Click here for Part I

Managing and developing $1 billion worth of real estate for clients worldwide

Mark Pasierb is the president of Pitcairn Properties, a position he has held for 11 years. Starting in 1968, Pitcairn Properties has managed and developed real estate properties on behalf of institutional partners around the world. The firm’s $1 billion portfolio comprises millions of square feet in Class A office, residential, and retail space. Its properties include Bell Atlantic Tower and the Ellington in Philadelphia, Keystone Park in Bucks County, The Magellan in New York City, and several development projects with Alco Standard across the U.S. Prior to his role at Pitcairn Properties, Mark served as a partner and portfolio manager for the Rubenstein Company and as director of Prudential Real Estate Investors. He resides in Yardley with his wife and their twin daughters.

Mark Pasierb spoke with Jim Mullarkey, Executive Managing Director with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, for this interview.

JIM MULLARKEY: How has the industry changed over the years? What trends are you seeing now?

MARK PASIERB: We see a big trend in people trying to cram people into space. It’s getting smaller and smaller. When I started in the industry, it was like 250 square feet per person. It’s probably down to around 120 square feet per person. So we’re seeing a lot of airport stalling or micro office cubes, and through that, people want to put more people in the space. As long as we’re within fire code, we’re okay with it and we’ll try to accommodate anything because we’re in the business of leasing space, and if people need to have more people involved in their space, then that’s what we do. With amenities, we’re trying to do trucks; if the building itself doesn’t have, say, a cafeteria or a deli, we try to go local and try to get like something like a hot dog truck or taco truck here in Philadelphia or a Cheesesteak truck just to come in to cycle through on an everyday basis, so that the people don’t have to waste time getting in their car, being in a suburban location, and driving 15 minutes to get lunch.

Right now, the economy itself is very choppy. Suburban offices are not in favor—it’s probably the least favored food group, which is the big part of our portfolio—but we’re trying to work through that by offering different amenities to people, trying to get transportation to the center cities, or the Conshohockens of the world, where the younger people really want to live, work, and play, and we’re trying to bridge that gap through transportation and making amenities likes gyms free to our tenants. Obviously, the rate is a big part of that. We’re probably a better alternative on rate than you’re going into a center city location. But really how much longer will the suburban office market be out of favor? We’re so heavily weighed in suburban at this point. We’re really trying to work through this downturn and eventually, it’s a cycle. It will come back, and all of a sudden suburban office will be in fashion again, and we’ll be successful in getting nice returns.

Q. What advice would you offer to a new real estate broker?

A. The best advice is probably stay in real estate. Back in early 1990s, when real estate was a little shaky through the RTC days, someone said, “Just stick with it—they’ll always need real estate professionals.” It was probably the best advice I was given because I did like it. It fits well with my personality. I looked at this question before, and really I’ve fortunately never really gotten bad advice—if I did, I don’t remember it or I didn’t take it—so I don’t really have a great answer for that.

Q. Do you have any role models?

A. There are certain people. It’s really not an individual person; it’s more the way people present themselves. I think if you’re a genuine person and you try to do the right thing for your business or for your friends or family, that’s really what I try to emulate. There are a lot of people in this business who make money by really taking money from their contractors and not paying deals, not paying brokers. I don’t think that’s the way we want to do business. So, I look to other companies that really do generally good work and pay their bills on time.

Connect with Mark 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.

James P. Mullarkey, Esquire, Executive Managing Director, joined Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) in March 2006 having distinguished himself in the commercial real estate leasing industry and the day-to-day operations and management of a leading real estate portfolio. Since 2003, Jim has completed over 6 million rentable square feet in leasing transactions representing a value of over $1.2 billion

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