Born and bred in Manhattan, Mike Hernandez had only been to Brooklyn twice before his interview at TerraCRG in 2010. The first two trips were a result of him getting on the wrong train. But he went to the TerraCRG interview on purpose, as the economy was still recovering from the Great Recession, and jobs were difficult to find. By the time he left, he was sold on the commercial real estate company that focused solely on Brooklyn. TerraCRG was founded in 2008, and Hernandez was drawn to working at a small firm in a borough with vast development potential.