Ian Martin Milwaukee-based real estate development firm Mandel Group Inc. on Thursday announced the implementation of its leadership succession plan, one which promotes the firm’s emerging leaders into new roles while retaining senior leadership. Effective immediately, founder and president Barry Mandel will move to chairman and chief executive officer. Ian Martin,
[caption id="attachment_508123" align="alignleft" width="280"] Ian Martin[/caption]
Milwaukee-based real estate development firm Mandel Group Inc. on Thursday announced the implementation of its leadership succession plan, one which promotes the firm's emerging leaders into new roles while retaining senior leadership.
Effective immediately, founder and president Barry Mandel will move to chairman and chief executive officer.
Ian Martin, formerly vice president of development, is now president of Mandel Group. Phillip Aiello, formerly senior vice president of development, is the new chief operating officer.
Bob Monnat and Dave Pavela were named senior partners. Monnat formerly held the title of COO. Pavela will remain chief investment officer.
Additionally, Jason Babcock was promoted to senior vice president of acquisitions and dispositions to lead the firm's activity in acquiring properties throughout the Midwest. He was formerly vice president and director acquisitions.
Rounding out Mandel Group's leadership are Angie Achenbach, who was hired in December 2018 as chief financial officer when Pavela was promoted to chief investment officer, Don Lindeman, president of property management, and Sherry Meyers Thompson, controller.
"It's the best of all worlds," Mandel said. "We have great leadership emerging, and yet we're able to have the people who have been with us for so long and have all the institutional knowledge that we've had to remain with us."
With their new roles, Martin and Aiello will be handling day-to-day business and also chart out the company's strategic vision for the coming decades, said Mandel. This is in addition to working on development projects. Mandel added he will remain actively involved in the business.
Mandel said that Pavela over time will probably cut down on the hours he's working, but there is no defined time he will leave the company. He added that Monnat will continue working on deals, primarily mixed-use developments and "legacy assets," meaning land Mandel Group owns but hasn't yet developed — including Harbor Yards in Milwaukee's Harbor District.
Martin said the succession plan has been a work in progress for at least two years. What's new now is the change in titles.
"Phil and I take comfort in the fact that we're both accomplished real estate developers," he said. "However, running a business is a whole different set of issues, and so having Barry as a resource to draw on in the coming years is a great way to make sure we stay on our upward trajectory."
Aiello said the company has its eyes on the future. For instance, it has upgraded its technology infrastructure so it can handle additional properties and projects. Growth will be a focal point for the new leadership in the coming years, he said.
"I see a lot of both Ian's and my roles tied to the growth we want to have within the company," he said. "We used to be a company that worked on three or four deals a year, we're now probably actively working three times as many. We've moved from a company that was consistently managing 2,000 apartments to one that manages 5,600 apartments. With that growth comes the need to refine processes, integrate technology, build in efficiencies, while maintaining the customer focus that we built our reputation on."
Mandel Group is one of the most prominent multi-family residential real estate development firms in the metro Milwaukee area. The firm has operations in development, acquisition, construction and property management.
Since its founding in 1991, Mandel Group has completed more than $1.5 billion in real estate transactions and owns assets in five Midwestern states exceeding $1 billion in value. The company's active pipeline of projects approximates $500 million in metro Milwaukee and the company's targeted Midwest region.
"The past three decades have been a remarkable journey and the resiliency of our business model has been proven by the unthinkable challenges faced during that time," Mandel said. "I am confident that with our emerging leadership team now in place we are positioned to eclipse our past success as a real estate company."
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