Tishman Speyer President and CEO Rob Speyer today announced the firm has hired Joseph F. Ritchie to serve as Managing Director of Business Development and Head of Diversity & Inclusion. In this newly-created position, Ritchie will drive Tishman Speyer’s business development activities with a specific focus on creating more diverse and inclusive communities and relationships across the firm’s entire platform.
Ritchie, who will officially join Tishman Speyer in May, has served in a variety of executive positions in real estate, government and economic development, including as founding CEO of the City of Newark’s economic development corporation under Mayor Cory Booker.
“One of our top priorities at Tishman Speyer is to cultivate diversity and inclusion both within our firm and throughout the real estate industry,” said Rob Speyer, Tishman Speyer President and CEO. “I am thrilled that Joe Ritchie will help lead this effort at Tishman Speyer. Joe will have a pioneering role both internally and externally, making an immediate and enduring impact across all of our portfolio and projects.”
Most recently, Ritchie served as Senior Vice President for development at Brandywine Realty Trust. His other prior real estate experience includes executive roles at Trammell Crow Company, The Burks Companies, and Lomax Real Estate Partners. In addition to his extensive real estate experience, he spent time as a consultant at Deloitte and helped create a program to support minority entrepreneurs in Cape Town, South Africa.
“I very much look forward to working with colleagues across Tishman Speyer’s platform to take concrete, measurable action to address the historical inequities and structural impediments that have prevented a more diverse industry,” said Ritchie. “Our goal will be to create wealth and opportunity for businesses and individuals in the communities in which we do business, and by doing so enhance the value of our holdings and return to our investors.”
Ritchie earned his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his BS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is the president of NAIOP Greater Philadelphia and sits on several business and cultural boards.
Tishman Speyer is a leading owner, developer, operator and investment manager of first-class real estate in 28 key markets across the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. We develop, build and manage premier office, residential and retail spaces for industry-leading tenants, as well as state-of-the-art life science centers through our Breakthrough Properties venture. With global vision, on-the-ground expertise and a personalized approach, we are unparalleled in our ability to foster innovation, quickly adapt to global and local trends and proactively anticipate our customers’ evolving needs. By focusing on health and wellness, enlightened placemaking and customer-focused initiatives such as our tenant amenities platform, ZO., and our flexible space and co-working brand, Studio, we tend not just to our physical buildings, but to the people who inhabit them on a daily basis. Since our inception in 1978, Tishman Speyer has acquired, developed, and operated 453 properties, totaling 210 million square feet, with a combined value of approximately $113 billion (U.S.). Our current portfolio includes such iconic assets as Rockefeller Center in New York City, The Springs in Shanghai, TaunusTurm in Frankfurt and the Mission Rock neighborhood currently being realized in San Francisco.
