Fresh Investment Frontier

Sources of new commercial real estate investment can be difficult to come by in today’s market, awash as it is in uncertainty. One new avenue toward fresh funds? High-net-worth (read: very wealthy) individuals. Read on for an interview with Clarion Partners’ Janet Souk Lee on the untapped potential of this investment source. Also for today: a major shakeup at a major investment sales and financing firm.

And just a reminder that you can keep up with all the major leasing, financing and sales deals with Commercial Observer’s new Deals of the Week newsletter.

— Tom Acitelli, Deputy Editor

Clarion Partners' Janet Souk Lee On High-Net-Worth CRE Investors

Janet (Souk) Lee has a lot of explaining to do. And investors are listening. The managing director at Clarion Partners LLC rtners co-heads the firm’s opportunity zone fund and a non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT). She has flown throughout the country to pitch investment advisers on why their high-net-worth clients should invest in commercial real estate. In those pitches, she’s found herself explaining everything from the benefits of Clarion Partners’ funds to the definition of a mezzanine loan. As investors listen — and, more importantly, as interest rates stand poised to drop in the second half of 2024 — Lee expects high-net-worth investment in real estate to grow, particularly in the multifamily, industrial and life sciences sectors. (Office — that’s another story.)

Read the story

Check out our newest Deals of the Week newsletter, featuring the top commercial real estate transactions at a glance — plus a deep dive into the key players behind each transaction.

Ralph Herzka's Run Ends as Meridian Capital CEO

Ralph Herzka, who has led Meridian Capital Group since co-founding the brokerage firm in 1991, will be succeeded next month by new CEO Brian Brooks, a former acting controller of the currency and general counsel at Fannie Mae, the company announced Tuesday. Brooks, 54, will take the helm of Meridian in mid-April while Herzka, 61, will transition to the role of senior chairman focusing on expanding its lender and broker relationships. Brooks most recently was at law firm O'Melveny & Myers and from 2014 to 2018 was general counsel at Fannie Mae, where he led the overhaul of the government-sponsored enterprise’s corporate governance structure, Meridian said in a statement. "As we look to institutionalize Meridian as a world-class company and further diversify our revenues, there is no better steward of our future than Brian,” Herzka said in a statement.

Read the story

Enjoying these stories on all things CRE? Unlock unlimited access to our content with a subscription. And for a daily version of this newsletter, sign up here.