After Hours

Words of Wisdom

Land expert Greg Vogel reaps industry insight from Arizona’s history

By ELINOR TUTORA

Bookshelves cover the walls of Greg Vogel’s private collection space, nicknamed the “book lounge.” They brim with antique and modern manuscripts on topics such as water, land, biographies and the Southwest.

Vogel, CEO and founder of Land Advisors Organizatiom, specializes in providing brokerage and advising services for those acquiring, selling, financing or developing land. His passion for history has provided him with a deep understanding of the core of his business. He is knowledgeable in land economics, use and trends and has become a trusted broker and advisor to his clients.

Shortly after moving to the Grand Canyon State from New Jersey to attend Arizona State University and earning a bachelor’s degree in real estate, Greg Vogel founded Land Advisors in 1987, known then as Arizona Land Advisors. He and his team have since expanded into 26 markets and, in 2021, secured $4 billion in land trade, marking the firm’s best year of closure to date.

Before starting Land Advisors, Vogel interned at CBRE, where his passion for maps and the land history of the Southwest was launched. At age 19, he began putting land ownership into a database and knocking on doors, learning the histories of many families that have been in the region for generations. That database now includes millions of parcels, and Vogel is still in touch with many of the residents.

Vogel explains that he has always been an avid reader and in college his reading became embedded in the state’s history. Exploring the state via four-wheeler gave him an opportunity to get to know specific areas, leading to an interest in those places’ histories and the people who established them.

“I’ve got old biographies of all the pioneers and settlers who came out here and took a chance,” he says.

He began accumulating historic printed materials in the early 1990s, and his collection now includes thousands of books and maps. The need for a private space in which to store and display all the items came about when, after already owning about 1,000 volumes, he acquired 6,000 books all at once with no place for them.

It took him approximately a year and a half to unpack the nearly 200 boxes he moved into the space, and even now, with walls of shelving, his collection is so massive that there are books stacked behind the visible titles.

Over the years, the space has progressed from bean bags and card tables to the functional and stylish lounge it is today. In addition to the many books, maps, paintings, antiques and collectibles from the Southwest, it is outfitted with elegant furnishings and a small bar. Vogel recently opened the room to friends and acquaintances and began hosting events and meetings, such as book clubs.

“It has been great to share it with people, especially because all through the pandemic, it was a little bit of a hideout for me,” he says.

Vogel’s oldest map is an original 1620s map of the Americas. Another one, from the 1680s, features California as an island and excludes much of the land that makes up Canada. An 1886 mid-Civil War map shows Arizona split into a horizontal rectangle under New Mexico, and Arizona is spelled with two r’s.

Most of the collection was curated through antiquarian book dealers. Vogel notes that there used to be five in Arizona; today, there are only two. When visiting new cities, he always patronizes vintage book shops, and the digital age has brought about a whole new way to research and buy books. The internet allows the bibliophile to make sure he is getting the best copy of any given text.

“Now it’s more hunting digitally than being on my knees looking through treasure troves at old bookstores,” Vogel says. “I like doing both, but I do love the smell of books and meeting people who are also passionate about collecting.”

Vogel reaches for a thick leatherbound book, slightly worn around the edges with the word “Biography” on it. This prized tome, titled “Biography of Arizona,” includes stories of pioneers and a plethora of information about the makings of infrastructure that still exists today.

Not one to simply savor the works of other historians, Vogel currently is writing his own record of land in Arizona.

“History is rooted in the land,” he explains. “We have the concept of knowing where this all came from. So I try to understand the lineage of families and what brought them here. I always hear these fabulous stories, and I think that the deeper interest for the past 35 years in places such as Buckeye is odd because, for a long time, no one wanted to go out there to build homes or do commerce.”

After almost three decades of studying the Southwest’s unique and storied history, Vogel has gained an incomparable understanding of the region’s land history that sets him apart in the industry. His love of books, maps and related ephemera not only enhances his work but is a source of joy that he enjoys sharing with clients and those who are interested in what makes Arizona the booming state it is today.