Alumni Profiles

Robert Knakal, Chairman, Massey-Knakal Real Estate

	Robert Knakal

Real Estate Forum magazine recently recognized 1984 Wharton real estate grad Robert Knakal as one of the top 10 investment sales brokers in the United States based upon his production over the past year. While the New York market in 2008 experienced a low volume of sales, Bob sold 58 properties in 32 transactions comprising 1.4 million square feet and 1,501 units.

We recently caught up with Bob and asked him for an update:

Could you give us a brief overview of what Massey Knakal does?
After running the building sales department at CBRE (then Coldwell Banker Commercial) in Manhattan with my business partner, Paul Massey, for four years, we left to start our own firm, Massey Knakal Realty Services, in 1988. It is hard to believe it has been 20 years since we started Massey Knakal but it has been a terrific run thus far.

We specialize in the sale of investment properties in the New York metropolitan area. We have four offices in the region and employ about 150 people. During the last 20 years we have sold more than 3,500 properties that have a market value in excess of $12 billion.

How valuable was your Wharton education relative to your real estate career?
I was fortunate that I had my first real estate job the summer between freshman and sophomore years, so I knew I had interest in real estate very early. In the early '80s, Wharton offered a few real estate classes that I was able to take advantage of during my last three years in school. Today, I know the curriculum has expanded significantly in the real estate area and I'm happy to see that it has grown the way it has. What I did learn at Wharton was extremely valuable to me in having a fundamental understanding of real estate finance and real estate economics. The entrepreneurial management courses I took at Wharton were also fundamentally beneficial.

We hear you have been very active for many years in the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center.
Absolutely. One of the nice things about the real estate industry is that through networking you get to meet many very interesting and dynamic people. Relationships within the industry enhance one's career and the real estate business is really much more about information than about the bricks and mortar. I find the events that the Real Estate Center conducts to be extraordinarily informative and of the highest quality. I believe it is very important to participate in such programs and to contribute in any way possible to enhance the experience of everyone attending.

It sounds like you have a very fond affinity for your alma mater.
Absolutely I do. As years have gone on I have come to appreciate the value of my education from many different perspectives. I feel very fortunate that I was able to attend the Wharton School. I think it is important to continue to support the school in any way possible so that the experience of future Wharton students can be maximized.

Holly Grace, Senior Project Manager, B'nai B'rith Housing New England

School of Design MCP 2001 alum Holly Grace is now a senior project manager at B'nai B'rith Housing New England, a not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to produce non-sectarian affordable and mixed-income housing to ease the housing crisis in the communities of Greater Boston. We asked Holly about her professional life these days.

Thinking back to your studies here at Penn/Wharton, are there any highlights that still stand out in your memory, academic or otherwise?
As a Master of City Planning student who took real estate courses at Wharton, I spent lots of time hustling along Locust Walk and feeling humble in front of the Ben Franklin statue. A true highlight was a Taiwan planning studio course that was amazing. Our class made the trip to Taiwan, acted as consultants to the local government of a growing city, and created a development plan to help guide their growth. It was an enriching experience that provided a global context to our studies.

How did you begin your career, and why did you choose real estate to focus upon?
I chose to focus on real estate development because I loved the variety of skills that it entailed. Guiding design and reading plans appealed to my creative side while financial work and organizing teams appealed to my logical side. Not many other fields involve pretty pictures as well as detailed spreadsheets.

What advice would you give grads in this "challenging" economy?
Graduates should be open-minded about the jobs they apply for and ultimately accept. Excellent career experience and life lessons can be learned from non-traditional roles in potentially off-the-beaten-track locations. In the worst case, you'll either have a good story or make some unique contacts.

Did your education actually prepare you for the real world? That is, were your courses theoretical or could you find practical applications once you entered the professional arena?
The courses at Penn did a good job of balancing theory with practice. Real world situations are always specific and can't be taught out of a book. We learned the fundamentals and were prepared to think about challenges and ask appropriate questions once in the workplace.

On a personal level, what do you do to decompress from the office, to weather this storm?
I tend to build variety into my daily life and try to keep learning, whether through reading, travel or attempting new sports. Learning to surf is the target for this season. I've got the wetsuit, I just need the technique!

Aaron Cohen, Principal, Citizen & Company

	Aaron Z. Cohen

Aaron Z. Cohen, a 2003 graduate from the School of Design, recently left Brandywine to form Citizen & Company, (www.citizenandcompany.com) an entrepreneurial investment, development, and advisory platform pursuing opportunities in real estate, hospitality and early stage ventures. We interviewed Aaron about his new venture and what he's been up to in recent years:

Thinking back to your studies here at Penn/Wharton, are there any highlights that still stand out in your memory, academic or otherwise?
The highlight of my education at Penn was the interdisciplinary nature of my coursework and extracurricular experiences. One day I was learning about RMBS markets (retrospectively we should have been asking harder questions in 2001 while these markets were maturing in front of our eyes) and the next day working on design related studios in the planning program These experiences have built the foundation for the skills that I am using now.

How did you begin your career, and why did you choose real estate to focus upon?
I began my career working for Jerry Sweeney at Brandywine Realty Trust. While a student, Jerry was my mentor through the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center. As a mentee, I heeded the rule of not asking for a job—but he was kind enough to offer me my first job after graduate school. My experience at Brandywine allowed me to develop soup to nuts real estate skills. I've always been interested in real estate because of its interdisciplinary nature and the opportunity it can present to create wealth. When I became interested in real estate I had no family connections in the business and I knew nothing about it—I was probably about three years old. As a child, I would eat breakfast every day on my front stoop in Center City Philadelphia and watch a development site take shape in front of our house.

What advice would you give grads in this "challenging" economy?
Don't think of your career as a series of jobs or a job. Instead, think of your career as a company. You are the company's CEO and you are working to build the most successful, profitable company you can. Build your own executive team by having diverse professional and educational experiences early in your career. In real estate that means maybe your first job is in leasing, even though you are really interested in finance or development. Learn the details of the careers of business people that you admire. Ask lots of questions. Listen. Take risks.

Did your education actually prepare you for the real world? That is, were your courses theoretical or could you find practical applications once you entered the professional arena?
The most practical aspects of my education came from the design side. Business is often about creating solutions to complex situations. Design is about creating solutions. If your bias is toward creating solutions, you will see opportunities where other people do not.

On a personal level, what do you do to decompress from the office, to weather this storm?
My real life's passion is building my business. I recently left Brandywine to form Citizen & Company--an entrepreneurial investment, development, and advisory platform pursuing opportunities in real estate, hospitality and early stage ventures. I enjoy traveling and learning about different cultures, even while traveling I am "in my office" as I am always looking for new business opportunities in unexpected places.

Robin R. Gordon, Associate Broker, Prudential Fox & Roach

	Robin Gordon

Robin Gordon graduated from the School of Design in 1981 with a Masters in City Planning with a heavy concentration in real estate at Wharton. She writes, "I took every real estate course offered at Wharton at that time. I interned at Butcher and Singer in their real estate subsidiary while in school and continued working at Butcher for the next 10 years. This was in the syndication days. I structured debt and equity financing for private limited partnerships.

"When the tax laws changed in the early '90s and business slowed down I left Butcher and went to the Resolution Trust Corporation, where I worked on the savings and loan crisis, similar to what is going on now with the banks, and restructured debt and liquidated real estate assets. The biggest difference was interest rates were in double digits as opposed to the single digit borrowing currently. Money was hard to come by, as it is now as well.

"I moved to the Main Line from Center City Philadelphia in 1991 and decided to get into the residential sales end of real estate. I left a full-time job with benefits to essentially go out on my own as an independent contractor with Prudential. I had gotten my real estate sales license and broker's license in 1992. Since 1993 I have been with Prudential, now Prudential Fox and Roach. I grew my business from several million in sales a year to now an average of $100 million. My husband joined me in the real estate business about eight years ago and he focuses on the marketing end of the business and growing the company. We currently have five people on our team and are looking to grow.

"I have found the business to be very satisfying and very lucrative. I have made much more money in the sales end with much less travel and a flexible schedule than the investment banking end. It goes without saying, we are on call 24-7 and have to work weekends. I love the real estate business and even in these tough times, we are selling as much as now as we did in the past three years, but the prices are definitely down. I made Top 10 out of 67,000 Prudential Realtors nationwide in 2008. I hope to be in the top five for 2009.

"We are always looking for summer interns and graduates who my want to enter the real estate sales business. It is a great business if you want to work hard and have unlimited earning potential."

Robin's web site is www.robingordon.com. You can reach her at 610-246-2280.