Steel Peak: a website for a real estate investment firm

Website design and build for Steel Peak, a real estate investment firm: 2 desktop pages and a full-screen menu, one sentence above the fold on a dark stage.

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The engagement

Client: Steel Peak
Industry: Real estate investment
Year: To follow
Duration: To follow
Delivered: 2 desktop pages and the full-screen menu: the home page in 2 header variations and the Strategy page, built full stack
Stack: To follow
Role: Full-stack development: design and build of the website

Steel Peak is a Southern California real estate investment firm focused on industrial outdoor storage. Plainbuilt designed and built its website full stack: the home page in 2 header variations, the Strategy page and a full-screen menu, all at desktop width. The design rests on one line: a single white sentence above the fold on a near-black stage, with color only in the photographs.

Who is the site for?

Two readers. The brokers who bring Steel Peak deals, who get their own section on the home page (the four incentives) and their own page in the nav. And the investors who back those deals: the Strategy page says the firm invests directly and in partnership with high net-worth and institutional investors, and Investors is one of the six nav links. The phone and the email sit in the header of both pages and again in the menu and the footer, so either reader can reach the firm from wherever they stop.

What did Plainbuilt build?

The website, full stack. The home page runs hero, Acquisition Criteria, the broker incentives, the team, the press cards and the footer, on one near-black stage with faint column rules. The Strategy page carries the acquisition lede, the all-caps statement of the four strategies, the seven targeted site types and two photographs. The menu is a full-screen overlay with the six page links, the two legal links and the contact panel. The home page was designed in two header variations, an inline six-item nav with slash section labels and a hamburger icon with rule-line labels; the sections under each are the same.

What does the home page look like?

One sentence in white, then the sections in the order of the nav. Acquisition Criteria pairs a paragraph with an aerial of a truck yard. The broker incentives are a two-by-two block, two text tiles and two photo tiles. The team is four black-and-white portraits in a staggered grid, numbered / 01 to / 04. The press is three cards with a headline, a two-line excerpt and a Read more disc each. The footer repeats the logo, the phone, the email, the six links and the two legal pages, with the copyright line at the bottom.

Why is the whole site near-black?

Because the firm has one thing to say and three photographs to show. On a dark stage the white hero sentence is the first thing read, and the color of the truck yard, the boom lifts and the container yard reads as the subject rather than as decoration. Everything else, the portraits, the press photos, the buttons, stays in black, white and gray.

What does the home page say, top to bottom?

One sentence above the fold: Steel Peak is a real estate investment company focused on industrial outdoor storage. Then Acquisition Criteria beside an aerial of a truck yard, the broker incentives in four tiles, the four-person team, three press cards, and a footer that repeats the phone, the email, the six nav links, Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions. Every section sits on the same near-black stage with faint column rules; the only color is in the photographs.

What does Steel Peak offer brokers?

The section opens with the line that the firm views all brokers as partners of Steel Peak, and names four incentives: a Buyside Fee in addition to the seller-paid commission, Participation in The Promote with no investment required, the Ability To Invest in the deals a broker brings, and Exclusive Partner Trips for the top-performing brokers each year. The four sit in a two-by-two block, two text tiles and two photo tiles, with a Learn more disc on the left.

What does the Strategy page say Steel Peak looks for?

The lede: low coverage industrial sites with outdoor storage zoning and capitalized values from $5MM to $50MM. A full-width all-caps statement follows, naming value-add, re-leasing, sale lease-back and built-to-suit strategies, and investment directly and in partnership with high net-worth and institutional investors. A small paragraph lists seven targeted site types, from bulk material yards and heavy equipment dealers to container and trailer yards, transload facilities, truck terminals and fleet parking. Two photographs, boom lifts against a blue sky and a container yard from above, carry the page's only color; the three press cards and the footer close it.

How does the menu open?

A full-screen overlay on the same dark stage: the six page links in large type on the left, Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions beside them, and a right-hand panel with the logo, the firm's one-line description, Call Us with the phone and Drop Us Message with the email. A close cross sits at the top right and the copyright line runs along the bottom. The second home variation swaps the inline nav for a hamburger icon that opens this panel and the slash section labels for short rule lines; the sections underneath are the same.

How is the team shown?

Four black-and-white studio portraits in a staggered grid, the second and fourth dropped lower than the first and third, each numbered / 01 to / 04 with a name and a title under it: two Principal & Co-Founders and two Acquisitions Directors. One Learn more about them disc sits centered below. The stagger is the one place the page breaks its own grid.

The decisions

One sentence above the fold.
The hero holds one white sentence on a near-black stage, the firm's name in bold and what it does: nothing else, no photograph, no button. A visitor knows what Steel Peak is before scrolling.
Color only in the photographs.
Every section sits on the same near-black stage, headings in white, body text in gray, with diagonal hairline hatching in the hero corners and faint vertical column rules. The aerial truck yard, the boom lifts and the container yard are the only color on the site; the portraits and the press photos are black and white.
The sections are labeled like an index.
Each home section carries a slash label that matches a page in the nav: / STRATEGY over Acquisition Criteria, / BROKER INCENTIVES over the tiles, / PRESS over the articles. The team portraits are numbered / 01 to / 04 the same way, so the home page reads as a table of contents for the site.
One button shape everywhere.
Every action is the same round gray disc with a short label: Learn more, Read more, Explore more, Learn more about them. No rectangular buttons, no second style; each disc sits under its section's text, or at the top right of the press row.

What was the outcome?

Designed and built

One outcome per item, dated, or not disclosed: never an estimate.

More screens

Which of our services apply

Website development for service businesses

Common questions

Did Plainbuilt build the Steel Peak website?

Yes. Plainbuilt designed and built the site. The home page, the Strategy page and the full-screen menu are the screens shown here.

What is Steel Peak?

A Southern California real estate investment firm focused on industrial outdoor storage. Its Strategy page names what it seeks: low coverage industrial sites with outdoor storage zoning and capitalized values from $5MM to $50MM.

Can Plainbuilt design a website like this for a real estate firm?

Yes. One statement above the fold, the acquisition criteria, the broker terms, the team and the press, on one dark stage. Book a working session and bring the criteria.

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