CRG’s Cole Kirsh was recently promoted to director of capital markets, playing a key role in guiding the capital raising and portfolio management for the firm’s multi-billion-dollar development pipeline as he conducts the underwriting, capital raising, disposition and market research activities for projects across the Southwest and Northeast regions.
Illinois Real Estate Journal: Tell us about your journey from starting your career at GLP to your current role with CRG. What were the key milestones and experiences that shaped your career path?
Cole Kirsh: My career began as an intern at Barnett Capital, a family office in Chicago’s northern suburbs, where I was first exposed to the commercial real estate industry. I greatly enjoyed watching the leadership team create value managing real estate, and it gave me confidence that I had chosen the right industry. After my time at Barnett, I spent a summer interning at Equity Commonwealth, an office REIT headquartered in Chicago. It was during this internship that I met my current boss at CRG, Kevin Newell. Although both of these experiences were internships, they were essential in shaping my career path.
After graduation, I knew I wanted to be in commercial real estate, but I also wanted to be thoughtful about which sector I chose. A combination of luck and elementary logic on the potential of e-commerce led me to choose the industrial sector. I was fortunate to find a position at GLP, one of the largest owners of industrial real estate at the time, where I worked on the financial reporting team alongside a great group of people. GLP’s sale to Blackstone led me to Revantage, Blackstone’s corporate services portfolio company. There, I valued industrial assets for the firm’s real estate funds. The process of valuing real estate assets, and the repetition of doing so, was essential in building my confidence in analyzing real estate. Much of what I learned at Revantage, similar to my experience at Barnett, came from listening to leadership talk about the cause and effect of current events and their problem-solving strategies. I tried to be a sponge in those meetings, and the knowledge I gained still benefits me today.
In 2020, Kevin Newell called me out of the blue and told me he was building out a team at CRG and thought I’d be a good fit. I ultimately found it clear that working under him at CRG was best for my personal development, in addition to having synergies with what I’d learned at my previous stops. Both have turned out to be accurate, and CRG has been a perfect fit from a culture and work perspective.
Illinois Real Estate Journal: Given your background, how do you balance the analytical aspects of your role with the creative and strategic elements when crafting deals for industrial projects?
Kirsh: Working in capital markets and underwriting developments, much of the work is analytical. The creativity comes into play when structuring a deal. Each land site varies in market, size, approval stage, cost and other attributes. There is strategy and creativity involved in tailoring the financial structure so that they are appropriate given the risk and investment size for each deal.
Illinois Real Estate Journal: Your role involves overseeing projects in different regions of the U.S., from the Southwest to the Northeast. Could you share how working in these diverse regions has exposed you to unique challenges or differences in the real estate landscape, and how you adapt your approach to accommodate regional variations?
Kirsh: My two primary markets are the Southwest and Northeast, and developments in those two markets differ significantly. Sites in the Northeast tend to have more geographical challenges and entitlement hurdles, which pushes more of the risk to the front end of the project. Those same risks are a governor on supply, so if you can get a project started, you are often building into a more favorable supply environment. It’s important to understand those risks and how they differ by market, and what they mean for projecting an eventual outcome on leasing and in the capital markets.
I have a strong rapport with our regional leaders in both markets: Frank Petkunas in the Northeast and Mark Sonnenberg in the Southwest. My goal is to be additive to their skillsets and accommodating to the needs of every project in both markets.
Illinois Real Estate Journal: Are there specific goals or milestones you’ve set for yourself within your current position, or any areas of the commercial real estate field you’re particularly interested in exploring in the future?
Kirsh: I focus on working hard and learning from every experience. I try to get incrementally better every day and be someone that people enjoy working with. I trust that it will work out in the long run if you do that.
I love industrial real estate; it makes perfect sense to me, and it matters. It would be great to work on projects in Europe or Asia. I’ve never done that, and it would be interesting to explore the differences in building design and the flow of goods in those regions relative to what I see here.
Illinois Real Estate Journal: Outside of work, what are some of your hobbies or interests that keep you energized and motivated?
Kirsh: I like to play basketball as much as I can, although it feels like I’m getting worse every year. I golf in the summers, read non-fiction, watch documentaries, and hang out with my wife, Alyssa, and our dog, Brody.
Illinois Real Estate Journal: Having lived in the area for most of your life, what are some of your favorite places or hidden gems in the city that you’d recommend to others?
Kirsh: My go-to answer to that question is always Volare. It’s my favorite Italian restaurant, and maybe my favorite restaurant in the city. It’s an old-school restaurant in River North with great food. I’ve yet to try a dish there I didn’t like, but the gnocchi is my favorite. My second-favorite restaurant would be Tanoshii in the West Loop for sushi.