Midwest Real Estate News recently welcomed the newest members to its Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame. Each week, we’ll highlight the career of one of these CRE pros. This week, we look at the thriving business built by Patricia Aluisi, executive vice president and chief operating officer of MB Real Estate in Chicago.
Patricia Aluisi is a rarity: Not only is she a leader in the commercial real estate business, she’s a key member of her community, devoting countless volunteer hours to support organizations dedicated to serving at-risk children.
Aluisi has served as chief operating officer at Chicago’s MB Real Estate since 2017. During this time, she’s been a driving force in developing the company’s culture of success. Like many of the leaders in the CRE business, Aluisi has the perfect temperament and skillset to thrive in commercial real estate. And like other top pros in this business, Aluisi loves the work.
“The great thing about the commercial real estate world is that it uses both sides of your brain. You have to be both creative and data-driven,” Aluisi said. “Both of these sides are flexed when you’re going through the process of listening to clients, determining what’s important, applying data and synthesizing that in an economic fashion.”
Before her time at MB, Aluisi served as the commercial director of London-based Bovis, Ltd., overseeing the company’s international public-private partnerships. Aluisi helped this company grow across the globe – Aluisi has worked in more than 20 countries during her career – and was responsible for the legal and commercial negotiations of some of the largest construction projects throughout Europe and Asia.
When not working, Aluisi spends much of her time working with causes close to her heart. She is a founding trustee of the Naples Winter Wine Festival, universally recognized as the preeminent charity wine auction, which has raised more than $191 million since its inception in 2001. She is also on the board of directors for the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, and is an advisory board member for the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at DePaul University’s Women in Entrepreneurship Institute.
Her advice for others hoping to succeed in commercial real estate? Sometimes it’s more important to listen than it is to talk.
“I learned to listen,” Aluisi said. “When you listen to clients, you find out what motivates them and why. Being on the same page and taking the time to understand allows you to dig deeper to find where the hot spots are. What follows are solutions that are tailored to the client.”
