Place Making: Recent Episodes
The Craftwork Group
Place Making: A Craftwork Podcast features Trevor Hightower and Riley Kiltz as they interview some of the most successful, interesting, and innovative people who shape the present and future in the multifamily industry. Join them as they get to the personal and professional drivers of these leaders - their career stories and their passion and vision for shaping the multifamily industry.
Jonathan Brinsden is President of Irvine Company’s Office Properties. He is responsible for the leadership and overall performance of the division, including a fully-integrated customer-centric platform of development, design, construction, leasing, operations, and marketing. He oversees portfolio growth strategies through acquisitions and development, and performance of the division’s nearly 53-million-square-foot operating portfolio. The portfolio includes properties in Orange County, San Diego, West Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Chicago and New York City. He joined the company in 2021. Previously, Mr. Brinsden served as Chief Executive Officer of Midway and guided the company’s strategy, growth, and creation of a $2 billion portfolio of mixed-use assets over a 20-year period. Prior to joining Midway, Mr. Brinsden served as President and Chief Operating Officer at Hamm Corporation, a Houston-based development company. Mr. Brinsden is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) as Chairman of ULI Americas; and a Global Board Director, Governing Trustee, ULI Foundational Governor, and past Chair of ULI Houston. Mr. Brinsden has been active in a number of civic leadership and charitable organizations focused on parks and greenspace, homelessness, and education. He is also a former adjunct professor at the University of Houston Bauer Graduate Real Estate Program and a frequent guest lecturer at Texas A&M University and Rice University. Mr. Brinsden holds bachelor degrees in construction science and in environmental design, and a masters degree in land and real estate development from Texas A&M University.
Bryce is a force of nature. He is the Founder & Managing Director of Access Ventures. AV employs a one-pocket approach (which will talk a lot about) to tackle complex social problems with asymmetric solutions and a blended portfolio of investments. Bryce has been an Army officer, a pastor, an adjunct instructor, a producer, and an author. His best accomplishment is being married to Bethany and they have 4 wonderful daughters. The Butler team lives on a farm just outside of their beloved Louisville Kentucky. They also have 2 dogs, 14 chickens, 3 bunnies, and 2 ducks. Bryce is a passionate problem solver and a true place maker. We hope you enjoy this ranging conversation with Bryce Butler.
This week we are talking to Scott Berka. Scott is a Senior Managing Director and leads Brand and Customer Experience for Greystar Enterprise Services. Scott is responsible for setting the brand strategy for Greystar and our global portfolio of brands. He also provides strategic oversight for innovation and continuous improvements to our customer experience, in partnership with operations and technology teams. In addition, he oversees Greystar's global website and social media presence. Scott is also a member of the Greystar Executive Committee. For those of you who don’t know, Greystar is a fully integrated global leader in the investment, development, and management of rental housing properties. Greystar manages and operates an estimated $150 billion of real estate in over 185 markets globally. Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, managing more than 500,000 units/beds, and has a robust institutional investment management platform with approximately $35.8 billion of assets under management. Before joining Greystar in 2019, Scott was a leader in the Marketing and Customer Experience Practice at McKinsey & Company. While there, he advised fortune 500 clients in the financial services and retail sectors to improve their marketing and customer experience capabilities. companies and sectors. Scott received his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in Business, and earned his Master’s of Business Administration from Yale School of Management. Scott and I have had several conversations before today and find him to be one of the clearest thinkers and strategists in the residential space. He and his team are certainly shaping a huge part of the future of residential placemaking and end-user resident experience.
In this episode I talk to Joe Pine, author of seven great business books, TED-speaker, and advisor to Fortune 500 companies. He wrote a treatise called the experience economy that was foundational to how I think about real estate. Joe is a rockstar. He has addressed the World Economic Forum, the original TED conference, and the Consumer Electronics Show. A former Visiting Scholar with the MIT Design Lab, he is currently a Lecturer with the Columbia University School of Professional Studies. Joe is co-founder of Strategic Horizons which offers the tools, experiences, and education to explore and master today’s economic marketplace.
This week we have a special episode. We are talking with James Ray and Reggie Rawlins about the education of placemaking from two incredible leaders. James is a friend and let’s just put it like this; he is a rockstar in the real estate space. You name he’s done it. property and portfolio acquisitions, developments and redevelopments, joint venture sourcing and structuring, asset management, mortgage portfolio management, and corporate M&A activity. But what makes James so compelling to me is he has a teacher’s heart. His passion is to see others get the education they need to be world-class in the vocation of real estate. This leads us to Reggie. He is one of these guys who got an accelerated and focused education from James and now works in real estate investment management for one of the largest and most respected firms in the industry. James and Reggie, thanks so much for joining the Placemaking Podcast.
Join us this week as we speak with John Marsh! John Marsh is a husband, father of two boys and a visionary entrepreneur, who has been instrumental in rebuilding the historic downtown of Opelika, Alabama. Over the last 25 years, he has been involved in over 30 startup businesses in various industries, including construction, real estate investing, advertising, and hospitality. Today, John’s focus is on helping others make generational differences in their communities by helping patrons bridge the gap between redeeming vision and execution.
This week we are talking with Matt Morris. Matt has had all of the following titles: board member, a public company CEO, entrepreneur, investor, leader, husband (to the wonderful Melissa), and father (4 awesome boys). He also happens to carry the title of mentor and friend to Trevor. As we'll see today, Matt is full of wisdom and has a very important skill of making the complex simple. We’re grateful to have him join us.
This week we are talking with Ben Pleat, Ben is CEO and founder of Cobu, a platform powering genuine communities in apartment buildings. After graduating from Harvard, Ben discovered his interest in real estate through working on the growth team at WeWork and later through the real estate private equity group at Goldman Sachs. During this time, Ben learned just how big of a problem turnover to residential real estate owners and managers. He was shocked to learn that on average, apartment buildings would see around 50% churn in residents every year. This problem combined with the personal experience of his mom experiencing feeling isolated in a very nice apartment she lived in, inspired Ben to create a solution. Ben developed a thesis that a key contributor to high turnover is the lack of ‘stickiness’ caused by a weak community.
As the Senior Managing Director of Berkadia’s Texas Multifamily Investment Sales Team, Ryan Epstein has positioned Berkadia as one of the most successful investment sales in the Texas Multifamily market. Ryan has over 12 years of multifamily sales experience with a specialty in strategic planning, transaction management, and financial structuring to ensure successful implementation of client investment strategies. Prior to joining Berkadia, Ryan was Executive Vice President and leader of the Texas Gulf Coast Multifamily Investment Sales for CBRE. Where he and I worked together. Ryan is so respected by his peers in the industry. When we mention his name to our owner partners, it is clear Ryan has a reputation as someone who is uniquely gifted at guiding clients through their acquisition. His deep domain knowledge of the industry, capital markets, and what drives value in multifamily is uncanny.
Today we are talking to David Ward. Ward, is executive vice president of development of the publicly traded REIT, MAA. MAA has ownership in over 300 communities in 16 different states. Mr. Ward joined MAA in December 2016 following the merger with Post Properties, Prior to joining Post in August 2004, he was Divisional President and Managing Partner for JPI Partners, Mr. Ward is a member of the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) where he serves on the council's Board of Directors and Executive Committee. As you will clearly see, David has a wealth of experience in the Multifamily sector and is key leader in the industry. We have gotten to know David over the past year, and what we admire most is his thoughtfulness about his role and how he thinks about his role in helping develop the Multifamily product of the future.
This week we are talking with Brad Hargreaves, Brad is the founder and CEO of Common, the nation’s leading residential brand enhancing the value of real estate through convenience and community with over 50 coliving homes in nine markets across the country. We have learned a lot from Brad in how he sees technology shaping, influencing and improving residential real estate. Common is the leading coliving brand, but as we’ll talk today Brad and his team at Common have an even larger vision for the residential market as a whole. In our discussion with Brad, we’ll focus on how innovation and technology create better places for people to live. As you’ll see there is no better person to speak into this than Brad.
Sue has been with Trammell Crow Residential since 2000. Based in Austin, she performs the Resident Experience role for the western United States. In her position, she is involved in the pre-development process, plan review, and interior design direction, determining overall property themes, and sourcing the latest technologies and amenities for inclusion in each deal. Prior to moving exclusively into a development role in 2016, Sue ran Asset Management for the western United States, where she was responsible for a portfolio valued up to $1.3 billion. Sue also oversaw the placement of equity from TCR’s acquisition fund with AEW and served as the Fort Hood housing Operations Director. Prior to joining TCR, Sue was Vice President of Acquisitions for CWS Apartment Homes, LLC, placing over $25 million of equity in two years and purchasing 10 multifamily properties in a variety of markets. Sue holds a B.S. degree in Business from Towson University. As Managing Director of Resident Experience, Sue is responsible for the pre-development process, plan review, interior design direction, and sourcing the latest technologies and amenities for inclusion in each deal. It is apparent for anyone who has worked with Sue that she has a passion for design and innovation in multifamily that leads to a better experience for residents.
Laurie Baker is Executive Vice President of Operations for Camden Property Trust. Baker is responsible for the oversight and strategy of Camden's portfolio operations and investment funds. During her 20 plus years with Camden, Baker has held several positions including Senior Vice President of Fund & Asset Management, where she led the creation and management of Camden’s first investment funds. Baker served as the executive sponsor for Camden's technology initiative during the 2000’s which included $10 million in technology investments and the rollout of Camden's web-based property management software, revenue management, and several web-based solutions. Before joining Camden, Baker was Vice President at Walden Residential Properties and spent nine years at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, MD. She holds an MBA in Finance from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Sam Houston State University. She serves on the Board of Directors Executive Committee for the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), is vice-chair of ULI's Multifamily Bronze Council, and a frequent speaker in the multifamily industry. Baker was the 2016 President of CREW Network, a Past President for CREW Houston and in 2012 was honored as one of Houston’s Top 15 Women in Commercial Real Estate. She is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Texas and was recognized by the Real Estate Forum as a Woman of Influence in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Laurie is a respected leader in the multifamily, with first-hand experience on how culture shapes the industry.
