Without a doubt, the world of commercial real estate is resplendent with movers and shakers, the leaders in the industry who are driving their firms headlong into the future.
The editorial staff here at National Real Estate Investor decuded to create a list of individuals who we feel are on the leading (and sometimes bleeding) edge of where commercial real estate is headed into the next millennium.
Whilst many will say it's all about technology, we tended to look at all aspects of commercial real estate, as well as all asset classes, property types and disciplines.
Initially we came up with a headache. There were more than enough qualified nominees. So, we had to make some hard choices and let the chips fall where they may. Remember what honest Abe always said...
The end result is a rather diversified group. A full third of our list (seven) are leading their technology firms into totally uncharted waters, filled with a sea of both sharks and tons of doubt from industry veterans.
Another third of our list calls the finance realm "home." This isn't too surprising to our loyal readers, who know we have an afinity for the money side of the real estate equation (after all, "Investor" is part of our name).
The remainder of the list is split this way: Three are in hotels; another three are developers/owners; and one is now in corporate real estate, fresh from a long and impressive stint as a commercial banker. If these 21 represent any indication, the industry is in smart hands.
We've divided the list into three neat installments, which we will bring you in fairly equal parts starting this month and running through the February and March 1, 2000 issues. So enjoy, and stay tuned for more.
Daryl J. Carter & Quintin E. Primo III Co-founders Capri Capital LP Chicago OK, we cheated a little. We're counting two as one with Capri Capital, mainly because Mssrs. Carter and Primo co-founded this leading investment advisory firm in 1992. Today Capri has about $3.5 billion in real estate-related assets under management. Through the years, Carter and Primo constantly crossed paths, finally leading to this partnership.
Daryl Carter is Co-chairman and chief investment officer of Capri, and is responsible for all investment activities of the firm and oversees the Southern California office. He has more than 17 years of investment experience in real estate debt and equity, including loan restructuring. Carter honed his skills as the regional vice president at Westinghouse Credit Corp., where he was responsible for western U.S. investment operations. He also was a second vice president with Continental Bank in Chicago, where he originated and managed more than $500 million in commercial and multifamily construction loans. He holds a Master of Science degree from MIT, and a Bachelor of Sciene in Architrecture fromthe University of Michigan.
Primo is Co-chairman and acts as chief investment officer and chairman of the firm's management committee. He also is chairman of Capri Select Income, a mezzanine investment fund marketed to pension funds and other institutions. He has more than 20 years of expereince in the business. Prior to Capri, Primo was managing director at Q. Primo & Co., a real estate investment banking firm he founded in 1988. He was also a vice president and manager of Citicorp Real Estate's Chicago lending team. He received his MBA from Harvard in 1979, and a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Indian University.
Victor Coleman President & COO Arden Realty Corp. Los Angeles In September 1998, NREI named Coleman to our "40 under 40" listing of 40 industry leaders under the age of 40 who we felt would be heard and seen in the years ahead. Coleman has lived up to that recognition.
For the past 17 years, Victor Coleman has held key positions in all facets of finance and real estate investment. He is the co-founder of Arden Realty Inc. and currently its President and Chief Operating Officer. Arden is a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ARI).
Coleman took the company public with Arden CEO Richard Ziman in October 1996. Today, he is primarily responsible for all facets of Arden's strategic planning and growth as well as management of the company's team of top real estate professionals.
Arden is the largest office landlord in Southern California with 142 office properties containing approximately 19 million sq. ft., all of which are internally managed. Arden is also engaged in major development projects such as the Howard Hughes Center in West Los Angeles and significant renovation projects such as The Westwood Center, a landmark Los Angeles office building.
During a recent NREI roundtable focusing on Southern California, Coleman voiced his optimism for the local markets. "I think you're looking at a marketplace in Southern California that has always been the largest in entrepreneurial startups of any state in the United States. It is primarily because of quality of life, access to capital, access to the environments.."
Coleman has been an active member of the Los Angeles community. In April 1998, he was awarded the Humanitarian Award for the National Conference of Christian and Jews. He is on the board of trustees for UCLA Unicamp and the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at UC Berkeley. He is also a founding member of the City of Hope Los Angeles Real Estate Industries and Hebrew University New Scopus Society.
Coleman holds an MBA from Golden Gate University and a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of California, Berkeley. He has been married for 10 years, has three children and lives in Pacific Palisades.
Andrew Florance CEO CoStar Group Bethesda, Md. Talk about your tech wonders. Florance is a founder of CoStar Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), and has been the firm's president and a director since 1987. He was appointed CEO in 1995.
His biggest notable move of late was the cash-and-stock acquisition of rival Comps.com for $102 million. In one move, Florance has created the largest Internet distributor of comprehensive U.S. commercial real estate information. "We believe that our extensive information, enhanced by comparable sales data [from Comps.com] will make us a leading provider of information on commercial properties on the Internet," says Florance. "Most importantly, the merger allows us to serve our broker clients better by enabling us to provide more timely, comprehensive and accurate information, all on a more cost-effective basis."
CoStar (www.costargroup.com) has created a proprietary database through internal development and strategic acquisitions detailing office and industrial space in the United States that is comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date. More than 3,600 client firms (23,000 end-users) use CoStar Group's multimedia software and database, CoStar Property, to track more than 314,000 buildings in 40 markets totaling more than 14.4 million sq. ft. across the country. More than 380,000 tenants are listed in the state-of-the-art software package, CoStar Tenant.
Prior to CoStar, Florance was president of Real Estate Infonet, a real estate public records publishing firm. He was responsible for developing the first generation software products for Federal Filings, a 3-D tracking service, which was later acquired by Dow Jones.
>From 1989-1993, Florance was the publisher of Cornerstone, a leading >directory of Washington, D.C.-area commercial real estate. From 1993-1996, >he was a co-founder of and served on the board of industry trade >association REI-NEX. He served on the focus group responsible for >developing the concepts related to the federal government's use of real >estate in vice president Al Gore's National Performance Review. Also, the >Federal Control Board of the District of Columbia named Florance to a task >force to develop the city's strategic plan for real estate.
He is a graduate of Princeton University with a degree in economics.
Ron Pressman President GE Capital Real Estate Services Stamford, Conn. Though Ron Pressman's tenure at GE began back in 1980, his arrival as president of GE Capital Real Estate in January 1997 signaled a shift in how the firm conducts its business. Consider the stats alone - GE's business has tripled in three years, not only in terms of size, but in terms of customer groups served and deal volume (about 500 deals a year average). For 1999 alone, GE Capital pumped out more than $9 billion in real estate lending, up from about $7.5 billion in 1998.
Pressman's focus on customers is becoming legend within the firm. He has built GE's capital markets group from scratch to a top-five player in the CMBS arena, accounting for about half of the division's business today. He has expanded and redefined GE's core lending business, which ranges from joint venture equity deals to portfolio investing, to direct investments in companies. Of late, GE has been a big player in preferred equity investments for REITs. And it's working with large institutions, something it was never known for, like never before. Instead of moving with the deal-tide away from direct competition with institutional investors, today GE Capital Real Estate is increasingly jumping right into the fray, diversifying its product mix.
Pressman's stated goal has been to capture 20% marketshare in conduit-land by 2002. He certainly has the balance sheet to help him. It allows GE to make investments upfront, then securitize portions as necessary. Or to hold, and even buy, in times of crisis, as it did duringthe 1998 CMBS market meltdown.
The track record goes on: 22% increase in core business volume in 1999, 22% increase in assets under management, to more than $40 billion, in 1999. And GE Capital has originated more than $9 billion in CMBS and private syndications since 1997.
Pressman has also been instrumental in getting GE Capital Real Estate noticed within the parent. The division now ranks 13th in size within all of GE.
And he's gone global, acquiring firms in France, Spain and Portugal and creating a Pan-European influence. About one-third of the division's business in 1999 came from outside the United States.
Mark Quam President and Founder EquityCity.com Denver Like a lot of entrepreneurs, Mark Quam saw an unfulfilled need in the commercial real estate market - an online investment capital network, connecting sophisticated individual and institutional investors with experienced developers and deal makers in an efficient manner.
Thus, EquityCity.com was born. And though the firm is a newborn by conventional standards, it is carving out its own niche in the business. It's not a listing service, but it does match up accredited investors with those seeking equity investors or partners. As the site states its own mission, "EquityCity.com is the bridge between investors and real estate professionals."
Investors are charged an annual membership fee based upon their type of membership (individual $195; company $595; institution $1,295). Any member can have a 30-day free trial look. Investor members fall into three categories: high-net-worth individuals; real estate companies; and institution/pension funds.
EquityCity pre-screens every real estate development and acquisition opportunity. Once approved, these make up the Investment Opportunities database. EquityCity also screens its investor members. All must qualify as "accredited investors" or qualified investment companies. EquityCity automatically sends investments that match their personal criteria to searchers via e-mail.
Quam says he founded EquityCity.com after his years of experience in two vital areas - investment and development. Quam has more than 9 years of experience in commercial and residential development, real estate acquisitions and security investment and management.
He was formerly the director of construction and project management for CB Richard Ellis in Denver, where he oversaw more than 2 million sq. ft. of construction and development. Prior to joining CB Richard Ellis, Quam developed several planned residential communities for the Writer Corp. As an investment adviser for Dain Rauscher, Quam managed more than 285 clients with a portfolio exceeding $285 million.
He holds an MBA in real estate and construction from the University of Denver, and a BA in finance from the University of Arizona.