Dan Zelson is the Founding Principal of Charter Realty, a full-service commercial real estate services company with offices in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Montana. Charter oversees more than 8.5 million square feet of listings across 11 states and represents over 55 national and regional retail tenants throughout the Northeast and across the country including the TJX Companies, Costco, and Shake Shack.

Part of Charter’s integrated platform, Dan also founded and runs Zelco Properties & Development, a real estate investment, acquisition, and development platform he established over 35 years ago. Under his leadership, Zelco has completed over $2 billion in acquisitions and ground-up developments totaling more than 8 million square feet across multiple states, spanning retail, mixed-use, hospitality, technology campuses, and residential projects.

Drawing on his experience developing large-scale destination projects, Dan co-founded United Sports Development Partners (USDP), which focuses on the development and ownership of stadiums and mixed-use sports and entertainment destinations nationwide. USDP is currently involved in several projects with AUM $1 billion.

Dan leverages his platform’s real estate expertise and national network through Zelco Private Equity (ZPE), an investment platform that partners with emerging retail, restaurant, and consumer brands to position them for strategic expansion and long-term value creation.

A graduate of Cornell University, Dan has served on the Board of Directors for the United States Olympic Foundation and the Southport Volunteer Fire Department. He divides his time between Southport, Connecticut, and Big Sky, Montana, with his wife and their dogs, Mungo and Pappy, and enjoys frequent visits from their three grown sons.