JUNE 2018 REAL ESTATE FORUM
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the future of the firm. “The training is inter-generational
and inter-company,” says Bram. “Just as George trained us,
we have trained our younger leaders. All of the leaders train
the others in our firm. All of this works to transfer skills,
knowledge and strategy throughout the organization.”
GSP’s first step in passing on the torch has been to pro-
mote a new generation of partners, which includes Davies
and Lee as well as Antonio Hachem, Bryan Shaffer and
Shahin Yazdi. Just like Smith, the senior partners have given
significant stock in the company to the new partnership. “As
we’re getting older, we want to assure our success by having
the next generation take an active role in the leadership and
ownership of the company,” says Tenzer. “We’ve empowered
them by letting them have a significant share of stock in the
company and a more significant role, so they have a propri-
etary interest to move the company forward.”
Lee and Yazdi have taken the reigns as co-leaders of GSP,
and have already begun to implement changes that will
maintain the firm’s ideology while growing it and moving it
forward. “Lee and Yazdi have come up with some good ideas
and they have new directions in which they want to take
some things,” says Tenzer. “They want to see the company
grow, and they want to see it grow in new ways and keep up
with the times. It needs fresh blood and new ideas. We don’t
want to become dinosaurs. I think it is great.”
According to Lee, those new ideas include expansion to
other markets. The firm is looking to open offices in
Orange County, Phoenix, Las Vegas and potentially San
Francisco in the next few years.
Lee also wants to recruit talent that embodies the firm’s
culture. “We’re trying to recruit individuals that come in with
the full set of strengths that the millennial generation has in
their connectivity, but we want to hire those that show us the
character that we are looking for as a company,” he explains.
“The older generation gives more weight to relationships,
and we want to make sure that the younger generation con-
tinues to value interpersonal relationships as much as we do.”
Of course, the new partners are looking to integrate
more technology, although Davies insists that no amount of
tech will never replace their emphasis on client relation-
ships. “We perform well in an ever-evolving technological
because we are some of the best structured finance guys in
the market,” he explains. “Structured finance involves all
various parts of the capital stack. The reality is that you still
need someone to shepherd a deal in which actual humans
are making decisions, and where discussions in meetings
are still going to be important.”
Then, there is the incoming group of CRE profession-
als—new talent entering the industry. The company has
built intern and mentorship programs to support and nur-
ture rising talent. “Every quarter, we have three or four
interns who rotate through different teams to get exposure
to diverse deals,” says Tenzer. “They get to come to the
lender meetings and presentations, and they get to sit in on
negotiations when it is appropriate. They really get down
into the trenches at times. It seems like we always end up
hiring at least one intern from each rotation.”
The mentor program, similarly, pairs new or young pro-
fessionals with senior staff members for guidance, which
includes everything from strategy to approach to negotia-
tion. “Whatever it takes to get the deal done,” says Tenzer,
“It all comes down from George,” says Tenzer. “I try and
keep George alive because most of the people in the com-
pany have never met him. George had very high ethics and a
very dedicated work ethic. He really always put the client
first, and that was something that was very important to him.
I saw that at an early stage in my career, and started to model
it. It’s important to pass that on to our young people.” ◆
“Our training is both inter-generational and inter-
company. This works to transfer skills, knowledge
and strategy throughout the organization.
STEVE BRAM
Principal and Co-Founder
