The 20 Rising Stars of Real Estate 2008 - (Page 21) 15. ALEXANDRE SIEBER Vice President and General Manager, Business Property GE Real Estate, Montreal Age: 35 Education: Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (Bachelor in Finance); Université de Montreal (Bachelor in Law) Mentors: Lee Cooper, Executive V.P. for Enterprise Selling, GE Worldwide; Deb Frodel, Commercial Leader, GE Fleet Services Sieber manages GE Real Estate’s Canadian business property division, which leads single-tenant, owner-occupied financings for commercial real estate owners, investors and developers throughout Canada. The division offers conventional debt, sale-leaseback financings and other structured products tailored to meet the capital needs of small, medium and large businesses. Sieber described his biggest challenge as taking the management helm at the business property unit. Shortly after his ascension in May 2005, he started a campaign to simplify as much as possible and – as a result of customer feedback about the pace of transactions hired consultants to look at the business unit’s commercial processes. By decreasing paperwork and making documents more to the point, including legal transaction documents, the unit reduced its cycle time—defined as the time from the point of a client’s signing to funds being delivered to the client— by 50%. “We try to find ways to be customer-centric,” he said, noting that the result has been more customer referrals and a tripling of business within two years to net earnings from assets that are surpassing C$1.4 billion. Sieber’s transactions from last year and this year include a C$50 million refinancing of Vancouver Film Studios, a C$44 million construction and take-out loan agreement for the expansion of Quebecor’s Montreal headquarters and a C$28.5 million construction-to-permanent loan to Toronto Film Studios for the 260,000-square-foot first phase of FILMPORT,a mega-sized film and television production complex in Toronto’s port lands. Sieber joined the General Electric family in 2000, beginning in GE Commercial Finance’s aircraft group, and has since held various sales management and leadership assignments. He credited Lee Cooper with being his best boss and with being “a clear thinker.” As for the future of the industry, Sieber highlighted the environmental aspect of real estate, predicting a greener market globally. “This is a trend that will define our business,” he said. In addition, he noted that innovation is important and mentioned Apple as a company that “is exemplifying how you reinvent yourself.”As for himself, in 10 years he wants to be in a business with a bigger scope and have lived and worked in different parts of the world. 16. BRENT SPRENKLE Senior Vice President Sperry Van Ness, Los Angeles Age: 34 Education: Pennsylvania State University (B.S. in Mechanical Engineering) Mentors: David Frosh, Former President, Sperry Van Ness; David Rich, Senior V.P. and Regional Manager for Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, Sperry Van Ness; Rand Sperry, Co-Founder, Sperry Van Ness Sprenkle oversees the Sprenkle Marketing Group of Sperry Van Ness, a nine-member team specializing in the sale and marketing of multifamily assets in the greater Los Angeles area. Since joining the firm in 1999, he has listed and closed more than 200 transactions focusing on the sale of apartment complexes, with a value in excess of $325 million. Sprenkle said his biggest accomplishment was last year’s sale of a portfolio of apartment complexes in Los Angeles REAL ESTATE RISING STARS 21 15 . ALEXANDRE SIEBER MARCH 2008
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