Investment Matters: Growing a Family Legacy

Commercial real estate is often a family business, and some family-run firms have uncommon origin stories. Take BEB Capital. Headquartered in Port Washington, New York, a suburb on Long Island, the company reflects the entrepreneurial energy of the Brodsky family, led by its patriarch, Bert Brodsky. Decades of success in the health care and technology industries evolved into a lateral move into commercial real estate investment. In a relatively short period, BEB Capital has emerged as a nimble industrial and office investor on the East Coast, and, most recently, has expanded into real estate finance. In this episode, you’ll meet BEB Capital’s founding CEO, Lee Brodsky. He offers his take on the next wave of industrial opportunity, what’s driving demand, and the benefits of having investment and finance capacity under a single roof. And he still calls himself a big fan of office. Probably not too surprising—before he took on his current CEO duties, he had a long run as a top New York City office leasing broker. You’ll hear how that experience informs his approach to leading a diversified investment and finance shop. Episode highlights: Birth of an investment business (1:53) New industrial opportunities, strategies and new niches (3:23) Scouting the next hotspots (6:28) Factors that are shaping demand(7:46) Why he’s still “a big fan of office” (9:46) Private lender perspectives: thinking like an owner (11:59) Lessons of a leasing broker (15:06)  “Obsessed with communication” and being proactive (19:19) Advancing a legacy of philanthropy (22:30) CEO off the clock: family matters (25:09)