Her title might bring to mind images of a theater company or a Broadway musical, but Sara Jo Light, United Dominion Realty Trust's new executive vice president and director of talent management, is all about real estate. Light comes to UDRT from The Taubman Co., where she was senior vice president of human resources.
Q: What appealed to you about this job?
A: Joining a company in an important place in its growth curve and the opportunity to make a difference.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish in your new role?
A: Help the company and its associates work together for their mutual benefit. We are focused on leadership excellence and providing a work environment that enables associates to truly be engaged in their work.
Q: What do you enjoy about working in the multifamily industry?
A:Since I've only been on the multifamily side of the business for a few months, I'm more comfortable discussing real estate in general, which in my experience is a fast-paced and competitive industry. Senior leaders know their customers and their competitors very well, which keeps everyone focused on product quality and the bottom line. As institutional investors are becoming increasingly interested in this sector, it places more pressure on quarterly earnings performance, and continuing to make the best long-term decisions for everyone requires a delicate balance. This increased focus on product quality, the bottom line, and quarterly earnings requires strong leadership and exceptional employee performance–which makes talent management a top priority.
Q: What's the best advice anyone ever gave you about your career?
A: "Do what you love; love what you do. If not, change something." I've never "planned" my career moves, but I've always focused on what gives me an opportunity to excel and gone after those chances.
Q: How would you describe this industry in terms of career opportunities?A: Exciting! The people I've had the opportunity to meet in this industry take great pride in what they do. Whether it's taking a blank piece of land and turning it into a lovely community, helping a family find a rental home that meets all their needs, keeping the grounds beautifully groomed, or managing a large portfolio while keeping abreast of economic changes–we provide interesting careers for people with all sorts of diverse interests.
Walter Armer has joined SNK Realty Group as development manager in San Francisco. With more than 15 years of commercial real estate, development, and investment experience, he will manage the development of new residential/mixed-use projects and to identify new Bay-area opportunities for the firm.
Phoenix Realty Group, a private real estate firm that creates and manages smart-growth equity funds, has announced a number of new hires. Art Jimenez has been named senior vice president, asset management, in New York, where he will focus on expanding the firm's asset management system to better service existing projects and those under development. In Southern California, Tammy Harpster has been named vice president, acquisitions, in San Diego; and Constantine Papanicolaou has been named an analyst in Los Angeles.
CharterMac has appointed Donald J. Meyer as chief investment officer. Meyer, who has 29 years of real estate experience, will oversee all property and credit underwriting, transaction due diligence, and the risk management and asset management platforms.
ConAm has promoted J. Bradley Forrester to CEO. Forrester joined the privately held, San Diego-based real estate management and investment firm as vice president in 1994 and for the past several years has been president and COO.
Brent Little and Jon Clayton, both formerly of JPI, have joined Place Properties, an Atlanta-based private student housing developer. The two will head up Place's first regional office in Dallas.
Western National Realty Advisors, a division of Irvine, Calif.-based Western National Group, has hired Stuart Beck as director in its development group. He will be responsible for the overall design and approval process of new apartment projects from entitlement through project stabilization. Previously, he was architectural coordinator for Warmington Homes, a residential developer based in Orange County, Calif.
Sperry Van Ness has expanded in the Fort Myers, Fla., commercial real estate market and named Andrew Bauman senior advisor. With 25 years of commercial real estate experience, Bauman specializes in the sale of apartment buildings. Throughout his career, he has secured more than $350 million in transactions.
Pinnacle, an American Management Services company, recently named Robert Oley as the corporate compliance director. Oley will be responsible for overseeing all state, federal, and local regulations throughout Pinnacle's affordable portfolio as well as creating and implementing policy and procedures. He will be based in Las Vegas.
Bozzuto Construction Co. recently promoted J.P. Parker to warranty services manager. He will oversee the resolution of warranty-related issues, specifically during the process of converting rental apartments and townhomes to for-sale units. Parker joined Bozzuto Homes in 2003 as an assistant construction superintendent, and later moved to Bozzuto Construction Co. The firm has also recently hired Mark Weisner as project manager. He will oversee a variety of construction projects, beginning with the Gables at Rothbury Square, an apartment community in Montgomery Village, Md., that features 205 apartment homes, a clubhouse, and a pool.
JPI has promoted Aaron Liebert to vice president and area managing partner. Liebert, who will be based in McLean, Va., will handle site acquisition, development, construction, leasing, and sales of JPI apartment communities in the Mid-Atlantic region. Previously, he was an area assistant vice president and development partner at JPI.
Southeast real estate company Crosland has named Denon Williams president of the company's contracting division. The division specializes in multifamily wood-frame construction. Williams has more than 25 years of contracting experience, which has been primarily in multifamily development. Apartment Matching, an automated online listing service for the apartment industry, has named Max Toy senior vice president of sales and business development. Previously, he was the president and CEO of Paladin Associates, which he founded.
ERC Management Group has hired John Wooldridge as regional vice president. He will be responsible for the daily operations of ERC apartment communities in Little Rock, Ark., area.
John Burnham of Bozzuto Development Co. was recently promoted to development manager for Bozzuto Land Co., where he will work on for-sale and apartment land development opportunities.
Miles Glascock has joined Hudson Capital as chief marketing officer and senior vice president. He will be responsible for setting the strategic direction of all marketing, marketing communication, and public relations efforts for the real estate development company and its entire real estate portfolio. Glascock will also serve as president of Gateway Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hudson Capital.
James F. Lima has joined AvalonBay Communities as senior development director responsible for developing and managing a portfolio of new large-scale, mixed-use construction projects in the New York metro area. Prior to joining AvalonBay, Lima was Mayor Michael Bloomberg's appointee as president of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corp., charged with the planning, redevelopment and operation of 150 acres of the 172-acre former Coast Guard facility in New York Harbor.
SCI Real Estate Investments has appointed a number of regional directors. Bill Corwin, who specializes in multifamily rehabilitation projects, will head the Orange County office; Brent Stratton, who has been involved in the real estate industry for more than 30 years, will oversee Salt Lake City; Brian O'Brien, who recently handled commercial sales and leasing for CB Richard Ellis/New England, will direct the New England office; Charles Moody, previously director of business development for Opus South Corp., will manage the Atlanta office; and Paul White, who previously served as president of his own commercial real estate consulting company, will head the South Florida office.
Thomas E. Converse has joined SourceOne, a provider of utility management services as its vice president of operations. He has more than 30 years of experience in the electric utility industry, including more than 15 years with Boston Edison and NStar.
E-mail your personnel news to [email protected].