El Warner Moves to Matthews Real Estate Investment Services

LOS ANGELES—El Warner, a 14-year industry veteran, has joined Mathews Real Estate Investment Group as the national director of shopping centers. Warner joins the firm from Colliers International, where he served as associate VP and was responsible for closing $1 billion in deals during his five-year tenure with the firm. In this new position, he will lead the shopping center institutional services group and as well as the national private client group. Moving from a larger firm, Warner was attracted to the entrepreneurial spirit of Matthews and the opportunity to leave his unique mark on the industry. To find out more about Warner's decision to move to the new and burgeoning firm and his plans for the shopping center platform, we sat down with Warner for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: Coming from a larger firm, like Colliers International, why was Matthews Real Estate Investment Services a good fit for you personally?

El Warner: I've had success as a real estate professional at two of the largest commercial real estate firms in the world and wanted to utilize this experience to create real change.  The large commercial firms have several layers of corporate structures, and at this time in my career I wanted the complete freedom to be unique and partner with a firm that has the same vision for growth and entrepreneurial spirit. Having been in the industry for 14 years, I have seen what works and what needs improvement. The opportunity to lead the shopping center practice group at Matthews Real Estate Investment Services allows me to bring the best practices I've witnessed over the years to a larger scale, both nationally as well as provide a more intimate level of service. At Matthews we have the ability to fully reinvest funds back into the business without several layers of approval or shareholder concerns. The company is youthful with all of our executives growing from within the industry and advancing their careers by leveraging technology.  I know that a firm that is well capitalized, reinvests in itself, has cutting edge ideas, utilizes technology and hires best-in-class support staff that will make a big impact on the dated commercial brokerage business.  I am passionate about the fact that in every industry there is a new generation of entrepreneurs that change business practices, and I joined Matthews because I know that we are that company.

GlobeSt.com: What are your goals in this new position?

Warner: As SVP and national director of shopping center business my goal is to continue to facilitate tremendous growth for the shopping center practice group on a national basis. We are forecasted to have significant growth in size and revenue in 2016 by hiring/recruiting the right group of candidates, providing them with excellent training, and leveraging our proprietary technologies. Our shopping center practice group will be strategically segmented into the Matthews Institutional Group (MISG), the Matthews Private Client Group (PCG) and the Debt Asset Resolution Team (DART). We are focused on national institutional relationships and regional private client teams. MISG already works with 15 of the top 20 largest institutional real estate owners, and our PCG has sold assets in 49 of the 50 states. We are also looking forward to rolling out “The Matthews Difference” so investors can understand what they should be expecting when they hire a best-in-class brokerage firm.

GlobeSt.com: Matthews has Matthews retail group has been expanding, and just completed a re-branding last year. How does this national shopping center platform fit into the firm's growth strategy?

Warner: Our shopping center practice group is another example of the tremendous growth we have seen and will continue to see from this entrepreneurial group. Our firm sees the ability to provide best-in-class processes, technology, and services to a larger audience.  We will be opening two more offices this year and have aggressive plans to scale over the next five years by opening strategic offices and practice groups. We know that by utilizing technology such as Point of Analysis Interjection, advanced digital technology, and our expansive proprietary database, we can reach more investors and provide them with opportunities they would not have seen otherwise. Every brokerage firm states that prices are at historic highs in the coastal markets and that buyers should look nationally for comparable stability at higher yields, and we are the firm at the forefront of the capital redistribution thanks to our ability to connect institutional and private clients.

LOS ANGELES—El Warner, a 14-year industry veteran, has joined Mathews Real Estate Investment Group as the national director of shopping centers. Warner joins the firm from Colliers International, where he served as associate VP and was responsible for closing $1 billion in deals during his five-year tenure with the firm. In this new position, he will lead the shopping center institutional services group and as well as the national private client group. Moving from a larger firm, Warner was attracted to the entrepreneurial spirit of Matthews and the opportunity to leave his unique mark on the industry. To find out more about Warner's decision to move to the new and burgeoning firm and his plans for the shopping center platform, we sat down with Warner for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: Coming from a larger firm, like Colliers International, why was Matthews Real Estate Investment Services a good fit for you personally?

El Warner: I've had success as a real estate professional at two of the largest commercial real estate firms in the world and wanted to utilize this experience to create real change.  The large commercial firms have several layers of corporate structures, and at this time in my career I wanted the complete freedom to be unique and partner with a firm that has the same vision for growth and entrepreneurial spirit. Having been in the industry for 14 years, I have seen what works and what needs improvement. The opportunity to lead the shopping center practice group at Matthews Real Estate Investment Services allows me to bring the best practices I've witnessed over the years to a larger scale, both nationally as well as provide a more intimate level of service. At Matthews we have the ability to fully reinvest funds back into the business without several layers of approval or shareholder concerns. The company is youthful with all of our executives growing from within the industry and advancing their careers by leveraging technology.  I know that a firm that is well capitalized, reinvests in itself, has cutting edge ideas, utilizes technology and hires best-in-class support staff that will make a big impact on the dated commercial brokerage business.  I am passionate about the fact that in every industry there is a new generation of entrepreneurs that change business practices, and I joined Matthews because I know that we are that company.

GlobeSt.com: What are your goals in this new position?

Warner: As SVP and national director of shopping center business my goal is to continue to facilitate tremendous growth for the shopping center practice group on a national basis. We are forecasted to have significant growth in size and revenue in 2016 by hiring/recruiting the right group of candidates, providing them with excellent training, and leveraging our proprietary technologies. Our shopping center practice group will be strategically segmented into the Matthews Institutional Group (MISG), the Matthews Private Client Group (PCG) and the Debt Asset Resolution Team (DART). We are focused on national institutional relationships and regional private client teams. MISG already works with 15 of the top 20 largest institutional real estate owners, and our PCG has sold assets in 49 of the 50 states. We are also looking forward to rolling out “The Matthews Difference” so investors can understand what they should be expecting when they hire a best-in-class brokerage firm.

GlobeSt.com: Matthews has Matthews retail group has been expanding, and just completed a re-branding last year. How does this national shopping center platform fit into the firm's growth strategy?

Warner: Our shopping center practice group is another example of the tremendous growth we have seen and will continue to see from this entrepreneurial group. Our firm sees the ability to provide best-in-class processes, technology, and services to a larger audience.  We will be opening two more offices this year and have aggressive plans to scale over the next five years by opening strategic offices and practice groups. We know that by utilizing technology such as Point of Analysis Interjection, advanced digital technology, and our expansive proprietary database, we can reach more investors and provide them with opportunities they would not have seen otherwise. Every brokerage firm states that prices are at historic highs in the coastal markets and that buyers should look nationally for comparable stability at higher yields, and we are the firm at the forefront of the capital redistribution thanks to our ability to connect institutional and private clients.