Leading Voices in Real Estate

President, CEO, and Founder of Juniper Communities (an owner/operator of seniors housing) Lynne Katzmann joins Matt on this week’s episode of Leading Voices in Real Estate. Lynne founded Juniper Communities over 30 years ago and is the only woman-owned business among the top owners in the assisted living business and has been recognized by various organizations including Crain’s New York as one of the top women-owned businesses in the tri-state area. Lynne has been a leader for other seniors housing owners during COVID, providing transparency at the start of the pandemic in her vulnerable communities to now requiring staff members to be vaccinated. Additionally, she shares what it means to be a female CEO and company founder in a male-dominated industry, the hospitality model of seniors housing, and how she wants to leave the world a better place through her work.Lynne founded Juniper Communities in 1988, an organization that invests in, develops, and operates senior living and long-term care communities. In 2019, she was selected as the inaugural recipient of the McKnight’s Women of Distinction Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding contributions to senior living and skilled care; and in January 2020 she was inducted into the American Senior Housing Association Senior Living Hall of Fame.Lynne has held memberships and leadership roles in various professional and community organizations, including currently serving on the Board of Sabra Health, Board of Directors of the Elder Care Alliance, the Executive Board of the American Seniors Housing Association, the Advisory Board of Senior Living 100, the Board of Trustees of Partners for Health, the Board of Advisors of Tufts University Medical School, and as the Secretary and Treasurer on the Board of Trustees of Naropa University. Lynne holds a doctorate in health policy from the London School of Economics.

This week on Leading Voices in Real Estate, Matt is joined by Jeff Berkes, President and Chief Operating Officer of Federal Realty Investment Trust. Founded in 1962, Federal is one of the oldest US REITs and is focused on the ownership, operation, and development of high-quality retail properties—from grocery-anchored shopping centers to large-scale mixed-use neighborhoods. As a non-mall retail owner, Federal has seen continued stability and success, despite the challenges of COVID and the realignments in the retail real estate sector due to the impact of e-commerce. Jeff shares Federal’s “secret sauce” of building mixed-use projects with retail, office, and residential to help drive the organization’s success and innovations and how Federal has worked with core tenants, including the hard-hit restaurants and retailers, to cope with the challenges of operating during the COVID shutdowns.Jeff is responsible for leading Federal’s day-to-day property operating functions, including leasing, development, asset management, and acquisitions, on both the East and West Coasts.Jeff joined Federal in 2000 as chief investment officer, and in 2011, became president, Western Region, where he was charged with growing the company’s presence on that coast. During the period between 2011 and 2019, the property operating income of Federal’s West Coast portfolio more than doubled, representing over 10% compound annual growth.Prior to joining Federal, Jeff was vice president of acquisitions and finance for Velsor Properties, a Northern Virginia-based private real estate investment firm. He served as director of acquisitions for Federal from April 1997 to August 1998. Prior to that, he was vice president of acquisitions for Heitman Financial/JMB Institutional Realty Corp. He also worked as a loan officer for ITT Real Estate Services and as a regional investment analyst for CB/Richard Ellis prior to joining JMB.Jeff has an undergraduate degree in finance and real estate from University of Denver and a master of business administration in international finance from George Washington University. Jeff is an active member of The George Washington University Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis Advisory Board, the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

This week, Robin Hughes, President and CEO of Abode Communities, speaks with Matt about her experience and leadership in the affordable housing community. Abode Communities is a nonprofit owner, developer, and designer of affordable housing. Based in Los Angeles, the organization is one of the top 50 affordable housing developers nationally and is the premier provider of environmentally sustainable affordable housing in California. The conversation begins with a discussion on how COVID has impacted Abode’s and other affordable owner’s residents, an important dialogue as the pandemic has disproportionally affected low-income communities. Additionally, Robin shares how growing up in public housing as a young child brings a lived experience into her current role where she not only serves as the President and CEO of Abode but also serves on numerous boards and committees in the affordable housing space including as chair of the Housing Partnership Network. Robin also provides advice on how to bring more people of color into more senior roles in the commercial real estate industry.Robin has been actively involved in affordable housing and community development for more than 30 years and in her 25 years as leader of Abode Communities. Under Robin’s leadership, Abode Communities has developed nearly 50 residential and mixed-use Communities; created new affordable homes for some 12,000 California residents and provided a social safety net through Beyond Homes, the organization’s social services program.Robin is an industry leader in housing policy at the local, state, and federal level. She serves or has served on numerous boards, task forces and advisory bodies where she continues to advocate for resources, programs, and policies to support the production on and preservation on of affordable housing for low-income residents. Hughes was chair of the Affordable Housing Advisory Council for the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, a member of the JPMorgan Chase Community Advisory Board of Los Angeles, and has served on the board of directors for organizations such as Southern California Association on of Nonprofit Housing, Low Income Investment Fund, Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, and Mercy Housing California.Prior to joining Abode Communities, Hughes held positions in the private and public sectors including The Richmond Group of Companies, Citibank, the Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles, and the Office of the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles. Her experience is highlighted by four years as City Planning Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles. Robin was recognized by Huffington Post as “Person of the Day and Women in Business as Outstanding Nonprofit Director. Robin was recognized by Commercial Observer as Top 25 Real Estate Leaders in Los Angeles. She also won Black Business Association’s Executive Leadership Award and was featured on the cover of National Real Estate Investor as “Champion of Affordable Housing”.She received her masters and bachelor degrees in public administration from the University of Southern California, and received a certification from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Program.

Vicki Been, Deputy Mayor of Housing and Economic Development for New York City, joins Matt on this week’s episode of Leading Voices in Real Estate. Vicki oversees 25 agencies responsible for both economic development and housing initiatives for the City, a portfolio in which the issues have deepened and accelerated during COVID. Matt and Vicki discuss her work during COVID, positive changes to the urban fabric that will likely persist post-COVID like outdoor dining and closed-off streets as well as her responsibilities for preparing for future health emergencies. As the former head of the city’s housing agencies, we also discuss the ongoing housing affordability crisis. Furthermore, Vicki shares her career story, which includes growing up in a rural Colorado uranium mining town to her clerkship at the Supreme Court (where she also met her husband) to leading the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, and now her roles in city government.

This week, Matt speaks with real estate leader Walt Rakowich, former CEO of Prologis and author of the new book, Transfluence: How to Lead with Transformative Influence in Today’s Climates of Change. In the interview, Walt tells his career story, interspersed with leadership lessons along the way. Walt’s true crucible as a leader came first when he was President and COO of Prologis and he found himself unaligned with the style and decision making of the CEO, leading to Walt’s resignation from the firm…and then rejoining the firm, just months later, to restructure and rebuild the business after a crash that he had essentially foreseen. In our conversation, Walt discusses these lessons in leadership but we certainly recommend that you take a deep dive into his philosophy and practice of servant leadership in Transfluence.Prologis is a NYSE company and a member of the S&P 500. Prologis is a leading provider of distribution facilities and services with over $50 billion in assets and operations in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Walt was Co-CEO of Prologis and member of the Board of Directors from June 2011 through December 2012. He was CEO of Prologis from November 2008 through June 2011. He was a member of the Prologis Board of Trustees from January 2005 through June 2011.Prior to becoming CEO, Walt was the President and Chief Operating Officer of Prologis from January 2005 through November 2008. He joined Prologis in 1994. From December 1998 to January 2005, he served as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer for Prologis. Prior to this position, Walt was the Senior Vice President/Director of the company’s Mid-Atlantic region where he was responsible for expanding the reach of Prologis to the leading logistics markets in the Midwest and Atlantic states.Prior to joining Prologis, Walt spent nine years as a partner and principal with real estate provider Trammell Crow Company in Los Angeles. Before that, he was a senior audit and tax consultant for Price Waterhouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Walt received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and his B.S., with distinction, in Accounting from The Pennsylvania State University.Walt currently serves on the board of directors of Host Hotels & Resorts, where he is the company’s audit committee chairman and member of the governance committee; Iron Mountain Inc., where he is chairman of the audit committee and member of the governance and investment committees; and Ventas Inc., where he is chairman of the audit committee. All three are companies listed in the S&P 500. He also serves on the advisory council of Gender Fair. He has served as a member of the executive committee and the board of governors for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), the primary industry group for REITs in the United States.Walt was appointed to The Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees in 2014 and serves as chairman of the university board’s audit and risk committee. In 2010, the Penn State Alumni Association named Walt a Penn State Alumni Fellow, a lifetime designation and the highest award given by the association, recognizing outstanding professional achievement. He also has served on the real estate advisory boards of the Smeal College of Business at Penn State, The Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University and The Kellogg Graduate school of Management. In addition, he served on the Global Leadership Council at Colorado State University.Walt currently serves as chairman of the board of Colorado UpLift and is a member of the board of the Alliance for School Choice in Education (ACE) and of PIVOT, three non-profits focused on educating at risk children in the inner city.About TransfluenceWalt Rakowich brings a real-world perspective to leadership that’s based on experience, not just theory. Walt was CEO of Prologis, the world’s largest owner of industrial warehouses and a critical partner to companies distributing products throughout the global supply chain. The company was near bankruptcy when Walt took over at the height of the Great Recession. While leading Prologis back to prominence, and in the years since, Walt realized leaders today must lean into timeless values and principles, but with a fresh perspective on the new realities of our leadership climates.The modern leadership environment exists at the convergence of three distinct and dynamic climates: the climates of access, diversity, and acceleration. On their own or in the aggregate, these climates produce significant opportunities and tensions that will challenge leaders for generations. With a fundamental understanding of these climates, leaders develop a selfless approach that withstands the toughest storms.Transfluence shows leaders how they can have transformative influence by overcoming their fears and pride, building transparency into their leadership, developing a strong core of authentic values, and passionately pursuing a meaningful purpose. When leaders do this, they seize opportunities, embrace challenges, and make their organizations and communities greater than ever. Learn more or order Transfluence here.

John Helm, Managing Director and Founder of RET Ventures, joins Matt for this week’s episode of Leading Voices in Real Estate. RET Ventures is the first industry-backed early-stage venture fund focused on helping build cutting-edge real estate technology companies for the multifamily and single-family rental industries. John is our third guest from the proptech space (we previously featured Clara Brenner from the Urban Innovation Fund and Brad Greiwe from Fifth Wall). RET Ventures’ business model is differentiated in both its focus on the rental space and that all of their investors are owner-operators, creating a virtuous cycle between clients, customers, and investors. In the episode, John and Matt talk about the impact of technology on the rental housing business, the benefits of tenure and deep relationships in a relationship-oriented business, and John’s fascinating career journey.John also sits on the boards of Smart Rent, GiGstreem, Fernish, Moved, Lexicon, Sight Plan, Funnel and Opiniion. Prior to founding RET Ventures, John was a Venture Partner with DN Capital in Munich, Germany, ran and successfully exited two venture-backed real estate tech startups, was CFO of Marcus & Millichap, and a consultant at McKinsey & Company.

Today’s conversation is a re-release of the inaugural episode of Leading Voices, a conversation with then Mayor of Tacoma, WA and now, in 2021, a newly elected Congresswoman, Marilyn Strickland (D-WA). In this conversation, from 2017, Matt and then Mayor Strickland discuss the strategies for redevelopment that she used in Takoma, balancing neighborhood economic redevelopment neighborhood with the needs of the existing businesses and residents. We are re-releasing this conversation with Representative Strickland the week after last week’s chaos at the US Capitol, cognizant of the need for constructive leadership from our elected officials. As per the Seattle Times, “business friendly Strickland won…in a closely watched race mirroring a nationwide struggle between progressive and establishment liberals” and is the first African American to represent Washington State and the first Korean-American woman elected to Congress.

In this first episode of 2021, Matt interviews Paul Saffo, Silicon Valley based futurist, about long term trends and their impacts on our cities and workplaces. Paul places COVID-19 in perspective and talks about the trends affecting our global civilization, impacts on the real estate business, and the opportunities for the real estate industry “to become good ancestors” through our work in the built environment. This is a look forward — way forward – with the end of COVID in sight and the beginning of new times following 2020.

For the final episode of 2020, Matt speaks with Nancy Lashine, Managing Partner of Park Madison Partners and host of the podcast series, “Innovations in Real Estate”. Matt and Nancy interview each other about their respective careers, highlights from their podcasts, and current wisdom from their respective businesses. Nancy talks about the current drivers for institutional capital into real estate strategies from her perch as a capital raiser at Park Madison Partners and Matt talks about helping build teams and the need for talent in real estate organizations from his recruiting business at Terra Search Partners. This conversation is being released both on Leading Voices and on Nancy’s podcast, “Innovations in Real Estate”.Nancy is the Founder and Managing Partner of Park Madison Partners, a boutique real asset private equity placement firm. The firm is a leading advisor to investment management firms on their business strategy. Park Madison is headquartered in New York City and is a FINRA regulated broker dealer.Nancy has over 35 years of real estate and investment marketing experience. Prior to forming Park Madison Partners, Nancy was a strategic consultant advising leading institutional real estate investment managers on product development and the implementation of institutional marketing initiatives. Clients included Lehman Brothers, Angelo Gordon, ING Clarion, Sentinel Real Estate and JER Partners.Nancy was an early member of The O’Connor Group (1985-1995) and began her finance career at LF Rothschild, Unterberg and Towbin (1981-1985).Nancy earned her MBA at Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and a BFA, cum laude, from Case Western Reserve in Dance Theatre. She serves on several Boards including the Columbia MBA Real Estate Advisory Board, the Gibney Dance Center Board, and is a past board member of the Pension Real Estate Association. She is a member of ULI and WX (Executive Women in Real Estate).

During this episode of Leading Voices in Real Estate, Matt interviews Alan Gold, Executive Chairman of IQHQ, a start-up real estate company serving the life sciences industry. The episode serves as a continued exploration of different niches within the real estate business — serving the biotech/life sciences field requires unique knowledge and relationships and brings a special set of challenges as well as opportunities. Alan is a serial entrepreneur, having been a co-founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities and then the founder and CEO of BioMed Realty Trust (and its predecessor), which sold to Blackstone in 2016. He is now the Executive Chairman of both IQHQ, started in February of this year, as well as of Innovative Industrial Properties, the only NYSE cannabis REIT. In addition to drilling down on the life sciences real estate business, Matt and Alan talk about the benefits of specialization and of “bringing the band back together” in his companies.Prior to IQHQ, Alan founded Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. in 2016, the first publicly-traded REIT that provides real estate capital to the medical-use cannabis industry, and he currently serves as its Executive Chairman, a position he has held since its formation. Paul Smithers, CEO of Innovative Industrial Properties, was on Leading Voices in 2019.Additionally, Alan served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of BioMed, a REIT specializing in acquiring, leasing, developing and managing laboratory and office space for the life science industry, from its inception in 2004 through the sale of the company to Blackstone in January 2016. Alan also served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of BioMed’s privately-held predecessor, Bernardo Property Advisors, Inc., from 1998 until 2004. In addition, Alan was a co-founder and served as President and a director of Alexandria, an urban office REIT, from its predecessor’s inception in 1994 until 1998. Alan served as Managing Partner of GoldStone Real Estate Finance and Investments, a partnership engaged in the real estate and mortgage business, from 1989 to 1994.Alan currently serves as a member of the board of trustees for the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, a research organization dedicated to fundamental research in biology and its relation to health. Alan received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and his Master of Business Administration from San Diego State University.