WASHINGTON, DC-Joseph E. Robert, Jr., the founder and executive chairman of JER Partners passed away Wednesday, reportedly from brain cancer. He was 59 years old. Spokespeople for the firm could not be reached for comment.
Robert’s career was one of milestones. In 1989, he formed the Real Estate Capital Recovery Association, an industry trade group that secured a place for the private sector in the dispositions being handled by the newly created Resolution Trust Corp. “Joe Robert has to get an ‘A’ for vision,” Christopher Kallivokas, president of Real Estate Recovery Inc., told the New York Times amid the S&L crisis of the early 1990s. “He saw the opportunity before most that the government would be a significant player in distressed real estate.”
In 1991, Robert’s firm reportedly was the first to securitize a portfolio of non-performing mortgages. That same year, J.E. Robert began investing its own capital alongside institutional investors to acquire loan and real estate portfolios, and six years later launched a private equity real estate fund business. Now known as JER Partners, the firm has successfully purchased and managed approximately 15,000 assets totaling $28 billion across 17 countries. It has also been among the most active special servicers of performing and non-performing CMBS for the past 20 years, a track record that undoubtedly led C-III Capital Partners to acquire JER’s special servicing business.
Roberts was also the chairman of the US-UAE Business Council—a coalition of companies from both the United States and United Arab Emirates, which aimed to expand commercial opportunities between the two countries. He served as the chairman of Business Executives for National Security, which focused on projects including the development of public-private partnerships to help improve disaster relief responses.
Robert also achieved honorary doctorates from St. John's College, Mount Saint Mary's University and the Institute for World Politics, according to his official bio. He was also recognized in 2008 by the EastWest Institute, the company website reveals, for his role in working with the business community to improve national and international security.
He was a member of a wide range of organizations and causes, including World Economic Forum, Horatio Alger Association, Foreign Policy Association and The Urban Land Institute.
In 2004, Robert spoke with Real Estate Media’s vice president and group publisher, Michael Desiato, as part of its RealShare conference series. Desiato featured Robert in his one-on-one “ Inside the Real Estate Mind” discussion. During the talk, Robert outlined his career path, from his initial success with a $13.5-million investment in a Hollywood, FL property, to eventually securing $5.8 billion in returns on $3.1 billion in equity investments. Robert discussed his personal life and commitment to philanthropy up until the conference. Robert spoke of his work with kids at a boxing gym and travels to Iraq where he collaborated on establishing a “telemedicine” center there, where, he told attendees, “the condition of the pediatric care hospitals is deplorable.” Robert told Desiato that business, is first and foremost about integrity and that relationships play an incredibly valuable role. “If we emphasize those things as a business, we'd be better off.”
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