Click here for Part I and Part II

Building and transforming spaces to benefit all members of the community

William Glazer is the president and CEO of Keystone Property Group. Originally founded as a real estate brokerage firm, Keystone has had iterations an investment firm as well as a development company. Since 2003, the organization has acted as a real estate private equity firm, investing in over 10 million square feet of properties with transactions totaling billions of dollars. In addition to his role as an investor and developer, Bill has served as chairman of Hyperion Bank as well as on the boards of directors for numerous local nonprofits like the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia. Awards he has received include the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Award for Excellence.

Bill spoke with Jeff Mack of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank for this interview.

JEFF MACK: Who are some of your role models?

BILL GLAZER: I frequently say one of the greatest things that I like to do is take pearls of wisdom from all of my peers and competitors. If you string the best pearls together, you can come up with a phenomenal tale of learning about what are the best practices and the best ways to run a business. [Equity Group Investments chairman] Sam Zell is clearly one of them, on a big scale. Locally, Ira Lubert was one of my early partners. I partnered with Ira in 1997. We’re still partners today on the same asset that we bought in 1997. His story is exceptional. I was reflecting recently: I was reading an article about him when he got started in Lubert–Adler, and he was about, at the time, my age right now. I was at the time, 25–26, when I approached him. I look at what he’s done, and what he’s created both in terms of just value and in spawning an industry in Philadelphia, and that’s amazing—that’s a great story to emulate.

Q. What leadership quality do you most hope to embody?

A. Personal skill. I’d like to think that team building and leadership—and I think that’s an overused expression, so let me say something a little differently: I’d like to say that I can point to the mountaintop and say, “This is where we need to go.” And get buy-in—that that is the mountaintop, and we do need to get there, and here’s why. Of I get that buy-in—whether it be from investors, from lenders, from people on our team, from a brokerage team or the investment community—if there’s buy-in into creating that vision—mini example: The Curtis, “Hey, this should be the most iconic residential place in the city”—then that typically will galvanize people and create a great following to, hopefully, great results.

Q. Right now, what are you most proud of?

A. Most proud of the teams for sure. We have attracted some spectacular talent—and when I say talent, I mean talent in-house, and talent that we surround ourselves with. And I count Newmark as part of our team because Newmark literally is a part of our team on a number of assets, and over our history—again, I have a 24 year history of investing—I’m here with Mike Margolis, Mike sold me my first property as an investor and I think my second property as an investor, when he and I were both just a little younger and a little dumber than we are today. So, I look at that as creating great teams. I’m so proud of that, of having done that, and really enjoy that part of my business.

Q. How do you envision the future of Keystone?

A. The future of Keystone to me seems so much bigger than where we are today. Every day, I wake up and think about what next mountaintop can we get to. Keystone has gone through a number of cycles, and some of the up cycles were great and the last down cycle was brutal. At the nadir of the last down cycle, I sat down with my team and I said, “Guys, what’s the next mountain range?” Because as bad as it was in 2010 and 2011—it was miserable, even into 2012—I could envision a place that is so much more exciting. It’s fun, as real estate operators, we all have to suffer the exigencies and vicissitudes of these nasty cycles or enjoyable cycles, so we have to be able to ride them out and always be able to look out and see what’s the next mountaintop.

Connect with Bill on LinkedIn

ABOUT NEWMARK GRUBB KNIGHT FRANK

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) is one of the world's leading commercial real estate advisory firms. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NGKF’s 12,800 professionals operate from more than 370 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents.

With roots dating back to 1929, NGKF’s strong foundation makes it one of the most trusted names in commercial real estate. NGKF’s full-service platform comprises BGC’s real estate services segment, offering commercial real estate tenants, landlords, investors and developers a wide range of services including leasing; capital markets services, including investment sales, debt placement, appraisal, and valuation services; commercial mortgage brokerage services; as well as corporate advisory services, consulting, project and development management, and property and corporate facilities management services. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com.

NGKF is a part of BGC Partners, Inc., a leading global brokerage company servicing the financial and real estate markets. BGC’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol (NASDAQ: BGCP). BGC also has an outstanding bond issuance of Senior Notes due June 15, 2042, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (NYSE: BGCA). BGC Partners is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard W. Lutnick. For more information, please visit www.bgcpartners.com.

Jeffrey E. Mack, Executive Managing Director

Jeffrey E. Mack is a senior leader in Newmark Grubb Knight Frank's Philadelphia operation. Jeff has been a significant member of the commercial brokerage community in Philadelphia since 1979. He co-founded Smith Mack & Co. in 1984 and has continued to lease and sell more suburban office space than any other individual agent. He served as past chairman of the Philadelphia Board of Realtors, commercial and industrial division. NGKF acquired Smith Mack & Co. in 2012.

Edwin Warfield, CEO of citybizlist, conducts the CEO Interviews.

If you're interested in reaching CEOs, please contact edwin.warfield@citybuzz.co

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