Real Estate World Is Small, Memories Are Long (and Other Career Advice)

NEW YORK CITY—In a session on the next generation of institutional developers, the moderator, Joanne Minieri, EVP and COO of construction and development at RXR, development services, asked the panelists for one piece of advice for people pursuing careers in development.

The NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate hosted its second annual National Symposium of Women in Real Estate at the Westin New York at Times Square on Thursday. The speakers gave the following advice:

“The real estate world is small and memories are long,” said Rebecca D’Eloia, SVP, project executive development at RXR Realty. How you interact with people on one particular project, on one particular day has consequences. “They will remember you for your whole career and that can be a great advantage or disadvantage. So always remember that.”

She also suggested to “always be learning,” as everything is an opportunity to learn. And she emphasized doing the work “because that’s how your learn.”

“Be very intentional and deliberate about all of the decisions you make,” advised Meg Brod, SVP and regional development officer at Rockefeller Group. She described how in development there are literally a million decisions that get made when you acquire or lease a site. Each one of those decisions is important, she said. Brod continued, “So, if you make each of them intentionally and deliberately, especially in the very competitive environment that we are living in right now, I think you will end up with a very good product. Just be mindful and deliberate.”

Melissa Burch, executive general manager at Lendlease Americas, quoted an early mentor of hers who said, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” She took this to mean an instruction to look at the gaps in your business and projects, and see them as an opportunity to make yourself useful. “Figure out what’s the next challenge that no one was thinking about and start doing work on that,” said Burch. “That way when the need arises, you’ll be more prepared. Think about where you can be useful before anyone else knows you are there.”

Don’t underestimate the importance of relationships with people, stressed Kate Bicknell, the VP and head of NY development at Oxford Properties Group. Investing in your colleagues and with people in the industry is crucial. “As people enter the field, there is so much we focus on in proving ourselves, working hard and putting in the time, which is incredibly important,” said Bicknell. “But we have to also put in the time in building those relationships.”