With over three decades of experience, multifamily property management leader Marcie Williams has joined The Bainbridge Cos. as chief strategy officer.
Bainbridge is a multifamily real estate company that has developed and acquired over 43,000 apartments representing over $8 billion in transactions since its launch in 1997. It also is actively pursuing portfolio expansion opportunities in targeted Sun Belt markets.
Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Williams will oversee Bainbridge’s operations, brand, culture, and growth. Prior to joining Bainbridge, she had been CEO of RKW Residential and held previous roles at Greystar and Camden Property Trust.
“Marcie’s arrival comes at an ideal time for Bainbridge,” said chairman, CEO, and managing principal Richard Schechter. “Her vast experience will benefit us in all aspects of the company and enable us to continue creating future-facing properties in first-rate neighborhoods where residents can pursue better lives.”
Multifamily Executive caught up with Williams to discuss her new role as well as the key challenges for property managers in the coming year.
What drew you to Bainbridge?
Bainbridge is a well-established multifamily company with incredibly strong leadership. When I first met Richard Schechter, I found that his vision really aligned with how I think about operations, brand, culture, and multifamily as a whole. I am excited to support the existing leadership in continuing to evolve the company and build upon the success I have had at previous companies throughout my career. The goal is to be an industry leader in creating best-in-class multifamily communities.
What will be your key responsibilities as chief strategy officer?
I will work closely with all divisions of the organization to help execute this best-in-class vision. From acquisitions to development, construction, property operations, and human resources, we aim to be united across all departments to achieve this. With our teams, clients, and partners, we are focused inward on how Bainbridge operates and how to enhance and move that forward where needed.
What excites you most about the new role?
Bainbridge’s leadership really excites me. The company’s leaders are intelligent, experienced, professional, and forward-thinking individuals who really want the best for our teams and partners. I am also personally excited to get back into the owner/manager side of the business and put my thumbprint on the delivery of future-facing communities where our residents can pursue better lives, and everyone involved benefits.
What are your short- and long-term goals as you start this new position?
My short-term objectives are to evaluate our current processes, get to know all of our team members, and immediately start to partner with our leadership on their initiatives. From there, I will determine where the gaps are and identify improvements to implement to enhance the organization as a whole. We will build upon our current success and collaborate to move the company into the future.
Looking long term, Bainbridge wants to continue to be recognized as a top-performing multifamily company. This is not about awards or personal success. Bainbridge already has a stellar reputation and phenomenal team leaders, so we will build upon that strong foundation to achieve operational excellence.
How have your former roles prepared you for this position?
With over 30 years in the industry, and most recently being the CEO of a multifamily organization, that has prepared me to be empathetic to all divisions of such an organization. There really is not any division I have not worked with in the past, from development to property operations to human resources. I understand the issues each division has, so I can jump in quickly to identify solutions without needing a long ramp-up period.
What will be the key challenges for property managers in 2025, and how will Bainbridge respond?
The current challenges are not unique to any aspect of multifamily, whether we are talking about development, acquisitions, or property operations. It is still a people business. You have to make sure to have top-tier talent. Recruiting and retaining talented people is always paramount. On the operations side, we are still in a concessions market where prospective tenants have options. So, getting new communities leased up is more challenging in the near term. We’re going to be able to navigate it because we have the leadership that has seen and experienced it all.
