Bob Baker has been in the retail real estate industry for thirty six years. He has been involved with almost every type of retail project including Regional Malls, Power Centers, Mixed-Use, Neighborhood Centers, Strip Centers, Main Street Redevelopments, and Urban Renewals. He has worked on several ground up projects as well as repositioning/re-development projects.
His primary goal in leasing/merchandising a property is making sure that the shopping environments are productive, merchandised thoughtfully, and that the needs and goals of both the community and his investors have been met. Prior to co-founding BMW Realty Advisors, Bob was a key Partner at Harvest Partners and helped lead leasing/merchandising efforts of Park Lane (Dallas, TX and The Landing- Renton, WA), Prior to that he was Executive Vice President and Director of Leasing for Madison Marquette. He was responsible for the leasing of more than 14 shopping centers totaling over 8 million square feet. which included Bay Street (Emeryville), Manhattan Village (Manhattan Beach), Marketplace at Birdcage (Sacramento), Paseo Nuevo and La Cumbre Plaza (Santa Barbara), two buildings in Union Square (San Francisco), Broadway Market (Seattle), Corte Madera Town Center (Corte Madera) and Del Monte Center (Monterey). Other projects included Bayfair Mall (re-development) in San Leandro and Plaza Paseo Real in Carlsbad. Madison Marquette also provided leasing services for 2 high profile properties, Irvine Spectrum Center and 2000 Avenue of Stars (former ABC entertainment Center)
Prior to tenure at Madison Marquette, Bob was Vice President; Director of Leasing for Beverly Hills based Regent Properties. Before that, he was part of Urban (JMB) Retail Properties' West Coast Leasing Team. Additionally, he was the top retail broker for CB Commercial and Matlow Kennedy where he was named Retail Broker of the Year in 1989 and 1990. Bob's specialty in leasing development is evidenced by his extensive relationships with national, regional and local retailers as well.
A graduate of UCLA with a BA in Economics, Mr. Baker is a licensed Real Estate Broker in California and Hawaii and also holds the Senior Certified Leasing Specialist (SCLS) designation from the International Council of Shopping Centers. Bob, his wife, and their two children enjoy life in the Los Angeles area.
Prior to merger with BMW Realty Advisors, John Gebhardt was a Principal in the real estate consulting and investment firm of SEG Advisors. He is active in project consulting, redevelopment, acquisition and the recapitalization of various retail, office, mixed-use and multi-family properties.
Prior to forming SEG Advisors, John held executive positions at Panattoni Development and J.H. Snyder, where he was responsible for development, acquisition, entitlement, financial underwriting, leasing and development of retail, office, mixed-use and multi-family properties. Prior to John’s career at J.H. Snyder he was with CB Richard Ellis . He served as the Managing Director for the San Fernando Valley office, the West Los Angeles office and in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was also the Co-Director of the firm’s Institutional Services Group for the Los Angeles metro region.
John began his career as an associate with Price Waterhouse and transitioned into real estate as a Senior Vice President for Voit Development Company where he was responsible for the company’s suburban development projects and asset management business.
John is a graduate of UCLA and resides in Westlake Village, California.
Cheryl Beckel provides retail leasing and merchandising services to development and institutional owners nationally. With twenty years of experience, her knowledge in merchandise plan development and leasing has created value for community, lifestyle, urban, hospital, University and resort retail throughout the United States. Cheryl currently is an independent consultant working with BMW Realty Advisors and KHL Retail while representing several tenants expanding across the country.
At BMW Realty Advisors Cheryl is responsible for providing repositioning advisory services as well as securing new business for the company. She has worked on Paseo Nuevo (Santa Barbara, CA), Tivoli Village (Summerlin, NV), Promenade on the Peninsula (Rolling Hills Estates, CA),
The Point (El Segundo, CA) and Park Place ( Irvine, CA).
With KHL Retail Cheryl provides a wide range of services to developers and institutional investors looking for value-add and repositioning of retail assets. Over the past eight years Cheryl and the KHL Retail Team have been instrumental in overall strategy and implementation of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in the redevelopment of Northwestern Memorial Hospital amenities. Northwestern Memorial Hospital is a pioneer within the Health Services industry, with the vision of leasing to popular, well known, local and national restaurant Tenants within the hospital. Other clients include New York Presbyterian Hospital, Lurie Children’s Hospital, Northwestern University, Hackensack University Medical Center and the retail leasing for Virgin Hotels.
As a consultant for the Irvine Company Cheryl was responsible for leasing the new, ground up expansion wing at Irvine Spectrum (Irvine, CA). Anchored by a flagship Apple. She was responsible for procuring new to market and fashion forward boutique tenants. She also assisted in leasing Corona del Mar Plaza (Corona del Mar, CA), Crystal Cove (Newport Beach) and Tustin Market Place (Tustin, CA).
Cheryl worked for Madison Marquette for eleven years and was responsible for the leasing and advisory services for new development projects including Kukui`ula Village (Kauai, HI), Kakaako (Honolulu, HI), La Brea (Los Angeles, CA) and International Market Place (Honolulu, HI). While at Madison Marquette, Cheryl was also responsible for providing repositioning advisory services and implementation for projects such as, Park Place (Irvine, CA), Paseo Nuevo (Santa Barbara, CA), Centerpoint (Tempe, AZ), Pacific Place (Seattle, WA), La Brea (Los Angeles, CA), Del Mar Plaza (Del Mar, CA), Centerpoint (Tempe, AZ) and Melrose Avenue (Los Angeles, CA) properties.
Prior to Madison Marquette Cheryl was a leasing representative for General Growth Properties. Responsibilities included overseeing three regional malls in Arizona. Ms. Beckel created merchandising plans and three-year rolling budgets for all three projects and performed leasing functions negotiating leases from initiation to completion. Prior to this Ms. Beckel was a Regional Leasing Manager for Glimcher Realty Trust where she was responsible for leasing over 24 regional and super-regional shopping malls across the country.
Prior to the merger with BMW Realty Advisors, David W. Obbage was a Principal in the consulting and advisory firm of SEG Advisors. He is active in project consulting, retail merchandising, leasing, redevelopment, acquisition and recapitalization of retail, mixed-use and multi-family properties. Prior to the formation of SEG, David was a Partner with Westrust Ventures located in Calabasas, CA. He was responsible for all leasing activities for the company projects in California, Arizona and Nevada.
Prior to Westrust Ventures, David served as Senior Vice President of Retail Leasing for the J.H. Snyder Company, one of the largest commercial and mixed-use developers in Southern California. He oversaw the leasing on many notable retail projects including the Howard Hughes Entertainment Center, West Hollywood Gateway and The River at Rancho Mirage.
Mr. Obbage started his career in commercial real estate brokerage at Coldwell Banker and then transitioned into shopping center development and leasing while working at Donahue Schriber, a full-service retail real estate developer headquartered in Orange County, CA.
Mr. Obbage is a graduate of UCLA and resides in Newport Beach, California.