Leading Voices in Real Estate

In honor of Gerald Hines’ legacy, we are rebroadcasting his interview from the spring of 2018. Mr. Hines passed away last week at the age of 95, having inspired generations of leaders in the real estate industry. He founded Hines in 1957 as a developer of office properties and has built some of the most iconic city landscapes in Houston, London, San Francisco, and other major cities around the globe. Hines is renowned for not only creating the highest quality buildings in the market but for partnering with the world’s best architects. Mr. Hines’ leadership within the company and the greater real estate community will be sorely missed. Gerald Hines | Industry Legend, Developer, and Visionary Gerald Hines founded his business in 1957 as a developer of office properties. His namesake company now has a presence in 201 cities and 24 countries, and manages over $110 billion in property. Hines is renowned for not only creating the highest quality buildings in the market, but for partnering with the world’s best architects. The Beginning: Born in Gary, IN in 1925, Hines was the child of parents who came on a boat from Nova Scotia. Growing up, he ran cross country and track and is proud to share that his team won the city championships. He entered college at Purdue early, completing 3 semesters of studies before joining the Army at 18. While in the service, he was part of the Army Corps of Engineers, and his travels introduced him to the inspiring architecture in Seattle and Tacoma. After the Army, Hines returned to school to complete his Mechanical Engineering degree and spent some time selling engineering equipment. He made the leap to development when his neighbor needed a building for 5,000 square feet and Hines said, “let me build it.” This catapulted his career and he began working with larger companies and properties. Growth: “We just evolved… the brokers seemed to get the fact that we had a very high hit rate and so that attracted the better brokers to us with their projects, and quality and good value sustained our entry into that.” The timing was perfect, as Texas was expanding and companies were moving there, so there was a lot of new construction. Hines’ reputation for quality and straight shooting helped them grow. Hines recalls his first big project for Shell, building their new headquarters in Texas. He worked with architect Bruce Graham of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill on it, and for the pitch, they used a fancy German lock set to denote the quality of the project they were going to create – and they won. He went on to work with architects like Phillip Johnson on Pennzoil, and create iconic buildings like New York City’s Lipstick building, The Galleria in Houston, and the Marche St. Germain in France. Business Culture: Hines emphasizes the importance of a strong business culture, rooted in integrity. “I think our (team) all realize what integrity means and we stand by our word. We treat people fairly and that’s very important to all of us.” Episode Links * The Hines Website* Raising the Bar: The Life and Work of Gerald D. Hines

In this episode, Matt discusses the retail sector with Ken Bernstein, President and Chief Executive Officer of Acadia Realty Trust. Ken talks about the fundamental reworking of the sector due to what he terms the “Retail Armageddon,” a trend that was taking place well before COVID19.

Conor Dougherty is an Economics and Housing Reporter at The New York Times who recently published Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America. His book explores the housing affordability crisis by weaving stories from the front lines of real estate development, investment, struggling families, government officials, and both NIMBYs and YIMBYs in California. This interview provides the perspective of an outside observer of the real estate industry thinking about the roots of the lack of adequate supply and development, the dynamics of real estate investment, and potential solutions to create more housing. Conor articulates the complexity of the problem, understanding the combination of deep emotions and interests that bring wildly different perspectives around real estate. He has been reporting on business and economics for two decades and previously worked at The Wall Street Journal and San Diego Union-Tribune. Dougherty lives in Oakland with his wife and two children. 

Andy Cohen is the Co-CEO of Gensler, the leading global design firm, which includes 6,300+ people networked across 50 offices and serving clients in 120+ countries. He joins Matt for another interview in our series of conversations on leadership in the real estate space amidst the Covid crisis. With his global perspective, Andy shares his thoughts on what the office landscape may look like both in our current constrained return to work and post-vaccine, the future and potential reinvention of cities post-pandemic, and how a senior leader has responded within his company to Covid and issues surrounding equity in the workplace. This episode is the first of Leading Voices in Real Estate that returns to a company as Matt interviewed Art Gensler, Founder of Gensler, in November 2018. Listen to Art’s full episode here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ziLahD3Lnw&feature=emb_title

This is a special episode of Leading Voices in Real Estate featuring conversations with six Black real estate leaders, each of whom speaks with Matt about their personal experiences and their thoughts on how our industry can address inequalities and systemic racism in our companies, our work in the built environment, and in the real estate sector broadly. Featured Guests Tammy K. Jones, Co-Founder & CEO | Basis Investment Group Since 2009, Tammy has served as both Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Basis Investment Group, a multi-strategy commercial real estate investment platform she founded with JEMB Realty Corporation that acquires and originates a variety of senior and subordinated loans, preferred equity and joint venture equity positions on behalf of its investors.  Under her leadership, Basis has succeeded in closing nearly $2.7 billion in commercial real estate debt and structured equity-related investments across the United States. Tammy has more than 24 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, investing and lending on CRE assets her entire career on behalf of large pension funds and institutional investors including Equitable Real Estate, GMACCM, and CWCapital. Daryl Carter, Chairman & CEO | Avanath Capital Management Daryl is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Avanath Capital Management, a California-based investment firm that acquires, renovates, and operates apartment properties, with an emphasis on affordable and workforce communities. He directs the overall strategy and operations of the Company.  Since its formation in 2008, Avanath has acquired $2.5 billion of properties in 13 states in the U.S., comprising 10,000 apartment units. Listen to Daryl’s Leading Voices in Real Estate episode. Tyrone Roderick Williams, Deputy Executive Director | Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency Tyrone is the Deputy Executive Director at the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. His development activities have been at the forefront of affordable housing and comprehensive neighborhood transformation efforts in Boston, Houston, Atlanta and Sacramento. His experience includes leading developments in the for-profit, nonprofit, philanthropic and government sectors. He is an industry leader in affordable housing finance, community development, organizational management, and cross-sector collaborations. He directs the affordable housing, community development and project financing activities for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, Sacramento Housing Authority, Sacramento County Housing authority, the City of Sacramento and Sacramento County. Robin Hughes, President & CEO | Abode Communities Robin Hughes is President and Chief Executive Officer of Abode Communities, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit architect, developer, manager and operator of service-enhanced affordable housing. She has been actively involved in affordable housing and community development for over 30 years and in her 23 years as leader of Abode Communities, Hughes has transformed the organization into an Affordable Housing Finance Top 50 Developer nationwide and the premier provider of environmentally sustainable affordable housing in California. Bill Whitlow, Partner | Terra Search Partners

Mary Ludgin is one of the best big-picture, strategic minds in the commercial real estate investment business. She is the Head of Global Research at Heitman, a global real estate investment management firm with $45.5 billion in assets under management. The initial interview focused mostly on the effects of COVID on the built environment, with a fascinating discussion on ripples of the COVID crisis post-vaccine, both from a national and global perspective. Recorded a week prior to the George Floyd killing and the resulting national outcry, Matt had a follow-up conversation with Mary on June 3rd to discuss issues relating to social and racial equity in our country, the current unrest, and opportunities for the real estate industry to do better. Mary is Heitman’s Senior Managing Director, Head of Global Research and an equity owner of the firm. She is a member of the firm’s Board of Managers, Global Management Committee, North American Private Equity Valuation Committee, and Private Equity and Debt Investment Committees. She is the author of numerous articles and research studies relating to real estate markets, portfolio management and strategy. Prior to joining Heitman, she was an urban planner for the City of Chicago and she worked in retail site location. Mary received an AB from Vassar College and an MA and PhD from Northwestern University. She is a Governing Trustee of the Urban Land Institute and sits on its Global Board of Directors. Mary also chairs ULI’s Chicago District Council. Among other professional affiliations, she served two terms on the board of the Pension Real Estate Association and was its president. Mary is also a former president of the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries. She was named a fellow of the Homer Hoyt Institute in 2000, is a docent for the Chicago Architecture Foundation and is a member of the board of the Metropolitan Planning Council of Chicago. Leading Voices in Real Estate has tried to present conversations with leaders in the real estate world from a diverse set of backgrounds, with different perspectives, and from all sectors of the industry. We will be working to bring more leaders of color into the conversation and will be thinking, with all of our guests, how our industry can better address inequities internally within our companies and in the work that we do.

Amy Rose, President and CEO of Rose Associates, joins Matt for this week’s Leading Voices in Real Estate interview. Rose Associates is one of the largest, most storied apartment owners and managers in New York City with over $15 billion of assets under management and over 17,000 units owned or operated. Amy is a third-generation leader of this company originally founded by her grandfather and great uncle and is Rose Associate’s first female CEO. Most of the podcast is a deep dive into how her firm is dealing on a day-to-day basis with the COVID-19 crisis in the highly impacted New York market. Her insight provides commentary on the importance of civic leadership during Covid, the responsibility of owners and developers to their tenants and community, and the resilience of New York City to bounce back from this crisis. Additionally, the episode concludes with Amy sharing her unique real estate story, including the history of the family company and the importance of female leadership in the industry. Amy is responsible for managing the company, formulating and executing long-term strategies, sourcing new business, capital and investments, and driving the company’s focus on acquiring and adapting high quality assets.  Under her direction, the firm has completed over $2.24 billion in acquisition and development projects in the last five years.  Additionally, she oversees the Rose property management and operations platform which delivers a full range of services designed to increase revenue and enhance asset value for over 14,000 units in the New York marketplace. During her tenure, Rose Associates became one of the region’s top property management firms with a primary focus on rental properties.   Amy is a frequent speaker in premier professional conferences and participates as a guest lecturer at The NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate and Columbia Business School. She was recognized by Bisnow as one of the 2018 and 2019 New York Power Women and Real Estate Forum named her as one of the 2016 Women of Influence. Amy holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan. She serves on the Board of Directors of Griffin Industrial Realty, Inc. and The Real Estate Roundtable as well as the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee of The Real Estate Board of New York. She is an active member of Urban Land Institute, The Young Men’s/ Women’s Real Estate Association of New York, WX, New York Women Executives in Real Estate and The Young Presidents’ Organization. Amy serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council of Literature, Science and Arts and the Ross Real Estate Advisory Board at the University of Michigan. She is a Member of the Board of Directors of The Jewish Museum.

This week’s episode features a real estate legend: Leonard Wood, the Founder and Former CEO of Wood Partners, one of the nation’s leading apartment builders. Leonard talks about leadership lessons learned and important values for the real estate industry. He also addresses potential issues for the next generation of real estate leaders as the industry moves into a post COVID world of urban development.

As we enter the second month of the Covid-19 lockdown, Matt met with longtime industry colleague and friend Doug Bibby, President of the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), the leading trade association for the apartment industry. In addition to discussing the implications of the national crisis on the multifamily housing, Matt and Doug unwrap the significant evolution of the apartment industry over the past two decades. The conversation with Doug provides prior context of the multifamily housing industry, shares resources and strategies that the industry is implementing during the crisis including NMHC’s Rent Tracker, and the industry’s continued agenda around affordable housing, fighting NIMBYism, rent control, and overall housing supply. The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) is a national organization of more than 1,400 member firms involved in the nearly $2 trillion multifamily housing industry.  Under Doug’s leadership NMHC represents the industry on Capitol Hill and before the regulatory agencies, promotes research and the exchange of information, and advocates for rental housing across a broad spectrum of issues. Prior to joining NMHC, Doug spent 16 years as a senior officer of Fannie Mae, where he served on the company’s Management Committee throughout his tenure. He was part of the top management team that is credited with the remarkable turnaround at Fannie Mae in the book Good to Great.  Doug began his career with the worldwide communications firm J. Walter Thompson where he served a variety of clients both domestically and internationally over his 12-year career with the company. At the time of his departure from J. Walter Thompson, he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the firm’s Washington, D.C. operations. He has been active in the non-profit community of Washington, D.C. for the past 30 years.  Doug graduated from Denison University with a B.A. degree and was honored with the university’s Alumni Citation Award in 2004. He also holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Special Episode: Covid-19’s Impact on Commercial Real Estate With so much uncertainty in the world due to Covid-19, Matt sat down (virtually) with Spencer Levy, Chairman, Americas Research & Senior Economic Advisor at CBRE, on March 24 to discuss the impact this crisis has across all sectors of commercial real estate. This is a special episode focused on Covid-19, versus our ongoing conversations which are geared towards leadership and the business of our guests. Spencer outlines the potential implications the pandemic has across various sectors including multifamily, retail, industrial, and office and digs into the impacts on a few specialty product types like co-working, seniors housing, data centers, and self-storage. The discussion provides commentary on the immediate response while touching on potential short-term and long-term effects this may have on real estate and the world economy, taking a globalized approach and looking at current government response. In addition to the conversation about Covid-19, Spencer introduces CBRE’s Global Outlook 2030 report and acknowledges that while there will be immediate and short-term impacts on commercial real estate, addressed trends likely will continue into the decade. Some of these trends include the global adoption of U.S.-style institutional ownership and management of multifamily communities and widespread automation of commercial real estate valuation services. Spencer Levy is the Chairman of Americas Research and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE, the largest commercial real estate firm in the world. Spencer is the chief spokesman on real estate matters for CBRE in the Americas. He is regularly quoted in major business publications and frequently is a guest on business television, including Bloomberg, CNBC, PBS and Fox Business. He is widely considered one of the finest commentators in the entire Commercial Real Estate industry. By leveraging his 23 years of experience in commercial real estate, including the past 11 at CBRE, Spencer has redefined the role of research leader. Spencer combines his experience as a lawyer, investment banker and capital markets leader to create presentations that go deep and touch on all aspects of commercial real estate. Combined with his unique and engaging presenting style, this makes him one of the most respected commentators and advisors in the business. Spencer regularly speaks at major events of the country’s leading commercial real estate organizations, including CORENET, NAIOP, ULI, ICSC, NAREIM and CREW. He also has guest lectured at major universities, including his alma maters Harvard and Cornell, in addition to Columbia, NYU, Johns Hopkins, Indiana, Georgetown, Pitt, Auburn and many others. Spencer is a recipient of multiple industry awards, including the CORENET Luminary Award for Excellence in Public Speaking, the CBRE Trammell Crow Master Builder Award, the CBRE Gary J. Bebon Teamwork Award, the CBRE Capital Markets “MVP”, and was named a State of Maryland Influencer in Real Estate. While a New Yorker for most of his life, Spencer currently hails from Baltimore and is a proud husband of 19 years and father of three children. Spencer sits on the boards of the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women and Harvard Alumni Real Estate. We hope that you enjoy this episode and find the conversation to be helpful as you are navigating the crisis in your personal lives as well as in your business endeavors.

Today’s conversation with Maria Hawthorne, President and CEO of PS Business Parks, explores how her quiet confidence led to unexpected leadership.

Recorded in front of an audience at a ULI Young Leaders event in Los Angeles, Matt sat down with Ricardo Pagan, Founder and CEO of Claridge Properties, a 100% minority-owned real estate investment and development firm. Throughout his career, he has completed well over $1 Billion in acquisitions and development of assets in New York City, Los Angeles, Detroit, Atlanta, and Phoenix encompassing well over 3,500 residential units and over 500,000 SF of office space.

This week’s episode of Leading Voices in Real Estate features Alex Mehran Sr., the Chairman of the Board of Sunset Development Corporation and the immediate past Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Sunset Development was founded in 1951 by Alex’s father who had emigrated from Iran, and today it is in its third generation of leadership, run by Alex’s son. Under Alex’s leadership, the company acquired and developed Bishop Ranch, a 585-acre mixed-use community in the Bay Area with best-in-class offices, retail, and entertainment. The development includes over 9.5 million square feet in workspace for 30,000 employees with 600 tenants including IBM, AT&T, Chevron, and GE Digital. Matt and Alex discuss the constant evolution of suburban office park developments, the successes of a multi-generational family business, and Alex’s civic leadership roles.

Ben Harris, CEO of Link Industrial Properties, Blackstone’s industrial sector operating platform, joins us for this week’s episode of Leading Voices in Real Estate. In the episode, we dive into the drivers of the robust industrial sector, especially how the overall secular changes in retail, logistics, and distribution are driving a re-make of the industrial real estate business. We also discuss Blackstone’s approach to Link and its businesses in other real estate sectors, both from the investment and operating angles, and the extraordinary growth of the Link platform from a start up to a 355-million square foot business in just over a year. And as always, we talk about Ben and his career path into this role.

With almost 40 years under his belt at Wells Fargo, Mark Myers is the bank’s Head of Commercial Real Estate. Under his leadership, Wells Fargo has been the #1 commercial real estate lender for the last 10 years. As a longtime leader in this space along with his upcoming retirement in February 2020, Mark shares his perspective on the vast changes in the real estate capital markets over this period and reflects on his career. He also expands on his outlook of the current markets and what he sees is a stable infrastructure moving forward for the business.