Industry Insight Series - Real Estate

Julie Robinson

Senior Vice President, Investments

Ventas, Inc.

Julie Robinson is Senior Vice President, Investments for Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company and real estate investment trust that owns approximately 1,200 healthcare, life science and senior living properties in North America and the United Kingdom, and serves as the primary capital partner to leading healthcare providers and research institutions.

As a member of the Ventas senior leadership team, Robinson leads the team responsible for the risk assessment, diligence, negotiation and execution of all the firm’s investments, including real estate acquisitions, ground-up developments, joint venture investments and loans in the U.S. and internationally. Under Robinson’s leadership, Ventas has closed in excess of $15 billion in transactions including transformative investments in the Hospital (Ardent Health Services) and Research & Innovation (Wexford Science & Technology) sectors as well as trophy developments in outpatient medical, senior living and research & innovation. With an emphasis on optimizing business operations and improving performance, Robinson also plays an important role in evaluating and reviewing investment opportunities being presented to the Ventas Management Capital Committee.

An accomplished business leader with more than 20 years’ experience in acquisitions, deal structuring, corporate finance, management consulting and process improvement, Robinson joined Ventas in 2012 following a successful career at General Electric (GE). During her GE tenure, Robinson played a lead role in the underwriting, due diligence and negotiation of debt financing for the seniors housing and skilled nursing industry at GE Healthcare Financial Services, and led GE’s strategic initiatives across a variety of industries, including the acquisition of a software company serving the utilities industry and the IPO of Genworth Financial.

Robinson is a member of the Kellogg Real Estate Advisory Council whose mission is to enhance the Northwestern Business School’s impact on the field of real estate through efforts to support quality teaching, research, and curriculum development; to promote student recruitment and placement; and to advance relations with alumni and other leaders in the real estate industry. She also founded and leads the Ventas Women’s Network, an employee resource group dedicated to the success and engagement of women at Ventas through professional development, career management and mentoring.

Robinson received her B.S. in Finance from Miami University and her M.B.A. from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. She is married with one son.

Peter Chmielewski

City President

Lennar Multifamily Communities

As City President for Lennar Multifamily Communities (LMC), Peter Chmielewski leads the Chicago office and all business operations, strategy, and real estate development efforts. He leads cross disciplinary teams on all site acquisition, contract negotiation, underwriting, entitlement, design, construction administration, and disposition efforts.

Since joining LMC in 2013, Peter has led the successful completion of six different large-scale multifamily developments in five different cities comprised of over 1,500 units, 75,000SF of retail, and $0.5B of development costs.

Peter is an architect turned real estate developer with over a decade of experience on large-scale development projects across the globe.  As a design architect with Perkins+Will, Peter led design teams on various asset classes on large scale projects in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.  With Hines, he worked on mid-to-high rise multi-family and office projects in Chicago and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Peter studied business at the University of Wisconsin, architecture at the University of Minnesota, and received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

David Bach

Managing Director

Hines

Project Officer responsible for the acquisition, development and financing of projects in the Midwest Region of the United States.

Bachelor of Arts, Economics (Cum Laude), Harvard University, 2007

Master of Business Administration, Finance & Entrepreneurship, Kellogg Graduate School of Business, Northwestern University, 2014

Project Officer for Oak Brook Commons, a 1,200,000 SF mixed-use development in Oak Brook, IL containing retail, apartment, condo, hotel and office components.  Responsibilities include capitalization, master planning, marketing, leasing, and entitlement pursuit. 

Project Officer for Lincoln Common, a 900,000 SF mixed-use development comprised of two 20-story luxury apartment buildings totaling 538 units, 100,000 SF of high-street retail, 50,000 SF of loft office, and 32 for-sale condo units.  Responsibilities included equity and debt capitalization, investor relationship management, leasing, and day-to-day strategic project oversight. 

Project Manager for 499 Sheridan, a 27-story, 690,000 SF office development located in Oklahoma City.  Responsibilities included marketing, leasing, budget management, and oversight of all design and predevelopment activities.

Project Manager for 1225 Old Town, a 16-story, 250-unit luxury apartment building in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.  Responsibilities included day-to-day project oversight, marketing, leasing, budget management, and financial reporting to JV partners. Managed asset sale process which culminated in a $158 million transaction that broke the Chicago multi-family pricing record.

Assistant Project Manager for the 300,000 SF Phase II development of Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Corporate Campus in Deerfield, Illinois.  Responsibilities included budget and schedule oversight, zoning, design and programming review.

Associate in the Acquisitions Group of the Hines Midwest Regional Office in Chicago, Illinois.  Created market research reports, financial models, and investment committee memos for institutional partners. 

Analyst in the Hines Capital Markets Group, in Houston, Texas.  Screened prospective investments seeking internal Hines approval, and assisted in securing debt and finalizing joint venture documents on one-off projects.

Mr. Bach joined Hines in 2007.

Jerrod Wigal

Director

Cushman & Wakefield

Jerrod Wigal is a Director in Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group, specializing in the sale of office investment properties throughout Chicago and other Midwest markets. During the past 10 years, Jerrod and his team have executed nearly 80 sale transactions representing 30 million square feet and over $4.0 billion in value. Jerrod has represented a variety of investors including REITs, pension fund advisors, opportunity funds, and private investors in transactions ranging from trophy CBD towers to single-tenant suburban office campuses.

Jerrod began his brokerage career at Cushman & Wakefield as a financial analyst in 2004.  In 2010, he joined Colliers International, where he co-founded their Midwest office investment sales team and grew transaction volume to nearly $400 million until his departure and reunion with Cushman & Wakefield in 2013.