John Hetzler
John is the managing broker at Merchant Real Estate Group and oversees the overall strategy and direction at Merchant Land Holdings. With more than 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, he has leveraged his unique experience to identify market opportunities across a broad range of asset classes.
He started his real estate career in 2000 with a focus or rural land in Tennessee and Georgia. While helping owners of agricultural and forestland properties he gained a proficient working knowledge of these unique asset classes. Through these interactions and time spent with people in the rural communities where he focused, he became passionate about land conservation and preservation. In 2007 he became a certified conservation broker so he could educate his clients on the benefits of land conservation for agricultural operations and working forest. Over the past 23 years John has managed over 150,000 acres of forestland in the Cumberland Plateau region and has been instrumental in the conservation of over 30,000 acres of agricultural properties and working forest in TN and GA.
In 2014 he founded a real estate investment firm that is now Merchant Land Holdings. Merchant Land Holdings owns real estate related business in construction, development, brokerage, timberland, and commercial property investment.
John, his wife Caroline, and their three children live in the South Side neighborhood of Chattanooga.
John@merchantlh.com
(423) 313.5457
Cardon Smith
Cardon is a principal and co-founder of Merchant Real Estate Group and Merchant Land Holdings. He and his partner oversee the overall strategy and direction at both companies. Cardon has been in the real estate industry for over 20 years and has participated in a vast range of transactions, developments and investments throughout the country.
Cardon has a bachelors degree in business from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and currently resides on Signal Mountain with his wife and two kids.
Cardon@merchantlh.com
(423) 779.4857
James Moon
James Moon attended Rhodes College where he earned his bachelor's degree in history in 2009. From 2010 to 2016, he worked as a Petroleum Landman in Oklahoma, Texas and North Dakota. As a field Landman with MJC Resources, Drovers' Trail Land Company and Bakken HBT, James searched county records, determined mineral ownership, and leased thousands of acres for oil and gas exploration. As an in-house landman with GeoSouthern Energy and Devon Energy, James was responsible for forming drilling units, managing brokers, planning pad construction, negotiating lease trades and joint ventures, and scheduling drilling rig activity. With an opportunity to apply his knowledge of land in his home state of Tennessee, James moved to Chattanooga to join Southern Atlantic Holdings in 2016. Since that time, James has served as Head of Acquisitions and helped secure a variety of property types throughout the Southeast. James also enjoys nearly all forms of outdoor recreation and serves as a board member for Lula Lake Land Trust. James’ extensive experience in land have made him an asset to the Merchant team.
James@merchantlh.com
(931) 580.1864
Andrew Holt
With over 10 years in the brokerage business, Andrew has experience across a variety of real estate sectors including land, office, retail, and industrial properties.
A Chattanooga, TN native, he is licensed in both Tennessee and Georgia. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Communication with an English minor from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and currently resides on Signal Mountain with his wife and two kids. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf, and cheering on the Tennessee Vols.
Andrew@merchantlh.com
(423) 280.3307