The ACREL Files: Recent Episodes
American College of Real Estate Lawyers
The idea for the podcast was born from the ACREL History Project [initiated by Morty Fisher], and the initial episodes will be a series of interviews with ACREL's charter members and other influential leaders from the early years of the College. In addition to preserving ACREL's history, the podcasts will explore how real estate law has evolved over time, forecast where the practice is going, and understand the impact that ACREL and its Fellows have had on the industry as a whole.
DISCLAIMER: All opinions expressed in the podcasts solely represent the views of the program participants, and are not necessarily the views of ACREL, any affiliated law firm or other related entity.
Before taking a break for the summer, the ACREL Files continues with ACREL Past President Jay Epstien interviewing J. Ronald Terwilliger, among the most iconic leaders of the real estate industry in the past 50 years. Ron is chairman emeritus of Trammell Crow Residential Company, a national residential real estate company and the largest developer of multifamily housing in the U.S. for several decades during his tenure as CEO. Ron is past chairman of the Urban Land Institute, where he currently serves as a trustee and established the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing with his $5 million gift. He also is past chairman of the International Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity and currently chairs Habitat’s Global Development Council. Ron currently serves as chairman of the Enterprise Community Partners Board of Trustees and as chairman of the Board of the U. S. Naval Academy Foundation, and is a member of the Boards of the “I Have a Dream” Foundation and the Bipartisan Policy Center, where he chairs the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy. Among Ron’s many recognitions, he was honored in 2009 by the United States Naval Academy as a Distinguished Graduate for his lifetime commitment to service, personal character and distinguished contributions to our nation. Ron also was selected for the Prestigious Horatio Alger Award in 2014, bestowed upon individuals who have succeeded in spite of adversity and who are committed to supporting young people in pursuit of increased opportunities through higher education. Ron is an honor graduate of the United States Naval Academy. After serving five years in the Navy, he received his MBA degree with High Distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Business where he was elected a Baker Scholar.
The ACREL Files 2024 continues with ACREL Past President Jay Epstien interviewing Deborah Harmon, an industry leader and entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience in real estate. Together with Penny Pritzker, she co-founded Artemis Real Estate Partners in 2009. Prior to Artemis, Debbie spent 17 years establishing and leading the principal investing business at JE Robert Companies. Debbie currently serves as Chairperson of the Pension Real Estate Association Foundation, a member of the Boards of Directors of Starwood Property Trust, Urban Alliance, and Sponsors for Educational Opportunity. She also serves on the Advisory Council for the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights and as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She was recognized in 2020 by Barron’s on its inaugural list of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance and was included in Real Estate Forum’s Women of Influence Hall of Fame in 2018. Debbie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
The ACREL Files 2024 continues with ACREL Past President Jay Epstien interviewing Sarah Hawkins, CEO of the East Region for Hines, one of the largest and most respected real estate organizations in the world. In that role, Sarah oversees development, acquisition, asset management, and operations activities across offices in New York City, Boston, Washington, DC and Philadelphia, with $20 billion in assets under management. She is a member of the firm’s global Executive Committee. Sarah joined Hines in 2011 and spearheaded the company’s expansion into senior housing and industrial platforms. Sarah is a rising star in the industry, having been recognized as one of the Power 100 by Commercial Observer. She serves on the board of Vertex Partnership Academies and the Executive Council for the University of Texas Real Estate Center. Sarah earned her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business Administration degrees from The University of Texas, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
The ACREL Files 2024 continues with ACREL Past President, Jay Epstien, interviewing Jeff DeBoer, the President & Chief Executive Officer of The Real Estate Roundtable. The Roundtable represents the leadership of the nation’s top 150 privately owned and publicly-held real estate ownership, development, lending and management firms, as well as the elected leaders of the 19 major national real estate industry trade associations. Jeff has been at the forefront of national policy affecting the real estate industry for the past thirty-five years. Jeff also chairs the National Real Estate Organization, a 20 member real estate trade association coalition focused on industry communication, advocacy and diversity efforts, and the Real Estate Industry Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RE-ISAC), an organization dedicated to enhancing communication between the industry and federal policymakers on terrorism threats, building security, and major incident reporting. Commercial Property Executive recently awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023 and The Hill has recognized Jeff as one of the top lobbyists in Washington DC for six consecutive years. Jeff holds degrees from Washington and Lee University School of Law (JD) and from Yankton College (BA).
Welcome to The ACREL Files 2024. We begin the year with ACREL Past President, Jay Epstien, interviewing Judy Turchin, a real estate lawyer with an accomplished career that should be of particular interest to ACREL Fellows. Judy’s journey (which is not over yet) started as a real estate associate at Wachtel Lipton before she joined Lehman Brothers as a Senior Vice President and Legal Officer in the real estate private equity business where she steered the company thru its bankruptcy and the Global Financial Crisis. Following Lehman, Judy joined Blackstone Real Estate, where she served as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Administrative Officer, becoming an integral part of the firm’s leadership team.
Following Blackstone, Judy pivoted to Equinox, the luxury lifestyle brand, where she served as Global Chief Operating Officer, responsible for the day-to-day operations of its 100+ clubs and 14,000 employees. In 2021, Judy founded JPT Advisors, a global advisory firm operating at the intersection of health/wellness/fitness and real estate, with a particular focus on customer experience, strategy, operations, sales and marketing. She currently serves on the Boards of several private equity sponsored companies, including Suntex Marinas, CenterWell Senior Primary Care and OVME Aesthetics, as well as New York Road Runners. Judy received a J.D. from Fordham Law School and a B.A. with honors from Rutgers University.
Join us for the final ACREL Files podcast of 2024 when ACREL Past President Jay Epstien interviews Roy March, the chief executive officer of Eastdil Secured, the leading global real estate investment banking company. Eastdil annually transacts over $200 billion per year and has been involved in over $2.8 trillion in transactions since 2007. With more than 45 years of experience at Eastdil across financing, sales, acquisition, and capital markets activities in the US, Europe, and East Asia, Roy is among the most informed and insightful professionals regarding CRE transactional activity around the world. Roy serves on various industry, corporate and community boards, is a Trustee and member of Global Board of the Urban Land Institute, and is past Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Zell-Lurie Real Estate Center at The Wharton School. He is co-founder of March to the Top-Africa, serving the less fortunate in Africa focused on health, education and conservancy www.marchtothetop.com.
The ACREL Files continues with an interview of Diane Hoskins, the Co-CEO of Gensler, by ACREL Past President Jay Epstien. Gensler is the leading global architecture, design, and planning firm with 53 locations and 6,000+ professionals around the world. For her innovative leadership, Diane ranks on Business Insider’selite “Creators” list, a who’s who of the world’s 100 top creative visionaries. Her insights have appeared in the Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, the Washington Post, and The Economist; and she was a featured speaker at the United Nations’ COP27 Climate Change Conference. She is on the Board of Directors of Boston Properties, is a trustee of The MIT Corporation and the current Global Chair of ULI. A registered architect, Diane graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds an MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA.
The ACREL Files continues with an interview of David Rubenstein, one of the Co-Founders of Carlyle and currently its Co-Chairman of the Board, by ACREL Past President Jay Epstien. Under David’s leadership, Carlyle became one of the world’s largest and most diversified global investment firms, with $385 billion of assets under management. Carlyle is an active investor in global real estate. Prior to forming Carlyle in 1987, Mr. Rubenstein had a storied career, including practicing law at Paul Weiss in NYC and Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge in Washington, DC, time on Capitol Hill as Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments and in the White House during the Carter Administration as Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. Among many philanthropic endeavors, Mr. Rubenstein is Chairman of the Boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Gallery of Art, the Economic Club of Washington, and the University of Chicago. Mr. Rubenstein also serves as a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation and as Chairman of the Harvard Global Advisory Council and the Madison Council of the Library of Congress. Mr. Rubenstein is a magna cum laude graduate of Duke University, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa, and the University of Chicago Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review.
As the Summer of 2023 comes to a close, the ACREL Files continues with Past President, Jay Epstien’s, interview of Owen Thomas, the Chairman and CEO of Boston Properties. Owen is a recognized leader in the real estate industry with more than 30 years of executive leadership, strategic planning, management and international experience, as well as substantial experience in financial and capital markets. In addition to leading Boston Properties, the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States, for 10 years, Owen currently is a Director of Lehman Brothers Holdings and served as its first Chairman from 2012 until 2013. Prior to Lehman, Mr. Thomas was with Morgan Stanley for 24 years serving in a number of different roles, including Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd. Mr. Thomas also is a Director and former Global Chairman of the Urban Land Institute, a Director of the Real Estate Roundtable and a member of the Executive Board of NAREIT. He attended and is Chair of the Board of Trustees at Woodberry Forest School, received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
ACREL Files continues with Jay Epstien’s interview of Sandeep Mathani, most recently the Chief Executive Officer of WeWork. Prior to joining WeWork in 2020, Sandeep was a leader in the world of retail real estate during an extraordinary 35+ year career having served as Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Properties' Retail Group and Vice Chairman of Brookfield Properties; Chief Executive Officer of GGP Inc.; President of Retail for Vornado Realty Trust; and Executive Vice President at Forest City Ratner. Following his 3+ years at WeWork, Sandeep joined Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm, to lead Sycamore's real estate activity. Mr. Mathrani earned a Bachelor of Engineering, a Master of Engineering and a Master of Management Science from Stevens Institute of Technology.
ACREL Files 2.0 continues with Jay Epstien’s interview of Len O’Donnell, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Affinius Capital (formerly USAA Real Estate Company). Len oversees the company's approximately $35 billion of assets under management for the benefit of the investment portfolio and its 200+ investor clients. Prior to joining USAA Real Estate in 2011, Len was a Principal and Chief Investment Officer for Crimson Real Estate Fund, a real estate opportunity fund which specialized in value-added acquisitions and build-to-suit development. Len earned his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Delaware.Join us to hear Len’s reflections on a 38 year career spanning real estate brokerage, development and investment that shaped his insights on the challenges facing the real estate markets today. Len’s observations on why the current state of play is very different from the Global Financial Crisis and why people should not get all of their real estate information from CNBC without understanding the underlying fundamentals, will be of great interest to our listeners.
During the past year, ACREL Past President Jay Epstien, has interviewed ten of the most accomplished real estate lawyers in the country who were founders and long-time members of the College. Our podcast series now pivots to a series of interviews with iconic real estate investors who have led the companies that have shaped the industry to share insights on their careers and predictions for the future. ACREL Files 2.0 begins with Michael Fascitelli, one of the most iconic real estate investors in the US. Mr. Fascitelli joined Vornado Realty Trust in 1996, where he remains a member of the Board of Trustees. During his tenure at Vornado, he served as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Since leaving Vornado in 2013, Mr. Fascitelli founded MDF Capital LLC, a private investment firm, and the Imperial Companies, a real estate investment and development company. Prior to joining Vornado, Mr. Fascitelli was a partner at Goldman Sachs, in charge of its real estate practice. Mr. Fascitelli currently serves on the Board of Directors of Invitation Homes, having been appointed Chairperson of the Board in 2021; Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of Radius Global Infrastructure, Inc., one of the largest international aggregators of rental streams underlying wireless sites; and Chairman of the Investment Committee and a Board member of Quadro Partners Inc. (formerly Cadre), a real estate technology company. In addition, he is a Board member of The Rockefeller University and the University of Rhode Island. Mr. Fascitelli is a former Commissioner of the Port Authority of NY and NJ, and a past Chairman of the Zell-Lurie Wharton Real Estate Center. Mr. Fascitelli holds an MBA, with highest distinction, from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Rhode Island.
The ACREL Files finishes its debut season with podcast host, Jay Epstien, interviewing Michael Rubin. Mike Rubin was elected to ACREL in 1986, served as the College’s President in 2007, and received the prestigious Frederick Lane Award in 2020. In addition, Michael is the past president of the Bar Association of the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Louisiana State Bar Association, and the Southern Conference of Bar Presidents. In addition to his full-time practice of law, he has taught finance and lending topics at law schools for decades, authored law review articles on finance and lending that have been cited as authoritative by state and federal courts and, in his free time, has written award-winning legal thrillers. Not only have his two novels won national awards, but he has also won the Burton Award for outstanding writing, an award presented at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Michael graduated from Amherst College and the Louisiana State University Law School.
Nina Matis was elected to ACREL in 1988 and served on ACREL’s Board of Governors. Among her many accomplishments, Nina co-chaired the real estate practice at Katten Muchin Rosenman, and went on to serve as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of iStar Financial. She also was an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University School of Law where she taught Real Estate Transactions. Nina’s practice was heavily concentrated in all areas of commercial real estate development and acquisition, financing and partnership law. Nina graduated from Smith College and New York University of School of Law.
Sandy Weiner was elected to ACREL in 1982 and served as the College’s President in 2003. Sandy practiced in the Houston office of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. for his entire career. His practice involved the acquisition, disposition, development, financing and leasing of commercial real estate projects and energy-related projects such as electric power generation, storage facilities, refineries, petrochemical facilities and offshore production platforms. In addition to ACREL, Sandy was a member of the Anglo-American Real Property Institute. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard Law School.
Morton Fisher became a Fellow of ACREL in 1981 and served as the College’s President in 1989. Morty earned his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth and his law degree at Yale University. He led the real estate practice at Frank, Bernstein, Conaway & Goldman before joining Ballard Spahr in 1992, which was a catalyst for the growth of Ballard’s nationally recognized real estate practice. In the early stages of his storied career, Morty worked at Piper & Marbury and spent five years in-house at The Rouse Company. He continued to represent Rouse throughout his career, in addition to TIAA, Connecticut General, New England Life, Trammell Crow Company and Target. In addition to ACREL, Morty chaired the ICSC Law Conference and the ABA Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section.
Portia Morrison became a Fellow of ACREL in 1992 and served as the College’s third female President in 2005. Portia earned her undergraduate degree at Agnes Scott College (where she has served on the Board of Trustees) and her law degree at the University of Chicago. Among her career highlights, Portia chaired the real estate practice at Rudnick & Wolfe and received the Howard Kane Award recognizing her exceptional service to the firm, the legal profession and the public. Portia represented many significant national real estate companies during her accomplished career including Prudential, Pritzker Realty and Hyatt Hotels. In addition, Portia was a long-time chair of the board of the Girl Scouts of Chicago.
Don Siskind is a Founding Fellow of ACREL, having been elected in 1979 and served as the College’s President in 1997. Don received the prestigious Frederick Lane Award in 2004. Don earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania and his law degree at Columbia University. He was one of the leading real estate lawyers in New York City, combining immense legal experience with business knowledge to provide his clients with the advantages of both. His clients included Cadillac Fairview, Olympia & York, and developers of major properties in NYC and around the country. In addition to ACREL, Don chaired the Anglo-American Real Property Institute.
Caryl Welborn became a Fellow of ACREL in 1989 and served as the College’s second female President in 2001. Among her proudest accomplishments at ACREL was the founding of ACREL Cares. Caryl earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford and her law degree at UCLA. Caryl’s practice included all aspects of transactional commercial real estate, specializing in investment structuring. In addition, Caryl was a director of AMB Property Corporation, a public REIT that ultimately became ProLogis, and has been a long-time, active volunteer for the YMCA of San Francisco, serving on its board of directors for many years and as President from 2009-2012.
Bill Dunn is a charter member of ACREL, elected in 1979 and serving as President in 1984. Bill’s contributions to the College and the legal profession were recognized when he received the prestigious Frederick S. Lane Award in 2017. He also has served as Chair of the ABA Real Property, Probate and Trust Section. Bill earned his undergraduate degree from Muskingum College and his law degree at the University of Michigan. In addition to being a recognized authority in the area of legal opinions, his practice focuses on infrastructure development; office and commercial acquisitions, development, and leasing; and commercial real estate finance. Bill served as special real estate counsel to the City of Detroit during a period of major redevelopment and investment.
John Hollyfield is a charter member of ACREL, elected in 1980 and serving as President in 1991. John’s contributions to the College and the legal profession were recognized when he received the prestigious Frederick S. Lane Award in 2015. He also has served as Chair of the ABA Real Property, Probate and Trust Section and the Anglo American Real Property Institute. John earned his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Texas, and served in the US Navy. His practice focuses on mortgage lending, leasing, development, construction, and joint venture partnerships, among other areas of expertise.
Steve Cowan is a charter member of ACREL, elected with the first class of fellows in 1979. He is also a founder of the California Bar Association’s Real Property Section, and served as Chair of the ABA Real Property, Probate and Trust Section. Steve is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Law School. His practice focused on real estate, finance, real estate fund formations and bankruptcy/workouts, including representation of non-US investors in the purchase, sale and development of US real estate.