Season 4 of the ACREL Files continues with Christopher Merrill, Co-Founder and Global Chief Executive Officer of Harrison Street Asset Management, interviewed by Jay Epstien.

Under Chris’s leadership, Harrison Street has grown into one of the world’s largest and most innovative investors in alternative real assets, managing more than $100 billion across real estate, infrastructure, and credit strategies. As Global CEO, Chris is responsible for the firm’s overall strategy, culture, and growth initiatives, pioneering new approaches to real assets investing and powering the next generation of opportunities across the platform.

Chris is a recipient of the Horatio Alger Award in 2025 and was named Industry Figure of the Year: Global by Private Equity Real Estate in 2022. He serves on multiple industry and nonprofit boards and holds a B.A from Roanoke College and an M.B.A. from Bayes (formerly Cass) Business School, London.

The fourth season of the ACREL Files continues with Ken Himmel, President of Related Ross, hosted by Jay Epstien. Ken is a nationally recognized leader in the development of successful mixed use projects that combine architectural design and urban planning with dynamic shopping, entertainment, residences, offices and world-class restaurants to bring forth the energy and vitality of an urban destination with resonance to the local lifestyle and culture.

Get ready for an insider’s look at some of the most iconic mixed-use developments in the US, including Columbus Circle’s Time Warner Center (now Deutsche Center), Hudson Yards, Chicago’s Water Tower Place, Copley Place in Boston, Reston Town Center in Virginia and the current repositioning of office, retail and multi-family markets in West Palm Beach. In addition to these dynamic retail developments, Ken has curated a number of iconic restaurants, including Grill 23 in Boston and Per Se in NYC with Chef Thomas Keller, among others.

Ken currently serves on the board of the Kravis Center for Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, and has B.S. degrees from both the College of William and Mary and the Cornell School of Hotel Administration.

Welcome back to Season 4 of The ACREL Files. In our first episode of the season, Jeff DeBoer (CEO) and Ryan McCormick (VP, Tax) from The Real Estate Roundtable join host, Jay Epstien, to unpack The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act and what it means for real estate investors and operators. They discuss Fannie & Freddie, solar tax credits, the future of terrorism risk insurance and opportunity zones, and emerging plays in data centers and single-family rentals. Essential listening for anyone in CRE.

Season 3 of The ACREL Files closes (before a summer break) with an interview by our host, Jay Epstien, of Anthony E. Malkin, Chairman, President and CEO of Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. The “World’s Most Famous Building” is part of the more than 8.7 million square feet of office and retail space owned by ESRT in New York City. At a time when most observers in the world of commercial office space focus on newly developed, trophy buildings, Tony provides insights into the transformation of the Empire State Building and other buildings in the portfolio into high performing, low vacancy assets. Much of that transformation derives from ESRT's leadership in existing building energy efficiency retrofits. Among other things, Tony has led the development of standards for energy efficient office tenant installations which is now known as the Tenant Energy Optimization Program at the Urban Land Institute.

Tony is a board member of APi Group Corporation, the Real Estate Roundtable and Chair of its Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee, a member of the Climate Mobilization Advisory Board of the New York City Department of Buildings, and a member of the Partnership for New York City’s Innovation Council. He received a bachelor’s degree cum laude from Harvard College.

Season 3 of The ACREL Files continues with an interview with Chad Remis, the Chief Investment Officer of Oxford Properties, a leading global real estate investor, developer and manager. Chad oversees the teams responsible for the company’s worldwide investment, asset management and development activities. With over a decade at Oxford, Chad has played a pivotal role in driving the company’s growth and global presence. Under his leadership, the company implemented a strategic capital recycling initiative, significantly diversifying its portfolio by investing in multiple sectors beyond its traditional office building holdings, including industrial, multifamily, life sciences and credit. Chad holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

The ACREL Files continues with Jay Epstien’s interview of Mark Rose, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Avison Young, a global leader in providing comprehensive real estate solutions to investors, owners and occupiers across the globe. During his 16 years at Avison Young, Mark has transformed the firm into the commercial real estate services company of the future: data-driven, tech enabled and grounded in a belief that strong culture can advance business goals. Under Mark’s leadership, he and his team have spearheaded the company's expansion from 290 real estate professionals in 11 Canadian offices to approximately 5,000 professionals in 100 offices worldwide. Before Avison Young, Mark served as CEO of Grubb & Ellis and COO and CFO of the Americas for Jones Lang LaSalle. Over the past three years, Mark has been a regular contributor and participant at the World Economic Forum and a proud member of the Davos Baukultur Alliance. Mark currently serves on the Boards of Deskpass, the WEF Real Estate Governors Board and the Queens College Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

The next installment of The ACREL Files is Jay Epstien’s interview of Mary Ann Tighe, the most prominent member of the “exceedingly small club of women who have managed to move to the top of the brokerage business” as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Crain’s New York Business named Mary Ann the most powerful woman -- across both the public and private sectors -- in New York, and chose her for induction to the Crain’s Business Hall of Fame, observing that she “has a history of…transforming the face of Manhattan.” Among her most significant projects, Mary Ann played a catalytic role in the revitalization of Times Square and the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan after 9/11. Mary Ann has conceived, structured and negotiated virtually every form of deal including ground leases, air rights acquisition and disposition, net and gross leases, government incentive packages, and a range of equity transfers from partnership and condominium interests through fee simple sales.

Mary Ann currently serves as the CEO of the NY Tri-State Region of CBRE Group (an ACREL Gold Level Sponsor). She has received numerous awards and recognitions, including REBNY’s Deal of the Year Award for ingenious brokerage (9 times -- a record number of wins since the award was created in 1944); REBNY’s Bernard H. Mendik Lifetime Achievement Award; and the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate Urban Leadership Award (the first woman to receive that award).

Prior to entering the world of real estate, Mary Ann served as a Vice President of the American Broadcasting Companies, where she launched the A&E cable channel. Recognized nationally for her expertise in the arts, Mary Ann was also formerly the Deputy Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Advisor to Vice President Walter Mondale, and a staff member of the Smithsonian Institution.

Join us for the 25th episode of The ACREL Files where ACREL Past President Jay Epstien interviews Alex Nyhan, the Chief Executive Officer of First Washington Realty, a fully integrated firm that specializes in the ownership of convenience, necessity and experience-oriented retail real estate. First Washington currently owns interests in nearly 150 shopping centers in 22 states and the District of Columbia, totaling nearly 22.4 million square feet with approximately 4,000 tenants and a value of over $9.1 billion. Prior to joining First Washington, Alex was an executive at Forest City Enterprises where he led development activities for major projects in the District of Columbia including The Yards. He has been involved with over $10 billion of real estate investments, developments and initiatives, including housing, retail, office, hotel, and mixed-use projects. Alex also worked for the Deputy Mayor of DC in the Office of Planning and Economic Development, and has served as an advisor to the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of ICSC. Alex holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, and an undergraduate degree from Macalester College.