As Vice President of Finance and Development for Fifield Companies, Justin is responsible for underwriting and managing multifamily development projects, focused primarily on Chicago, Dallas and Phoenix.
Prior to joining Fifield in 2019, Justin was a VP on JLL’s valuations team where he valued more than $20 billion in real estate for institutional investors and lenders. Justin began his real estate career at Cushman & Wakefield where he managed the execution of real estate transactions around the nation.
Justin earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. He is a member of the Next Generation Board for Chicago Run and a member of the Urban Land Institute.
Tell us about your background. Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school?
I grew up in a suburb of St. Louis and attended a small, private high school. My parents are both surgeons who are very passionate about their careers, logging long hours and often getting called into the operating room in the middle of the night or on holidays.
My parents’ strong work ethic (eventually) rubbed off on me, but the demanding schedule and long academic path of practicing medicine wasn’t appealing to my siblings and me. I decided to pursue business at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business because that path seemed to open the most doors for me. But it took me years to find the same passion within business that my parents found in the medical field.
How did you get your start in the industry?
I joined the Chicago real estate industry right out of college as a tenant rep broker. Like all young tenant reps, I canvassed every office building in the city until I knew Chicago and its buildings like the back of my hand. That experience taught me to be hungry—you have to fight every day for your next paycheck.
After a few years, I realized the tenant rep industry was not a fit for my personality or ambitions. By then, I had watched prominent Chicago developers create transformational new buildings around the city. I didn’t have the technical finance skills to make a direct transition to development, so I joined a real estate valuations firm.
I found the valuations industry to be a great place to build my financial underwriting skills in a high-volume environment. I underwrote properties ranging from retail strip centers in tertiary Louisiana to multi-billion-dollar office buildings and multifamily redevelopments on Wall Street. My experience in valuations taught me to organize my workflow and focus on efficiency. That combination of hunger and efficiency allowed me to take on new challenges such as getting my MBA and eventually transitioning into development.
Did you have a mentor who helped you get on your feet, or is there someone you turn to now for support?
I’ve been fortunate to have had several mentors and sponsors throughout my career, including in my previous roles. They helped me refine my skills and supported me along my path despite knowing my ambitions would lead me elsewhere in the industry.
At Fifield, I am surrounded by an amazingly talented and supportive team. Whether its brainstorming underwriting ideas and negotiating legal documents with Lindsey Senn, diving deep into financing structures with Navi Sandhu, navigating zoning and design challenges with Kevin Farrell or scouring the capital markets with Erin Spears, each of my colleagues can support me through any challenge I encounter.
What does an average day in at work look like?
I am currently overseeing four multifamily development projects worth $500 million in three different markets. Each of the projects is in pre-construction phase where we design, rezone and finance before closing on the land and starting construction. My typical day is consumed by a variety of activities such as design meetings with architects, legal document reviews with transaction attorneys, strategy calls with zoning attorneys and outreach to prospective financing partners. When I find a break in my schedule, I will underwrite new sites, connect with brokers in our target markets and update land sellers with our progress.
What do you like most about your job?
The best part of my job is the people I work with. I had a huge learning curve upon joining Fifield, but it was easy to get up to speed with many of my senior team members selflessly offering their own time to train me. We have a small and talented team. Everyone is highly energized, which makes it fun to come into the office. It’s motivating to look around my team and see where I want to be in three to five years.
Beyond our great team, I enjoy the dynamic and diverse set of responsibilities in development. Steve Fifield champions a 360-degree approach to development, exposing team members to every aspect of the process. I will take a project from cradle to grave, from underwriting and tying up the site, designing the building/community, working with the municipalities to rezone the site, raising financing and negotiating legal documents, to then watching the project break ground, lease up, stabilize and sell. The variety of responsibilities eliminates monotony and gives me something new to look forward to each day.
Looking to the future, what do you hope to achieve/work on that you have not already?
I mentioned each of my projects is in the pre-construction phase. The development lifecycle is often more than five years, and I’m only one to two years into most of these deals. I am excited to progress my projects from a concept on a set of architectural plans to a real, tangible building where people live, work and play.
How do you spend your time away from the office?
My wife and I have a 15-month-old son who started walking earlier this summer, so we spend our mornings, nights and weekends chasing him around. It’s special to watch his face light up with joy when he experiences things we consider ordinary, like seeing an animal in our backyard, splashing around his water table or trying new foods. As much as we love him, we’re excited to have him spend some quality time with his grandparents this fall so my wife and I can enjoy some quiet and relaxing vacation time—just the two of us. During his naps, I’ll head out the door on training runs for my third half marathon of the year coming up in October and first-ever marathon in November.