In this episode of the CRE News Hour, we’ll speak with Matt Harding and Melissa Sievwright of retail shopping center firm Levin Management about their pre-holiday survey of retail sentiment, and we’ll have a conversation with Jim Berry, leader of Deloitte’s US real estate practice, about the firm’s 2020 Commercial Real Estate Outlook.
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About the Guests
Matthew K. Harding, CCIM, has been affiliated with Levin Management since 1986. He originally handled leasing of the Levin portfolio as Executive Vice President at Paul Lawrence Realty Associates for 10 years. Matt joined Levin’s in-house team in 1996 as Senior Vice President/Deputy Chief Operating Officer, overseeing leasing operations while supervising company management and administration. He was named President/COO in 2001, assumed his current title in 2019 and continues to guide Levin Management’s strategic growth and operations. He also serves as a member of the firm’s Board of Directors, and is a director of Provident Financial Services Inc. and Provident Bank. A Certified Commercial Investment Manager (CCIM), he maintains memberships in the ICSC and the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute. Matt earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Hamilton College.
Melissa Sievwright joined Levin’s marketing department in 2010 and was promoted four times in just over four years to her current management position as Vice President of Marketing. With a strong background in graphic design and marketing, she heads the company’s corporate branding efforts, implements promotional campaigns for select client properties, and supports the firm’s leasing team in marketing vacancies within the company’s shopping center portfolio. Her current “big picture” goal centers on helping Levin leverage opportunities resulting from the rapid evolution of online marketing and the increasing technological savvy of the commercial real estate community – to project an image that marries the firm’s rich traditions with its modern approach to doing business.
Jim Berry leads the US Real Estate (RE) sector for Deloitte. Prior to assuming the US RE sector leader role, he served as the head of Deloitte’s Audit practice for the RE sector. During his more than 30 years of experience, Jim has worked with public and private companies across many segments of the RE&C sector including REITs, and private equity companies. Jim has extensive experience in initial public offerings, private placements, and SEC filings, as well as advising clients in all aspects of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and due diligence activities. Jim is a frequent speaker and instructor on industry and other technical subject matters at the national level with Deloitte. Living in Dallas, Jim has been heavily engaged in several real estate and community organizations including The Real Estate Council and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.
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Steve Lubetkin is the news director for StateBroadcastNews.com. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. He refocused on multimedia journalism and podcast production after a long career in corporate branded journalism and public relations.
He has won numerous awards for his audio and video news reporting from the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced a wide range of audio and video podcasts in his other role as managing partner of State Broadcast News’s parent, The Lubetkin Media Companies.
Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional.
In March 2021, he was elected to the board of directors of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and in July 2021 he was named secretary of the chapter. In August 2021, he was honored by SPJ with one of the organization’s 2021 Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Member Awards, given to regular members of an SPJ chapter who go above and beyond in serving their chapter.
Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996.
Steve also has reported on-camera and produces virtual conferences for NJSpotlightNews.org, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC.
From May-November 2019, he produced and reported a weekly podcast, The CRE News Hour, a news and features program focusing on the commercial real estate industry.
From 2014 to 2019 he was New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com and filled in covering Chicago/Midwest and Atlanta.
Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies.
Earlier in his career, Steve reported on rock music at the Jersey Shore for the Asbury Park Press, and was a broadcast news anchor and production engineer for WJLK-AM & FM, then owned by the Press. He also worked as a general assignment reporter for the Red Bank Register, Shrewsbury, NJ.
You can email Steve at steve@statebroadcastnews.com.
