Bisnow Honors Bay Area Power Women: Part 8
Today we bring you our eighth installment in our 10-part series highlighting some of the top leaders in Bay Area commercial real estate. Bisnow's first Bay Area Power Women recognizes 50 influential players in the industry. We'll profile each of these women (read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7) and honor them at a special awards reception Sept. 21 at The Sir Francis Drake.
Merredith Treaster, SVP, The John Buck Co
Merredith Treaster began her real estate journey as a leasing broker at CBRE. From there she built a 10-year career taking leadership roles at Hines and The John Buck Co. Today as an SVP at John Buck, she takes the most pleasure in resolving tough situations by motivating and guiding her team. In a market where occupant demands are changing rapidly due to demographic shifts, getting design right becomes a challenge. “Design takes time,” Merredith says, “and it can be a challenge to meet changing needs in a fast manner.” The key to meeting this time crunch? Integrity and honesty. “If you don’t know the answer to something, that is OK. Be honest and work to learn something new every day,” she advises.
Lydia Tan, SVP, Bentall Kennedy
Lydia Tan started her career as an architect but quickly realized real estate development was a better match for her talents. As an SVP at Bentall Kennedy, she works with a variety of partners to bring projects from concept to fruition, meeting physical and economic mandates. Success for Lydia is reaching beyond the numbers and creating great places for people while being responsive to the neighborhood context. Despite the entitlement and other challenges of developing in the Bay Area, she tells the next generation real estate offers a chance to build an impactful career. The key to making the most of the first few years? Focusing on tasks that offer both breadth and depth of experience rather than specializing too early. “Make sure you find great mentors,” she adds, “whether in the workplace or within your network.” Lydia is on the left with her sister, Audrey, after the two drove the Nurburgring race track in Germany.
Leina Zimmerman, SVP and General Manager, Clune Construction
An internship opened the door for Leina Zimmerman to become a leader in commercial real estate and construction. Leina quickly moved up the ladder running commercial facilities and real estate throughout the Bay Area before transitioning to focus on construction full time. In 2015, Leina took over the helm of Clune Construction’s San Francisco office as SVP and general manager. She is focused on leading her company to success in the dynamic Bay Area market. Leina also created a professional organization, called the Real Estate Divas – Bay Area (RED), to help women in the industry overcome some of the challenges of working in a male-dominated field. “Women need to be better supporters of one another in this industry; we need to be part of the solution,” she says. RED, founded in 2005 and funded by multiple corporate sponsors, is focused on developing stronger relationships between the over 100 women members through high-level networking events and peer-to-peer mentorship. Her advice to women just starting out in real estate? Focus on being the best at what you do and develop a strong network within the industry.
Frances Choun, VP, North Pacific Division, McCarthy Building Cos
As a young child traveling overseas on family vacations, Frances Choun was inspired by the architecture of foreign places, constantly sketching details of fascinating buildings that caught her eye. Now, as a highly lauded expert in the industry, her inspiration has not waned. Working with high-caliber and collaborative teams of design and construction professionals to deliver exceptional projects, Frances says, is the best part of her job. With these teams, she works with top clients in the Bay Area on a number of high-profile research facilities, structures on University of California and California community college campuses, and numerous other projects that will have a lasting impact on the community. Embracing the best new technology for her current projects, she tells us, is a challenge and an opportunity, since it’s always changing. Cutting through the noise to identify the best technology solutions is a priority. Building Information Modeling and virtual reality are two of the solutions utilized by McCarthy to allow projects to be “pre-built” before construction ever begins to increase efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Frances has noticed many of the industry’s rising stars are women and an increasing number of women hold executive positions.
Dale Green, Asset Manager, Sleepy Hollow Investment Co
Dale Green is a 35-year real estate veteran. As one of the leaders at Sleepy Hollow Investment Co, she is responsible for tasks such as overseeing contracts, managing finances, marketing and negotiation. Her current journey began after finding a then-small Sleepy Hollow in San Jose that was working on turning around an eight-story distressed property near the San Jose Airport. The task was so encompassing and she didn’t receive a lot of direction, so Dale wrote her own job description. Within a few years, she and her team converted that building to a Class-A property. Dale and Sleepy Hollow built on that success and became an important player in San Jose. The key to her success? Being enthusiastic and acting with integrity and honesty.
