Meet a NAIOP Chicago Developing Leader | Katherine Bernstein
Name: Katherine Bernstein
Company: Logistics Property Company
Position: SVP, Capital Markets
Age: 32
Education: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Years in Real Estate: 11
1.What led you to work in the Real Estate industry? Describe your current responsibilities:
The undergraduate business program at UNC was ramping up their real estate focus, and the classes I took within this focus sparked a curiosity to learn more. That led me to an internship in real estate syndicated finance at Bank of America, where I secured a full-time job offer post-graduation. This role offered an incredible training program for first year banking analysts and was a great starting point for my career as I was able to learn about all asset types within real estate.
In my current role at Logistics Property Company, I lead the team responsible for managing our national debt platform and capital stack. The portfolio is currently comprised of approximately $4 billion across 23 million square feet of industrial developments. Since I joined in 2020, my team has sourced and structured more than $2.6 billion in new loans and has built relationships with 100+ debt and equity capital partners.
2.Who has been the biggest influence in your career?
I have a handful of trusted mentors I have been lucky to work with over my career and couldn’t imagine where I would be without having built those trusted relationships.
3.Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Joining Logistics Property Company in its early growth stage has allowed me to continually develop and learn new things alongside the company’s growth. Our plans for the next five years will bring new challenges, and I am looking forward to tackling those with our growing team.
…and hopefully in a lower rate environment!
4.How long have you been involved with NAIOP and what do you view as the benefits of your NAIOP Developing Leader membership?
I have been involved with NAIOP since I started my first role out of school on the banking side in 2014 in Charlotte and San Francisco, and continued after making the moving to Logistics Property Company in Chicago. NAIOP has been a phenomenal platform during each of these moves to connect with the local community of commercial real estate professionals. I was especially grateful during the Chicago move, as I didn’t know anyone before moving and timed it about two weeks before COVID-19 hit in March 2020.
5.What is the most important lesson you have learned during your career?
It’s impossible to choose the singular most important lesson, I have so many that I would equally prioritize. But for the sake of this question I’ll pick the first one that comes to mind: be someone you would want to work with. Take a step back from situations to figure out how you can be helpful to the team. Take the extra time to learn more about roles outside of your own to understand the big picture. It goes a long way to the people you work with to show a genuine interest in how their role fits into yours and the overall company.
6.What is the best piece of professional advice you have been given?
Find a mentor and be a mentor. Highly recommend!
7.What characteristics do you consider most important in your role and in the industry?
Relationships. Real estate is a small world, especially in your local setting, and I have found that people in our industry are more willing than you would think to connect and bounce ideas off each other. Chicago itself is a special place for real estate – not only the physical real estate, but the real estate community. I have found Chicago to be the most welcoming space for real estate professionals.
8.Where is your “hidden gem” location in Chicago?
Certainly not “hidden” – but the lakeshore path is my favorite part of Chicago. Being a newcomer, I thought Lake Shore Drive was the closest accessible pedestrian view along the lake. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to discover there was, in fact, a path along the lake.
9.What’s the funniest story from your time working in CRE?
The week of a closing, our title company notified us that their security was compromised, and they would only be accepting communication via phone or fax. It was a light-hearted generational joke to walk around the office and see who knows how to send a fax.