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DAN ALMQUIST
CEO/PRESIDENT
ALMQUIST
WHY: Founded development company that is changing Orange County retail spaces. Opened Rodeo 39 Public Market in Stanton in 2020, where locals and visitors can choose from more than one dozen food-and-drink tenants. Last year, completed River Street Marketplace in San Juan Capistrano, a 60K-square-foot plaza with public arts spaces, dining, retail, a butcher and a brewery.
IN THE NEWS: Almquist, the company, broke ground in April on a retail center that will have 90K square feet of leasable space at Great Park Neighborhoods in Irvine. The Canopy, as the project is called, will house a mix of chef-driven restaurants and curated retail offerings, which Almquist developments are known for, as well as a specialty grocery option. Its first known tenant is T&T Supermarket, an Asian grocery chain from Canada that first entered the U.S. last year. The Canopy’s anchor tenant, slated to open in winter 2026, will feature a self-serve hot food bar with dishes like Peking duck and BBQ meats, made-to-order street food, a large in-house bakery and a sushi counter
NOTABLE: Named Business Journal Businessperson of the Year for real estate in January. Started his development company more than 15 years ago and is starting to realize his retail vision for Orange County with Rodeo 39, River Street Marketplace and The Canopy.
IN HIS WORDS: “I think for me, within real estate in general and definitely in retail, there’s a lot of, ‘this is the way we’ve done it. For me, it’s always trying to think if there’s a better way or if there’s a way that’s going to be better received from the consumer. It’s this lens of ‘how do you create community and create these places’ that bring people together.”