The Leader - January/February 2008 - (Page 56) e x ecU t i v e p r o F il e Suzanne Heidelberger: Leading Real Estate at Skadden BY tim veNaBle he view from a mountaintop can be breathtaking. It can also make you ponder where you are and where you’re going. And it can change your perspective on things. In 1997, Suzanne Heidelberger made a decision with far-reaching impact. “I had just turned 30,” she recalls. “And I decided for my 30th birthday I wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.” Mount Kilimanjaro, at 19,340 ft. (5,895 m.), is known as “The Roof of Africa.” Needless to say, scaling it is not for the faint of heart. Yet Heidelberger – at that time working for a hedge fund in New York City – was up to the task. Taking a three-week vacation, she made her way to the base of the peak. “It was four and half days up, and one and a half days down,” she remembers. It was, you might say, a career-changing experience. T “By the time I got down,” she recounts, “I decided I wanted to get back to the bricks and mortar of real estate.” And she did. Today, some 10 years later, Heidelberger is Director of Real Estate for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (www.skadden.com), one of the largest and most successful law firms and for seven years running named “best corporate law firm in the United States” by Corporate Board Member magazine. Heidelberger and her internal team of seven have responsibility for managing Skadden’s 2.5 million-sq.-ft. (232,000-sq.-m.) portfolio, distributed across some two dozen locations around the globe. LEADER met with Heidelberger recently at Skadden’s headquarters at 4 Times Square in New York to learn more about corporate real estate management at the firm, which in 2008 celebrates its 60th anniversary. Growth drives Need for internal real estate team Skadden has 750,000 sq. ft. (69,700 sq. m.) at 4 Times Square, plus 300,000 sq. ft. (27,900 sq. m.) across the street at 1460 Broadway and 35,000 sq. ft. (3,250 sq. m.) at 1440 Broadway. Rounding out its metroarea portfolio is another 50,000 sq. ft. (4,645 sq. m.) in nearby White Plains, N.Y. Law firms, Heidelberger says, are going through a transition in terms of their need for professional corporate real estate (CRE) management. “They’re partnerships, and they’re made up of individuals,” she points out. “Skadden has 450 partners. Our lawyers and their intellectual capital are our most important assets. In terms of operations, portfolio size and occupancy costs, law firms operate like corporations. Many are now becoming large enough, and the portfolios are becoming complicated enough, that they need professional CRE management.” 2 0 0 8 the le ade r 56 J aN Ua rY / F e B rUa r Y http://www.skadden.com
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