Real Estate’s 10 Under 40
Chain Store Age’s annual search for 10 retail real estate stars under the age of 40 years resulted in this: Ten youthful, creative, hard-charging industry executives.
Some are retailers, others are brokers or from shopping center companies. Three are women. One is under the age of 30. There’s a single Canadian in the bunch. Two work for CBRE. Each has studied the business, sought out mentors, and researched and taken on the issues of the day.
These are the rising stars that will become tomorrow’s mentors and teachers. Watch them as they flourish.
Andrea Olshan, age 36
CEO, Olshan Properties
New York City
Andrea Olshan has been learning the retail business since she was a youngster. “I grew up listening to my father talking about the family real estate business on the telephone,” she said. “On vacations, we visited shopping centers and walked malls.”
As a Harvard undergraduate, Olshan stayed with real estate and wrote her thesis on the redevelopment of Times Square.
After Columbia Business School, she joined the family business. “I started by doing whatever needed doing,” she said.
For instance, Olshan Properties owned an office building in the Tribeca neighborhood of Lower Manhattan.
The building was making money but had not been developed to its full potential. Olshan noticed that the neighborhood around the building had begun to flourish. A redevelopment, she reasoned, could boost returns.
She developed a plan to redo the building inside and out and put retail on the ground floor. When the family bought her idea, Olshan went to work retaining and managing contractors. >
“When the time came, I dealt with several brokers to lease the building,” she said. “The repositioning was successful, and today the property is fully occupied.
“So I learned first by listening and second by doing.”
Today, as CEO of Olshan Properties, she expects similar forward-thinking from her staff. “I don’t want to be in planning meetings,” she said. “I ask my team to identify problems and opportunities, analyze them and make recommendations to me.”
Olshan calls her leadership style collaborative. “I try to guide the company according to the board’s vision,” she said. “At the same time, I work to create a bridge between the board and the staff. I think it is important in a family business to make sure that all staff members understand that they are important parts of the team.”
Caleb Smith, age 30
Director of Store Facilities Management,
Dollar General Corp.
Goodlettsville, Tennessee
Dollar General operates one of the most aggressive retail store opening programs in the country. “This year, we’ll open 900 new stores,” said Caleb Smith.
Smith will touch many of those stores. Recently promoted to director of store facilities management, his responsibilities include maintenance and environmental compliance for more than 12,500 Dollar General stores across 43 states.
Prior to his promotion, he was director of portfolio management operations and responsible for overseeing the negotiation of more than 1,500 lease renewals annually. In that post, he managed over $800 million in lease-mandated obligations for the company and oversaw asset strategy.
Despite his time-consuming responsibilities, Smith gives back to the industry. He sits on the Board of Governors for the National Retail Tenants Association (NRTA). He is also a member of the Curriculum Committee that helps develop courses for the annual conference. Smith explained: “NRTA helps to educate retailers about lease administration and managing occupancy costs.”
Michael Udekwu, age 35
Director of Real Estate,
Ross Stores Inc.
Dublin, California
After graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in political science, Michael Udekwu encountered a virtually non-existent job market. Like many of his generation, he ended up waiting tables. One day, a family friend asked him if he might want to try the real estate business. Udekwu said yes and has never looked back.
He started with Pittsburgh-based JJ Gumberg Co., one of the largest privately held retail real estate developers in the country.
“I spent two years with JJ Gumberg, learning the basics of the business, particularly leasing space in small community shopping centers,” he said.
In 2005, Udekwu signed on with the 400-plus-store DOTS Fashion chain in Cleveland. There he learned apparel retail site selection and decided to pursue that side of the business. “Finding the right location to open a store is more interesting to me than leasing,” he said. “When you’re opening stores you’re always starting new businesses, and I really enjoy that.”
Next stop: Cato, the women’s apparel retailer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Udekwu worked there from 2008 to 2012 before moving on to teen apparel sensation rue21 in Pittsburgh for three years.
In 2014, Udekwu joined Ross Stores, the largest off-price retailer in the country, as a director of real estate.
“It was a great opportunity to join an extremely experienced and highly successful real estate group with what I think is the best leadership in retail,” he said.
Over his career, Udekwu has been responsible for the opening of hundreds of successful stores in markets from Florida to California. That’s the kind of productivity that makes a rising star.
Brian Katz, age 39
CEO, Katz & Associates
New York City
Perhaps the major challenge in retail real estate today is finding good locations. Brian Katz, CEO of Katz & Associates, has made a science of tracking lease expirations and sealing deals > before the competition can strike.
Katz’s father founded the company in 1996. Katz focuses on four business categories: tenant representation, landlord representation, portfolio management and strategic planning.
The company operates offices in New York, North Carolina and Florida.
“We represent nearly 100 retailers in a variety of assignments. Some of them include SAKS OFF 5TH, DSW, Floor & Decor, ULTA Beauty and The Fresh Market,” Brian said. “On the landlord side, we represent more than 5 million sq. ft.”
After graduating from Penn State, Katz started his career with Forest City Ratner in Brooklyn. He joined the family business in 2000.
What’s next? “We’re going to continue developing our offices by adding strong retail brokers and building all four of our business categories.”
Andy Misiaveg, age 38
Partner, The Shopping Center Group
Charlotte, North Carolina
Andy Misiaveg made partner with The Shopping Center Group (TSCG) in 2005. One of the youngest partners in the company, today he is lead partner in the Charlotte office of the Atlanta-based company.
Misiaveg started in the Charlotte office as a broker associate in 1999 after graduating from Clemson University with a degree in psychology. “I trained for a year with a partner and focused on tenant representation,” he said.
Today, Misiaveg looks ahead to working with other brokers in the office to find and train new team members and grow the firm’s book of business. “We also plan to help train and lead other brokers in the company’s Carolina division, which