Lisa Reddy (Center Right) and Analise Guttmann (Far Right) pictured at The Giving Farm in Westminster for Prologis’s 2019 IMPACT Day. The farm is a farm-to-food bank program that aims to promote student and community engagement.
Lisa Reddy and Analise Guttmann are part of the leadership team at Prologis, responsible for the leasing and tenant management of almost 30 million square feet of space and more than 450 leases. Not only are Lisa and Analise making names for themselves in the local CRE Industry, but also personally, as they are incredibly active outside of the office as they balance career and family.
Lisa Reddy is a Vice President, Leasing Officer for Prologis in Los Angeles, California. Lisa oversees all aspects of asset management and leasing for a 14 million square foot industrial real estate portfolio, which includes approximately 125 buildings and 200 leases throughout the greater Los Angeles area. During her tenure with Prologis, Lisa has negotiated and completed in excess of $900 million in net lease consideration for both existing and development projects. Lisa is actively involved in Southern California NAIOP, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and sits on the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Board. In 2018, Lisa was named a “Women of Leadership” by Forte Foundation and a “Women of Influence” by Real Estate Forum.
Analise Guttmann is a manager, leasing officer for Prologis and has been with the company for almost 9 years. Analise started her real estate career with Prologis’ property management team, moved to the capital deployment team where she worked as an analyst before transitioning to her current role with the Los Angeles leasing team. Analise’s current portfolio accounts for over 12 million square feet in over 110 projects within the LA Central, Mid Counties and Industry submarkets. As a leasing manager, Analise’s primary responsibilities include driving and executing new and renewal lease transactions within her portfolio in an effort to maximize value while maintaining and growing relationships with both tenants and brokers.
What sage advice would you have for anyone starting out in the industry?
LR: Keep an open mind and evaluate each situation with a clean slate. It’s always wise to use prior experience to help guide you, but don’t let preconceived notions take the lead.
AG: Make sure from the beginning you have your goals set and are creating your own personal brand. I’m still working on the brand concept, and think it’s probably ever-evolving. Since transitioning to the leasing team, I’ve had more of an autonomous role and now work directly with a lot more people, so it is important that people understand my expectations based on my style and brand.
What are some misconceptions about your profession?
LR: One common CRE misconception is that the industry as a whole is an “old boys club.” CRE has come a long way to improve the playing field for men and women alike. This evolution has been refreshing to see and also exciting to be a part of. Like most evolving industries, there’s still a long runway ahead, but the transformation is here to stay.
AG: In my time spent in leasing, I’ve quickly learned that leasing smaller buildings is more time intensive than leasing large big box buildings. It takes a lot of effort, coordination, teamwork and LOTS of communication to keep things running smoothly. For various reasons, there is a lot more turnover in the smaller multi-tenant industrial parks. When we do get a space back, regardless if it is anticipated or not, there is a lot of work and help needed from many different teams, both internal and external. In general, I definitely spend more time working with our listing, property management and construction teams communicating with them often several times a week, if not several times a day, all in an effort to keep these smaller spaces successfully leased.
What horror story do you have from a job you’ve had or deal you’ve done that taught you a valuable lesson?
LR: I started my career in CRE in brokerage. A couple years into the business, I won the listing for a small, new construction building. I was able to procure the tenant myself that was a dual representation. Once the owner/builder determined he had a fish on the line, his scope for “substantial completion” of the building dramatically changed, leaving more unfinished than initially quoted. I found myself in a situation where I had little control on the list side and was unable to provide sound advice for my client on the procuring side. Ultimately, the lease fell apart, and my relationships with both the owner and tenant were jeopardized. I learned that clarity up front is key to any transaction. Understanding where all sides are coming from and being able to appropriately set expectations is critical to a successful outcome.
AG: No major horror story, but with many lease transactions there are always lessons to be learned. One thing I’ve come to conclude is that over communicating is the way to go. Better to do so than to assume that a team member is on the same page as you. I also highly favor getting on the phone and communicating with someone directly, rather than sending an email and waiting for a reply. Sometimes misunderstandings happen by reading too much in between the lines and misinterpreting. Also, I like the satisfaction with getting an immediate response more quickly via a telephone call.
What’s your favorite simple pleasure?
LR: I’d rank two favorite simple pleasures: 1. spending time anywhere with my husband and four sons and 2. Bravo TV!
AG: Going for a run to clear my mind while at the same time getting some exercise. If I have time, I’ll head to the beach for a run, so that I also get to enjoy the ocean views.
How has AIR CRE helped your business dealings?
LR: AIR CRE brings key market information to its users in real-time. Using this knowledge on a daily basis helps me keep a finger on the pulse of the market, including both landlord and user trends.
AG: It is always helpful to get the AIR CRE’s morning Super Sheets email to review the markets I cover to see what new projects and sites have hit the market, what our competitors are asking on new deals and what has leased up.
If you had the opportunity to take a year sabbatical to live for one year in a foreign country, all expenses paid and no limitations from daily life, in order to improve yourself – where would you go and why?
LR: I wouldn’t spend the year in one place. Instead, I would travel around the world. My goal would be to visit as many countries as possible, while still allowing enough time in each to immerse myself in the culture and truly experience daily life there. It’s fascinating how cultural and business trends differ from place to place, let alone country to country.
AG: India – inspired by Eat, Pray, Love. I’ve always been into yoga and only recently dabbled in meditation thanks to the various apps available out there, but would really appreciate being in a place where I’d get to focus solely on mediation, yoga and myself.
Other than your cell phone or computer, what technology could you absolutely not live without and what technology do you find to be completely over-rated?
LR: Video conferencing has been a game changer. It allows “face-to-face” meetings with our teams around the globe. Being able to see someone’s expression or read their body language provides a helpful degree of emotional intelligence that a standard phone conference call doesn’t.
AG: I could not live without the GPS app, WAZE! I am always looking for the most efficient, time saving way to get to my future destination. With the busy LA traffic, it’s also nice to know exactly how long it is going to take to get to a meeting/location and to know my exact ETA.
As for overrated technology, I’d say voice activated technology. I don’t want to name a specific home device, but it tends to only understand me about half the time and all I use it for is to play music and turn the lights on and off.
What topic could you spend hours talking about?
LR: I love to cook! I could spend hours researching recipes and experimenting in the kitchen. Our front door is always open to family and friends. Cooking for our guests and making them feel at home is so much fun for me!
AG: Traveling, I used to travel a lot more (B.C. – “before children” or in my case, one child.) I have many fond memories of family vacations to Europe, my time spent living abroad in Spain, in addition to taking other trips with friends to Asia and South America.
What does a typical work day look like for you?
LR: There’s not a “typical” day per se. My morning routine at my house is basically survival of the fittest; getting my sons out of bed, fed and off to school anyway possible. At the office and in the field, my time is divided among several areas. I interface directly with our customers to discuss current and future facility needs. I also spend a lot of time with the brokerage community to grow the various relationships. Lastly, our various internal Prologis teams work in parallel with one another, so I’m continuously involved with our acquisition, construction, property management and finance teams.
AG: Getting into the office, grabbing a large coffee and sitting down to answer and send emails in between making a couple of phone calls. I often then head out to a meeting, usually onsite in the markets I cover. I’m back in the office in the later part of the afternoon to again catch up on emails. Throughout the day, I’m on and off the phone with several of our listing brokers and the property management team as we discuss the status and/or outstanding items.
Who do you go out of your way to be nice to?
LR: CRE is a relationship industry. Customers and brokers alike are extremely important to how we operate, specifically on the asset management side of the business. I’d rank both of these groups at the top of my list. That being said, it’s also essential for us to be friendly with our competition. Sharing information between ownerships is helpful and most often completes the picture for us. Being able to have friendly competition is a key part of this industry, which makes it unique and enjoyable.
AG: Family members…They bring out the best, but sometimes, also the worst in me. I love them more than anything in the world, but sometimes they drive me crazy! Patience is a virtue and it sometimes takes a lot of effort to hold my breath and let something go, knowing it’s not worth the argument.
Contact: Lisa Reddy Contact: Analise Guttmann