Tag: Industry Leadership

Roundtable Members Featured in Commercial Observer’s “Power 100” List of 2025 Most Influential Leaders in CRE

Posted on by abigail_grenadier

This week, Commercial Observer released their “Power 100” list of prominent industry leaders, which includes RER Chair Kathleen McCarthy (Global Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate, Blackstone), President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer, 8 other RER board directors, and many other RER members. (Commercial Observer, May 13)

CRE Industry Leadership

  • Commercial Observer begins its list by acknowledging what has been a roller coaster of a year so far for CRE, celebrating return to office mandates and steady interest rates while acknowledging April’s volatility and the ever-present housing crisis.
  • In balancing these factors, Commercial Observer identified those included on the list as “the names who have run faster, stretched their arms out farther, and are beating their boats against the current—in their case, ceaselessly into the future.” (Commercial Observer, May 13)
  • The article describes RER as the “top lobby for commercial real estate in Washington, D.C.,” noting RER’s role in helping policymakers understand and address critical issues facing the industry and the country.

RER’s Role

  • As RER President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer explained to Commercial Observer, “I’m in the information business… I try to inform policymakers about an industry that they may not be fully familiar with.”
  • Federal policy has been top of mind for many CRE executives in the past few months, as uncertainty around tariffs, tax negotiations, federal leasing, and other key issues continues to grow. This has bolstered the need to ensure that the unified voice of the real estate industry is heard and impactful in Washington. (Commercial Observer, May 13)
  • This is especially crucial in a political environment that DeBoer describedas “March Madness, but not the NCAA basketball Tournament,” to CO in late March. (Commercial Observer, May 13)
  • Members of RER’s board of directors and former RER chairs on Commercial Observer’s Power 100 list this year include:
    • RER Chair Kathleen McCarthy (Global Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate, Blackstone), #2
    • Jeff Blau (CEO, Related Companies), #4
    • Rob Speyer (President and CEO, Tishman Speyer), #5
    • Owen Thomas (Chairman & CEO, BXP), #8
    • RER Chair Emeritus (2015-2018) William Rudin (Co-Executive Chairman, Rudin), #13
    • Barry Sternlicht (Chairman & CEO, Starwood Capital Group), #14
    • Scott Rechler (Chairman & CEO, RXR), #21
    • Mark J. Parrell (President & CEO, Equity Residential), #33
    • Chair of RER’s Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) Anthony Malkin (Chairman and CEO, Empire State Realty Trust, Inc.), #37
    • RER President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer, #90
    • Diane Hoskins (Global Chair, The Urban Land Institute, Global Co-Chair, Gensler), #95

The Real Estate Roundtable Approves Five New Board Members

Posted on by Trey Jackson

2024 RER Board - image

The Real Estate Roundtable’s membership has approved five new members to serve on its 25-member Board of Directors during the 2024 fiscal year (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024). The Roundtable’s Board is effective July 1, elected from the membership, and includes industry representatives from four of The Roundtable’s 18 national real estate trade partners.

Board Transition

  • Roundtable Board Chair John Fish (SUFFOLK Chairman and CEO) also enters the final year of his three-year term that began on July 1, 2021. Fish said, “We look forward to the contributions of five new commercial real estate leaders who have joined The Roundtable’s Board of Directors. Their individual expertise, insight, and broad skill sets will add to our organization’s highly regarded effectiveness on national policy issues affecting CRE. Our Board, supported by our policy advisory committees and general membership, will continue to engage policymakers in Washington with fact-based, non-partisan analysis. I look forward to working with them on issues such as the negative impact of remote work on municipalities and communities; capital and credit concerns in a high-interest rate environment; and a practical approach to the role buildings can play in helping to achieve climate goals.”
  • “I also offer my sincere gratitude to our Board members whose terms have expired. Their significant service to the industry during a global pandemic was essential, and we look forward to their continued participation as Roundtable members,” Fish said. 
  • Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer stated, “Roundtable members consistently bring innovative solutions to compelling policy challenges facing CRE. The Roundtable’s Board of Directors represents all major industry activities and asset types, and includes diverse voices from throughout the country. This inclusion ensures that our Board’s decisions are sustainable, flexible, and based in real-world economics. I am eager to continue working with the Board as we advance new recommendations on organizational and strategic policy direction.”

The five new members joining The Roundtable’s FY 2024 Board of Directors as of July 1 are:

Stepping down from The Roundtable Board as of July 1 are:

The Roundtable’s 2023 Annual Report—“Sustained Strength, Sustained Solutions”—will be sent to all members next week.

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National Multifamily Housing Council President Doug Bibby Announces 2021 Departure

Posted on by Trey Jackson

Doug Bibby 2019_x475

National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) President Doug Bibby – an industry leader for nearly two decades who has played a major role in advancing real estate’s policy agenda in Washington, DC – announced on Jan. 29 that he will depart the organization in 2021. 

  • “It has been, and continues to be, a great honor and privilege to serve in this position,” said Bibby. “Representing the apartment industry has been one of the most fulfilling and gratifying experiences of my career. I am proud of the work the team at NMHC has done and the strides the industry has taken during my tenure,” he added.  (NMHC’s bio on Doug Bibby)
  • Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer noted, “Among the 18 national real estate trade associations that The Real Estate Roundtable works with on common issues of importance to commercial real estate, NMHC is one that has shown outstanding leadership on important policies such as housing affordability, regulatory reform and the recent reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.  Doug Bibby has played an essential and exemplary role in his large organization’s successes on the policy front since June 2001.  He deserves the thanks of the entire industry and we wish him well as he prepares for his next endeavor.”

NMHC’s officers have engaged an executive search firm, Russell Reynolds Associates, and hope to introduce Bibby’s successor at its January 2021 Annual Meeting.

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