Meet New Capri Capital Partners President Heather Mitchell
Capri Capital Partners has roughly $4B of assets under management and it's focused on the top gateway cities across the country. While that’s about 80% multifamily, this year you’ll find the firm branching out with a new NNN lease strategy and retail platform. Meet the new woman in charge, Heather Mitchell.
Job title: President and COO. (Snapped with the family, she's succeeding Gwendolyn Butler, who has been elevated to vice chairwoman, global investor relations.)
What that means: I’m focused on operations, administration and heading up asset management. We’ve been paying increasing attention to processes to make sure we can grow seamlessly and organically as we add platforms. On any given day, I’m meeting with our investment, asset management and investor relations teams, as well as new and potential clients and the consultant community.
What your company does: We invest in commercial real estate on behalf of our institutional clients. In addition to multifamily, we invest in food groups like retail, mixed-use and hotels.
Memorable project: Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in LA. It offered us an opportunity to turn a B- to C-level mall into an A-level mall. We worked with the folks within the demographically diverse neighborhood to bring them the retail they really need and deserve, a process that took many years. It’s turned into a gem in the community, a destination for people to shop, exercise, learn, dance, all kinds of things. It’s really something.
Hometown: I was born in Chicago but grew up on the East Coast (Connecticut, outside Philadelphia and Wilmington, DE).
School: Williams College, undergrad, Dartmouth for grad school.
First job: My mother made me get working papers at 14 and I’ve never stopped working since. At 14, I was a waitress in a retirement home. (Insert V8 and prune juice joke here.) During this time I was going to a prestigious private high school, and the elderly people in the home were incredibly encouraging to me. They became an extended family, it was really a cool thing.
First CRE job: Capri, where I started 10.5 years ago. I come from the public affairs side, having worked at a public policy institute, as well as writing for a business journal and manufacturing partnership. Once I got to Capri, I expanded into other areas like investor relations and fundraising. Working on so many sides of the business has given me great perspective and I’ll have my 11-year anniversary this August.
Job in another life: I’ve always been a writer, so let’s say novelist. I have multiple book ideas but that’s top secret, in case they’re published. I also enjoy the arts and live vicariously as a board member of Steppenwolf Theatre.
Dream dinner party (guests can be alive or dead): William Faulkner, Martin Luther King Jr., Zora Neale Hurston and Shonda Rhimes, a Dartmouth alum. (Fun fact: There’s a writer on Scandal named Heather Mitchell. No relation.)
Greatest fear: Not facing my fears.
Daily habit: Kissing my 8-year-old daughter, Carter, good morning and good night.
Favorite song of the moment: D’Angelo’s “Really Love.” Really that whole album.
Favorite book: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison.
Favorite movie: Tombstone.
Favorite vacation spot: Costa Rica. It’s great for outdoorsy stuff like swimming, ziplining and horseback riding.
Favorite restaurant: I’m a foodie so it depends on my mood. Recently I’ve been enjoying Nico Osteria, Tanta and Freds at Barneys.
Bucket list: Attending the Academy Awards, going to the NCAA Final Four, going to all the tennis grand slams. I’ve already checked off the NBA finals. (Can you tell she’s a big sports fan?)
Family facts: I’ve been married for 12 years and my husband works for NASCAR. My uncle, Quintin Primo (pictured), founded Capri 23 years ago and my grandfather was a bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. He started an after school program for children on the West Side in 1979, serving Chicago’s homeless women and children, and today the Primo Center for Women and Children has become one of the largest and most respected shelters in the city (as well as the largest provider of family shelter beds in Chicago).
Best part about working with my uncle: He’s incredibly passionate, dedicated and brilliant. After working with him for so long, I can anticipate where he’s going with things. When you’re working in a business that is so important to your family and your clients, it doesn’t feel like work. The only downside: We talk work on our downtime and during the holidays.
Advice for women entering the business: Just be you, we need more of you in the industry. Take the opportunity to provide your alternate perspective, which is really needed. For example, women inform a multifamily project in a completely different way. A woman’s perspective on the real functionality of a living space is uniquely valuable. This voice is critical as CRE moves toward the future.
Starling fact: I was born on April Fools’ Day. That’s informed my healthy sense of humor. You have to be able to laugh at yourself when you’re born on that day.
