Real Perspectives Podcast

Today’s guest is William Sankey, the founder and CEO of Northspyre, a company that was created from Sankey’s experience working on complex design and development projects and that has led him to apply AI and predictive analytics in order to de-risk those same developments and improve the overall project management workflow and significantly reduce costs.

This conversation takes us on a personal tour of Sankey’s background and how this company came to be, as well as a peek into the future of technology in commercial real estate development.

Welcome to the podcast William.

Today, we sit down with Zachary Streit, founder and managing partner of Los Angeles and Nashville-based Way Capital, where he has arranged and closed in excess of $2 billion and has underwritten in excess of $6 billion of debt and equity financings for a broad array of real estate transactions. Zachary has significant experience arranging and closing construction loans, CMBS loans and private/hard money loans across all commercial property types. 

Today’s conversation takes us to the formation of the company, the drivers of the industry and an overview of commercial real estate lending from a person intimately familiar with it.

Welcome to the podcast, Zachary.

Our next guest is Kevin Donahey, who earlier this year was promoted form CEO of North American operations for Willow, a global technology company working within the real estate and infrastructure industries, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Seattle, New York, London, Manila and Amersfoort, to its Vice Chair and Global Head of Corporate Development. Kevin’s background, like that of so many others whom we interviewed on this show, is unconventional and leads through Wall Street, various advisory roles, and one that finally landed him at Brookfield where he was tasked, amongst other things, to look for technology partners who can help the company scale into that area of expertise.

This led him to a leadership role at Willow, which we’ll explore now, as well as his perspective on the market, and where the tech space is taking hold in the commercial real estate world.

Welcome to the podcast, Kevin!

Ted Jung is the Chief Credit Officer with Parkview Financial, which is headquartered in Los Angeles and he lives and breathes lending across a broad spectrum of commercial real estate transactions. Ted’s background has prepared him well for this position, and he brings to his role 17 years of institutional life insurance and banking experience in the commercial real estate lending industry on a national platform where he has provided loan credit approvals in excess of $12 billion.

He has extensive knowledge of underwriting and originating large loans for all major asset types with institutional sponsors across both primary and secondary markets throughout the U.S. His experience across the capital stack includes senior perm mortgages, mezzanine debt, construction loans, CTL’s, and equity. 

Let’s hear what he has to say about the state of the industry from his perspective.

Welcome to the podcast, Ted.

Today’s conversation is with Adir Levitas, the founder and CEO of Faropoint, an Israeli-founded company that identified a remarkable opprotunity in the last-mile space of the industrial sector. The company has emerged from its entry into the US market to be one of the fastest-growing industrial investors in the country. 

Our conversation focuses on the inception of the company and how it evolved its technological capabilities to realize the opportunities in a space that was often overlooked by investors. We will also address the comapny’s plans to expand across the country and its efforts to leverage its status in the industry today to become a national player in this very important commercial real estate segment.

Since the start of COVID, the mortgage industry has been on a tear, once it picked up from a couple of months of relative quiet. But the tide may be turning now, and Thomas Yoon, the CEO of Excelerate Capital, will tell us how things are going in this very dynamic part of the industry.

Thomas is an entrepreneur, so he’s seen his share of ups and downs in this space, but it is his entrepreneurial spirit and outlook on life and business that is now taking him to invest in new companies while maintaining his focus on the industry in which he’s been successful so far. 

Sustainability is close to my heart. I strive to live in a way that reduces energy consumption, I’m aware of my carbon footprint, and when I can, I try to bring the best of the sustainability in commercial real estate to light in order to motivate others and provide some inspiration for our industry and beyond.

Today’s guest will do exactly that. Joe Rozza has recently been hired by Ryan Companies as their new chief sustainability officer. He’s based in Atlanta and brings to commercial real estate over 25 years of deep and strategic experience committed to environmentalism and sustainability. Our conversation today focuses on the state of the sustainability industry across commercial real estate and what specifically he was brought to Ryan to accomplish. There’s a lot on his plate, but he is very hopeful about this industry and what it can do to help combat climate change in a meaningful way.

Sooner or later, analytics and artificial intelligence were going to make a splash in the real estate industry, and today’s guests, Archer Co-Founders Thomas Foley and Fred Canney, will tell us how their company is looking to accomplish that.

Thomas, who comes from the commercial real estate space, met Fred, who worked in gold mining and the two decided to mine data for their next venture and help identify properties and the right time to buy and sell them. It’s a new world out there, and Archer is helping lead the way in this exciting new transformation.

In the world of commercial construction, it is not often that we encounter a female CEO, but for Skyline Enterprises, this transformation is not new and Jessica Carps is not a usual candidate for a role like this. With its roots in the Bay Area, Skyline has now expanded to Washington, Texas, Illinois and Southern California, but its focus remains steadfast toward its clients, which is what has been driving that growth.

Today’s conversation takes us through the commercial construction industry and its drivers in a new, post COVID world. Skyline, which has successfully navigated the last two years is poised for exceptional growth, and Jessica’s here to tell us a little bit about how they are going to achieve that.

There has been a lot said about the impact we are making on our environment, and the commercial real estate industry is at times at the forefront of that. This is why we wanted to talk to someone who really understands the impact we’re having on our world and who can help us navigate these issues better.

Our guest today is Leslie Moulton-Post, the President and CEO of ESA - Environmental Science Associates. Her firm employs scientists, planners, historians, archaeologists, engineers, designers, and technical specialists to provide critical thinking in the areas of environmental and community planning, analysis and assessment, natural and cultural resources management, environmental restoration and design, and regulatory compliance, which helps guide successful policy development and project planning, and deliver enduring projects across the world. For over 50 years, ESA has led the charge on these things, and its finest work is likely just ahead of it.