Jeff Karp is the President and Co-Founder of LAZ Parking LLC, the largest privately held parking operator in the country. Jeff founded LAZ Parking in 1981 and LAZ currently operates over 4,000 locations, in 452 cities and 41 states across the country. With a dedicated and passionate employee base of over 14,000 strong committed to a superior customer service experience, LAZ has been propelled into being a leader in its field. With $2.0 billion in annual revenue, LAZ Parking strives for a best in class culture, focused on conscious capitalism rooted within ESG and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Jeff is also a Founder and Principal Partner in LAZ Parking Reality Investors (LPRI), a vertically integrated real estate platform focused on parking assets nationally. Their mission is to identify, diligence, and acquire parking assets nationwide; finding opportunities to add value through experienced ownership and operation. LPRI’s experience extends over virtually every type of parking asset, from simple surface lots to complex mixed-use garages, and includes assets whose primary demand comes from office, retail, residential, hotels, sporting events and airports.

In addition to his business affiliations, Jeff is an active civic leader and strong supporter and board member of various charitable organizations such as the Special Olympics, Chabad House, Jewish Big Brother Big Sister, Crossroads for Kids, Save the Harbor, National Parking Association, Anti-Defamation League, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Meriting Attention, and the American Cancer Society.

We really enjoyed our discussion with Jeff, and the story behind the LAZ Parking empire did not disappoint. As discussed during the interview, it seems we can't travel a block or two without coming across a LAZ location. Jeff was candid in sharing the many highs and lows of his entrepreneurial journey, which he has been on alongside his two co-founders who happen to be his boyhood best friends. We learned a lot from Jeff about the operational side of parking business, a sector in which our Boston capital markets team has been increasingly active over the past several years and one that intrigues many real estate practitioners.

For more info on LAZ Parking, please visit: www.lazparking.com

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Tom Greeley

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasgreeley/

tom.greeley@nmrk.com

Mike Greeley

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgreeley1

Michael.greeley@nmrk.com

Frank H. McCourt, Jr. is a civic entrepreneur and the executive chairman and former CEO of McCourt Global, a private family company committed to building a better future through its work across the real estate, sports, technology, media, and capital investment industries, as well as its significant philanthropic activities. Frank is proud to extend his family’s 130-year legacy of merging community and social impact with financial results, an approach that started when the original McCourt Company was launched in Boston in 1893.

He is a passionate supporter of multiple academic, civic, and cultural institutions and initiatives. He is the founder and executive chairman of Project Liberty, a far-reaching, $500 million initiative to transform the internet through a new, equitable technology infrastructure and rebuild social media in a way that enables users to own and control their personal data. The project includes the development of a groundbreaking, open-source internet protocol called the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), which will be owned by the public to serve as a new web infrastructure. It also includes the creation of Project Liberty’s Institute (formerly The McCourt Institute,) launched with founding partners Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, and Sciences Po in Paris, to advance research, bring together technologists and social scientists, and develop a governance model for the internet’s next era.

Frank has served on Georgetown University’s Board of Directors for many years and, in 2013, made a $100 million founding investment to create Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. He expanded on this in 2021 with a $100 million investment to catalyze an inclusive pipeline of public policy leaders and put the school on a path to becoming tuition-free.

Frank owns the French football club Olympique de Marseille (OM) and formerly owned the Los Angeles Dodgers. With family roots in the construction business dating back to the late 19th century, Frank has built upon this history with initiatives ranging from the development of Boston’s Seaport to large, mixed-use projects in Dallas, London, Miami, New York City, and elsewhere.

Frank graduated from Georgetown University. He is married to Monica McCourt and is the proud father of seven.

His book, OUR BIGGEST FIGHT: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age, was published by Crown on March 12, 2024.

Our conversation with Frank was eye-opening, thought-provoking and inspiring. As a legendary figure in the Boston real estate industry who has truly ‘gone global’, Frank shared with us his story from the very beginnings in America for the McCourt family all the way through to today, where he has taken on the ambitious task of fixing the internet and the role technology is allowed to play in all of our lives.

For more info on McCourt Global and Project Liberty, please visit: https://www.mccourt.com/ and https://www.projectliberty.io/

Please share with clients, colleagues and friends and thanks for tuning in!

Tom Greeley

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasgreeley/

tom.greeley@nmrk.com

Mike Greeley

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgreeley1

Peter Merrigan is the Chief Executive Officer of Taurus Investment Holdings LLC, a global real estate private equity firm established in 1997 and headquartered in Boston, MA. Taurus focuses on strategic investments into value-add, core-plus, opportunistic and development opportunities. As CEO and a a member of the firms Investment Committee, Peter defines and guides Taurus in developing and executing investment strategies in multifamily, industrial, office , mixed-use and renewable energy sectors across the US and internationally. Peter has overseen the acquisition and development of more than 70 million square feet of commercial space to date with a value in excess of nearly $11 billion.

Peter is an alum of the College of Holy Cross and received a Masters in Real Estate Development (MSRED) from MIT.

Our conversation with Peter starts in the his early days with an internship in the research department of Coldwell Banker, working out of a Wellesley office that was the launching pad for many of the Boston market’s notable figures. Peter then describes the path that gave him his crash course in commercial real estate, starting with renting apartments for the Corcoran family, working for Berkeley Investments, and eventually his connection with the Reibling brothers, leading to a fruitful partnership that spanned several decades.

Peter shares with Taurus’ powerful model of global equity syndication, a ‘machine’ that regularly yields $500m per annum in equity sourced from high net worth family offices from around the world. We also hear about Taurus’ leadership and long history of environmental stewardship, with a thorough explanation of how fusing clean energy, energy efficient technologies, and decarbonization efforts can not only benefit the planet but also create financial returns for Taurus and its investors.

As the leader and owner of a renowned Boston-based firm that has evolved into a leading, forward-thinking global investor, we are thrilled to share Peter’s story and some of the behind-the-scenes anecdotes that brought Taurus to where it stands today.

Please share with clients, colleagues and friends and thanks for tuning in!

For more info on Taurus, please visit: https://www.tiholdings.com/

Tom Greeley

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasgreeley/

tom.greeley@nmrk.com

Mike Greeley

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgreeley1

Michael.greeley@nmrk.com