Commercial real estate pro Stephanie Lee has founded a new Twin Cities commercial real estate firm, Global Street Partners. Lee decided the time was right to launch Global Street because she was looking for a new challenge and saw founding her own commercial real estate firm as a way to advocate for diversity in the industry.
Commercial real estate pro Stephanie Lee has founded a new Twin Cities commercial real estate firm, Global Street Partners.
Lee decided the time was right to launch Global Street because she was looking for a new challenge and saw founding her own commercial real estate firm as a way to advocate for diversity in the industry, she said.
Global Street will provide a full array of real estate services to clients, some of which Lee took with her when she left Carlson Partners. Her clients include NorthRock Partners, Lifeworks and Northwest Area Foundation as well as some national clients.
The firm’s services include tenant representation work, transaction and asset management, leasing and buying analysis, real estate strategy, and leasing and buying negotiations, Lee said.
“I really want to elevate the conversation of real estate in corporations so that businesses can look at real estate intentionally and strategically,” Lee said. She added that she sees advisory services becoming increasingly important to companies because of current market trends.
Specifically, companies are being more intentional about their office space. This includes looking beyond square footage and available spaces to also considering the purpose of their offices and how employees interact with their spaces, she said.
Lee’s background is in commercial real estate and business strategy. She spent seven years at Carlson Partners, and, before that was with Cushman & Wakefield. Prior to this, Lee worked in human resources, including time in HR with Cargill Inc.
Her background in human resources and business strategy has been a strength, as Lee said she’s able to understand the entirety of a business and its needs: “That’s, really, what is helping me distinguish Global Street Partners from everyone else,” she said.
Lee is currently the firm’s only employee, but she has plans to add staff, including several interns who come from diverse backgrounds. Lee will provide mentorship to the students and allow them to shadow her work on transactions this summer.
Starting out, Global Street will focus on just the twin Cities, but Lee has aspirations to make it a national firm.
“I’m definitely hoping to diversify my industry and [be] an advocate for people who have not had the same kind of access to opportunities that I’ve had,” she said.
Lee received a Women in Business Award from the Business Journal in 2017 for her work at Carlson Partners and her community involvement.