Leading Voices in Real Estate

On this episode of Leading Voices, Matt is joined by David Stanford, founder of RealFoundations. RealFoundations is a professional services firm focused on “helping companies that develop, build, own, operate, service, occupy, or invest in real estate make smarter, more profitable decisions. We make real estate run better.” David and Matt discuss the thesis that, as real estate companies become of institutional scale, the “operating platform” of the business can move the needle more than the transactional side of the business. David and Matt dive deep into how strategy, operations, technologies, culture, and training can move the needle with significant NOI swings.David has over 30 years of experience providing strategic financial and operational improvement services to clients in the property and building industries. David leads RealFoundations’ Owner/Operator and Investment Management practices and is responsible for the corporate development activities of the firm. Additionally, he is responsible for implementing the global presence and alliance program of RealFoundations.David is highly experienced in providing large-scale operational and technology services to private and public real estate owner/operators and institutional investors. He has directed client teams in the execution of large business improvement projects, long-range technology plans, packaged technology selections and solution implementations. David is also highly experienced in assisting management teams with strategy, development, and operating model transformations. Some of his clients include the most respected real estate organizations in the world, including Blackstone, GIC, J.P. Morgan, Greystar, Walmart, KIMCO, Hines Interests, Brookfield, and Invitation Homes.Prior to founding RealFoundations David was a Partner of Ernst & Young’s real estate practice in Dallas. He also worked in the Transaction Advisory group of Kenneth Leventhal & Company.David graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting & Finance.

Matt is joined by Dan Doctoroff, Chairman and CEO of Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet/Google subsidiary, dedicated to urban innovation, on this latest episode of Leading Voices. Sidewalk Labs tackles “cities’ greatest challenges by creating products and solutions, investing in new companies, and helping developers build more sustainable, innovative, and equitable places around the world”. Dan is a testament to what it means to be a leader in our industry. While Managing Partner of the private equity investment firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, he founded NYC2012, spearheading an Olympic City bid for NYC which resulted in a vision for urban redevelopment of the city. Under Mayor Bloomberg, he served as Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding, where he helped lead NYC’s resurgence after 9/11 through a comprehensive five-borough economic development strategy. This included plans to redevelop areas that are now high-profile destinations like the High Line, Hudson Yards, and Governor’s Island. Dan shares how large-scale redevelopment can happen under great leadership and how his new role with a technology giant can help tackle challenges in urban environments.From 2008 to 2014, Dan was President and Chief Executive Officer of Bloomberg L.P., the leading provider of news and information to the global financial community. Prior to joining Bloomberg L.P., Dan served as Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding for the City of New York. With Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, he led the city’s dramatic economic resurgence after 9/11, spearheading the effort to reverse New York’s fiscal crisis through a comprehensive five-borough economic development strategy. In that role, Dan oversaw the creation of PlaNYC, New York’s pathbreaking sustainability plan. His memoir-manifesto, Greater than Ever: New York’s Big Comeback, chronicled his experience in City Hall.  Before joining the Bloomberg Administration, Dan was Managing Partner of the private equity investment firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. While at Oak Hill, Dan founded NYC2012, the organization that spearheaded efforts to bring the Olympic Games to the city.Dan serves on the Boards of the University of Chicago and Bloomberg Philanthropies. He is the founder of Target ALS, which raises funds for and has established a new model of collaboration to advance ALS research. He is a founder and chairman of The Shed, an innovative new cultural institution on Manhattan’s Far West Side. Dan is a graduate of Harvard College and The Law School at the University of Chicago. A native of Michigan, Dan has lived in New York for the past 37 years with his wife Alisa. 

Ned Spieker joins Sam Zell, Gerald Hines, Art Gensler, Ron Terwilliger, and Leonard Wood as part of our industry legends series on Leading Voices in Real Estate. Like many of our guests, Ned came out of the Trammell Crow Company, where he had been then their youngest partner, and established and built their West Coast Division. He spun his team out in 1987, founding Spieker Properties and taking the company public as a REIT in 1993. As one of the most respected CEOs among REITs at the time, Ned led Spieker Properties to aggregate more than 40 million square feet of office and industrial properties in California and the Pacific Northwest. In 2001, Spieker Properties sold to Sam Zell’s Equity Office Properties Trust as a top of the market trade for more than $7 billion. Ned has since gone on to become one of the most active developers and owners of Continuing Care Retirement Communities in California. Ned shares stories from throughout his successful real estate career, including his ongoing focus on the value of partnerships and a decentralized approach to the business.

On the latest episode of Leading Voices in Real Estate, Matt is joined by Julia Boyd Corso and Marshall Boyd, Co-Presidents of Interstate Equities Corporation. Founded in 1981 by their parents, IEC is a value-add investor and manager of multifamily properties across California and now Seattle, with a niche of acquiring dated apartments and transforming them into attainable, updated, boutique-style assets for the current resident demographic. Julia and Marshall took over the organization in 2007 following the passing of their father when they were 27 and 29 respectively. Some of the themes of this episode surround the challenges of starting in the industry as emerging leaders, the transition of a family company to a private equity business, the benefits of a co-head structure, and climbing the ladder from a syndication model up to a commingled fund business.About JuliaJulia is co-president and chief operating officer responsible for corporate operations, asset management and repositioning of all investments. She sets the strategic direction of the company and its investment activities as a member of its Investment Committee. Prior to joining IEC, Julia worked in management consulting for Accenture. Julia graduated summa cum laude from Emory University with a B.A. in Economics and holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Stanford Real Estate Council.About MarshallMarshall is co-president and chief investment officer as well as a member of the company’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining IEC, Marshall worked on the investment team at TA Associates and in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston. Marshall graduated from Middlebury College with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Spanish. He is vice chairman of the Urban Land Institute’s Multifamily Silver Council and a former board member of The Young Presidents’ Organization.

Jodie McLean, CEO of the retail owner, operator, and developer EDENS joins Matt on Leading Voices in Real Estate. Founded over 50 years ago in South Carolina, EDENS, now headquartered in Washington, D.C., has a portfolio of 110 properties consisting of mixed-use, shopping centers, grocery-anchored retail, and unique historic retail redevelopments. Jodie shares her “aha” moment when she moved her perspective and leadership from transactional to purpose and mission, resulting in EDENS’ focus on their “enriching community through human engagement”. EDENS knows that “when people come together, they feel a part of themselves and prosperity follows: economically, socially, culturally and soulfully”. Jodie talks about this approach throughout the business, including through the challenges of COVID and EDENS’ development of the historic Union Market District in D.C., where EDENS offices are located and our conversation was recorded.With a tenure of more than 25 years, Jodie has established herself as a key player in EDENS’ growth and expansion to its current marketplace leadership, capitalized by blue chip investors and assets valued at $6.5 billion.Jodie is responsible for EDENS’ strategy to move the portfolio to major urban centers, creating a portfolio of assets that are the center of community life. She was named Chief Investment Officer in 1997, President in 2002 and CEO in 2015. Overall, she has been responsible for the development, redevelopment, acquisition, and disposition of more than $15 billion in retail assets.Jodie passionately believes that retail should evolve beyond a shopping experience, and advocates for connectivity to the communities surrounding the company’s retail centers. To ensure this, each EDENS development is crafted to serve as an authentic gathering place, including a unique merchandising mix and welcoming design elements, fostering a sense of engagement with its neighbors.Jodie serves on several boards including Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK), the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and Milhaus. She is also a Trustee of Innovating Commerce Serving Communities (ICSC), the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and The Real Estate Round Table. Jodie is a member of the Liberty Fellowship (Aspen Institute), Class of 2009.A native of Chicago, IL, Jodie holds a B.S. in Finance and Management from the Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, and a degree from South Carolina Honors College.ResourcesThe Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community by Ray Oldenburg

In Leading Voices’ inaugural “back to school” episode, Matt interviews Sam Chandan, the Larry & Klara Silverstein Chair and Academic Dean of NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, one of the largest real estate graduate and undergraduate programs globally. In a wide-ranging conversation, Sam shares the value of an education in real estate and how it prepares future leaders for their careers in the multi-disciplinary business of real estate. In the episode, they discuss the complex issues addressing our industry, including climate change, urbanization, social equity, diversity in leadership, and public health issues. Sam provides a framework on how our industry can cultivate the next generation of leaders through educational programs, mentorship, and other opportunities, and how his personal relationship to establishing the Real Estate Pride Council which provides a connective network for professionals in the built environment who identify with the LGBTQ+ community.Beyond his role with NYU, Sam is also founder of Chandan Economics, an economic advisory and data science firm serving the institutional real estate industry, editor of Urban Epidemiology, a contributor to Forbes, and host of the Urban Lab Podcast. Sam is also chair of the Real Estate Pride Council, an association of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender professionals in the global commercial real estate industry.Sam is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS), the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH), and the Real Estate Research Institute (RERI), and an Associate Member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). His interdisciplinary research explores the urban epidemiology of microbial diseases and the preparedness of global cities and other systemically important urban areas in managing novel public health threats.Sam’s commentary on commercial and residential real estate markets and the broader economy has been featured regularly in national and global press, including the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, CNBC, and Bloomberg. Among his recent publications, he was the lead investigator for Regulatory Design and Real Outcomes, a major study on the regulation of commercial real estate lending commissioned by the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC).Sam’s real estate industry-specific research focuses on commercial real estate capital markets and risk analytics, as well as long term changes in space use patterns. He presents regular updates on commercial real estate lending trends to US and global regulators, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). He holds an honorary appointment as the Economist Laureate of the Real Estate Lenders Association and has served on the real estate advisory council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.Sam received his PhD in Applied Economics from the Wharton School and was a Doctoral Scholar in the Economics Department at Princeton University. In addition to his doctorate, he holds graduate degrees in economics and engineering and an undergraduate degree in economics, finance, and public policy. He served previously on the faculties of the Wharton School and Dartmouth College. Prior to founding Chandan Economics, Sam was Global Chief Economist and Executive Vice President at Real Capital Analytics (RCA). During his tenure as Chief Economist and Senior Vice President at Reis, he was part of the executive team that took the company public.Sam resides between New York City, Montréal, and Upstate New York, where he is a volunteer firefighter and a member of his town’s emergency medical services corps.

In the second part of Leading Voices in Real Estate’s discussion surrounding sustainability in the built environment, Matt is joined by Elena Alschuler, Head of Americas Sustainability for LaSalle Investment Management, and Marta Schantz, head of ULI’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance. While much of the global conversation surrounding carbon emissions centers on transportation issues the built environment is responsible for about 40% of global emissions, while transportation is just 20%. Directly after recording this episode, the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a new report going further than any previous statement indicating that climate change is “a code red for humanity”. While some of these changes are irreversible, this demonstrates the growing importance of climate mitigation and adaptation globally, particularly in the real estate industry. Both Elena and Marta share their perspectives from their respective roles, Elena being with a leading real estate investor, and Marta leading a global alliance of real estate owners, investors, and strategic partners from the Urban Land Institute. They discuss strategies for organizations to reduce their carbon footprint as well as advice for current and future leaders of the real estate industry to tackle this issue head-on.About Elena:Elena is a central leader for LaSalle’s North America sustainability initiatives. She works closely with the firm’s Portfolio Management team on sustainability strategies, as well as its Asset Management group to develop programs for property-level initiatives, including certifications, efficiency projects, energy procurement, green leases, and health & wellness projects.Elena joins LaSalle from View Inc., where she led real estate activities including the firm’s strategy and execution to scale adoption of smart glass in the office and multifamily sectors across the US and Canada. Prior to View Inc., Elena worked at the US Department of Energy in Washington, DC as a Building Technologies Project Manager, as well as the MIT Department of Urban Studies & Planning in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and HR&A Advisors in New York.She has a Bachelor’s degree from Bard College, and a Masters in City Planning from MITAbout Marta:Marta Schantz is the senior vice president for the Greenprint Center for Building Performance at the Urban Land Institute, a research center and worldwide alliance of real estate leaders committed to improving the environmental performance of the industry – reducing carbon emissions, and increasing building value. Recent focus areas range from City/Real Estate Partnerships for Climate Policy, to Embodied Carbon in Real Estate, to Net Zero Buildings. Before her time at ULI, Marta worked at Waypoint Energy, Booz Allen Hamilton, and the US Department of Energy. Marta is a LEED Green Associate and a Fitwel Ambassador. She holds a BS in biological engineering with a minor in science technology and society from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.ResourcesLaSalle Investment Management Sustainability WebsiteULI’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance WebsiteLaSalle Report: ESG Themes Take Center Stage (May 2021)ULI Greenprint’s Blueprint for Green Real Estate Report (2020)United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment ReportA Code Red for Humanity: Latest U.N. Report Reveals Many Climate Changes Irreversible (Urban Land Magazine Article | August 2021)Benchmark Your Building Using ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®Greentech Media’s Energy Gang PodcastGRESB Real Estate Reference Guide (2021)Design the Future Podcast

In the first of our two-part episode series on climate change and the built environment, Greg Smithies, Partner of Fifth Wall where he leads the Climate Technology Investment team, joins Matt to discuss sustainability in the real estate sector. Greg is the second guest on Leading Voices from Fifth Wall as Co-Founder and Managing Partner Brad Greiwe was featured in 2019. Our industry, the built environment, is responsible for about 40% of total global carbon emissions, about 3/4 of which comes from existing buildings and about 1/4 from construction and deconstruction. Addressing our industry’s carbon footprint in addition to finding adaptation strategies to cope with climate change will be a large global investment in real estate over the coming years. Greg provides a high-level global perspective on sustainability and shares how Fifth Wall’s $500M fund focusing on “climate tech” is a start in a burgeoning area of investment.Prior to joining Fifth Wall, Greg was a Partner at BMW i Ventures where he led the Sustainability investing practice, investing in companies such as Prometheus Fuels, and PureCycle (NASDAQ: ROCH). Before joining BMW i Ventures, Greg led Finance & Operations for both The Boring Company and Neuralink simultaneously.Greg started his investment career at Battery Ventures where he covered early-stage enterprise technology startups, as well as industrial technology buyouts. Successful exits from his work there include Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX), AppDynamics (acquired by Cisco Systems, Inc.), and IST (acquired by Scott Brand).Greg was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and currently lives in Oakland, CA. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School where he received a BS in Economics and a BS in Computer Science.ResourcesThe REInterview: Real estate’s climate reckoning, with Fifth Wall’s Brendan Wallace and Greg Smithies (The Real Deal, March 2021)The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson

In our 100th episode of Leading Voices in Real Estate, Matt speaks with David Radcliffe, the head of real estate at Google, and the first corporate real estate guest on the podcast. David is responsible for managing all aspects of Google’s global real estate portfolio, industry-leading workplace services, and physical security services that enable the company to thrive. Through his leadership, David and his team create inspiring environments where 130,000+ employees in over 170 cities spanning more than 60 countries can do their best work every day. The conversation revolves around Google’s mentality to create unique, collaborative workspaces for employees to engage daily, corporate residences and communities beyond the workplace environment, and how the global tech giant is bringing personnel back in the office following COVID.In his 15+ years at Google, David has built and led teams that continually scale, evolve, and innovate Google’s dynamic workplace environment and services, promote employee health and drive sustainable solutions for both Google and our broader communities. From Google’s offices and workspaces to the food, events, and transportation options offered, the Real Estate & Workplace Services teams work closely together to provide an integrated workplace experience that’s a cornerstone of Google’s culture of collaboration and innovation. The Global Security & Resilience Services team work to keep Google and the Google community safe and ensure business continuity.David has deep roots in commercial real estate. Before joining Google in 2006, he served as a Senior Vice President at the Trammell Crow company, overseeing corporate accounts outside the U.S. Prior to that, he led global real estate and corporate services at PeopleSoft and JD Edwards. In 2011, CoreNet Global’s Northern California Chapter recognized David as its Corporate Real Estate Executive of the Year.David earned an MBA with a concentration in Real Estate and Construction Management from the University of Denver and a Bachelor of Engineering from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He currently serves on the External Advisory Board of Harvard’s Master of Design Engineering program, and holds CoreNet Global’s Master of Corporate Real Estate designation.

As everyone tries to make sense of the next cycle of the real estate industry post-pandemic, Matt is joined by Richard Barkham, Global Chief Economist & Head of Americas Research at CBRE, to discuss how COVID has affected various sectors of CRE. Richard provides his outlook sector-by-sector, including high-growth for both multi-family and industrial. He shares a balanced view on retail, given the need for various retail products like grocery and entertainment, and discusses the continued uncertainties and transitions in the office sector. Following, Richard shares his career journey in his unique senior-leadership position of real estate research and how his insights provide strategic direction for the largest global commercial real estate services company.Richard is a specialist in macro and real estate economics. He joined CBRE in 2014 as Executive Director and Global Chief Economist. Prior to taking up his position with CBRE, Richard was a Director of Research for the Grosvenor Group an international business with circa $10bn of capital under management in real estate. He was also a non-Executive Director of Grosvenor Fund Management where he was involved in fund strategy, risk analysis and capital raising. Richard is the author of two books and numerous academic and industry papers. In 2012 he published ‘Real Estate and Globalisation’ (Wiley Blackwell, Oxford), which explains the impact on real estate markets of the rise of emerging markets such as China and Brazil. He has extensive consulting experience and is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Construction and Project Management at the Bartlett School, University College London. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Reading where he taught, in the Departments of Economics and Land Management, between the years of 1987 and 1998.