Tutela is Latin for guardianship, the principle Connor Johnston built this firm on after years spent underwriting other people's capital and, eventually, his own.
Connor is a real estate finance professional with more than four years of experience underwriting, financing, and asset managing commercial real estate investments across nearly every asset class, including retail, multifamily, affordable housing, office, medical, industrial, and self-storage. Over the course of his career he has underwritten more than $2 billion in commercial real estate transactions, building detailed property-level cash flow models in Argus Enterprise and Excel to evaluate feasibility, investment returns, and risk on deals ranging from single-asset acquisitions to complex development financings.
His work spans the full transaction lifecycle, structuring and negotiating bridge and construction loans, leading loan modifications and refinancings, preparing offering memorandums and investor-facing materials, and presenting underwriting and market analysis to support investment committee decisions. He has sat across the table from contractors, architects, economic development groups, and government officials, experience that shapes how Tutela Realty approaches every client engagement, whether the mandate is a single transaction or an entire portfolio.
Connor also owns and operates his own real estate investment platform, where he has sourced, underwritten, and closed multifamily acquisitions totaling 14 units, serving as sole General Partner across the portfolio. In that role he oversees the full lifecycle of ownership himself, debt financing, leasing, regulatory compliance and Section 8 approvals, capital expenditures, budgeting, and NOI optimization, the same discipline he brings to every Tutela Realty client relationship.
He holds a B.S. in Real Estate Finance and Development from Tulane University's School of Architecture and is fluent in Spanish, allowing him to serve a broader base of owners, tenants, and investors across the Gulf South.
The Latin word tutela describes the duty of a guardian, someone legally and personally responsible for protecting what's been entrusted to them. That's the standard we hold ourselves to on every engagement, whether we're underwriting your next acquisition or managing the property you already own.
Every underwriting decision is grounded in the same Argus Enterprise modeling and diligence standards used on billions in transaction volume.
Connor manages his own portfolio the same way he manages yours, because he handles both personally.
Through the Tutela Insight portal, clients see the full financial picture we work from, updated continuously.
You will work directly with the person underwriting and managing your property, from the first conversation through closing and every day after.
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