Columbia Property Trust
Columbia Property Trust (NYSE: CXP) is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates Class-A office buildings concentrated in CBD locations, with over half its portfolio in high-barrier-to-entry primary markets, including San Francisco, New York, Washington D.C., and Boston. As of September 30, 2015, Columbia’s $5+ billion portfolio consisted of 28 office properties containing 13.9 million square feet plus one hotel, and its largest markets are San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C. Headquartered in Atlanta with regional offices in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., Columbia carries an investment-grade rating from both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
Real Estate Specialization
| Office |
Investment Type
| JV partnership |
| Acquisition/Fee Simple |
Investment Style
| Core |
| Value-add |
Nelson Mills
As President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Columbia Property Trust, Nelson Mills is responsible for the company's overall strategy, capital transactions, operations, and the performance of its portfolio of investments. Mr. Mills served as an Independent Director on the Columbia Property Trust Board since 2007 before being named President and Chief Executive Officer in 2010. In this position, he led the company in the establishment of an internal management team, a substantial repositioning of the portfolio, enhanced and expanded access to more efficient capital resources, and the development of a comprehensive strategic plan and growth strategy for the future. Mr. Mills has 28 years of experience in the real estate investment and financial services industries. Prior to joining Columbia Property Trust in 2010, he served for five years as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Williams Realty Advisors, LLC, manager and advisor to a series of real estate investment funds serving both institutional and individual investors. In this role, he was responsible for the firm's investment and financial strategy and oversaw the design, formation, investment, and operations of several substantial funds, across multiple asset classes. Previously, Mr. Mills served as Chief Financial Officer with Lend Lease Real Estate Investments (US), Inc., one of the world's largest institutional investment managers specializing in the acquisition and management of commercial real estate. He began his career in the financial industry as a partner with KPMG LLP, specializing in tax and transaction advisory services for the real estate industry.
Jim Fleming
As Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Columbia Property Trust, Jim Fleming oversees the finance, treasury, investor relations, and financial reporting divisions of the Company. He is responsible for managing all debt capital market activities, maintaining relationships with rating agencies and financial institutions, and contribute to the strategic positioning of the company's acquisitions, finance, and disposition plans. He also works closely with Columbia's Chief Accounting Officer to ensure optimization and compliance of the Company's core policies and initiatives. Mr. Fleming has over 30 years of experience in real estate investment management. Prior to joining Columbia Property Trust in 2013, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Schottenstein Property Group, a national shopping center owner-operator with over 21 million square feet under management during his tenure. While at Schottenstein, he led a proposed IPO for the Company and closed a $140 million bank credit facility. From 2004 to 2010, Mr. Fleming served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Cousins Properties, Inc. (NYSE: CUZ), a real estate investment trust that invests in office buildings. Earlier at Cousins, he held the roles of Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary. During his tenure with Cousins, Mr. Fleming was responsible for over $400 million in stock offerings and $600 million in loan activity. Prior to Cousins, Mr. Fleming was a partner in the Atlanta law firm of Fleming & Ray (now Ray & Sherman) and, before that, a managing partner at Long, Aldridge & Norman (now McKenna Long & Aldridge). Mr. Fleming's practice at both firms focused on the real estate industry. Mr. Fleming currently serves on the Board of Directors of Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ: CKEC), one of the nation's largest motion picture exhibitors.
Drew Cunningham
As Senior Vice President of Real Estate Operations for Columbia Property Trust, Drew Cunningham is responsible for directing the asset management, property level financial operations, leasing, property management and construction teams that are responsible for the operation of the Company's real estate investments. Mr. Cunningham has nearly 29 years of experience in commercial real estate. He joined Columbia in 2013 after consulting with the Company to develop a business strategy for streamlining its real estate operations. Prior to joining Columbia, he served as President/CEO and Founding Partner of Parthenon Realty, an asset management company that at its peak managed over 10 million square feet of office space in 150 buildings. He also previously held the positions of Senior Vice President at public REIT Koger Equity, and Senior Vice President and Partner at private REIT Crocker Realty Trust. In those roles, he was responsible for the overall profitability of large-scale regional office portfolios. Mr. Cunningham is an inductee into the Villanova University Sports Hall of Fame for Men's Lacrosse. He received a B.S. in Business Administration from Villanova University and an M.B.A. in Real Estate Development/Management from Nova University.
David Dowdney
David Dowdney joined Columbia Property Trust in 2014 as Senior Vice President – Western Region. In this role, he oversees all transaction and investment management activities for the Company in the Western United States. He also manages the Company's regional office, based in San Francisco. Mr. Dowdney came to Columbia from GE Capital Real Estate, where he spent nearly eight years managing activities for GE's West Coast portfolio, first as Acquisitions Director and then as Western Region Manager, Asset Management. In the latter role, he managed the team of 20 real estate professionals that oversaw all leasing, asset management and capital markets activity for GE's 15 million square foot portfolio of office/R&D buildings in California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona. Prior to his time with GE, Mr. Dowdney spent 10 years leading other asset management and real estate transaction activities, primarily in the Western U.S. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Portfolio Management for Divco West Properties, and earlier, with Jones Lang LaSalle, he was Vice President of JLL's Leasing and Management Group in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and then became Vice President of Corporate Services. Mr. Dowdney is an active member of both the Urban Land Institute and the Commercial Real Estate Development Association (NAIOP). He also serves on the board of the Northern California Real Estate Council for the City of Hope, a leading research hospital in Los Angeles. He received a B.A. in Geography from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.B.A. in Finance and Real Estate at the University of California, Berkeley – Walter A. Haas School of Business.
Michael Schmidt
- +1 415 438 2690
- michael.schmidt@columbiapropertytrust.com
David Petroff
- +1 650 324 3805
- david.petroff@columbiapropertytrust.com
Todd Mitchell
- +1 678 781 0244
- todd.mitchell@columbiapropertytrust.com
Roger Hall
Diane Garrett
Tom Flanagan
- +1 202 454 5860
- tom.flanagan@columbiapropertytrust.com
Nicole Dubee
- +1 415 615 0285
- nicole.dubee@columbiapropertytrust.com
Kristine Lang
- +1 972 505 7904
- kristine.lang@columbiapropertytrust.com