Matt Mooney is not a fan of bubbles. He was pushed away from working as a stock broker after witnessing the tech industry bubble burst in the early 2000s, which is why Mooney pursued a career in commercial real estate.
Unfortunately, Mooney only ended up working for a few years before the commercial real estate bubble popped. But as there is a silver-lining to every cloud, there is also a silver-lining to bubbles.
“The stretch from 2008 through 2011 or so were really tough years for our local economy and industry,” Mooney says, after mentioning that making it through the downturn was his greatest challenge. “My favorite part though is somewhat the result of those years in that leaders in Arizona made a concerted effort to diversify our economy coming out of the downturn.”
Arizona has changed a lot since the dark days of the downturn, and as a result the state has been better off as it attracts higher-wage and more diverse jobs, Mooney says.
At Cousins Properties, Mooney has been recruiting the very clients who are making Arizona’s business landscape more diverse and knowledge-based. Cousins Properties’ office portfolio in Tempe has attracted names like Silicon Valley Bank, Amazon, ADP and others, and Mooney takes pride in helping those businesses call Arizona home.
His efforts in helping Arizona grow in more ways than one has led Mooney to devote his time with GPEC, the Downtown Tempe Authority and NAIOP Arizona. In fact, he will lead NAIOP-AZ and its 800-plus members as the in-coming chair for 2018.
His career and active involvement in the community’s economic development efforts has Mooney pretty busy, but he still gets to come home and enjoy his spare time with his wife and three young kids, who are aged eight, six and two.
“Between career and kids there are never enough hours in the day, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It is a blessing to wake up each day and have ample opportunities to contribute,” he says.
