This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. But this next guest is always up to something interesting. He's an investor, in entrepreneur, in real estate and hospitality, so involved in those worlds. Delighted to have back with us because it's been a little while, Stefan debates. He's founder and president of the asset management from Elevated Returns. They control the st regious Aspen Resort
in Aspen, Colorado. They've got properties around the globe, about a one billion dollar portfolio. He's also founder and owner of Chess Club, so a lot of ground to cover. Stefan, it is so nice to have you here, and I know you're in Aspen. Um, how are you. I'm great. Thank you so much for having me again on the show. Uh No, it's just been a wild year, just like for everybody else. But he's been a good year for us.
And uh I have personally relocated to us then Colorado and it's such a beautiful place, so difficult have a bad day investment. Yeah, that's definitely true. I do feel like I mean, we've done a lot of stories speaking of real estate. Uh, Steffan about um stuff. Excuse me,
how um? You know? Real estate there has really skyrocketed because a lot of people like yourself are trying to find a place where they can sort of have it all in some ways, especially in a world where a lot of it is remote and there's less focus on spending lots of time in big cities. And listen, I've spent some time in aspin it is gorgeous. That's right,
that's right. I think. I think what the pandemic is done and and still doing every day is it's just changed the way that people look at their life and prioritize physically what it is most important. And in my case it was definitely the case. And say, now that we've accepted the fact that we can do at least forty to sixty percent of whole work from home, why don't we go to a place where you have more books for the money and you enjoy actually a better
quality of life. So you're right that the Britistate market in that spent is on fire. Uh, there is a wait list on all the school which has never heard of. And but still, you know, even if it's on fire, it's still a small town right, it doesn't look like well, you know, one of the reasons, you know, for so many reasons, it's nice to catch up with you, Stevan.
And one of the things, you know, I really wanted to talk to you because Jason and I we talked so much with individuals in the real estate industry, and you know, we've heard a lot of things about you know, like you just talked about, we're finding out we can do like of our work from home. In our case, we're doing most of it, if not all of it at home and still doing a broadcast, um and so on. But I do wonder what kind the shifts do you think longer term shifts will actually stay with the real
estate real estate sector. You understand that we hear about Silicon Valley people leaving Silicon Valley and they you know, tech companies and you can go work from home, and that means you can live wherever you want. So what within the real estate community, what if those trends caused by the pandemic will ultimately stick with us In your view, I think you're gonna have a short term impact then a probably a recovery towards what I call the mean.
One thing that we should never forget we are social animals. So even so we want to go back in being a beautiful properties, we're still going to need to mingle and socialize. That is what makes human beings human beings. But I think that the first trend that we certainly do see is people are moving into suburban life. I think that cooperation will have probably satellite of peace in suburbia. I think that you're gonna see a lot less international
traveling for business. So I think the travel business is going to be impacted for a long time. And and then we really to take a view about what's going to be the cross border traveling restriction. UH, people are going to be forced to have vaccination. People is going to need to carry a digital passport. We don't know that yet, but I think less international travel certainly for the next three years, and moved to suburbia at the trend that I can see, last thing for at least
three to five years. Stefan debates his founder and president of Elevated Returns he joints on the phone from beautiful Aspen, Colorado. Um So Stepan talk to us about technology, the block chain. This is something that I'm guessing most people here back chain and real estate and there like I'm sorry, well, how does that off it together? But it's a really interesting and important innovation that you're working on. To tell
us about it. Yeah, absolutely, And and you know, for whatever reason, the word blockshain always either going to excite people or they're going to scare them. The truly blockchain stands for in the mind of people, is a technology that enables to use programming, smart contract to represent an asset. So what we've done in our case, we took a real estate, we created a read structure, and we shocked
the real estate in shares. And what we've done we created digital representation of shares and that basically allow people on the street to go and buy or sell shares into a trophy as set that they like. At the end of the day, what what investors have to remember, what they're buying is a share into the property. The blockchain technology, it's only the technological path that enables the
transaction to take place. So I think that when we understand that we are in twenty twenty with beautiful innovation, and you think that most of paper transaction for real estate, it still happened on paper. You understand that it's probably room for a big revolution over the next five year. Well that's you know, it's interesting to hear you say that, because I feel like, right, just go back with it
a year or so. I feel like ago, maybe a little bit longer than that, that everything was NonStop blockchain, and you know, if anybody talked blockchain in terms of their company, they just took off like a rock rocket rather, so I do wonder a little bit like her rock and then like a rock. Yeah, yeah, exactly, So Stefan, I mean you said about five years, I mean, do we start to see blockchain become much more part of
kind of this accepted you know, financial system. Well, I think what you're gonna have, You're gonna have a digitization of financial product. Take a look communication, for instance, twenty years ago, you and I would would basically exchange information
by sending a fact to each other. Then what happened We had emails technology taking place, and suddenly people are no exchanging communications through email, and they find new application for communications, such as scheduling to go for a glass of wine over an email, something you would have never done over a fact. What's going to happen is I think the digitization of financial product really enabled investor that are retail investor access to financial products that today they
can't have access to. And I think that's going to be the true revolution. Because you were talking about this billionaire having a one billion of its residents. Thought for you, really the man on the street, the the the American person understand that real estate is the great investment. But's no, but very few people have a billion dollars to assemble
a pot for you. So I think that once technology enaghbors people to actually participate and and enjoy the privilege that's a very few investors have today, that's gonna be the true revolution. That's funny that you say that. I was talking to you like the younger generation my family, and I'm like, you know, when you think about investing, think about smart real estate, and you're right, that's a way to potentially access those bigger deals that most normal
individuals cannot do that. Um, so it's an interesting perspective on it. I wanted to ask you about chefs, the chef's club clubs, because you know, restaurants. Man, they you sounded rather a beat when we started, but I think about restaurants major city certainly in New York City. They have had such a tough time. We've talked with Daniel Blue, uh, so many others of the well known chefs within the New York um City world, and how are they doing.
I've been to your Chef's Club in New York, loved it. Um are they open? How are they doing? Okay? So we actually, uh, we actually had a tough time as well, because not only we're in the food and beverage business, but all DNA was traveling chef bringing their experience from one country to another. So when you have closure of restaurant and you based on traveling and migration of chefs,
you're having a hard time. So what we've decided to do is we've actually closed our restaurant in the big cities. We put the brand in the big cities in what I call hiber nation. We are keeping our brand in places like I spend open simply because we actually understand the wolves and we can actually make a business plan. I think what has been very, very difficult for the entire industry in the major cities is ever changing world and in order to stay in business, you need to
raise capital. In order to raise capital, and you need to have a business plan. But if you are not able to put on paper what the sixth or next twelve months gonna look like, it is super, super difficult. A lot of our friends in in the chefs community have lost their job, lost their restaurant. It's really, really, really difficult for the industry. How much do do you think the hospitality business. We've only got about a minute left here, Stefan, how how much does it change permanently?
Like I say, it's it's too early to tell. I I believe in human beings. I think we are so a animal. We're gonna want to still to travel. But I think for the next three years you have to look purely at resort leisure destination. This one will do well. I'm a little bit concerned about the hotel in big metropolitance. I think you're gonna see lots of bankruptcies and lots of defot on those properties. Yeah, yeah, it's really it's going to be difficult to say at least Stefan debates.
Thank you so much, President of Elevated Returns joining us on the phone from Aspen, Colorado, Carol. Yeah, really nice guy, and I do love his perspective. In terms of what he can see and you know, you're right, Like in certain cities like an Aspen, right, they it's it's different in terms of how the virus is impacting it. And he says, you know, they can figure out the rules and figure out how to operate um, but there are often changing rules in the major cities just based on
virus cases and what's going on. It makes it really tricky to run a business.