Impact Real Estate Podcast

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast, we continue our Impact Real Estate series with Michael Lear, the Senior Vice President and Head of Acquisitions at The Community Development Trust. Michael walks us through his journey from the public to the private sector and goes through the ins and outs of converting market-rate housing to affordable housing. It's an information-rich episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast you do not want to miss. 

EPISODE NOTES:

02:30 - What is the CDT?

05:29 - A fundamental belief 

07:10 - Alphabet soup 

10:05 - Dependent on motivation 

12:30 - Converting market-rate to affordable 

14:40 - The root structure 

16:21 - Why is CDT mission-driven?

20:25 - Describing the job 

23:52 - Finding partnerships 

24:52 - The skillset toolbox 

28:28 - Falling into real estate

33:52 - I recommend this "100%"...

35:12 - Government partnerships

36:26 - From public to private sector 

40:42 - Asset management experience is vital 

43:20 - Staying stable during Covid: A time of real uncertainty 

48:12 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset 

Michael Lear is Senior Vice President – Head of Acquisitions. Michael manages all activities of CDT’s Equity Program Group. He has been with CDT since 2011 with experience in both the Asset Management and Equity departments. Michael has spent his entire career in the field of affordable housing policy, development, and finance.

Prior to joining CDT, Michael served as Deputy Director of Housing Policy Research at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. He holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from NYU Wagner and a Bachelor of Science and Engineering in Materials Science Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has previously taught Real Estate Finance at NYU Wagner.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast, we're honored to have a lifelong advocate of affordable housing, Milton Pratt Jr., to continue our Impact Real Estate series. We talk with Milton about why he decided to dedicate his life's work to affordable housing, the two very important principles he uses to guide his decision-making, and you don't want to miss his advice for young people who want to get into the real estate business. It's a special edition of the TBG Real Estate Podcast that you don't want to miss.

EPISODE NOTES:

02:25 - The Michael's Organization

03:50 - Affordable Housing - a passion's progression

08:45 - A great starting point

10:09 - The day-to-day of a developer

12:52 - Findings locations for affordable housing

15:41 - A pipeline of mixed business

19:24 - Chief Relationship Officer

22:22 - Two important principles

25:15 - Better Tomorrows

27:42 - Love them all the same

32:00 - An affordable housing crisis

40:20 - Milton's buying drinks

42:57 - Advice for youngsters

47:17 - The Hot Seat Presented by KK Reset

As Executive Vice President of Development, Milton Pratt co-leads Michaels Development—Affordable Living. Milton focuses on pipeline growth and asset performance through relationships with various governmental and industry groups. He works closely with Michaels’ regional development teams to generate opportunities and works with Michaels’ management team regarding existing asset restructuring under HUD’s RAD/MTM or ACC programs.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast, we power up with Associate Capital Partner Enrique Landa who guides us through the acquisition, entitlement and vision behind San Francisco's largest development project in ages. It's a fascinating look behind the curtain of the Power Station. You don't want to miss it. 

EPISODE NOTES

01:51 - The Power Station

04:49 - How does one buy a Power Station?

07:00 - Piecing together the Power Station

10:30 - Navigating the process

17:41 - Entitlement

20:21 - The first step

22:10 - Development is in the blood

25:20 - If you don't love ... you shouldn't get involved

27:27 - The thing that the best developers do

29:18 - Trying to do predict the future around Covid-19

33:41 - Keeping your eyes open

35:02 - Start date is ...

36:52 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

As a partner at Associate Capital, Enrique is responsible for complex entitlement and development projects, while supporting the firm's investment activities. He has a strong interest in adaptive reuse projects and was part of the team that restored and landmarked San Francisco's Swedish American Hall. Prior to Associate Capital, Enrique was a partner in the Local Development Group and president of the Fritz Property Group. Enrique has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge. He actively supports La Cocina and is a board member of the Cow Hollow School.

We continue our Impact Real Estate series on this episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast by getting to know Timothy Henkel, Partner and SVP at Pennrose. Tim takes us back to how he got went from engineer to starting at Pennrose, what his "windy path" in real estate has been like, and helps us dive into what it's like leading one of affordable housing's biggest companies. Side note: you'll definitely want to stick around for his answers during "The Hot Seat." 

Episode Notes:

01:35 - What is Pensrose?

03:48 - The Differences

06:18 - Tax Credits 101

08:49 - How do you know where to build? 

11:40 - A podcast eye roll 

15:25 - Bringing people together 

19:07 - "Life's work people" 

23:27 - Preservation work 

25:08 - A bit of biased 

26:35 - Everyone has their windy path 

33:37 - Not the same job one year to the next 

36:24 - The "crack in" question 

38:57 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset 

As a principal and member of the executive leadership team, Tim Henkel is responsible for all aspects of Pennrose’s national development strategy. He oversees a team of regional vice presidents and has been instrumental in Pennrose’s continued growth in key markets across the country.

Tim has overseen the growth of Pennrose’s development platform to include new construction, adaptive reuse and acquisition/preservation projects.  The combination of diversified housing products and expanded geography have established Pennrose as an engaged leader in the delivery of housing opportunity and resident services in a diverse range of communities.

Tim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University and a Master of Business Administration from the William E. Simon School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester. When he's not busy changing the world through affordable housing, he loves to ride his bike.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate we welcome David Ginsberg, Vice President at WinnCompanies, to continue our Impact Real Estate series. We talk about his journey to Winn Companies, the three things that attracted him to affordable housing and he breaks down what you can do to help build more impact real estate where you live. It's an incredibly interesting and educational look at affordable housing you'll only get here, on the TBG Real Estate Podcast. 

EPISODE NOTES:

03:03 - A little on Winn Companies 

05:37 - The process 

10:50 - Choosing one project over another 

12:47 - Different stories for different deals 

14:39 - Why even build affordable housing?

17:43 - New Jersey background 

21:17 - Interrelating worlds 

24:09 - Scary, but fulfilling 

26:35 - A peek behind the curtain 

29:32 - Joint ventures 

32:48 - You have to learn by doing 

34:44 - The secret sauce?!

38:02 - A little school named Harvard 

39:26 - A healthy pipeline 

42:14 - Get out and vote

44:03 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset 

David Ginsberg is a Vice President at WinnDevelopment, managing the acquisition, financing, design, government relations, community input, and construction of mixed income and mixed use real estate projects.

His specialization has been in the development and preservation of critically needed affordable and workforce housing utilizing Federal and State Tax Credit programs and the adaptive reuse of structures on the National Register of Historic Places.

David attended the University of California-Berkeley, graduating in 2010 with highest honors in Urban Studies. David attended Harvard University's Graduate School of Design (GSD), completing a Master in Urban Planning degree with distinction, concentrating in real estate and urban design. During his time at Harvard he was awarded a Taubman Fellowship from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, won the American Planning Association's graduate student paper-contest in the Transportation category, and was awarded the GSD Academic Excellence Award and the GSD Award for Excellence in Urban Design for his studio work seeking to improve the affordable housing delivery systems of Mexico.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast, we're back with our Impact Real Estate Series and talking with Jefferson Lilly, founder of Park Avenue Partners -- a mobile home park investment firm. We take a dive with Jefferson to discuss investing in this niche of real estate, how he made himself the expert in this field and what the future looks like for this impactful industry. You won't want to miss this! 

Episode Notes

01:28 - About Park Avenue Partners

03:11 - Far more similar than different 

06:03 - How to buy a mobile home park

09:37 - The investment strategy 

12:32 - Mom and Pop

17:29 - The life cycle 

19:57 - The effects of Covid 

23:34 - The Big Boys

26:24 - Getting into the business 

29:54 - Property management 

33:10 - The future of mobile home parks 

35:47 - Are millennials looking toward mobile homes?

38:19 - Naturally occurring affordable housing 

39:39 - Mobile Home Park Investors Podcast -- take a listen! 

40:42 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

Jefferson is a mobile home park investment expert and educator.  He is responsible for Park Avenue Partners’ strategic direction, acquisitions, and property operations.  Prior to founding Park Avenue Partners, he co-founded Park Street Partners, a similar partnership also focussed on acquiring mobile home parks nationwide. 

Both personally and through his partnerships, Jefferson has acquired 25 MHPs in 13 states since 2007 totaling over $56mm in value.  He started the industry’s first podcast and the largest group on LinkedIn dedicated to investing in mobile home parks.  Prior to beginning to manage investors’ money in 2014, Jefferson spent seven years investing his own capital in mobile home parks and consulting to high-net-worth families with interests in the manufactured housing industry. 

Earlier in his career he held a range of consulting and sales positions with Bain & Company, Viacom, and Verisign.  Jefferson has been featured in The New York Times, Bloomberg Magazine, and on the Real Money television show.  He holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.  

Jefferson’s favorite mobile home is the 1954 Spartan Imperial Mansion, upon which our logo is partially based.  He finds the Bowlus Road Chief to be pretty appealing too.

Impact Real Estate: Avanath with John Williams

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast, we talk with John Williams, President and Chief Investment Officer at Avanath. John walks us through the his journey in affordable housing, what it takes to get into the space, and how the landscape is changing for investors. It's an episode full of great information as we continue our Impact Real Estate Series.

Episode Notes

01:31 - About Avanath

04:28 - The major difference in affordable housing

10:09 - A really good program

12:20 - The process of buying a property

14:10 - Becoming a president

18:55 - Attracting talent to the affordable space

24:25 - A little more on strategy

30:54 - Tailoring programs

33:00 - The Hot Seat bought to you by KK Reset

As President and Chief Investment Officer at Avanath, John is responsible for portfolio acquisitions, capital formation, investor relations and fund management. Previous to joining Avanath in 2012, John was Managing Partner, Capital Markets of Carmel Partners, Inc. (“Carmel Partners”), a real estate development and investment firm based in San Francisco.

A native of Philadelphia, John received his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Duquesne University and attended the Executive Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. John is a Governor of the Urban Land Institute (“ULI”), Past Chairman of the ULI Silver Multi-Family Council, current Chairman of the ULI Orange County District Council, a member of the Executive Committee of the National Multi Housing Council (“NMHC”), and on the Advisory Board of the Duquesne University Business School.

He is a frequent speaker at national real estate conferences sponsored by the ULI, Harvard Business School, University of California-Berkeley, Stanford Business School, UCLA Real Estate Forum, and USC Lusk Graduate School of Real Estate.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast, we're taking a spin with Abhinav "Abe" Somani, the Managing Director of Artificial Intelligence for MRI Software. We talk about how he went from banker to founding Leverton, how a (almost-failed) high school class paid dividends and what the future of AI in real estate looks like. You don't want to miss this highly-entertaining episode.

EPISODE NOTES:

04:07 - What is Leverton?

05:40 - How do go from banker to buying buildings?

07:38 - Nothing wrong with deal by deal

10:40 - Intro to Prop Tech

14:00 - A little OCR lesson

17:35 - High school class paying off

21:08 - Tech fatigue

25:30 - Our bread and butter

32:05 - Rich quantity of data

37:24 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

Abhinav (Abe) is an experienced investment, financial, technology, business development, and operations strategist. He is currently the Managing Director, Artificial Intelligence for MRI Software, residing in New York City. Abe worked in commercial real estate and finance and has a deep understanding of the real estate technology / CRETech / PropTech space. Abe is revolutionizing how corporations use artificial intelligence-based machine and deep learning algorithms for data extraction.

Prior to Leverton, Abe was an Associate at private equity firm ICV Partners. In that role, he worked with portfolio companies to improve their sales, enhance marketing, turnaround ailing business segments, and increase operational inefficiencies. He worked directly with CEOs, COOs, and CFOs, using data-driven metrics and analyses to increase profitability and grow businesses. He has extensive experience evaluating investment opportunities, conducting financial analyses and working with the institutional investment community. Beyond this, Abe is the co-founder of and continues to run The Manhattan Project, NYC and the East Coast's largest not-for-profit Bollywood dance production. He also volunteers as President of this fraternity's endowment fund and sits on the Board of Directors of 16 Park Avenue.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate podcast, we talk with Benjamin Navi, Founder and President of Jimena Companies -- a boutique Real Estate development and investment firm. We chat about what happened with his dream to go into investment banking, why his firm is looking to make an impact in the retail space and why he's designated Detroit as the place to do so.

EPISODE NOTES:

02:54 - Networking background

04:50 - Suit or no suit?

08:30 - The dream was to go into investment banking

12:00 - Talking about law school

17:12 - Find out your why

20:45 - Experimenting on how to make a difference

28:30 - Making the jump

31:00 - Finding the non-brokered deals

34:56 - An exciting search

36:59 - The effects of Covid

39:32 - The Hot Seat Presented by KK Reset

Benjamin Navi, has almost 15 years of experience in commercial real estate. As President of Jimena Companies, he is responsible for the strategic direction of the company, overall management of the firm, the pursuit of new development opportunities and acquisitions and financing activities across all business platforms. 

Benjamin began his career at Marcus & Millichap’s Manhattan office. In his six­ year tenure, he closed over $300M in assets in New York City with a specialty in assets in excess of $20M.

Benjamin earned his BBA in Finance & Investments from Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College. He sits on the board of IAJF (Iranian American Jewish federation) and is active in the AIPAC and involved with philanthropic organizations, Aish Hatorah International, The Roslyn Synagogue, Chabad Upper East Side, Chai Lifeline and Edmond J Safra Synagogue.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast we welcome Jan Smidek, a partner at JMA Ventures. We talk about his journey from Slovakia to the Bay Area, what he took away from business school and how he transformed that into his current role at JMA Ventures. It's an episode you do not want to miss. 

EPISODE NOTES:

02:00 - What is JMA Ventures?

04:44 - The basic principles 

06:57 - From 64 to 3 ski days 

08:00 - The beginning over in Slovakia over to Pennsylvania 

11:30 - Coming to the Bay Area

13:41 - The consultant life 

15:50 - The main lesson of business school 

17:09 - Finding a job out of business school 

19:05 - Arriving at JMA

22:17 - Making asset management interesting 

25:12 - The direction moving forward for JMA

27:00 - What makes a good asset?

28:50 - Investing in Central Europe vs U.S. 

33:31 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset 

Jan brings a passion for the outdoors to his role in acquisitions and asset management, with a specific expertise in hospitality, leisure, and resort projects.

Before joining the JMA team, Jan worked as a Consultant for economic and financial consultancy Analysis Group, where he managed economic analyses and valuations, and advised clients in complex business litigation. When not evaluating potential acquisitions, Jan sits on the Resort Development Council of the Urban Land Institute and as a competitive cyclist, can be found putting endless miles on his bike.