Alexandra (Alex) Johns- From Appraiser to Lender to Equity Investor (#76)

Bio Alex Johns is a Senior Vice President, Co-Investment for Grosvenor Americas and has over 25 years of experience in the real estate industry as a capital source, consultant, and appraiser. In both her professional and volunteer roles she has a history of setting records and breaking new ground. Prior to joining Grosvenor in 2019, Alexandra opened the Mid-Atlantic office for a Resmark, leading equity firm, where she partnered with developers of for-sale housing in the Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia regions. Alex has been focused on residentially-led projects since 2004, when she led the homebuilder banking team at Chevy Chase Bank, subsequently bringing her expertise to Wachovia and Wells Fargo. Previously, Alexandra’s activities were national in scope, providing structured finance solutions while at Allied Capital and NCB Development, and consulting and appraisal services at Arthur Andersen. Alexandra completed her credit training at Riggs Bank, where she performed an array of valuation services for activities in the US and UK.  Alex is a member of the Urban Land Institute, where she provides leadership for the Washington District Council in support of UrbanPlan, Full Member Engagement, and Women’s Leadership Initiative programs. She is also a member of ULI’s National Residential Neighborhood Development Council. She previously chaired the Northern Virginian BIA Real Estate Finance Committee, was President of the Real Estate Lenders Association in Washington, D.C., and has led fundraising efforts for several local non-profits. Alex studied at the University of Maryland, majoring in English Literature, with a minor in Business. Alexandra was previously licensed as a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, and maintains her Realtors license in Inactive status. Show Notes Responsible for growth of portfolio for Grosvenor’s investment in residential projects as either an LP investor or a structured lender from DC north to Boston regions (5:20) Structure deals in a debt structure that is similar to a joint venture perhaps up to 90-95% of the equity capital (7:00) Origins & Education DC native and grew up in Northwest DC as the youngest of five children (8:15) Dad was an entrepreneurial structural engineer in the DC area (9:15) He attended Poly in Baltimore and then Johns Hopkins in Baltimore as an engineer (10:15) Told his children not to be an engineer (11:15) She was influenced to be values driven (11:45) Mom ran the household Two siblings in real estate in DC area A sibling in Chicago in real estate Attended Whitman HS after family moved to Darnestown, MD- Mom called MCPS superintendent to get her into Whitman (13:00) Attended University of Maryland (15:05) Thought she would be in advertising initially (15:15) Became an appraiser for her brother while there during the RTC era in the early 1990s (16:00) Career Arc First job was with Arthur Anderson (16:30) Was in the appraisal group there working for Fred Bunch (18:15) Learned considerably about all aspects of the process (18:45) Submitted a demonstration appraisal to become an MAI however Oakleigh Thorne advised her not to become an appraiser (19:00)