Jody Clark, the new chief operating officer of Beatty Development Group, got her start in real estate immediately after college, when she bought two houses in her hometown of Kalamazoo, Mich., with plans to rent them to students.
But it quickly became clear, the former social work student said, that she wanted to work on "something bigger."
In 1984, Clark moved to Maryland for a job with the Rouse Co., working on property management, leasing, acquisitions and dispositions, eventually overseeing a portfolio of 12 million square feet. Her career later included stints at General Growth Properties, which purchased Rouse in 2004, and Legg Mason, where her projects included the Legg Mason tower in Harbor East.
For the past three years, she worked on financing for commercial properties for Hannon Armstrong, an Annapolis-based real estate investment trust focused on energy finance.
"I loved it and I loved the company, but it wasn't this," she said in a recent interview in Beatty Development's bright first-floor Thames Street Wharf offices.
Beatty Development was founded in 2013 by Michael Beatty, who helped lead the creation of Harbor East. His new firm is best known for its plans for Harbor Point, where it wants to build hundreds of apartments, along with retail and office space, on a former industrial site. Construction is underway on a regional headquarters for Exelon, the parent of BGE.
The company also is working on a student housing building near the Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus and exploring the redevelopment of the Old Town Mall in East Baltimore.
On June 1, Clark took over the firm's day-to-day operations, in a newly created position. Her goal is to make the firm more efficient and free Beatty to return his attention to design, development and finding new business.
"He was kind of in the weeds with running the company," she said. "He's now able to do other things."
What made you want to come work for Beatty Development?
It's arguably one of the best development projects and firms on the East Coast, if not the country. I'd been a part of this area's development nearly 10 years ago when I met Michael at Harbor East while representing Legg Mason as head of global corporate real estate. I've always had an interest in developing cities, back to my roots with The Rouse Co. I love the city of Baltimore and I was ecstatic when I was presented with an opportunity to have a capstone to my career that is truly off the charts.
You're now working for a firm whose work has been attacked as a symbol of the divisions in Baltimore. Where do you see the role of Beatty Development as it works to move forward after the riots?
Beatty Development focuses in on projects that can be transformative, that can be not only transformative in and of themselves but that can also be connectors to other neighborhoods. Not only on economic development for the city and job growth for the city but also linking other communities and pulling all of those resources together. Our project in Old Town, for example, that we're working on with the city, and we're working with other civic organizations … to make sure that we bring the best of Johns Hopkins together with the Harbor East, Little Italy and Harbor Point communities and [be] the bridge to filling in some of those gaps. When you fill in an opportunity site like that, then all boats rise. All of those neighboring neighborhoods become better.
What do you see as the biggest change in real estate since you started in 1984?
Well when I started with Rouse Co., the Rouse Co. was building a city to bring everybody from the city to the suburbs. That's probably the biggest difference — the recoil, the shift now back to the city and the urban life. But the similarities are there. Jim Rouse focused on building a network of neighborhoods that provide a wonderful nucleus for people to thrive and have an enjoyable life where they can grow and learn and all of those elements, and now that's available in the city where it hasn't [been] in the past and it's because of this focus that Beatty Development and others have on really linking existing neighborhoods and making them all better by doing something in the infill opportunities.
So you think the repopulation of the city is not just a momentary recession-millennial bubble?
Some of my best friends who are senior in their years are moving to the city. It is not just for the millennials, it's for people who want to have that urban experience. It's people who want to have amenities close to them and immediately available. I think the vibrancy of a city — there's nothing like it. Everybody that I know loves to be in the city and loves the thumping, the vibe of what the city provides, the uniqueness, the character of different neighborhoods and being a part of that.
If you could wave a wand and change one thing real estate-related in Baltimore, what would it be?
At the end of the day, if I had a magic wand, I would wave the perception wand. When we bring people in, whether they're visitors, family friends, business meetings, and they have a perception of Baltimore, there has never ever in my entire career — 30 years — been a situation when somebody wasn't blown away by how incredible the city was and how safe it felt and how wonderful it was and all the neighborhoods and the melding and all of those things. And we've all had those same exact situations.
Jody L. Clark
Job: Chief operating officer, Beatty Development Group
Previous position: Vice president, Hannon Armstrong, overseeing commercial origination energy-efficient financing for commercial properties
Age: 58
Hometown: Kalamazoo, Mich.
Current residence: Crownsville
Education: B.A., Kalamazoo College; MBA, Loyola College
Hobbies/interests: I live on the water. I have a boat. I have stand-up paddleboard. I have a kayak. I have a Jet Ski. I love to sail. Anything on the water. Swimming, you name it. It generally rules my summer on the weekends.