Where were you ten years ago and where are you now? By Bayer

Name: Jacqueline Bayer Company/firm: The Moinian Group Professionally, where were you ten years ago and where are you now? As I began my career in real estate 20 years ago I asked myself where would be the best place to start to learn the business and utilize the skills I acquired in finance. The answer for me was commercial leasing as I was on a quest to learn all aspects of a real estate transaction and how to own and operate real estate. It was not long I was asked to work in investment sales and by the age of 26 I was running an investment sales team for Helmsley-Spear under the auspices of Harry Helmsely and Earle Altman. I still remember when both taught me that if the fundamentals are not present and the deal does not work on a back of an envelope than it will never work. This always resonated with me and kept me grounded and highly conservative while I structured my transactions for prospective investors. If we all lived by this rule, the real estate market today would be much different . While working on many acquisitions of real estate throughout Manhattan, I was lucky enough to have been involved with many syndications and learned at an early age how to acquire and market real estate to individual accredited investors. I remember running our cash flow models on accounting ledger paper. My institutional business grew and my knowledge for real estate permitted me to run capital markets groups for large firms in Manhattan and to develop and own my own real estate. Today I rival in the enjoyment of having the ability to work in different areas of the business from raising equity, owning and developing real estate, leasing and sales. Fostering the right relationships in this business is a critical component to continued success and has afforded me the ability to be involved with over three billion dollars of commercial and residential investment transactions throughout my career. Today I am fortunate to have joined Joseph Moinian to work on two high projects in Manhattan, The W Hotel Downtown and 3 Columbus Circle. The Moinian Group continues to develop some of New York City's most exciting and successful commercial and residential projects. I am pleased to be affiliated with one of the city's most prolific developers and to contribute to the success of such high-profile projects as 3 Columbus Circle and the W New York Downtown Hotel & Residences. How do you stay ahead of the curve? I always tell the people who I have mentored over the years to constantly expand your knowledge base and your skills because there are no shortcuts to success and there is no easy way to get there. I have always throughout my career aligned myself with the right people that always challenged me. As a result, I have become a better real estate professional. Twenty years later, I still want to learn. There is no limit and there is always an opportunity to learn more creative solutions to broaden your business.