Leading Voices in Real Estate

MultiGreen made a big splash in early 2020 at the World Economic Forum’s 50th Annual Meeting in Davos, announcing its intention to build 40,000 units of attainable, sustainable, tech-enabled workforce housing apartments over the next ten years. In this episode, Matt talks with MultiGreen Founder and Chairman, Randy Norton, who is leading this new venture towards this audacious and important goal. MultiGreen is backed by 60 of the world’s wealthiest families via its partnership with i(x) investments, an impact investment firm that is bringing long term investment to address major social problems like the housing crisisRandy has more than 20 years of real estate experience, namely Real Estate Development and Construction, Building Information Modeling (BIM), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Smartgrid Cogeneration and Renewable Energy with Intelligent Building IoT. Randy is also a Managing Partner, the Global Head of Real Estate and Alternative Investments at Green Mesa Capital, a single family office based in Henderson, Nevada. Additionally, he currently serves as a Trustee for the City of Henderson Nevada Public Improvement Trust, and is an Advisory Council Member at the UNLV Lee Business School-Lied Institute for Real Estate.Randy is a member of the CAIA Association, CCIM Institute, CFA Institute, Construction Financial Management Association, Institute of Real Estate Management, Sustainable Accounting Standards Board, ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance, U.S. Green Building Council, and is a Founding Executive Member of the Institute for Real Estate Operating Companies.Randy is a frequent speaker, moderator, and panelist, at industry events, including CalALTs, CAIA, CFA, CFMA, Connex, Context, Crittenden, iGlobal, IMN, IPI Campden, Linkbridge, Markets Group, Marcus Evans, Opal, Super Returns, select Universities, and is an annual ULI PwC Emerging Trends in Real Estate Interviewee.After graduating with University Honors in Korean and Business from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management, Randy completed executive programs at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and Columbia Business School-Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing. Randy was previously published in the Real Estate Finance Journal, Forbes, GreenSights, GuruFocus, Yahoo! Finance, and is Author of the pending book: “Applied Value Investing in Real Estate.”

Sheryl Palmer, Chairman and CEO of Taylor Morrison Home Corporation, joins as our second leading voice within the homebuilding industry (after Larry Webb, CEO of the New Home Company). Taylor Morrison is one of the nation’s top-ranked public homebuilders, following the company’s IPO in 2013, which Sheryl oversaw. With her college studies in special education and a career start in the sales and marketing department at McDonald’s, Sheryl shares how she came into the homebuilding business and how these prior, non-real estate experiences have influenced her consumer-first approach to the business. Additionally, we talk about Taylor Morrison and the homebuilding industry’s response to COVID-19 and her prognosis for the sector going forward. Throughout the conversation, Sheryl demonstrates candidness, both as an executive leader in business and in her non-work life, even sharing her personal experience with a life-threatening illness.Sheryl has overseen Taylor Morrison, the Scottsdale, Arizona based homebuilder, since 2007. Sheryl has the organization dedicated to implementing a business strategy focused on three priorities: pursuing strategic growth opportunities to deliver benefits of scale; enhanced operational excellence to drive company-wide efficiencies; and differentiating the customer experience Taylor Morrison provides all team members and homebuyers. Under Sheryl’s leadership, Taylor Morrison has been successful in creating trustworthy relationships with both its internal and external customers. In 2018, the company was named America’s Most Trusted Home Builder for the third consecutive year by Lifestory Research, and a Top 100 Best Places to Work by Glassdoor.Sheryl has spent most of her early career in the Arizona, California and Nevada real estate markets. Prior to Taylor Morrison, Sheryl served as Nevada Area President for Pulte and Del Webb after finishing 10 years as division president at Blackhawk Corporation, a builder of active adult communities based in northern California.Sheryl’s passions extend beyond homebuilding and enter the many realms of: parenthood, including her three children and four grandchildren; leadership and diversity; supporting veterans; solving for homelessness; and health and wellness.Sheryl is currently serving as the 2019-2020 Chairman of the National Board of Directors of HomeAid America, is on the Board of Directors of Interface Inc. and is an Executive Committee Member of the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) Policy Advisory Board at Harvard University. She is also the Chairman of the Board for the Building Talent Foundation, a non-profit division of Leading Builders of America.

Today Matt interviews David Schless, the President of the American Seniors Housing Association, to discuss the impact of COVID on seniors housing and his thoughts on the future of this business post-pandemic. The first hot spot for COVID in the US was at a nursing home in Washington State; the seniors housing industry has been at the forefront in responding to the crisis for its vulnerable residents and its workers on the front lines. David discusses the tremendous response of the industry and the future of the seniors housing business, for which the demographic trends continue to suggest significant growth and opportunity.David has served as ASHA’s President since its creation by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) in 1991. With over 30 years of industry experience, David has an extensive understanding of seniors housing research, policy and regulatory issues, and an intimate knowledge of the seniors housing business. He is currently involved with the Alzheimer’s Association Brain Ball Committee, the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures, the Granger Cobb Institute for Senior Living at Washington State University and serves on the editorial board of the Seniors Housing & Care Journal. David has been honored as a Distinguished Alumnus by both the University of Connecticut and the University of North Texas for his work on behalf of seniors.David holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Center for Aging and Human Development at the University of Connecticut, and a Master of Science degree from the Department of Applied Gerontology/Center for Studies in Aging at the University of North Texas.

In our Leading Voices in Real Estate season five premiere, Matt is rejoined by Tammy Jones, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Basis Investment Group, a real estate investment manager primarily focused on debt and structured equity strategies. Tammy was a participant on the Black Voices in Real Estate episode released in June, where she shared her experience as a Black woman in the real estate industry and the opportunities for change in racial equity in our business. Now four months later, this episode continues with a discussion on whether the Black Lives Matter moment offers a temporary or permanent path towards inclusion in our business. Tammy also shares her experience building a career as a Black woman in the business and starting Basis Investment Group as one of the few certified Minority and Woman-Owned Businesses in real estate investment management. Tammy tells us her career journey, from becoming the first female in her family to attend college to founding her own business.Now at 80+ episodes of Leading Voices in Real Estate and in the fall of this year-to-remember, we are embarking on a new Season Five of the podcast. Through the entire Leading Voices series, we have had the opportunity to share the career journeys and countless stories from people, across the wide range of the real estate industry, who have built great companies and made a difference in our built environment. In this time of COVID, social and political change especially around social equity, and new realities quickening around climate change, the impacts on, and responsibilities from, the real estate business are enormous. We will continue, through our conversations in this season of Leading Voices to both tell the career and leadership journeys and lessons that have always been a part of Leading Voices alongside discussions around these real topics deeply affecting our industry. Thanks to our long time listeners for joining us in these conversations.

In honor of John Stewart’s memory, we are rebroadcasting his Leading Voices interview from December 2018. John passed away last week after a two-year battle with cancer. He was the founder of The John Stewart Company, a developer of low and mixed-income housing and the country’s 6th largest manager of affordable housing. John was a personal friend of Matt’s and an inspiration throughout his career. He views John as one of the Bay Area’s leading voices who was a tireless advocate across the range of social justice issues, particularly around low-income housing and the challenges of our current politics. John was a generous mentor to many with an inimitable voice and perspective; we are pleased to share this episode again. John will be sorely missed and deeply remembered.From original release:John Stewart is the Founder and Chair of the John Stewart Company, a San Francisco-based owner, developer, and manager of affordable and mixed-income housing, founded in 1978 with three employees.From Aerospace to Affordable HousingJohn grew up in California, graduating from Stanford in 1956 with a liberal arts degree and a focus on history and finance. When he was recruited by U.S. Steel, he moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles but found that the large corporate culture wasn’t a good fit for his entrepreneurial mindset. He switched to TRW as a young management trainee and moved in 1964 to Houston to join TRW’s new offices at the Johnson Space Center.“In careers, once in a while there’s sort of a choice point… we saw the astronauts and NASA up close and personal, but I was also interested in finding out about life in a Southern city.”John showed up as an out-of-towner at the Houston Council on Human Relations to see how he could help and get involved. He joined its low-income housing committee and soon became Chair. His activism quickly caught the Mayor’s attention, who requested that TRW fund a paid leave and lend John to the city for a year to chair the City’s Citizen’s Committee on Affordable Housing. TRW agreed.Founding John Stewart CompanyJohn became so interested in housing that when his year was up, that he headed back to Los Angeles with TRW and encouraged them to apply for HUD’s (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) Operation Breakthrough for manufactured housing.TRW was selected, and built nearly a thousand modular affordable housing units in Sacramento and New Mexico; however, manufactured housing was not profitable and John decided to make an offer to acquire 500 units of section 236 multi-family housing from TRW, and the John Stewart Company was born.“One of the few things I did right was plan for capital losses. Every start-up book I read said the dominant reason for failure in small businesses is undercapitalization, so I assumed two years of losses and that’s what it was.”John shares how he capitalized on other’s mistakes by buying and investing in properties that were about to go into assignment or foreclosure. In the process he built trust with HUD. When President Ronald Reagan implemented the low-income tax-credit program in 1984, he began using these credits as an alternative method of financing.“I’ve found that if you are just doing management, particularly low income, with a lot of challenging residents, you don’t last long… it helps to have another line of work, and that would be the development side, the acquisition, the rehab.”In the last 15 years, the company has gone beyond acquisition to also develop new construction projects. John shares that he especially likes working with non-profit corporations in joint ventures because they complement one another.And while he admits that he has had deals that go sideways – there is always a risk – everyone he works with wants to build products that are architecturally attractive and “pencil out.” This is what makes working in this industry fulfilling.After 25 years John sold his company to Southern California Edison. In another choice point, after 5 years he bought it back mainly due to differing views on the company mission. Now, John is proud to have partners that he works with who have been with him for years and who he trusts completely.Tackling HomelessnessWhile others may argue it’s a waste of money, John emphasizes the importance of creating good-looking, market quality housing for low-income people.“My argument is that form and function are connected. You build a schlock product, people will treat it like a schlock product. You build something elegant, they treat it well, with respect, and your turnover is less.”John has found this approach has also helped change the perspective of neighborhoods who are initially opposed to development. When they encounter this dynamic, they bring doubtful prospective tenants and neighbors inside other John Stewart Company Developments to give them a palpable sense of what the new residence will be. Once the tenants and surrounding residents talk to the management, see the quality of the space, the screenings of residents, and the security, it has a very positive effect.ChallengeIf you’re in the affordable housing business with a purely financial bent, then this isn’t your cup of tea. But if you’re comfortable with moderate, reasonable returns, and can accept the risk, this is for you. At the end of the day, you’ve created an attractive physical product that’s a difference-maker in society.

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 VisionaryGerald 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 LinksThe Hines WebsiteRaising 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 Covid. They also discuss the long-term trends of retail and the additional impacts Covid may have on the retail sector. Acadia Realty Trust specializes in the acquisition, redevelopment, and management of retail properties with an ownership interest in over 100 properties totaling approximately $4 billion in value.Ken co-founded Acadia in 1998. Acadia is also the manager of a series of discretionary institutional acquisition funds. Acadia is currently investing on behalf its Fund V, which is capitalized to acquire $1.5 billion dollars of retail properties.Along with his responsibilities at Acadia, Ken is a past Trustee of the Board of Trustees of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and served as the 2017/2018 Chairman. Ken served as Chief Operating Officer of RD Capital until its merger with Mark Centers Trust in 1998, creating Acadia Realty Trust. Prior to that, Ken was an associate with the New York law firm of Battle Fowler, LLP.Ken received his BA from the University of Vermont and his JD from Boston University School of Law. In addition to being a member of the World President’s Organization (YPO-WPO), where he was the founding chairman of the Real Estate Network, he currently sits on the Board of Advisors. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Golub Capital (NASDAQ:GBDC).

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.

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 GuestsTammy K. Jones, Co-Founder & CEO | Basis Investment GroupSince 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 ManagementDaryl 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.Tyrone Roderick Williams, Deputy Executive Director | Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment AgencyTyrone 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 CommunitiesRobin 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 PartnersBill pairs his twenty-five-year tenure in commercial real estate with the past twelve years he’s worked as Partner at Terra Search Partners, a national executive search firm focused exclusively on the real estate industry. He provides both Terra and his clients with deep industry insights and context across a broad spectrum of senior and executive-level real estate functions including senior-level finance and capital markets, organizational structure and strategy, asset and property management, acquisitions, development and leasing roles.Cedric Bobo, Co-Founder & CEO | Project DestinedCedric Bobo is the Co-Founder and CEO of Project Destined, a social impact vehicle that trains urban youth and military veterans to be owners and stakeholders in the communities in which they live, work and play. Prior to founding Project Destined, Cedric spent over 20 years as an investor and investment banker including over 10 years at the The Carlyle Group where he committed over $2 Billion of equity capital. In 2015, Cedric was named to the“10 Top Powerful Black People on Wall Street You Should Know.”ResourcesArticlesBeyond “Best Efforts”: Why Commercial Real Estate Needs to Catch Up on Diversity (Featured in UrbanLand by Kirk Sikes, Evan Mitchell, and Sommer Heyman)Catalyst’s Action Plan (By Jordan Moss, Founder of Catalyst Housing Group)PodcastWhy Ta-Nehisi Coates is Hopeful (Featured in Vox by Ezra Klein)OrganizationsThe Real Estate Executive CouncilThe Toigo FoundationVideosCommunities in Crisis and a Call to Action: A Conversation with Doug Bibby and Daryl Carter (National Multifamily Housing Council)I Am Not Your Negro (2016 Documentary Directed By Raoul Peck)BookThe Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America (By Richard Rothstein)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.