'Don't Take No For An Answer': Women Leaders On Rising To The Top, Chicago's Biggest CRE Challenges

The women at the forefront of Chicago’s commercial real estate sector represent a smorgasbord of backgrounds and passions that drive their daily work, but they are united by a gusto for the profession befitting their status as leaders, trailblazers and enterprising newcomers.

Cresa’s Stephanie Bujwit is a cancer survivor. She describes herself as a fighter who came back to the industry with new motivation to push her career forward.

Arco/Murray’s Leah George is passionate about women in construction and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that ensure executive suites are made up of people from diverse backgrounds.

Colliers’ Julie Northcutt-Dunn loves mentoring other women in CRE and strives to show them that although the work is difficult, women in the male-dominated industry can get where they want to be. 

Bujwit, George, Dunn and 21 others are set to be honored March 18 at an event that celebrates Chicago’s top women visionaries, leaders, dealmakers, innovators and rising stars.

Bisnow interviewed five of the 24 honorees at the upcoming Chicago Women Leading Real Estate event, one in each of five award categories, to learn more about the projects they have taken pride in, the advice they have to offer other women, and the trends and innovations that most excite them. 

These interviews have been edited for length and clarity. 

Innovator Of The Year: Cresa Director Stephanie Bujwit

Bisnow: Can you share a deal, project or initiative you've worked on recently that you're particularly proud of?

Bujwit: The biggest thing I'm proud of is the development of our technology platform and business intelligence tool, Valo. I wanted to build a tool and start with more predictive analytics, and then eventually get to the point where we can be prescriptive by utilizing AI and machine learning tools to really enhance that. We're constantly hearing from clients that this is a game-changer. It's very different. It looks and feels different. We're open to more customization than that of our competitors. So I feel like we are changing the way in which clients are receiving information, and we're changing the way in which they are interacting with technology.

Bisnow: What is one piece of advice you'd give to women looking to make an impact in real estate today?

Bujwit: This is a very male-driven industry, and there is some hardship to deal with when dealing with individuals in this industry, especially males. Oftentimes we're utilized as resources. When brought into an organization, typically we're put into either a research team or an analyst team, which I would use to their leverage, because often advisers are brought in and put right into brokerage. My recommendation would be to understand every single service line and what they're offering so that you can be a powerhouse when you start to get clients on board.

Bisnow: What trends or innovations in real estate are exciting you the most right now, and how do you think they'll shape the industry?

Bujwit: Definitely artificial intelligence and machine learning. I think the biggest challenge with that is the data structure. Historically, leases are all written differently. There's no standardization with nomenclature for commercial real estate. There's a lot of acronyms for commercial real estate, so getting to understand those and being able to clean up the data enough to really provide actionable insights will be interesting. We're in the process right now of collecting all of our various datasets that we subscribe to, putting it together and really creating actionable intelligence across the entire platform. 

Bisnow: What's the most significant challenge facing Chicago's real estate market right now, and how do you see that challenge evolving over the next few years? 

Bujwit: There's a lot of vacancy, which is a real problem when landlords have to refinance or sell the building. They can't do it because the underwriters just are not seeing the numbers there. So it is causing a lot of defaults and a lot of angst from landlords. I think there's going to be some conversion of C-Class space. They're going to be looking into more residential-style conversions, also maybe into hotels or amenity centers, things like that. 

Other honorees for Innovator of the Year:

• Avison Young Art Director Erin Scully
• Community Finance Advisors CEO and founder Katrina Malone
• Heitman Vice President Megan May
• Hiffman National Director of Property Management Operations Erin Converse

Visionary Of The Year: Whitney Architects Managing Principal Melissa Bogusch

Bisnow: Can you share a deal, project or initiative you've worked on recently that you're particularly proud of?

Bogusch: About a year ago, we celebrated the grand opening of the Guinness Tap House in Fulton Market. That was a really exciting project because our client has a commitment to being very inclusive as far as the project team. We had a broad representation across not only the design professionals but the trades as well, with participation from women and minorities on the project. It really did take a village to transform this former railroad freight depot building into something, frankly, quite magical. I’m really proud of the teamwork on that project. 

Bisnow: What is one piece of advice you'd give to women looking to make an impact?

Bogusch: To not be afraid to speak up and know the value of your expertise. We have knowledge, that knowledge is valid, and we have just as much credibility as the next person in the room.

Bisnow: What trends or innovations in real estate are exciting you the most?

Bogusch: We are all starting to figure out what the post-Covid workplace looks like in terms of office design. It's never going to be what it was before, but we do have to have workspaces that are attractive to people. We need to have more collaborative areas. We need to have more team-building areas, and we need to shift the mindset of our clients to say that commercial real estate is still valuable, that there needs to be a physical place for your employees to come together.

There's a lot more attention also being paid to neurodiversity in the workplace, too. We've seen more meditation rooms being requested recently with specialty lighting and more sound privacy so that if someone is in that room, they're not hearing their co-worker on the phone outside the room. Office building amenities are just going gangbusters. One owner is putting in a spa for their tenants with a sauna and a plunge pool. That's really interesting and exciting.

Bisnow: What's the most significant challenge facing Chicago's real estate market? 

Bogusch: There's just a lot of inertia that we have to overcome. People have gotten very comfortable working remotely. In some ways, we have to relearn how to interact with people. I'm an introvert, so there were moments where I thought, ‘Oh, this is better for me.’ But after a while, I think people are really starting to crave human contact face-to-face. Deeper and more meaningful connection with our clients is what's going to generate more meaningful project outcomes.

Other honorees for Visionary of the Year:

• Pritzker Realty Group Vice President Kristin Bush
• The Goldie Initiative CEO Megan Abraham
• The Missner Group Senior Vice President Angela Aeschliman

Rising Star Of The Year: Arco/Murray Project Manager Leah George

Bisnow: Can you share a deal, project or initiative you've worked on recently that you're particularly proud of?

George: I recently closed a project for an electrical manufacturer with a lot of very detailed specifications. I don't have an electrical background, but being able to really dive in to all the nuances from an electrical standpoint and provide them with a distribution center that I'm super proud of was a cool experience. Every project I have and client that I work with, I have more perspective and insight into what's important to other people depending on where they are or what their industry is. I also run our Women in Construction Week initiatives in Chicago trying to increase the dialogue of the experiences of women in construction.

Bisnow: What is one piece of advice you'd give to women looking to make an impact?

George: Always advocate for yourself and don't take no for an answer.

Bisnow: What trends or innovations in real estate are exciting you the most?

George: We're seeing a lot more build-to-suit clients rather than speculative. That interests me more just because they're more complex projects and a diverse group of clients. As a project manager, throughout the construction process, you're way more in the weeds with what the client is looking for because every client is different for those build-to-suits. It's not just a big empty box. There's a lot more complexity to it. Sustainability has also increased significantly, as well as the amount of LEED certifications we're doing.

Bisnow: What's the most significant challenge facing Chicago's real estate market? 

George: Tariffs. We've seen steel prices officially go up. I'm curious to see how other trades will be impacted. We're trying to stay ahead of it with our preconstruction efforts, trying to use our buying power to buy things early, lock things in and hopefully not have to have our clients take on much risk.

Other honorees for Rising Star of the Year:

• R2 Cos. Marketing Coordinator Zoe Robbins
• Dentons Managing Associate Samantha Ruben
• Related Midwest development associate Shreya Singh
• Mavrek Development Administrative Director Alicia Frame

Leader Of The Year: Colliers Executive Managing Director Julie Northcutt-Dunn

Bisnow: Can you share a deal, project or initiative you've worked on recently that you're particularly proud of?

Northcutt-Dunn: My focus the last 20 years has truly been on leading and growing teams and regions and coaching and mentoring talent. I am the executive sponsor for the Colliers Global Women's Network. I was a founding member of the Women's Network at Colliers, and so I have really, amongst other amazing professionals and female executives at Colliers, been a part of building and growing that organization.

Bisnow: What is one piece of advice you'd give to women looking to make an impact?

Northcutt-Dunn: You have to invest in yourself, specifically as a female. It's definitely a male-dominated industry. For us to be extremely well educated to set ourselves apart is really important. Making certain that you're staying on top of all of the new tech that helps you run your business and work with clients more efficiently and effectively, that's really the key in this day and age. 

Speak up. You have to push yourself. You know the answers, you know what needs to be said. But we don't always push ourselves to be heard and to be seen. Know what you're talking about, do your homework, do your research, know your data better than anyone else.

Bisnow: What trends or innovations in real estate are exciting you the most?

Northcutt-Dunn: We've seen the rise in hybrid work postpandemic. A lot of the conversations that we're having with our large occupiers in space are how they're utilizing space and how to create more versatile, collaborative environments. Sustainability continues to be at the forefront of innovation for our green-building practices. It used to be an option, but the expectation is it's not an option any longer. So if you're a developer, tenant or an investor, you definitely need a solution for sustainability. 

Bisnow: What's the most significant challenge facing Chicago's real estate market? 

Northcutt-Dunn: A big challenge for everyone in the country is economic uncertainty. We still have inflation, we still have [high] interest rates that have dampened the demand, both in commercial and residential real estate. The higher cost it is to borrow funds, that slows your development process and the investment activity. Some sectors are hit a little bit harder because of that than others, things such as hospitality and potentially retail. The cost of construction itself is delaying projects, new developments and making that a little bit more difficult to get projects completed.

Other honorees for Leader of the Year:

• JPMorgan Chase Managing Director Julie Thick
• Callan Consulting Engineers President Julia Ingersoll
• Community Investment Corp. CEO Stacie Young
• Avison Young principal and Managing Director Damla Gerhart

Dealmaker Of The Year: Century 21 SGR Director Myra Nimchaiyong

Bisnow: Can you share a deal, project or initiative you've worked on recently that you're particularly proud of?

Nimchaiyong: [Feb. 24] is my 20-year anniversary in real estate. I've done a lot of deals. I turned a car wash into a daycare center. I’ve helped people turn their online business into brick-and-mortar stores. That's the part of commercial real estate that I love the most, how the dynamic and the structure of the deal is always different. I was born here, and I love seeing how Chicago has evolved. I've seen people change neighborhoods, and I like to be a part of that because it's a city I grew up in.

Bisnow: What is one piece of advice you'd give to women looking to make an impact in real estate?

Nimchaiyong: Get to know as many people as you can and learn from other people that have come before you, and get as much knowledge and inspiration from different people.

Bisnow: What trends or innovations in real estate are exciting you the most?

Nimchaiyong: I've seen a lot of what would be office turned into incubator spaces or salon suites with multiple tenants because they were usually in really good zoning districts. It’s a very cool idea to make office space into usable retail space for businesses starting up. A lot of small businesses are born in Chicago, so why not give them the space to grow? Revitalizing neighborhoods that way has been great to see, and that's why I love real estate.

Bisnow: What's the most significant challenge facing Chicago's real estate market? 

Nimchaiyong: There are a lot of properties owned by people that don't have any money to invest into them, and there's not enough business opportunities in those spaces for retailers to make enough money because they're so small and the taxes are so high. That has been challenging.

Other honorees for Dealmaker of the Year:

• Polsinelli attorney Kelly Greco
• Levenfeld Pearlstein partner Elizabeth O'Brien
• Waterton Managing Partner Michelle Wells
• Blue Owl Capital Managing Director Heba Elayan

CORRECTION, FEB. 25, 10:30 A.M. CT: This story has been updated to correct the misspelling of a company name.