Impact Real Estate Podcast

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast, we continue our Impact Real Estate series with Joshua Levy, the Executive Vice President of Vessel Technologies. We talk about how he got his start in affordable housing, what life as an entrepreneur is like and we take a small peek behind the curtain over at Vessel Technologies.

EPISODE NOTES

02:20 - New to the world

04:25 - Falling into affordable housing

07:37 - From law school to real estate

12:17 - On all sides of the deal

14:38 - Affordable Housing in Philly

17:20 - The next frontier of affordable housing

20:54 - A peek behind the curtain…

24:01 - From do people need from their housing

28:28 - The life of an entrepreneur

29:55 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

As EVP, Joshua leads the company’s Business Development and Strategy teams and serves as a member of the company's executive management team. Vessel Technologies envisions a society that’s based not on a lowest common denominator of surviving, but on the highest common denominator of Thriving. They see a community in which people have access to homes that can serve as the launchpad for their dreams at a price they can afford.

Joshua is a finance, capital raising, development and affordable housing professional with 18+ years of experience leading successful business development and capital raising teams, facilitating corporate strategic initiatives and implementing transformational organizational changes for the growth and future success of companies.

In the inaugural episode of our new series, "Impact Real Estate" we welcome former 3-time NBA Champion Devean George. We talk about his nonprofit Building Blocks, how community work during his playing career ignited his passion for real estate that gives back to underserved communities, and how a team mentality is helping him change lives across the country. It's a special edition of the TBG Real Estate Podcast you do not want to miss.

EPISODE NOTES:

02:20 - From the NBA to real estate

03:30 - North Minneapolis born and raised

04:54 - Community Engagement with the NBA

06:06 - What is Building Blocks?

09:40 - The process of building affordable housing

11:46 - The advantages of investing in affordable housing

13:27 - Forming connections

15:26 - Characteristics of the community

16:59 - The after school program

19:08 - What’s keeping people from building more affordable housing?

23:59 - Relatable advise

26:12 - The future of Building Blocks

27:10 - What can we do to help?

29:42 - The Hot Seat Presented by KK Reset

Born in 1977 in Minneapolis, Devean attended high school at Benilde-St. Margaret’s and went on to become a standout basketball player at Augsburg College. During his college career, he was named Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player for two consecutive years (1997-98 and 1998-99). In 1999, he made history when he became the first-ever NCAA Division III basketball player selected in the first round (23rd overall pick) of the NBA draft. Throughout his 11-year career in the NBA, Devean played for the Los Angeles Lakers (with whom he won three NBA Championships), the Dallas Mavericks, and the Golden State Warriors.

Off the court, Devean has long devoted a great deal of his time and energy to numerous charitable organizations focused on families, education and children. For six years, he was a sponsor of the Minnesota-based program, Why Can’t I Go?, which provided underprivileged students with travel-based educational opportunities.

Now retired from the NBA, Devean remains committed to positively impacting the North Minneapolis community that shaped who he is today. His desire to give back was the driving force behind the formation of George Group North, his real-estate company specializing in multifamily residential development, mixed-use projects, and property redevelopment and management, and its charitable subsidiary, Building Blocks, which is focused on mentorship programming, affordable housing, and sustainable community development. Devean serves as President and CEO of George Group North, and Executive Director of Building Blocks.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate podcast, we welcome Jeremey Sicklick, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at HouseCanary. We talk about his transition from accounting to real estate, how he turned a crisis into triumph and how HouseCanary plans to further revolutionize the real estate business.

Episode notes:

01:34 - What is HouseCanary?

07:04 - Building large data systems

09:14 - Single-family rentals

11:53 - California born and raised

14:10 - Building a good foundation

17:40 - Letters behind your name

20:48 - Identifying a need for HouseCanary

25:17 - First steps to creating a startup

27:25 - What does a typical customer look like?

30:44 - The future of HouseCanary

32:18 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

As CEO of HouseCanary, Jeremy drives their vision, strategy, and growth to identify interesting and unique ways to use data to maximize value in real estate.

In 2008, Jeremy was a partner and managing director at Boston Consulting Group. Trying to get a handle on billions of dollars’ worth of property values and trends in a collapsing market, he was confronted with the fact that the residential real estate industry — the market for the largest asset class in the United States — was in dire need of modernization. Records were paper-based, at times incomplete, and had no common data standards. Economist Christopher Stroud, at the time a 27-year-old doctoral student in statistics, had the tools to help solve these problems.

Jeremy, now Chief Executive Officer, and Chris, now Chief of Research, co-founded HouseCanary in 2013. Their team began digitizing and indexing information about every home, every mortgage, and every neighborhood across the country. With this groundbreaking dataset, the HouseCanary team has built a family of next-generation valuation solutions that are powerfully detailed, predictive, and accurate.

HouseCanary is growing its footprint as a brokerage to further its goal of benchmarking the value of every home. As they work toward providing every player in the residential real estate space with better, more reliable data, they're particularly excited to see the changes taking place in the MLS world.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate we welcome the legendary Constance Moore. We talk about her illustrious career and a working retirement has her on eight different boards. It's a captivating conversation about her work ethic, tenacity and self confidence. You do not want to miss this episode.

EPISODE NOTES:

03:06 - Born in the Bay

04:20 - "Just a doormat"

10:54 - Learning to adapt

15:31 - Starting at BRE

16:59 - Never a stupid question

19:04 - Starting the path to CEO

29:54 - Figuring it out

34:56 - Completing the evolution

37:20 - Loved every minute of it

41:00 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

50:17 - Giving Back

Connie Moore is the former president and CEO of BRE Properties, a real estate investment trust that develops and manages apartments in highly desirable locales in the West. She’s been named to the Northern California Real Estate Women of Influence Hall of Fame and been noted multiple times as one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times.

Her volunteer leadership includes serving on the Berkeley Haas Board and as chair of the Policy Advisory Board for Haas’ Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics. She has also taught generations of students as a guest speaker in numerous Haas classes. She serves on boards for many organizations, including the San Jose State University Tower Foundation, BRIDGE Housing Corporation, and the Urban Land Institute, among others.

On today's episode of the TBG Real Estate podcast, we welcome Jessica Smith, the Chief Operating Officer at Westlake Realty. She guides us through her journey towards the role of COO and how leaders like her have coped with maintaining their office's corporate culture during these unique times. Also, make sure to check out MusicAndMedicine.com -- you'll thank us for it later. 

EPISODE NOTES:

02:15 - What is Westlake Realty?

03:17 - Solving problems all day long 

06:20 - To San Francisco at 22

09:30 - Trial by fire

11:50 - What makes a good property manager? 

13:33 - Sitting at the table

14:47 - Managing performance 

17:55 - Real estate is a lot problem solving 

18:30 - From Seattle to the Bay 

20:27 - Transitioning into the COO role

24:12 - Maintaining corporate culture during Covid

27:40 - Making changes 

28:53 - "The Hot Seat" presented by KK Reset 

As Chief Operating Officer at Westlake Realty, Jessica oversees operations across Westlake’s asset management, real estate services, leasing functions, investment and joint venture opportunities, and development projects.  Jessica joined Westlake as the Senior Vice President of Portfolio and Asset Management and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in July of 2018.

Prior to joining Westlake, Jessica served as Vice President, Real Estate Services for Westcore Properties, a commercial real estate investment company, where she was responsible for acquisitions, dispositions, and portfolio operations. Before that, she spent 14 years at the RMR Group, (Nasdaq: RMR), an alternative asset management company primarily focused on real estate related businesses. Jessica held a variety of positions at RMR, starting out as a property manager and eventually serving as Area Director with responsibility for oversight of real estate leasing and day-to-day portfolio operations for RMR’s Western Region.

Jessica holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management from Franklin Pierce University.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate, we head into the Co-Working space with Amir Mortazavi, co-founder and CEO of CANOPY, a network of exceptional shared workspaces in San Francisco. We talk about his journey, his entrepreneurial spirit, his thought process behind founding Canopy and how Covid-19 is affecting owners like himself.

EPISODE NOTES:

01:57 - What is Canopy?

04:46 - Evicted from home office

12:20 - Growing up in real estate

21:03 - Working with dad

24:50 - The design studio

26:35 - The difference between thinking and doing

28:58 - “I thrive off of risk…”

31:38 - The journey to understanding a target audience

34:26 - Expansion

37:46 - What does it take to run a co-working space?

39:50 - Coming up with the Canopy Way

42:00 - “The most challenging” situation

48:59 - Landlords and Covid

52:55 - The Hot Seat Presented by KK Reset

Amir is also the founder of STUDIO MORTAZAVI, an architectural design firm that focuses on innovative properties and products. He has also developed and built over $100 million in properties in the Bay Area and has worked for notable clients such as Gagosian Gallery and the French American Artist Residence in San Francisco.

Amir has deep interests in the future of the built living and working world and serves as being a board member and investor of Outsite with 30 co-living locations around the world. Building economically and environmentally sustainable companies and spaces is the core value in his entrepreneurial and creative pursuits. A LEED certified licensed general contractor with a degree in Engineering from UC Santa Barbara, Mortazavi is also a highly regarded art collector and supporter of the arts where he serves on the board of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. When he’s not building or designing he’s chasing down waves in the ocean or snow in the mountains.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast, we talk investor relations with Sam Eaton of Timberland Partners. The former U.S. Marine Corps captain talks to us about how he got into this field of real estate and breaks down why networking is such a crucial part of not only his career path but of yours as well. 

EPISODE NOTES:

00:53 - About Timberland Partners

01:48 - Slow and steady  

02:50 - Getting to the fund model

05:30 - Loyal to the investor base 

06:30 - Value add

08:00 - Characteristics of a growing market

08:40 - Sam's background 

12:59 - What exactly is investor relations?

15:50 - Building awareness 

16:42 - Competition, challenges and lots of dinners 

20:30 - The investment process 

21:30 - Taking initiative 

23:46 - "The most important thing..." 

26:11 - The future of Timberland 

30:01 - "The Hot Seat" Presented by KK Reset 

Sam Eaton is the Director of Investor Relations for Timberland Partners. In this role, Sam is a primary point of contact for our existing investors and works to develop new relationships with individual investors, wealth managers, and family offices. 

Sam holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as an MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. Prior to joining Timberland Partners, Sam worked in financial underwriting and investor relations for a boutique multifamily developer in Minneapolis, where he underwrote more than $50 million in closed multifamily development.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate Podcast, we speak with affordable housing expert Yusef Freeman, the Managing Director of Acquisitions and Development at Jonathan Rose Companies. We talk about his journey to affordable housing, the importance of it and the most important skill to learn if you plan on thriving in this industry.

Episode Notes:

02:40 - Jonathan Rose background

04:58 - Northern California native

06:54 - What led Yuset to affordable housing?

07:53 - From history to real estate

10:20 - Fascinating and curiosity

14:10 - An understandable challenge

16:07 - How do we make it more attractive to build more affordable housing?

18:25 - The skillset needed

20:00 - An economic driver

22:35 - The most important things to learn

23:48 - West vs East

24:56 - Operating affordable housing

28:07 - A mission-based organization

30:20 - Different planets

34:36 - The future of affordable housing

37:21 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

Prior to joining the Rose Companies, Yusef was a Vice President of Investments in the transactions group at PGIM Real Estate, sourcing investment opportunities for the real estate private equity funds of the company.

Prior to joining PGIM in 2018, Yusef was the Managing Director for McCormack Baron Salazar, leading west coast operations and new business development nationally for the company and a Graduate Program lecturer in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley.

Yusef holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley where he spent one year studying abroad at the American University in Cairo, Egypt; a Master of Public Administration from New York University, where he majored in public finance as a Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow; and an alum of the Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence Fellowship Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate podcast, we talk Retail Real Estate with Jeff Mooallem, the Chief Executive Officer at Gazit Horizons. Find out how this recovered lawyer found himself at the helm of company that manages approximately $11 billion in real estate assets. It's a gripping conversation about the ins and outs of retail real estate and where the market is headed post Covid-19.

Episode Notes:

03:13 - What is Gazit Horizons?

04:19 - Growing up in New York

06:58 - From law to real estate

08:42 - Jeff, the anomaly

10:32 - The retail route

11:25 - The rhymes and reasons of a career

15:12 - The job he's always wanted

18:02 - "The greatest thing about the real estate business..."

20:34 - How to make the most of the current crisis

22:33 - How has the retail real estate world changed

26:27 - The changing times

32:15 - Zigging while others zag

35:20 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

A two-decade veteran of the retail industry, Jeff Mooallem has acquired, developed and operated properties in New York, Miami, Washington, DC, Boston, and California. Prior to establishing Gazit Horizons, he held executive positions at retail REIT's Equity One, Inc. (now part of NYSE: REG) and Federal Realty (NYSE: FRT). Jeff is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the International Council of Shopping Centers, and is a frequent speaker on issues and trends impacting urban retail real estate.

On this episode of the TBG Real Estate podcast, Chris Papa and Mickey Penzer welcome Michael Mintz to chat about his journey to starting his own property management company, MD2. It’s an entertaining conversation about the ins and outs of property management, building a great company culture and his business during the Covid-19 era.

Episode notes:

03:01 - What is MD2?

04:19 - Michael’s background

08:55 - The importance of knowing how properties operate

12:45 - The time Michael took Chris’ job

14:20 - How did Michael become “that guy”?

23:10 - Building trust

24:02 - The moment Michael decided to go out on his own

27:48 - Knocking on digital doors

31:10 - The positives and negative surprises of creating a company

36:23 - Property management during the Covid Era

41:17 - Expansion plans?

45:35 - Have you been to Tulsa? 

51:30 - The Hot Seat brought to you by KK Reset

Michael has a decade of experience in property management and has established himself as a leading manager and key investment advisor in the real estate industry. He has a proven track record in successfully managing buildings through major capital projects and maximizing real estate values.

Michael is a passionate entrepreneur and is always looking for new ideas and strategies to improve client experiences. In his role as CEO of MD2, Michael works closely with President Dawn Dickstein to ensure that clients’ needs are met and that managers and staff are well-supported. He meets personally with all current and prospective clients and residents and is available to clients 24/7 to find creative and effective solutions for any issues that may arise. Michael is dedicated to maintaining MD Squared Property Group’s status as one of New York City’s leading property management and real estate investment firms.