women’s the
issue
The Dealmaker
Jessica Brock Managing Director, Longfellow Real Estate Partners
46
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durhammag.com
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FTER A DECADE AS A commercial leasing agent all over the Triangle, Jessica wasn’t looking to change jobs. “I was weighing that fear of the unknown [against] something I’d done for 10 years and was at the top my game,” she says. “Life’s journey has a way of helping you.” In 2013, Jessica and her husband, Jason, began to notice that their son, Jordan, then 7, was falling behind in his growth. Testing on the first-grader found a tumor on his brain which, though non-cancerous, was impacting his pituitary gland. Jessica soon discovered that one of the best clinics in the country for pediatric tumors was at Duke. “We were in the hospital for Easter of 2013,” Jessica says. “We spent 11 days in the [pediatric intensive care unit] and 30 days in radiation.” Today, 12-year-old Jordan is healthy, like his sister Sarah-Ruth, 15, but the experience expanded Jessica’s views on what Durham could be and what might be her next career move. Soon after Jordan’s treatments, she was contacted by Boston-based Longfellow Real Estate Partners about the company’s plans to open an office in Durham and begin the initial work on a massive redevelopment of 15 acres just north of the center of downtown. Dubbed the Durham Innovation District, the project includes an eventual 1.7 million square feet of offices and labs geared at bioscience firms. Duke would be one of the initial and largest tenants. “I quickly realized the connection and the value of what happens inside those spaces,” she says. “From both the research and development angle and the firsthand [experience knowing the] importance of having access to the best doctors in the country.” Jessica oversees Longfellow’s Durham operations and serves as the fundraising chair for the Durham YMCA. The committee raised $175,000 in 2017 and is aiming to top $200,000 this year. The funds, she says, cover the Y Learning program, including a no-cost camp for almost 200 Durham kids. Another unexpected connection: Early in her job, she toured one of Longfellow’s recent rebuilds, the Carmichael building, and found that the lab for the clinic that treated Jordan was already a tenant. “It was all of the things sort of converging together,” Jessica says. “Anytime you go through a major life experience, you have more confidence to try something new. ” – Matt White