consistently emphasized as a core value. Their character jumped out again last year, he said, as Nestor Weigand Jr. battled illness.

“The company really stuck together,” Weigand said. “That has continued in the year since, and that’s a beautiful thing.”

While he currently lives in London with his wife and children, and hasn’t lived in Wichita for decades, Weigand is still familiar with the firm and its people.

Weigand said “he loved every second” of growing up in Wichita and has vivid memories of spending time in J.P. Weigand & Sons’ downtown office at 150 N. Market.

“My … memories are walking around there late at night, doing my homework while dad was still working, or going in there on the weekends with him when he was the only one, or one of the few, in the office,” Weigand said. “And then also, in the normal business hours, coming in as a high schooler or when I was back home from (college) and just seeing all these folks that I knew.

“So many of those people remain like family to me and always will be.”

Weigand said he’s enjoyed getting to know more of the firm’s team, as he works to apply a trait learned from his dad.

“He was interested in every person that he ever encountered,” Weigand said. “He was so interested in their story and their journey. I think that’s the biggest piece that I tried to take (from him) is to remember that there’s potentially some special meaning for every interaction that we have.”

Weigand said he also highly values the role his brother, Johnathan Weigand, has at J.P. Weigand.

“I’m so happy that my youngest brother is there working for the firm,” Weigand said of Johnathan, who is director of strategic initiatives.

As Weigand looks ahead, he says he’s aiming to balance what his dad would have done on certain issues, with helping J.P. Weigand & Sons adapt to a world and industry that’s changing with advancements in technology.

“It’s a special place,” Weigand said of the company. “I hope we can continue to carry on the traditions in the right way that would make my dad proud.”