Here is what your fellow Columbia Business School Real Estate Alumni have been doing recently. If you don’t see your news mentioned, please let us know.

Top Young Professionals: Class of 2020
Brian Hinds made his first real estate investment in 2012, when he bought a townhouse multifamily building in Newark, N.J. Living in it and renting it out exposed him to the real estate world and planted the seed. Fast forward eight years, and Hinds is settling into his role as a vice president within Bridge Investment Group’s opportunity zone (OZ) practice.

The Davis Companies Completes Fundraising for Fourth Round
Quentin Reynolds, Davis Companies CIO, added, “We will be patient in deploying capital but are ready to invest as we identify compelling opportunities. Within our target markets, we remain hyper-focused on investments in life science, industrial, self-storage and multifamily properties. We also see opportunities to take advantage of distress, primarily through debt investments, where we have a long and successful track record.”

CenterPoint Scoops Up Large East Bay Distribution Center
“The value proposition is about maintaining a bulk format in an infill environment,” said Greg Pearson, the firm’s vice president of investments. “The inventory of undeveloped land in the I-880 Corridor cannot support future competition, which should create long-term pricing power and outsized appreciation.”

Primed? Another Big Retailer May Be Eyeing the Told Sears Outlet in Lawrenceville
For decades, a 321,000-square-foot warehouse in Lawrenceville hosted one of the country’s leading retail behemoths in Sears, Roebuck & Co. Now another retail giant of a very different kind may be poised to carry on the tradition.  Laura Dunn, Spear Street Capital senior vice president [said], “We have interest from multiple users right now but do not anticipate any signed leases prior to construction commencing.”

Miami Developers On the Opportunity Zone Program So Far
Tillman said…that Soleste Grand Central is a market-rate project for the middle class, which has been priced out of many areas in Miami. “You have amazing development coming up in north through Brickell and along the downtown Biscayne Corridor,” Tillman said. “But all of these folks who are making $75K a year, they're getting pushed out further and further and further south and west.”

Madison International Realty Leases Bigger Office Space from Tishman Speyer
Madison International Realty and CBRE announced that Madison, a leading real estate private equity firm, has signed a 12-year lease with Tishman Speyer for 25,000 s/f at 300 Park Avenue. The expanded space on the third floor of the 26-story, 773,056 s/f tower, located between 49th and 50th Streets, will accommodate company growth for the next decade and allow for adherence to social distancing guidelines, said Ronald Dickerman, Madison founder and president. The firm is planning to relocate in mid-2021, he said. “Madison is committed to New York and believes in the future of the city. Given our growth, we had been scouting for a new location with additional space even before the pandemic. The health, safety and productivity of our employees are paramount as they return to our workplace this fall. Our new offices in this premier Tishman Speyer building will provide us with ample room to meet social distancing protocols and allow for the continuing expansion of the firm,” Dickerman said. Madison International Realty was represented by Howard Fiddle and Evan Fiddle of CBRE.

New Group Enters Student Housing Fray
“The Landmark development team will have the Retreat ready to welcome students for the 2021–22 school year,” said Raphael Sidelsky, W5’s chief investment officer in prepared remarks. “By then, we hope that social distancing requirements will have abated somewhat and that the threat of the global pandemic will have subsided. With that said, if that is not the case, our property is appropriately configured to maximize resident safety—our units afford each resident their own bedroom and bathroom and are spread over separate buildings to limit density.”

Cushman & Wakefield Procures $80 Million for 435,000 s/f Warehouse and Completes Two Multifamily Deals Totaling $35.6 Million
A C&W Equity, Debt & Structured Finance team of Gideon Gil, Zachary Kraft and Meredith Donovan represented the borrower. “JP Morgan was able to strategize and underwrite with our client during the depths of the COVID-19 crisis to provide a customized financing solution,” said Gil. “Financing for high-quality industrial product with credit tenancy and quality sponsorship remains exceptionally strong. We are thrilled to further our client’s relationship with JP Morgan.”

Inequitable Equity: Black Developers Often Face Hurdles in Obtaining Capital to Get their Projects Off the Ground
“If you’re not connected with the managers or the gatekeepers, then you have no window to the actual equity capital," said Meredith Marshall, co-founder of BRP Development and a successful developer in the New York area. "If they don't know you, then you don't know them.” As Marshall noted, Black developers not personally linked to these money managers have no access to equity capital. As a result, they are relegated to the affordable-housing development cycle, a universe primarily funded by government subsidies and low-income tax credits, a necessary part of the market but one without nearly the same return on investment as private-capital projects.

The Story Behind Bernstein’s Passive House—Built for Love or Money? Both
Actually it began about a decade ago when Alex Bernstein, fourth generation in the Bernstein Real Estate family realized that the way we lived and worked was not going to support our planet in the future. He believed that Bernstein could and should be globally responsible. And, began by taking the buildings in the company’s portfolio and making them more energy efficient. Building a Passive House was a stretch, but he felt a necessary one. With enough information and experience coming from all over the world, an empty lot on West 29th St. and a dedicated, talented, passionate team, we made it happen. We put a handsome, everyday face on sustainability.

Offices Reopen, but Downtowns Are Still Quiet
Jonathan Wasserstrum, SquareFoot’s CEO & co-founder, observed that office space inquiries on SquareFoot’s platform began to pick up in May after a stagnant March and April, but tours were impossible until Phase 2 began. “By June, a lot of people were like, okay, I’m ready to go look at space,” he said. Office leasing in Manhattan plummeted to its lowest quarterly total in more than 15 years during the second quarter, according to Newmark Knight Frank, but there are signs that demand is coming back. “Our top of the funnel—people starting their space search—is at 75 percent of where it was pre-COVID-19 levels,” Wasserstrum said.

Compass CEO: I'm Firmly Betting on NYC Real Estate (video)
Robert Reffkin, founder and CEO of Compass, is still bullish on New York City real estate despite the economic setbacks caused by the pandemic. Here’s why he thinks the future is bright for the Big Apple.