Real Estate Forum - November/December 2009

DOROTHY L. ALPERT Vice Chairman and Principal DELOITTE LLP NEW YORK CITY

As vice chairman and princi- pal of Deloitte LLP and US real estate leader since 2003, Dorothy L. Alpert is responsi- ble for real estate strategy and execution across tax, audit, consulting and financial advisory services. Under her direction, the practice has grown by more than 33% in the past five years, and now generates $500 mil- lion in annual revenue. Alpert began her career in banking in 1982, and by 1983 she was recruited by a colleague to work with a start-up firm that had purchased the Harborside Financial Center in Jersey City, one of the first redevelopment projects to jumpstart the Hudson River revitaliza- tion. “While we acquired other assets, the Harborside Financial Center was by far our largest, and when we sold the building in November of 1986, I decided to leverage my real estate industry o direc n l by a colleague to work with a start-up fir th H b id Fi i l C t i J

experience and started with Deloitte in the real estate consulting practice in June 1987,”she reflects.

Alpert attributes much of her success to team building and to a solid string of mentors. Like many women, she has learned to master the art of balancing family and work. “Clearly, my career has required an enormous commitment, including very long hours and lots of frequent flyer miles,” she relates. “I have been fortunate to have a very strong support system and an understanding family that has afforded me the flexibility to respond to the demands of my work.” Despite her packed schedule, Alpert has participated in three New York City marathons, which is three more than most 40-hour-a-week workers have under their belts.

While Alpert has seen women make some major strides in the industry, she admits, “Although more women have sought opportunities in real estate over the past 25-plus years, the industry itself has grown exponentially. So the proportion of women is still very small, especially in leadership roles such as the C-Suite.”

That said, Alpert believes more senior-level female executives should mentor young women. “To compete with rival industries for talent, we need to take better advantage of the sizable emerging pool of capable women in the workforce,” she notes.

FAITH HOPE CONSOLO Chairman, Retail Leasing, Marketing and Sales PRUDENTIAL DOUGLAS ELLIMAN NEW YORK CITY K CITY

With over 20 years in the commercial real estate industry, Faith Hope Consolo provides retail counsel to landlords, tenants and developers nationally and internationally in her role as chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s retail leasing, marketing and sales division in New York City.

She oversees retail operations for the firm’s 50 commercial real estate offices across the US, including 70 offices in the New York Metro area and 200 brokers nationwide. Since joining PDE in 2005, she has been the top producer in the commercial division consistently for the past four years, completing transactions in excess of $3.9 billion with retailers including Buccellati, Jimmy Choo, Barney’s, Henri Bendel and Cartier. And she still time to help fundraise for the New York City Opera.

Consolo’s career includes stints in the cosmetics and interior industries, before she decided on real estate. “It seemed like a natural segue,” she notes, adding that even her lawyer advised her to give retail a shot. Consolo hooked up with the owner of a small brokerage firm, and her career took off from there. She is currently expanding the Who.A.U. label from malls to main streets, adding a dozen locations nationwide. She is also revamping in excess of 250,000 square feet of mixed-use retail at MGM Grand/Foxwoods Resorts and spear-

heading a radical redo of Harlem’s shopping corridor, leasing up hundreds of thousands of square feet.

Women have come a long way in the retail real estate business, relates the executive. “When I first started, it wasn’t unusual for me to be the only woman in the room,” she relates. “For an industry that caters to women, retail in those days certainly didn’t ask our opinions.”

But that has changed dramatically, according to

Consolo. “Many retail real estate professionals, and many leaders, are women. We still have to work twice as hard, but our voices are being heard.” However, she admits, females still seem to hit a glass ceiling at major development companies. As a result, women need “work together to achieve their goals.”