Cornell’s Baker Program in Real Estate was honored to have Martin Stern of CBRE as a featured guest in its Distinguished Speaker Series on November 9, 2017. A Cornell alumnus (ENG ’68), Martin Stern serves as the Senior Managing Director of CBRE Chicago’s the Real Estate Advisory Services Group as he utilizes his background in corporate real estate, development, negotiations, and finance to assist individuals and organizations in development and implementation of viable real estate strategies. Mr. Stern has advised a multitude of clients from diverse fields.
Prior to joining CBRE, Mr. Stern was with U.S. Equities from 1988 until the company was acquired by CBRE in 2014. During his time at U.S. Equities, his company had material roles in 6 Urban Land Institute (ULI) award winning projects. Before joining U.S. Equities, Mr. Stern was a Development Officer for Rubloff, Inc. and Vice President of Finance and Special Projects at Tishman Realty Corp., where he served as the Principal Development Officer and Regional Financial Officer for Chicago and Los Angeles branches of the firm. Mr. Stern has worked to successfully develop buildings in West Los Angeles, suburban San Francisco and the Westin River North (formerly Hotel Nikko Chicago).
Mr. Stern’s highly productive career began in 1969 with the Amoco Corporation. After a short time, he became head of finance and administrative functions for Amoco Realty Co. where he developed, analyzed, financed and monitored all capital investment proposals. In the early 1980s, Mr. Stern was responsible for determining Amoco’s short and long-term corporate space needs and major lease negotiations. Among Mr. Stern’s many accomplishments, he conceived and implemented the Northpoint neighborhood revitalization in Chicago’s Rogers Park community, a public/private partnership that received the 1988 ULI’s Award for Excellence for Rehabilitation. Mr. Stern serves as a Trustee for ULI and continues to be a leader in his community.
Mr. Stern provided an enthusiastic talk to Baker students about his journey into real estate and how his involvement in the industry has allowed him to enjoy a vast number of experiences and achievements along the way. He also shared how Cornell helped prepare him for success in real estate. His talk focused on the development of Chicago and the necessity to have more public/private partnerships. He encouraged his listeners toward civic involvement as he talked about the importance of people and community in building a successful career in the industry. The real estate students who had the pleasure to hear him speak found his talk to be truly enjoyable and were grateful for his visit to Cornell as he shared his time and knowledge.
