By Nicholas Leider
DEVELOPMENT DONE RIGHT
How people interact with retail and office real estate is changing , but one firm is banking on creative , sustainable solutions to win the future .
Whether it ’ s increasing outdoor dining or reducing density in offices , high-traffic areas that are a part of everyday life will permanently change due to the pandemic . This isn ’ t inherently a positive or negative — commercial real estate professionals will play a significant role in determining the ultimate value of these alterations .
To discuss what the office and retail sectors may face in the near future , we spoke to Matt Bronfman , principal and CEO of Jamestown , a global real estate investment and management company that has completed major downtown projects like Chelsea Market in New York , Ponce City Market in Atlanta , and San Francisco ’ s Ghirardelli Square . He details the firm ’ s ability to thrive in difficult times , the need to support tenants during COVID-19 , and strategies for approaching the retail space from a unique perspective .
CIRE : YOU ARE PROUD OF ESCAPING THE GREAT RECESSION RELATIVELY UNSCATHED . WHAT WAS THE PRIMARY REASON JAMESTOWN HAS BEEN ABLE TO THRIVE DESPITE DIFFI- CULT MARKETS ?
MATT BRONFMAN : We were one of the largest sellers in the U . S ., a little over $ 5 billion in the 18-month period leading up to the Great Recession . As a company , we viewed the markets as overvalued . Now , to be clear , we took our lumps as well , but we had diversity in assets across markets and property type — that helped us a lot . We also have a strong internal value-add team . We have people who do leasing , who were in marketing , and who were in development construction .
I am a believer that there ’ s a difference between what I call allocators of capital in real estate space , who tend to sit on the sidelines and cross their fingers and hope things go well , and operators of real estate , who roll up their sleeves and dig in the dirt , so to speak . We ’ re in that latter category . We ’ re roll-up-our-sleeves types . We ’ re in the real estate business ; we ’ re not money managers . We ’ re not tech guys by nature . We ’ re a real estate company , with all our internal skills vertically integrated .
It ’ s easy when the wind is at your back and things are going well . But when you ’ ve had to fight and create your own momentum , I actually think the Great Recession made us a much better team today . It made us resilient . It made us more creative .
CIRE : COVID-19 HAS BEEN AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT CRISIS . HOW HAS JAMES- TOWN ’ S BUSINESS STRATEGY HELD UP IN THE LAST 18 MONTHS ?
BRONFMAN : It ’ s a cliché , but from crisis can come opportunity . The Great Recession led to opportunities for us to be a better real estate company and define some great buying opportunities . The COVID-19 crisis has presented unique challenges , and I think having a vertically integrated , hands-on team has helped us a lot .
This has been unlike anything we ’ ve seen in the past , but we learned to be very creative . We came up with a $ 50 million fund to help our small business tenants , our local retailers , restaurants , and the like survive the pandemic . That took some creativity . It took a lot of capital , but we were committed to keeping our tenants in business . So yeah , I think we learned the importance of being creative in 2008 .
CIRE : YOU MENTIONED THE $ 50 MILLION FUND FOR TENANTS . HOW WAS THIS RESOURCE IMPLEMENTED ? HOW DID YOUR CLIENTS BENEFIT ?
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