Leading Voices in Real Estate

In this rebroadcast-with-an-update, Mitchell Silver, now Principal of Urban Planning at McAdams and formerly NYC Commissioner of Parks, explores the lasting impact of work-from-home and the recovery of our urban fabric post-pandemic.

In honor of Sam Zell, real estate legend and trailblazer, we revisit our 2016 conversation about how he built his real estate empire.

Justin Wheeler, CEO of Berkadia, talks about his finance and investment sales focused platform, the story of his business, and the culture behind their success.

Brett White, Executive Chair of Cushman & Wakefield and prior CEO of CBRE, discusses the evolution of today’s global giant real estate services platforms.

Antonio Marquez, Principal and Managing Partner at Comunidad Partners, talks about his firm’s focus on workforce housing and their community oriented, impact investment business model.

I’m trading places this week, and I’m the guest! Enjoy this rebroadcast of my interview on Juniper Square’s The Distribution podcast with Brandon Sedloff.

Ismael Guerrero, President and CEO of Mercy Housing, dissects the housing affordability crisis, subsidized housing, and stewardship of public dollars.

Christopher Hawthorne, Senior Critic at the Yale School of Architecture, discusses why collective spaces deserve intentional design and public support.

Jordan Slone, Chairman and CEO of Harbor Group International, talks about the secrets to the growth of his company’s now $20 billion AUM portfolio.

This week’s podcast guest is Chris Merrill, the co-founder and CEO of Harrison Street, a $55 billion family of real estate funds focused on demographically-driven real estate niche sectors such as student housing, senior housing, life science, self-storage and infrastructure throughout the U.S., Canada and Western Europe.He talks about their strategy as a break out from the four main real estate “food groups” and how their strategy is “de-risked” both by focusing on these multiple niche sectors and through working through multiple operating partners in each business.Chris shares about his starting the company with his long time mentor, Chris Galvin, the prior CEO of Motorola. He talks about how the partnership with Galvin focused Harrison Street’s business strategy around these alternative real estate asset classes and a spirit of innovation rather than following the herd in the business. He also talks about recapitalizing the company with an investment by Colliers Group International and the synergies that enabled the company’s tremendous growth and new opportunities for his teammates. Chris shares about the growth, evolution and the natural progression into new investment areas for the firm, including internationally, and how he is mentoring and providing opportunities for the next generation of leaders in his business.Related Episodes: Kevin Marchetti | Leading Voices EpisodeBill Stein | Leading Voices EpisodeChris Hartung & Michael Van Konynenburg | Leading VoicesResources:Harrison Street | WebsiteChristopher Merrill | HS Website