Partners with a Problem to Solve: What happens when two long-time friends and colleagues with 20 years of industry experience find a void in the marketplace?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, Taylor Mammen, CEO of RCLCO Fund Advisors, sits down with Heather Fernstrom Border and Jennifer Stevens, Co-Founders and Managing Partners at Alliance Global Advisors – a women-owned consulting firm focused on developing strategic growth solutions for real asset investment managers. Heather and Jennifer began Alliance in 2020, seeking to be an independent voice for the investment management community.

“What we were witnessing was that the investors and the consultants and the advisors had a very deep perspective, understanding, and amount of resources available to them at all times. But, when those managers needed to solicit advice, there wasn’t a true independent third party team that they could go to for those types of questions.”

– Heather Fernstrom Border on the birth of Alliance Global Advisors

Heather and Jennifer also discuss how their 20 years of industry experience laid the foundation for this new venture, the challenges of launching a new business in April 2020, the power of their partnership in this entrepreneurial venture, and the mentors that have inspired them throughout their careers.

“For me, those were the people who would sit me in front of a boardroom and sit at the back of the boardroom and let me fail or let me just get grilled by a CIO or a board member on public record and then say ‘I have a lot of confidence in how you just handled that situation, here’s what I might have done differently.’”

– Jennifer Stevens on the importance of mentors in her career

About Heather Fernstrom Border, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Alliance Global Advisors

Heather Fernstrom Border is a versatile, performance-driven, real asset professional building deep Limited Partner and Consultant networks over nearly two decades.

Prior to forming Alliance, Heather was Managing Director for National Real Estate Advisors and held positions with Hunt Investment Management and The Townsend Group. At those firms, she was responsible for assisting institutional clients in developing investment objectives, strategic planning, underwriting investments and capital raising. Heather’s professional experience also includes seventeen years within the private and public real estate sector, where she developed, implemented and led Investor Relations platforms.

Throughout her career, she held memberships at the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties (NAIOP), Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and Institutional Real Estate, Inc. (IREI) among others.   Heather continues to speak and moderate various panels on industry-wide topics and was recently asked to participate on PREA’s Governance Committee.  In 2022, Heather received the GlobeSt. Women of Influence award and the GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum’s 50 under 40 award.

About Jennifer Stevens, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Alliance Global Advisors

Jennifer Stevens is an executive-level professional with real asset expertise and extensive knowledge of the General Partner & Limited Partner Universe.

Prior to forming Alliance Global Advisors, Jennifer spent sixteen years with The Townsend Group where she gained experience in institutional portfolio management and consulting, strategic and investment planning, real asset investment underwriting and a specialization in areas including ESG and industry best practice.  Jen was the lead Portfolio Manager for Townsend’s West Coast client base and ran Townsend’s San Francisco office, including certain growth initiatives. She has experience in both portfolio management and underwriting and was responsible for developing and leading Townsend’s ESG efforts.

Jennifer has served as a representative member of the UN PRI, GRESB, PREA, PREA Foundation Diversity Working Group, IREI, WIIN and NCREIF in addition to speaking at numerous educational and industry events. In 2016, Jennifer Stevens received the inaugural GRESB Leadership Award from the U.S. Green Building Council to recognize her efforts in establishing and growing Townsend’s ESG Program.  In 2019, Ms. Stevens was included on Chief Investment Officer’s annual list of the world’s most influential investment consultants. In 2021, Jennifer received the GlobeSt. Women of Influence award. In 2022, Jennifer was elected to the PREA Board of Directors and joined PREA’s Social Impact Committee.

About Taylor Mammen, CEO, RCLCO Fund Advisors (RFA)

Taylor Mammen is Chief Executive Officer of RCLCO Fund Advisors (RFA), which advises institutional investors on all aspects of their complex real estate investment portfolios, from strategy development to underwriting and asset management. Taylor helped pioneer this business beginning in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, when several prominent pension funds turned to RFA with the goal to construct better performing and more resilient real estate portfolios, and has grown it to become a highly respected institutional real estate advisor, working with some of the largest and most dynamic institutional investors in the world. In the process, Taylor and RFA have sourced, underwritten, and overseen investments on behalf of clients well in excess of $10 billion. Taylor leads the firm’s institutional investor client relationships and is responsible for the firm’s growth and development, in addition to serving on the boards of clients’ portfolio companies.

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What happens when the public and private sectors join forces to revitalize an iconic retail anchor and the surrounding downtown?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, RCLCO’s Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives, Joshua Boren, sits down with Shelley Brindle, Mayor of Westfield, New Jersey and Doug Adams, Senior Vice President, Development at Streetworks Development, to discuss the “One Westfield Place” redevelopment project—an adaptive reuse of a former Lord & Taylor building and its adjacent parking lots—that is poised to create a vibrant mixed-use downtown, with new office, retail, and residential.

“One of the hallmarks of Streetworks is we look – always start with a larger context and how does the property or the project fit into that larger picture.”

– Doug on the importance of local context

They discuss the history and background of the project, the unique challenges and surprising benefits of repurposing large-scale retail into new office space, how the Mayor’s background at HBO as a Executive Vice President, Domestic Network Distribution and Marketing, helped prepare her for the public sector, and how they worked to incorporate resident input throughout the process.

“I would just say to any of your listeners who are developers: don’t be afraid of the public input. It only helps you get people invested in the success of the project and ultimately helps you with approvals.”

– Mayor Brindle on public feedback and collaboration

About Shelley Brindle, Mayor of Westfield, NJ

Shelley Brindle is currently the Mayor of Westfield, NJ, (pop 31k) elected as the first female Mayor in town history in November 2017, unseating a three term incumbent with her vision for transforming and reimagining Westfield’s historic downtown. Previously, she served as Executive Vice President, Domestic Network Distribution and Marketing at HBO where she was responsible for the revenue, marketing, and overall distribution and growth strategy of HBO’s $4.4B domestic subscription business where she oversaw many of HBO’s most important initiatives, including the launch of HBO’s first streaming service.

About Doug Adams, Senior Vice President, Development

Following a passion for real estate Doug Adams followed a path from banking and equity lending to being a developer for the past 25 years. Working for both large and small companies, he has developed an expertise in large scale entitlements and public-private partnerships in most asset classes.

About Joshua Boren, Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives

Joshua A. Boren specializes in leading business development, marketing, and strategic initiatives for various real estate needs and solutions as part of the RCLCO team. With more than 15 years of experience, Joshua specializes in understanding how network building and relationship management is critical to organizational success, which has resulted in millions of dollars of closed engagements. At RCLCO, he has grown the business development and marketing departments, which were recognized by Globe St. in 2019 as “Influencers in Marketing”. Incredibly involved in the global real estate community, Joshua holds membership and leadership positions at Urban Land Institute Los Angeles and Jewish Federation Los Angeles’ Real Estate and Construction Division, among others. Joshua also hosts RCLCO’s monthly Round-Up Webinar Series, which dives into factors in the real estate market, in addition to other RCLCO events and features.

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How can you grow and foster talent within real estate organizations?

RCLCO announced its partnership with CEL Compensation Advisors, LLC to expand and enhance its industry-leading talent management practice, building on the CEL annual Real Estate Compensation & Benefits Survey and its compensation consulting practice.

In this special episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, listen to the recent webinar where leaders of the new partnership, Eric Willett, Adam Ducker, Ellen Klasson, and Jim Wright, discussed challenges real estate companies are facing today regarding talent management, trends in employee and executive compensation, and answered questions from the audience.

“…the two top of mind issues for people managing real estate organizations for 2024…will be optimizing NOI at the property level and maximizing talent within the organization.”

– Adam Ducker speaking on the broad consensus of topics raised that management in real estate organization have for the coming year

“The importance of talent development is going to become particularly more acute and it’s really exacerbated by all these shifts in how we work.”

– Eric Willett’s observation on talent expectations

View the full webinar and access the slide deck by logging into your RCLCO web portal account, or by filling out the form to the right of the webinar page and following the “watch” link that appears.

About Eric Willett, Managing Director, Management Consulting

Eric Willett is the Managing Director of RCLCO’s management consulting practice. Eric works with a wide variety of market-leading firms throughout the real estate industry to craft and execute organizational strategy, portfolio transformation, and corporate growth initiatives. Eric brings extensive experience in strategic planning and organizational improvement to projects that interface with client teams at all points in the development lifecycle. His collaboration with executive teams has resulted in transformational strategies for real estate companies across all industry sectors and a range of global markets.

More broadly, Eric regularly contributes innovative client-focused research and solutions across industry topics including risk management, alternative investment structures, and evolving consumer demographics. He is a frequent speaker and panelist at industry events and is regularly cited as a commercial real estate expert by national and regional media including The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and others. In addition, Eric is adjunct professor of Business Economics at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business where he leads a course on commercial real estate strategy.

Eric previously worked as the Director of Research and Thought Leadership at CBRE, where he oversaw the delivery of forward-looking insights spanning all major property sectors. Eric graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.

About Adam Ducker, CEO

Adam Ducker is Chief Executive Officer of RCLCO and oversees the firm’s Real Estate Economics and Management Consulting Practices. Adam joined RCLCO in the mid-1990s as an associate directly after graduate school and learned the trade with the firm. He is a recognized expert in strategic planning for real estate companies, investment analysis, market and financial analysis, and marketing of real estate assets. He has particular depth of expertise in high-density housing, retail/entertainment, and hotel development.

Adam is a member of the Executive Committee of RCLCO, which manages shared resources and oversees overall company strategy. He also sits on the board of the RCLCO Foundation.

Adam is a frequent speaker on topics ranging from place-making, urban redevelopment, retail trends, and in-town housing. His writing has been widely published and quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Urban Land, Real Assets, among others. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), vice chair of the Redevelopment and Reuse Council, and a board member of the Terwilliger Center for Housing. A native of the New York metropolitan area, Adam received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Columbia University.

About Ellen Klasson, Managing Director, Executive Search

Ellen Klasson is a Managing Director in RCLCO’s Management Consulting practice, working out of the Washington, DC office. Ellen leads executive search engagements for leadership roles at development, investment, and land use companies across all asset classes. Ellen’s consultative nature has enabled her to identify and attract talent for both traditional and nuanced roles, and her deep understanding of the business lends itself to a more analytical approach of a candidate’s viability. Working for twenty years in the real estate industry has allowed Ellen to forge long-lasting relationships with and earn the trust of both clients and candidates.

Before joining RCLCO, Ellen spent five years as a Managing Director at Terra Search Partners, a national boutique executive search firm focused exclusively on the real estate industry. Previously she worked at the Urban Land Institute as the Senior Director of Leadership, overseeing the leadership programs for the organization’s 40,000 members worldwide. Prior to joining ULI, Ellen co-directed CohnReznick’s Real Estate Development Advisory practice, analyzing real estate opportunities for developers and municipalities. She is also a former Vice President of Economic Development at Central Atlanta Progress, where she attracted new investment into Downtown Atlanta. She began her career consulting to developers while a project manager at RCLCO.

Ellen continues to be actively involved with the Urban Land Institute. She is the Past Chair of the Americas of its Women’s Leadership Initiative and now serves as Governance Chair. She is also DEI Chair of the Urban Revitalization Council (Gold Flight) and a Management Committee member of ULI Washington. She volunteers with UrbanPlan, a program for high school and college students that introduces them to the complex trade-offs of real estate development.

Ellen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University and a Master of City & Regional Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

About Jim Wright, Managing Director, Compensation Consulting

As Managing Partner – CEL Compensation Advisors, Jim Wright brings over 35 years of experience in all sectors of the real estate industry stemming from an Executive career encompassing engineering, finance, management consulting, financial restructuring, project management, and business development in private and public sector environments.  Mr. Wright has provided insightful and valuable management counsel to corporate CEOs, Senior Management, Boards of Directors, Investors, Advisors and their intermediaries.

Jim has particular expertise and is a nationally known leader in the area of executive compensation program design, plan structuring, market benchmarking, and policy for the real estate industry.  Mr. Wright works with Compensation Committees, Boards of Directors, CEOs and Senior Management on a variety of compensation, performance, management, and governance related issues.  His career has involved assignments with over 300 clients including public/private REITs, national/regional development companies, investment management firms, private equity funds, national/global brokerage/service firms, and advisors in all sectors of commercial and residential real estate.

Jim has proven strategic, analytical, operational, organizational and management skills in creating, directing and implementing successful business solutions to challenging and complex company issues.  Jim has an MBA from Case Western Reserve University; an MA (Economics) from the State University of New York; and a BS from Bradley University.  Jim is the author of articles published in Real Estate Portfolio, Boards & Directors, Real Estate Review, Urban Land, Units, and other real estate publications.

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How does academia set the course for the future of real estate?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, RCLCO’s CEO, Adam Ducker, sits down with Ellen Dunham-Jones, a Professor of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology and director of the MS in Urban Design.

An award winning co-author of two books, Case Studies in Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Strategies for Urgent Challenges (2021) and Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs, (2009) as well as the podcast host of REDESIGNING CITIES, Ellen gives us academic perspective on what it means to be an urbanist and the future of real estate practitioners.

“The biggest difference between urban planning and urban design is that urban designers draw a lot. Most urban planners in the U.S….do great analytical research, they write papers, they do a lot of community engagement…but it’s not drawing the actual layout of neighborhoods…and really integrating at that larger scale.”

– Ellen on the main difference of urban planning vs. urban design

In addition, the Adam and Ellen discuss retrofitting suburbia and what the suburbs represent in the current real estate market space.

“…the supply of sites that are ripe for some kind of retrofitting just keeps growing.”

– Ellen’s optimistic outlook on re-imagining suburbia

About Ellen Dunham-Jones

Ellen Dunham-Jones is a professor of architecture and directs the MS in Urban Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  An authority on sustainable suburban redevelopment, she maintains a unique database of over 2,500 suburban retrofits, hosts the REDESIGNING CITIES podcast series, was Architectural Record’s 2018-19 Woman Educator of the year and was recognized in 2023 and 2017 by Planetizen as one of the 100 most influential urbanists.

She is co-author with June Williamson of two award-winning books: Case Studies in Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Strategies for Urgent Challenges (Wiley, 2021) received the Place Book of the year award from the Environmental Design Research Association. And Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs, (Wiley, 2009, 2011, Mandarin 2013) received a PROSE award as best architecture and planning book of 2009. These books document how successful retrofits of aging shopping centers, strip mall corridors, office parks, etc. are helping their communities disrupt automobile dependence, improve public health, support an aging population, leverage social capital for equity, compete for jobs, and add water and energy resilience. The work has been featured in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, PBS, NPR, TED and other prominent venues.

She is a Fellow of the Congress for the New Urbanism as well as the Brook Byers Institute of Sustainable Systems, lectures widely, and conducts workshops and research on the many co-benefits of retrofitting – as well as on the potential urban design impacts of autonomous vehicles. She serves on several national committees, has BS and M.Arch degrees from Princeton University, practiced architecture for 20 years, and taught at UVA and MIT before being recruited to direct the Architecture Program at Georgia Tech in 2000.

About Adam Ducker, CEO, RCLCO

Adam Ducker is Chief Executive Officer of RCLCO and oversees the firm’s Real Estate Economics and Management Consulting Practices. Adam joined RCLCO in the mid-1990s as an associate directly after graduate school and learned the trade with the firm. He is a recognized expert in strategic planning for real estate companies, investment analysis, market and financial analysis, and marketing of real estate assets. He has particular depth of expertise in high-density housing, retail/entertainment, and hotel development.

Adam is a member of the Executive Committee of RCLCO, which manages shared resources and oversees overall company strategy. He also sits on the board of the RCLCO Foundation.

Adam is a frequent speaker on topics ranging from place-making, urban redevelopment, retail trends, and in-town housing. His writing has been widely published and quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Urban Land, Real Assets, among others. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), vice chair of the Redevelopment and Reuse Council, and a board member of the Terwilliger Center for Housing. A native of the New York metropolitan area, Adam received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Columbia University.

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What sets mountain resorts apart from other mixed-use resorts?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, RCLCO’s CEO, Adam Ducker, sits down with Jon Paul “JP” Testwuide and Andrew Lang of Alterra Mountain Company, a curator of a family of destinations including recreation, hospitality, real-estate development, food and beverage, and retail businesses.

The group discusses Alterra Mountain Company’s positioning in the mountain resort market and the strategies leading to their successes at Winter Park Resorts and Steamboat Springs in Colorado. A particular focus includes Alterra’s strategic planning of the mixed-use base villages that emphasizes creative placemaking providing for a great guest experience.

“We have the hat of an operator and the hat of a developer.”

– Andrew Lang on Alterra’s charter

In addition, the group discusses trends in mountain resorts from the last 10 years including how the rise and falls have impacted the market and what the future holds.

Alterra prioritizes its resort operations, and in doing so they recognize that fostering good culture, providing great recreational and entertainment opportunities and maintaining a strong resort identity is paramount to success.

“How do we create the asset that speaks to where the place is and how do we define that in connection with the resort and guest experience at the top of mind?”

– JP Testwuide on what to ask when considering how to best create a successful resort with guest satisfaction in mind

About Jon Paul “JP” Testwuide, Director of Development, Alterra Mountain Company

Jon Paul Testwuide serves as the Director of Development for Alterra Mountain Company. Mr. Testwuide leads development related activities for select resorts to grow and scale. Major initiatives include master land planning, entitlement pursuits, repositioning of existing assets, land acquisitions and dispositions, and horizontal and vertical development in resort product types. Prior to AMC, Jon Paul spent 5 years at KSL Capital Partners, a Denver based private equity firm with nearly $10 billion in assets under management, where he was responsible for leading large capital projects and repositioning’s within the hospitality space. He graduated from the University of Denver with a concentration in Real Estate & Finance. During his time at DU he played D-1 hockey for the Pioneers.

About Andrew Lang, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Development, Alterra Mountain Company

Andrew Lang serves as the Vice President of Strategic Planning and Development for Alterra Mountain Company and are part of the Financial Strategy team within the Finance Department.  In addition, since 2013, Andrew has been a Co-founder and Partner at HLR Group, Inc., an investment management and holdings company dedicated to capital growth via applied statistical methods and factor-based investing across a range of assets. Prior to AMC, he spent a year at Genworth Financial as a Senior Manager. Andrew is an alumni from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA and is currently based in Denver, CO.

About Adam Ducker, CEO, RCLCO

Adam Ducker is Chief Executive Officer of RCLCO and oversees the firm’s Real Estate Economics and Management Consulting Practices. Adam joined RCLCO in the mid-1990s as an associate directly after graduate school and learned the trade with the firm. He is a recognized expert in strategic planning for real estate companies, investment analysis, market and financial analysis, and marketing of real estate assets. He has particular depth of expertise in high-density housing, retail/entertainment, and hotel development.

Adam is a member of the Executive Committee of RCLCO, which manages shared resources and oversees overall company strategy. He also sits on the board of the RCLCO Foundation.

Adam is a frequent speaker on topics ranging from place-making, urban redevelopment, retail trends, and in-town housing. His writing has been widely published and quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Urban Land, Real Assets, among others. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), vice chair of the Redevelopment and Reuse Council, and a board member of the Terwilliger Center for Housing. A native of the New York metropolitan area, Adam received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Columbia University.

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How can intellectual curiosity pave the way to success?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, RCLCO’s Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives, Joshua Boren, sits down with the President of Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, Bryant Park Corp., and 34th Street Partnership Dan Biederman, a trailblazer in urban planning and development, whose Bryant Park’s restoration is used as a case study to many in the industry for those looking to make change at the community level.

In addition to discussing Dan’s career overview into real estate and past and future projects, the pair discuss how family plays a role into shaping career pathways and run ins with historical figures like American publisher and philanthropist Enid Haupt, David Rockefeller and Andrew Heiskell.

“I only have two strengths. I’m not smarter than everybody else [but] I have discipline and intellectual curiosity.”

– Dan Biederman on his strengths contributing to his successful out-of-the-box thinking

About Dan Biederman, President of Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, Bryant Park Corp., & 34th Street Partnership

Dan Biederman began his career creating real estate value in New York, where he founded Bryant Park Corporation, the nation’s most successful park privatization effort, in 1980. He then set up the country’s largest complex of Business Improvement Districts: Grand Central Partnership (1985) and 34th Partnership (1989).

During his career, through these and other entities, he has revived or built twelve privately-funded and managed urban parks and turned around five troubled neighborhoods, eliminating thousands of annual crimes, and creating directly 2,500 jobs and over $10 billion in real estate value.

His consulting firm, Biederman Redevelopment Ventures Corp. (BRV), has represented many of the nation’s largest office, retail, and residential developers and owners on public space work, in 30 states and nine countries. Among the professional sports franchises that BRV has helped with place-making are three NFL teams (Jets, Packers, and Falcons), and the San Francisco Giants (in their Mission Rock development with Tishman Speyer).

He graduated from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs, magnum cum laude, in 1975, and from the Harvard Business School with distinction in 1977.

About Joshua A. Boren, Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives of RCLCO Real Estate Consulting

Joshua A. Boren specializes in leading business development, marketing, and strategic initiatives for various real estate needs and solutions as part of the RCLCO team. With more than 15 years of experience, Joshua specializes in understanding how network building and relationship management is critical to organizational success, which has resulted in millions of dollars of closed engagements. At RCLCO, he has grown the business development and marketing departments, which were recognized by Globe St. in 2019 as “Influencers in Marketing”. Incredibly involved in the global real estate community, Joshua holds membership and leadership positions at Urban Land Institute Los Angeles and Jewish Federation Los Angeles’ Real Estate and Construction Division, among others. Joshua also hosts RCLCO’s monthly Round-Up Webinar Series, which dives into factors in the real estate market, in addition to other RCLCO events and features.

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How can leadership help grow and foster personal entrepreneurship?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, RCLCO Fund Advisors’ CEO Taylor Mammen sits down with the Managing Partner and Founder of Park Madison Partners, Nancy Lashine, to discuss leadership, entrepreneurship and investment strategies from niche property types to other potential opportunities within real estate. RCLCO breaks from our traditional format for this special episode, where both leaders equally interview each other – gaining insights into personal perspectives from both Lashine and Mammen.

Mammen walks through his personal growth within RCLCO Fund Advisors, explaining how leadership helped to shape his career.

“It’s a people business…and having the right people in place is really critical and that, from my perspective, is really the role of leadership. It’s really all about attracting, retaining, growing, mentoring future leaders of organizations.”

– Taylor Mammen’s perspective on leadership

Lashine talks about her rise as a successful entrepreneur and the evolution of Park Madison Partners, the boutique real asset private equity placement firm she founded.

“I always wanted to be a partner in a financial firm, so I spent a couple of years looking at some different models and talking to a lot of folks in partnerships and then ultimately went into partnership in 2006 with Park Madison Partners, which was named after my father’s coffee shop.”

– Nancy Lashine

Topics in this episode include:

• What leadership in business means to Mammen (1:38)
• How Lashine looks at leadership in evaluating company priorities (5:22)
• Mammen dives into how he started the process of building RFA from RCLCO (9:52)
• Lashine goes into detail about her thought process behind founding her own business (13:26)
• Lashine’s thoughts on how strategy in the industry may continue to evolve (16:23)
• Mammen’s take on how the recalibration in markets and pricing may affect the weeding out of managers and strategies (18:30)
• Mammen and Lashine’s joint thoughts on various impacts on niche strategies (19:42)
• The importance of gaining targeted information and data gathering (24:50)
• A breakdown in building and utilizing market strategies (30:38)

About Nancy Lashine, Managing Partner & Founder of Park Madison Partners

Nancy Lashine is the Founder and Managing Partner of Park Madison Partners, a boutique real asset private equity placement firm. The firm is a leading advisor to investment management firms on their business strategy. Park Madison is headquartered in New York City and is a FINRA regulated broker dealer.

Lashine has over 35 years of real estate and investment marketing experience. Prior to forming Park Madison Partners, Ms. Lashine was a strategic consultant advising leading institutional real estate investment managers on product development and the implementation of institutional marketing initiatives. Clients included Lehman Brothers, Angelo Gordon, ING Clarion, Sentinel Real Estate and JER Partners.

Lashine was an early member of The O’Connor Group (1985-1995) and began her finance career at  LF Rothschild, Unterberg and Towbin (1981-1985).

Lashine earned her MBA at Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and a BFA, cum laude, from Case Western Reserve in Dance Theatre. She serves on several Boards including the Columbia MBA Real Estate Advisory Board, the Gibney Dance Center Board, ULI as a Global Trustee and is a past board member of the Pension Real Estate Association. She is a member of ULI and WX (Executive Women in Real Estate).

About Taylor Mammen, CEO of RCLCO Fund Advisors (RFA)

Taylor Mammen is Chief Executive Officer of RCLCO Fund Advisors (RFA), which advises institutional investors on all aspects of their complex real estate investment portfolios, from strategy development to underwriting and asset management. Taylor helped pioneer this business beginning in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, when several prominent pension funds turned to RFA with the goal to construct better performing and more resilient real estate portfolios, and has grown it to become a highly respected institutional real estate advisor, working with some of the largest and most dynamic institutional investors in the world. In the process, Taylor and RFA have sourced, underwritten, and overseen investments on behalf of clients well in excess of $10 billion. Taylor leads the firm’s institutional investor client relationships and is responsible for the firm’s growth and development, in addition to serving on the boards of clients’ portfolio companies.

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How can Live/Work grow and adapt to the real estate market in any climate?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, RCLCO CEO Adam Ducker sits down with the CEO of Highland Square Holdings (2HSQ), Robert Seldin, who has pioneered the live/work building conversion, construction method and apartment operating system.

In addition to discussing Rob’s career journey into real estate, they also deep dive into the live/work loft concepts – loft style apartments in which each unit has three permitted occupancies: apartment, office, or non-separated live/work space. Unlike traditional real estate, where the owner dictates to the user how they utilize the space, the market determines the best asset to be used.

“300% potential utility in a 100% physical plant.”

– Rob Seldin on the Live/Work Loft concept

Seldin talks in depth about initial challenges from cost of commercial buildings, to zoning issues and to the creation of the first completed project, e-lofts Alexandria, in Alexandria, Virginia in 2016. Since then, the platform has expanded with Mission Lofts, the largest live/work re-development in current U.S. history and a strategic venture partnership with Madison Marquette earlier this year.

“…real estate should be about elevating [and] expanding human potential and opportunity.”

– Rob Seldin

About Robert Seldin, Highland Square Holdings (2HSQ)

Rob Seldin is the CEO of Highland Square Holdings (2HSQ) and is responsible for leading all company development activity. Following 25 years of award winning apartment development, design, strategy and innovation leadership, Rob is widely recognized as an industry thought leader. With a 100% entitlement success rate on over 10,000 units in high barrier to entry US markets, Rob consistently generates market leading returns at below market cost bases, providing a permanent competitive advantage to his investors. In addition to conventional apartment assets, Rob is also the US Patent Inventor for the proprietary 2HSQ live/work building conversion and construction method and apartment operating system that has become the basis for this industry re-defining asset type. Prior to founding 2HSQ, Rob was the Founder and CEO of Novus Residences, LLC; an award winning, DC based, apartment and Live/Work development and operating company and Head of National Product Design and Senior Vice President of Mid-Atlantic and Southeast Development for Archstone, a premier apartment industry REIT.

About Adam Ducker, RCLCO

Adam Ducker is Chief Executive Officer of RCLCO and oversees the firm’s Real Estate Economics and Management Consulting Practices. Adam joined RCLCO in the mid-1990s as an associate directly after graduate school and learned the trade with the firm. He is a recognized expert in strategic planning for real estate companies, investment analysis, market and financial analysis, and marketing of real estate assets. He has particular depth of expertise in high-density housing, retail/entertainment, and hotel development.

Adam is a member of the Executive Committee of RCLCO, which manages shared resources and oversees overall company strategy. He also sits on the board of the RCLCO Foundation.

Adam is a frequent speaker on topics ranging from place-making, urban redevelopment, retail trends, and in-town housing. His writing has been widely published and quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Urban Land, Real Assets, among others. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), vice chair of the Redevelopment and Reuse Council, and a board member of the Terwilliger Center for Housing. A native of the New York metropolitan area, Adam received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Columbia University.

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How does CalSTRS balance the mandate to generate returns in the short term while staying true to its long-term mission, including incorporating ESG into the decision-making process?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, RFA Managing Director Cyndi Thomas sits down with California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS)’ Investment Director of Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies (SISS), Kirsty Jenkinson, as well as Portfolio Manager Julie Donegan, who leads the team responsible for residential assets within the portfolio, including development activity, acquisition, business plan execution, and Real Estate Operating Company ownership.

In addition to discussing both leaders’ career journeys into real estate, they also deep dive into their attention to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). The group discusses CalSTRS’ 2050 Net Zero pledge, the goals of the SISS team, and and the role of affordable housing within the real estate portfolio.

About Kirsty Jenkinson, CalSTRS

Kirsty Jenkinson is the Investment Director, Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies for the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), the largest educator-only public pension fund in the world with over $280 billion of assets under management. She joined CalSTRS in January 2019 and is responsible for managing over $9 billion placed with sustainability and activist managers, overseeing the fund’s stewardship activities including corporate engagement and proxy voting, and outreach with the fund’s stakeholders.

Prior to joining CalSTRS, Kirsty spent four years at Wespath Benefits and Investments in Chicago and four years as the director of the Markets and Enterprise Program at the World Resources Institute (WRI), a Washington, D.C.-based global research organization focused on the environment and economic development. Before moving to the U.S., Kirsty was a Director of Governance and Sustainable Investment at F&C Asset Management (now BMO Global Asset Management) and an Executive Director in the Fixed Income division of Goldman Sachs in London. Kirsty sits on the board of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre and is a member of WRI’s Sustainable Investment Advisory Council. She received an M.A. degree in International History from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

About Julie Donegan, CalSTRS

Julie Donegan joined CalSTRS in December 2019 as a Portfolio Manager.  She leads the team that is focused on residential assets in the CalSTRS Real Estate portfolio which includes development, acquisition, and Real Estate Operating Company ownership.  The residential portfolio is predominantly invested throughout the U.S. with select international exposure.  Julie’s work experience includes nearly ten years at Franklin Real Asset Advisors where she served as a Senior Vice President and was a voting member of the Global Real Estate Investment Committee.  While at Franklin, Julie focused on manager due diligence, underwriting as well as client responsibilities.  She also served as a Senior Vice President with Eastdil Secured where she focused on manager due diligence, private fund structuring, joint ventures and structured finance transactions.  Julie began her career at CalPERS where she was an investment officer responsible for the $2.0bn non-core real estate program.   She holds a B.S. in Business Management. Julie is a member of PREA (Pension Real Estate Association) and CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) where she served on the National Board of Directors and has been a member of the Sacramento chapter for more than 20 years.

About Cyndi Thomas & RCLCO Fund Advisors

Cyndi Thomas is a Managing Director at RCLCO Fund Advisors where she focuses on driving the performance of asset plans for an extensive portfolio on behalf of various pension fund clients. Previously, Cyndi was a partner and executive vice president at Etkin Johnson and oversaw the management, financial performance, and business strategy for the company’s extensive Colorado portfolio. Other experience includes real estate acquisitions, financing, restructurings, and asset management at CenterSquare Investment Management, Buchanan Street Partners, and Clarion Partners. Outside of RCLCO, Cyndi is a member of the Urban Land Institute – Small Scale Development Product Council and the Chairman of the CU Real Estate Center International Advisory Board. She attended the University of Wisconsin, where she received a BBA, Real Estate and Urban Land Economics, and the University of Colorado, where she received an MBA and MS, Finance.

Established in 2011 and an SEC Registered Investment Advisor since 2014, RCLCO Fund Advisors advises institutional investors on real estate investments through its analytical rigor, highly customized client-centric service, and impassioned search for alignment. With over $75 billion in real estate assets under advisement, RFA’s diverse and experienced team offers a differentiated approach to real estate investing to address the unique challenges faced by institutional investors through its focus on demand-driven investing, real estate operations, and partnership alignment.

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How does one rise through the ranks in real estate while executing a successful succession plan?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, Managing Director Charles Hewlett sits down with Bell Partner’s President & CEO, Lili Dunn. They discuss Lili’s career journey from growing up in the industry and selling houses in college, to working her way up Trammell Crow Residential/Avalon Bay Communities with five kids at home, and becoming Bell Partners’ President & CEO after 12 years with the firm. Learn how she is positioning Bell Partners for success after their leadership transition, and her five pieces of advice for people breaking into real estate.

“To have a successful transition it took a lot of trust, an alignment of strategic goals and values, and the ability to disagree with each other, but ultimately be empowered.” – Lili Dunn

About Lili Dunn & Bell Partners

Lili Dunn is President & CEO of Bell Partners. She joined Bell in 2010 as Chief Investment Officer and became chair of the Executive Committee in 2014. In 2016, she assumed the role of President and in March 2022 was named Chief Executive Officer. She oversees all aspects of the company’s business, including Investments, Fund Management, Operations, Construction, and Accounting & Finance. She leads Bell Partners on a day-to-day basis and is involved in all aspects of the business, with an emphasis on transaction activity, capital raising and overall company strategy.

Prior to joining Bell Partners, Lili was a 20-year veteran with AvalonBay Communities, a leading public apartment REIT and a member of the S&P 500, and Trammell Crow Residential, its predecessor entity. Lili serves on the Executive Board of the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC), is Vice Chair of Urban Land Institute’s multifamily council, is a member of Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE). She earned her BBA from the University of Michigan, where she graduated with highest honors.

About Charles Hewlett & RCLCO

Charles A. Hewlett is a Managing Director based out of the Washington, DC office. He has over 25 years of real estate consulting experience and has advised on commercial and residential properties in most major metropolitan regions. His areas of specialization include corporate, portfolio, and asset-level strategic planning; economic, market, financial feasibility and metropolitan development trend analyses; as well as litigation consulting. Charles has written articles published in the Corridor Real Estate Journal, UrbanLand, and publications of the National Multi Housing Council. He is the author of Strategy Planning for Real Estate Companies.

RCLCO is proud to be the “first call” for real estate developers, investors, the public sector, and non-real estate organizations seeking strategic and tactical advice regarding property investment, planning, and development. RCLCO leverages quantitative analytics and a strategic planning framework to provide end-to-end business planning and implementation solutions at an entity, portfolio, or project level.

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How does one not only become a successful real estate executive, but learn how to find and place key executives across the country?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, Managing Director Joshua Boren welcomes Ellen Klasson to the firm with an in-depth interview. They discuss Ellen’s 20-year career journey from Atlanta to Washington, DC, including lessons learned from her time at Central Atlanta Progress, CohnReznick, the Urban Land Institute, and Terra Search Partners. Learn how Ellen leveraged her background in real estate analytics to now focus on the human capital aspects and become one of the country’s leading recruiters for the real estate industry.

About Ellen Klasson

Ellen Klasson is a Managing Director in RCLCO’s Management Consulting practice. Ellen leads executive search engagements for leadership roles at development, investment, and land use companies across all asset classes. Ellen’s consultative nature has enabled her to identify and attract talent for both traditional and nuanced roles, and her deep understanding of the business lends itself to a more analytical approach of a candidates’ viability. Working for nearly twenty years in the real estate industry has allowed Ellen to forge long-lasting relationships with and earn the trust of both clients and candidates.

Before joining RCLCO, Ellen spent five years as a Managing Director at Terra Search Partners, a national boutique executive search firm focused exclusively on the real estate industry. Previously she worked at the Urban Land Institute as the Senior Director of Leadership, overseeing the leadership programs for the organization’s 40,000 members worldwide. Prior to joining ULI, Ellen co-directed CohnReznick’s Real Estate Development Advisory practice, analyzing real estate opportunities for developers and municipalities. She is also a former Vice President of Economic Development at Central Atlanta Progress, where she attracted new investment into Downtown Atlanta. She began her career consulting to developers while a project manager at RCLCO.

Ellen continues to be involved with the Urban Land Institute, where she is the Americas Chair of its Women’s Leadership Initiative and a member of the Urban Revitalization Council. She is also a volunteer with UrbanPlan, a program for high school and college students that introduces them to the complex trade-offs of real estate development. Ellen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University and a Master of City & Regional Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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About Joshua Boren & RCLCO

Joshua A. Boren specializes in leading business development, marketing, and strategic initiatives for various real estate needs and solutions as part of the RCLCO team. With 15 years of experience, Joshua specializes in understanding how network building and relationship management are critical to organizational success, which has resulted in millions of dollars of closed engagements. Incredibly involved in the global real estate community, Joshua holds membership and leadership positions at Urban Land Institute Los Angeles and Jewish Federation Los Angeles’ Real Estate and Construction Division, among others. Joshua also hosts RCLCO’s monthly Round-Up Webinar Series, which dives into the ever-changing impacts of major trends in the real estate markets. As part of the RCLCO sales and marketing team, he was recently recognized as a 2021 Marketing Influencer by Globe St.

RCLCO is proud to be the “first call” for real estate developers, investors, the public sector, and non-real estate organizations seeking strategic and tactical advice regarding property investment, planning, and development. RCLCO leverages quantitative analytics and a strategic planning framework to provide end-to-end business planning and implementation solutions at an entity, portfolio, or project level.

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