Bisnow Honors Seattle Power Women: Part 2
Today we bring you the second installment in our eight-part series on Seattle Power Women, recognizing 30 influential players in the industry. We're profiling each of these women over the next two months and then honoring them Nov. 3 at a special awards reception.
A-P Hurd, President and Chief Development Officer, Touchstone
In grad school in Boston, A-P Hurd's running buddy connected her with Dean Allen at McKinstry. From there, she was recruited to Touchstone, where she's been for 10 years (and which just won NAIOP Developer of the Year). A-P says the best part of her job is the great team she works with, largely built during the last downturn—people she loves and respects. Also, she loves that development is creative, with different challenges on every project. She tells us when she went into engineering in college, she had no idea she’d be doing something this fun 20 years down the road. According to A-P, the Seattle region is facing challenges typical to growing regions, including housing affordability and regional mobility. If ST3 passes this fall, that will buy some runway on mobility, but for affordability, there’s a lot of work still to be done to implement the HALA recommendations and the Grand Bargain, she says. Some of that involves a big political lift, because it means the city needs to keep changing physically—and change is hard for a lot of people. Also, she says, people often believe the only way businesses can make the world better is to pay more taxes, but cities need to look beyond that to tap into the power of business to deliver innovative solutions that serve the public interest. A-P advises women entering commercial real estate to treat people with fairness, empathy and generosity—even when you don’t feel like it.
Ann Chamberlin, Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle
Early in her career, Ann Chamberlin was a lobbyist for the aluminum industry. As intriguing as that was, she knew she wanted something more. She wanted to work with positive people and decision-makers, control her income and future, face different challenges each workday and in each deal, and not be on a plane every other week. In making a list of what she wanted in her new career, she found commercial real estate fascinating, and being a commercial real estate broker has been a good match, she says. The world of commercial real estate is made up of people who are problem-solvers and who see the bright and funny side of life, she tells us. The biggest challenges affecting the industry, she says, are market cycles—she's experienced four Seattle-area office market cycles so far. No matter what role you play in the world of commercial real estate, you have to know that for every up cycle, there will inevitably be a down cycle. Seattle is in the very enviable position of having extremely strong job growth with strong market demand today, but it's important to remember that the market was severely distressed just eight years ago; many thought it would never recover. She advises women entering commercial real estate to find their niche and work really hard those first five years. It requires goal-setting and discipline, and building relationships with co-workers and clients. Those early years are tough, and judging from the fallout, women face more challenges than men. Those who are successful tend to be very service- and detail-oriented. Finally, she says, her business and personal life would be very different if she didn’t believe so strongly in the power of affirmations.
Kelly Mann, Executive Director, ULI Northwest
After graduating from law school on the East Coast, Kelly Mann practiced land use law in Portland and Seattle, where she helped developers get permits for urban infill projects, which she felt was changing the world for the better. She believes cities should grow up, not out: the more we can fit our growth in cities, the less we need to spread out across the Cascades. While practicing law, Kelly got involved with a team of Urban Land Institute members to reinvigorate the organization's presence in the Northwest, and became the executive director soon thereafter. The best part of her job, she tells us, is the people—ULI members tend to be passionate and full of ideas. Seattle's facing a number of challenges, she says. The gap between the haves and have-nots is really widening in Seattle, for instance, and it’s a challenge for the region to provide housing that’s affordable to moderate-income families. The very people who make a place vibrant—artists, writers, musicians—are the ones who find it most difficult to stay in the city as housing prices soar. Kelly says she's glad that great minds are focused on the problem, including some brilliant ULI members. She advises women and others getting started in the real estate industry to be themselves, and surround themselves with people who have a positive outlook on life. Outside work, she loves every moment with her family—her husband and twin 7-year-old boys. This past summer, they traveled around the world. Travel, she says, is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.
Lisa Stewart, Founder and Principal, Urbis Partners
Lisa Stewart tells us getting into commercial real estate was an accident. She started working at The Norman Co, a regional boutique brokerage and management company, as a temporary receptionist the summer she graduated from the UW. It was supposed to be a six-week assignment before a graduation trip to Europe. After six weeks, she took the trip, returned to Seattle in need of a job, and went back. That was 29 years ago. Trammell Crow bought The Norman Co, and 13 years ago she left to start Urbis Partners. The most rewarding part of the job, she says, is the relationships she's formed locally and nationally. Commercial real estate's a very collegial community, and she sees the same people, sometimes in different roles, over and over. In the “deal” business, you spent a lot of time solving problems, negotiating compromises and reaching common goals with others, and that can lead to many great friendships. The Seattle market has its challenges. As more large, institutional investors (both national and international) acquire Seattle real estate, the owners are further removed from the local market dynamics, making it harder to communicate the market nuances that drive lease economics, she says. Also, the hot market means construction costs are rising ever higher, which disrupts owner and tenant expectations, she says. For women and others getting started in the industry, she says it's important to make connections—take advantage of opportunities to meet with people. Most people are happy to meet and talk about what they do, and how they do it, and you never know when you might cross paths again. Also, have fun, Lisa says, since we spend more time at our jobs than we do on anything else. Find a way to enjoy that time.
Monica Wallace, SVP, Wallace Properties
Monica Wallace's family has been involved in commercial real estate since the 1970s. When she was in college at the UW, she worked part time at Wallace Properties as an assistant to the brokerage division. She planned on going to law school, but brokerage's high energy appealed to her, and in 2000, she decided to forgo law school and start a career in brokerage. She's been focused on third-party retail landlord representation ever since. Since her focus is retail leasing, she tells us the most rewarding part of her job is helping shape communities by attracting high-quality restaurants, retailers and services. She sees challenges, too. She says developers in close-in urban areas are having a tough time making small retail lease deals pencil in first-generation spaces and small and midsized tenants can’t get the construction and operating costs in line with their business structure. Zoning and other use restrictions add to the difficulties in attracting quality tenants, who serve as crucial amenities to the growing cities. Monica's advice for women and others getting started in the industry is to work very hard. It's important to put time in and be invaluable to clients. Also, one of the best pieces of advice she ever received was to remember that integrity is something you can work to maintain your entire life, but lose in one moment.
Pamela Hirsch, Managing Partner, Schnitzer West
Pamela Hirsch started at Schnitzer West in 1997 as its third employee, a receptionist with a very fancy title of “marketing and client relations.” It was a small team that grew extremely fast, so she was given exposure to many things early on. She says that Dan Ivanoff, the founder, gave her enough rope to learn, but not enough to hang herself. Within the first few months she'd been exposed to acquisitions, pre-development and property management, and by then she was a "deal junkie." She hasn't slowed down since. Most rewarding for her— though some days are grueling—is the success and brand that Schnitzer West has built, and that she's been a contributor to that, from her entry-level position to part of the leadership team today. She's also proud that other employees at Schnitzer West have enjoyed similar success stories. In the Seattle market, there's is a lot of capital looking to invest, and for very good reason, but she's concerned with overbuilding in the multifamily sector, and also office. Her advice for women and others getting started in the industry is not to wait for someone to hand you an opportunity, and certainly don’t expect an employer to lay out a training plan for you. People should look for any open door they can find, she says, and educate themselves in every way possible. Ask questions to understand the big picture. Once you understand how your company creates value, and how you support that, it can make your role meaningful.
