AZRE magazine sat down with eight NAIOP Arizona members to learn more about their relationship to the association, how they’ve grown their careers from getting involved, the benefits of networking with competitors and what trends they’re seeing in the market. Responses have been edited for clarity and length. Meet Jamie Godwin, president and CEO, Stevens-Leinweber Construction.
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Jamie Godwin, president and CEO, Stevens-Leinweber Construction
AZRE: How did you first get involved with NAIOP?
Jamie Godwin: I moved to Arizona in 1996 and took a job with Opus, and they were already a part of NAIOP, so I’ve been participating nearly 30 years and I’m on my third year with the board of directors.
When I came to Stevens-Leinweber in 2014, the company was not engaged with the association. Changing that was a high priority for me since I knew it was a great way to get our name out there. Stevens-Leinweber has been in the market as a tenant improvement contractor for a long time, but prior to me joining, business attraction came mostly through word of mouth. Coming to the company, I saw that as a growth opportunity, and NAIOP is the best place to connect with people in the industry.
AZRE: What value does NAIOP bring to the commercial real estate industry as a whole?
JG: NAIOP is at the forefront of legislative advocacy for commercial real estate, and there has been a significant enhancement of those efforts with bringing John Baumer [NAIOP’s Director of Government Relations] on board as an in-house lobbyist. Suzanne Kinny did a good job even prior to John, and it only got better when he started. I’m also excited to have Cheryl Lombard as the new CEO because of her background in this arena and the connections she brings with her.
All that said, NAIOP is engaged with government entities and trying to help shape what the legislative landscape looks like for our industry. There are always policy initiatives out there that will either help us or hurt us, and NAIOP truly is the organization working for the benefit of everyone in the industry — whether you’re a member or not.
AZRE: What are some trends folks should be aware of?
JG: In the last six or so months, there has been an increase in larger sized office tenant improvement projects, with clients taking full floors and larger buildings leasing upwards of 75,000 square feet to a single user. We went a long time coming out of the pandemic without that kind of movement in the market as businesses hunkered down and evaluated remote work plans.
A lot of companies have since made the decision that working from home isn’t the best structure and want people back in the office. They need the appropriate square footage to support that, so we’re seeing bigger deals happening out in the market, which is a positive change.
