Alex Kopicki, 34, Solstice Partners Co-Founder & Kinglet CEO
Photo: Wife Erika and now nine-month-old Mila (short for Amelia) at Montauk Surf Lodge this summer.
Development company: Three-year-old Solstice is a boutique, hyper-selective development and investment shop.
Project: $80M, 292-unit 900 E Fort apartment building at gateway to Locust Point.
Why it’s awesome: 30 feet above sea level; views of $2B of new construction at Harbor East.
Partners: Bozzuto and War Horse.
Software company: Three-month-old Kinglet, which replaces RetrievRE.
Why the change: RetrievRE gave office users a way to find small space; Kinglet is a marketplace that offers a better shopping and leasing experience.
How: Standard lease terms and non-negotiable rental rates; 24-hour trial period for tenant.
Success: 200 property listings in one month.
Where the name came from: Kinglet is a small bird that can live everywhere from arctic to tropical climates, just as small businesses have to be adaptable.
Hope: Kinglet will become a new verb like “sublet.”
Plan: Expand to DC this year; Mid-Atlantic push in 2015, focusing on Philadelphia, Boston, and NYC.
Office: After subletting from Phillip’s Seafood in Locust Point; Alex and partner Jeff Jacobson bought office space 10 months ago in Federal Hill at Key Highway and William Street.
Employees: Four now; three more by the end of the year.
Roots: Born in Jacksonville, Fla.; raised in Baltimore.
Schooling: High school at St. Paul's; Penn undergrad; JHU Carey Business School master’s
College cool factor: Two-year Penn lacrosse captain.
Real-world experience: 1M SF of office, retail, and resi development at Manekin.
Most fun Manekin project: HQ for CRM company Markle in Columbia.
Why: Young, progressive CEO stocked the place with amenities to attract young workers.
Most recent vacation: Charleston, SC, where it rained entire time.
Favorite vacay: Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt.
Why: Went with parents every year growing up; learned how to ski there; proposed to Erika there.
Favorite restaurant: Petit Louis but super-impressed by Charleston’s The Ordinary.
Where he lives: Annapolis.
Favorite restaurant there: Vin 909 wine and pizza joint in Eastport.
Craziest thing he’s every done: Back flip off 30-foot cliff while skiing; nailed it … then wiped out.
