5 minute read
Mixed-use Development Expert Zeigler Forms MURAL Real Estate Partners
Mixed-Use Development Expert Robin Zeigler Forms Mural Real Estate Partners
By Debra Hazel
Robin Zeigler Former COO of Cedar Realty Trust to lead new venture, pursuing large-scale redevelopment opportunities in economically challenged neighborhoods throughout the U.S.
Some people look at older cities and see blight and problems. Robin Zeigler has made a career of seeing nothing but opportunity to rebuild communities for the 21st century.
That’s why the former chief operating officer of Cedar Realty Trust and MidAtlantic chief operating officer of Federal Realty Investment Trust has formed MURAL (Mixed-Use Revitalization Approached Locally) Real Estate Partners, a privately owned, full-service real estate company that aims to spur economic development through the conception, development and management of mixed-use assets in underserved urban and suburban neighborhoods throughout the U.S.
“I started in the mixed-use development space during my tenure at Federal and as regional COO, oversaw the strategy and redevelopment of several mixed-use projects for the East Coast/Mid-Atlantic region,” she said. “I really got a sense of how important neighborhoods and how impactful they can be.”
Moving onto Cedar, she focused on transitioning grocery-anchored centers in urban area into true community cores.
“I saw how even more impactful it is to create these types of vibrant communities which historically have not had the level of capital investment [as others],” she said. “But the purchasing power and density are there. I’ve seen this need and I know I have the skill set and a unique purview as an AfricanAmerican woman to address the needs in these underserved markets.”
A Holistic Philosophy
MURAL is based on a collaborative, community-driven philosophy that balances ambitious development concepts with sensitivity to the challenges that arise from developing real estate in culturally distinct neighborhoods that have historically lacked accessibly priced housing and quality goods and services.
The firm, as a consultancy or in developing its own projects, assesses opportunities through a holistic study of community needs, such as availability of approachable housing, fresh food, workforce training and small business incubation.
“My time working as a chief operating officer during the pandemic showed me a couple of things: how important necessity retail truly is, and the desire of people to be together, to be out and enjoy nice places — whether dining outside or visiting a community gathering space, matters,” she said. “The pandemic highlighted human nature above all real estate fundamentals.”
The company is currently evaluating acquisitions and partnerships throughout the country and has earmarked more than $500 million for the purposes of mixeduse redevelopment and value-add renovations on existing shopping centers or multifamily product.
“The reason we selected that primary product type is because in these underserved communities, there is lack of quality retail goods and services, including grocery stores [and] day care centers,” she said. “While other developers that focus primarily on residential, including creating affordable housing, we looked at it with a more holistic approach.
A way of creating economic empowerment in these neighborhoods is to make sure there is a vibrancy on the street that retail creates, with placemaking, community gathering and attainably priced housing. One without the other is not as impactful or powerful in creating economic vibrancy in the community.”
The proportions in mixed-use are changing, she notes.
“Historically, I’ve done mixed-use that primarily included retail and residential, but with office, hotel and other things,” she said. “As MURAL, we primarily mean ground-floor retail with mixed-income residential above. That being said, that can morph into what into what is really needed in that market. That could include office space, community space [and] even hotels in some instances.”
A Continually Evolving Concept
As office use has changed during the pandemic, the idea of mixed-use is evolving, she acknowledged. Because some companies think they’ll need less space, and others are exploring sharing space, the amount a company might need is still to be determined. Flexibility might be the answer, and “We would not build spec office, for certain.”
Working closely with elected officials, community stakeholders and capital partners, MURAL sources financing through public incentives programs, helping to unlock intrinsic value in its communities. As one of the few African American women with C-suite experience at publicly traded commercial real estate companies, she notes that even with greater commitments to diversity, it remains a challenge to persuade investors that they can make a profit on an emerging neighborhood as well as higher-income areas. The market’s mindset is still shifting.
“The most difficult is getting the capital providers who truly support our mission,” and understand it, she said.
In addition to serving in the role of development lead or partner, MURAL offers a suite of third-party services, including property management, asset management and leasing advisory.
Launched earlier this year, the firm is working as a consultant to St. Louis Development Corp. to assist with the execution of its Economic Justice Action Plan — a framework for launching equitable and inclusive development opportunities in the City of St. Louis by addressing historical barriers, economic inequities and closing the racial wealth gap.
Cedar, which is in the process of selling the bulk of its portfolio and merging with Wheeler, has retained MURAL as a consultant to assist with the first phase of Northeast Heights, which involves the construction, development and management of a 258,000-squarefoot office building leased to the Department of General Services with ground-floor retail in Washington D.C. Additionally, MURAL is working on behalf of Cedar to advance the planned redevelopment of two existing Cedar shopping centers, collectively called Northeast Heights.
“We’re pleased to be engaged in actual development deals,” Zeigler reported, and are in the contract negotiation phase. The projects are being funded on a deal-by-deal basing, with joint ventures and institutional and other capital. Zeigler has made a point of including other persons of color on her team.
A Diverse Executive Team
Joining Zeigler at MURAL are Jessica Tan as vice president of development, Vanessa Rodriguez as senior vice president of marketing, public relations and community relations and Melanie Ramos as vice president of property management. Tan’s 13 years of real estate development and advisory experience include managing mixed-use redevelopment in Cedar’s Mid-Atlantic region. Rodriguez has developed and implemented strategic marketing initiatives and placemaking for development and operating mixed-use properties throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast for companies such as Federal and The Howard Hughes Corporation. Ramos’ experience with companies such as Federal, Bozzuto and Cedar includes responsibility for 21 properties located on the Eastern Seaboard equating to 2.8 million square feet of retail space.
“We want to invest in underserved areas. We want to invest in a minority-owned company, but the criteria are the same as a suburban, high-end company,” she said.
For now, MURAL will retain its focus on the Mid-Atlantic and East Coast.
“Honestly, we do have a national scope. Currently the deals we’re looking at are in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. Those are the deals that come to us, but we are open to working in all areas of the country,” Zeigler said. “It’s a matter of going through the process, underwriting the deals and making sure the demographics are what we’re looking to do.”
