Anne Westbrook on Creating Value for Investors

As an owner, operator, and developer, Tishman Speyer’s global reach and vertically integrated platforms offer investors a differentiated strategy when it comes to real estate investment management. This 360 approach, which stems from years of experience developing local teams with global reach, sets Tishman Speyer apart. Anne Westbrook, who joined the company in 2023 as Managing Director of Equity Capital Markets, is actively growing its U.S. investment management business, leveraging Tishman Speyer’s success in Europe and China to provide U.S. investors with opportunities.

Delivering Value to Investors

“Tishman Speyer is more than just a real estate company,” shares Westbrook. With a wealth of experience working for various investment managers throughout her career, she notes that Tishman Speyer “is a unique and very special organization.” It stands apart as a company through its customer-centric approach, hospitality mindset, and ever-evolving diversity of offerings. The firm’s “focus on finding and delivering value at the real estate level,” says Westbrook, “and delivering a risk-return proposition to our investors” is what distinguishes it from other firms.

For example, The 105 by Breakthrough, a state-of-the-art life sciences facility in Boston, illustrates the firm’s ability to anticipate and respond to market needs. In 2019, Tishman Speyer partnered with Bellco Capital to launch Breakthrough Properties, a life science real estate platform that combines Tishman Speyer’s deep global real estate experience with Bellco Capital’s industry-leading biotechnology expertise. The partnership was launched to capitalize on the rapidly expanding, yet substantially under-supplied , life science real estate industry. The two firms understood that this underserved sector was an opportunity for investors. Breakthrough Properties embarked on the development of The 105, a 263,500-square-foot, cutting-edge lab development located in Boston. Breakthrough successfully executed a full-building, 12-year lease with CRISPR in July 2020, just four months after groundbreaking, and despite challenging economic and social climates.

Leveraging the Full Strength of Our Platform to Take on Complex Projects

Tishman Speyer has a history of delivering large-scale and technically complex projects around the world. Tishman Speyer sees challenging projects as opportunities to create value and drive returns. “We are not afraid of large, complex, unique projects,” notes Westbrook, “We have executed some of the most extraordinary developments around the world.” Indeed, the firm, with its decades of expertise, has developed the ability to identify potential in established and up-and-coming markets. An example of this is Mission Rock in San Francisco.

Mission Rock represents over 15 years of city planning and community input to transform a 28-acre surface parking lot into a new neighborhood featuring modern rental homes, inspired parks and green spaces, favored local retailers, and innovative workspaces. In 2017, the San Francisco Giants selected Tishman Speyer as their 50/50 partner to develop a new mixed-use waterfront neighborhood. Tishman Speyer collaborated with the Giants to realize the potential of this project, focusing on building a diverse and sustainable community. The firm has now transformed the former parking lot into the start of San Francisco’s largest mixed-use waterfront project. The 2.7-million-square-foot development will include 11 buildings in addition to eight recreational parks. With the first phase delivered throughout 2023 and 2024, Tishman Speyer continues to demonstrate its expertise for mixed-use environments inspiring a better and brighter future for real estate.

Curating Elevated Experiences That Foster Customer Retention

“Yes, we know how to build buildings,” says Westbrook. “But what I think we do better than anybody else is what happens when you walk into one of our properties.” She’s referring to Tishman Speyer’s focus on people and the firm’s unique consideration of the holistic experience that attracts and retains customers.

Tishman Speyer curates its spaces so that the firm’s customers and visitors feel grounded in community and a true sense of place. As experts in hospitality, Tishman Speyer activates spaces by thoughtfully considering the mix of uses at the project, the physical design of the ground level and open spaces, retail and amenity experiences, and thoughtful programming. This expertise in placemaking, illustrated by landmark projects such as Rockefeller Center, strengthens customer retention and adds value across the portfolio. Westbrook finds that the firm’s ability to understand what customers need drives retention, and therefore value, throughout the portfolio.

As both an owner and operator, Tishman Speyer can use its own real-time data and market intelligence through its global amenity platform, ZO, to inform the spaces it creates. Through ZO, Tishman Speyer customers are able to access a curated collection of exclusive perks, programming, amenities, and world-class Clubhouses through an easy-to-use mobile app. Tishman Speyer is then able to leverage this data and turn it into powerful insights that inform HR leaders and decision-makers.

Well Positioned to Take Advantage of New Opportunities

Tishman Speyer’s goal is clear and consistent across the globe — to create exceptional spaces that meet the requirements of modern, world-class customers, while adding value, driving returns, and enhancing our cities and communities. The firm has built its reputation on decades of experience executing on large-scale, complex projects and maintaining long-term relationships through transparency and trust. Westbrook is eager to work closely with U.S. institutional investors as the firm grows and offers new products in exciting verticals.

“We have a lot of dry powder right now,” shares Westbrook, “and we’re really excited to invest capital over the next couple years and achieve what we hope will be decade-defining investment results.”