Fully Occupied

Michelle Killoran, Principal at OMERS Ventures, joins Matt to discuss her thoughts on how the commercial real estate broker's role is changing, and how she is looking deeply at solutions that are reacting to fundamental changes in the world of work. In her current role, Michelle is responsible for researching and executing on investment opportunities in real estate and health technology. In 2020, Michelle was named one of Venture Capital Journal’s "40 Rising Stars under 40" in the global venture community.

Jim Wenk and his preeminent Occupier focused advisory team recently joined Savills North America, where they bring a significant track record of working with some of the most recognized global brands. Having spent the last 20+ years guiding companies through ups and downs in the market, Jim shares his thoughts on the uniqueness of the current situation, how he sees the brokerage industry evolving, and why it is going to take 4-5 years for the office market in NYC to recover. 

Maureen Waters lends a unique perspective into how the Commercial Real Estate industry has traditionally adopted technology, and why the pace of innovation is rapidly accelerating. She has held executive roles in all aspects of the commercial real estate industry, from running strategy at Cushman & Wakefield, leading investments for the Bill Gates Foundation, and steering the successful acquisition of Ten-X. We discuss the recent proliferation of startups across all real estate asset types, and how MetaProp's LPs think about innovation across their constituents. 

Lauren Covell, CPA joined Occupier recently as our VP of Finance and Lease Accounting Lead to provide our customers and prospects with the expertise and guidance needed to properly comply with shifting lease accounting standards. With a Big-four accounting background and direct lease accounting experience and a rapidly growing consumer products company, Lauren is perfectly equipped to guide a business' efforts to compliance with ASC 842 and IFRS 16 lease accounting standards. In this episode, we are introduced to Lauren, and set the stage for the topics that are most important to getting lease accounting compliance right the first time. 

Simon Davis has spent his entire real estate career in the midst of change, and his recent move to Impec Group is no different. He joins us to discuss how both occupier expectations of the workplace and the technology that supports them is undergoing a rapid, permanent transformation. Simon's perspective on the intersection of real estate and technology brings over two decades of observation to an ever important topic.  

Jeremy Adams has spent the past decade advising health care systems and medical use occupiers on portfolio strategy and transaction execution for their real estate. At JLL in Atlanta he operates a team of 20+ people, all dedicated to providing health care tenants with the analytics, services, and experience required to keep up with the rapidly changing environment of health care. We unpack how economic, demographic, and real estate trends are impacting the health care industry, and how a team dedicated to a specific practice area can stay ahead of the real estate market. 

Jeff Hernandez took an unconventional path to becoming the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of a rapidly expanding chain of coffee shops. Starting out in his family construction company opened his eyes to the risks and rewards of entrepreneurship, and living through two major economic crises has sharpened his focus on delighting customers and employees. Jeff discusses how the foundational values of Black Rock have allowed the company to thrive, how real estate planning and taking calculated risks can pay off, and how the challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic have shaped the future of his company. 

Sam Schaefer has touched every aspect of commercial real estate. That includes managing suburban office properties, running global leasing, property management, and corporate outreach at Tishman Speyer, spearheading major technology implementations, and now heading both the real estate management and corporate portfolio of Hobbs Brook Management, an affiliate of FM Global Insurance. Sam tells us what life as a global real estate operator taught him about what tenants really want, and how they can best achieve their goals. We talk about how he thinks the commercial real estate industry has fundamentally shifted from a landlord / tenant conversation to a client / partner conversation. 

Gabriel Safar envisions a commercial real estate industry that functions like a transparent, liquid marketplace - where data is shared and decisions are made quickly and accurately. In order to realize that vision, LeasePilot is the first company to fully digitize the lease document. In our conversation, we unpack why it is so time consuming and costly to negotiate a commercial lease, and why it doesn't have to be that way. Gabriel considers himself a real estate practitioner first, and a software guy second, but his roots are in the nitty gritty details of negotiating leases in his previous life as a real estate lawyer. His unique insight sheds a light on the rapidly evolving commercial real estate technology space, and what the future holds for the industry. 

Julija Costantino and Bonnie Bibra are Workplace Experience veterans. Along with Jen Nguyen, they launched Workplace strategies at Tesla, Zynga and Pinterest, and are now leading their field on behalf of clients at HelloOffice. HelloOffice is a technology-powered commercial real estate brokerage company that is making the search for office space seamless and intelligent. Here's Julija and Bonnie's take on why grounding workplace strategy in company values is so important, and how you can tactically cope with today's rapidly changing dynamic in the world of work.