Edward St. John, Founder and Chairman of St. John Properties, Inc. is recognized as NAIOP Maryland’s longest-tenured member. Since starting the full-service commercial real estate company as MIE Properties, Inc. in 1971, he has presided over the company’s national expansion strategy that now features more than 24 million square feet of commercial, retail, and multifamily real estate across 12 states. St. John’s involvement in commercial real estate-related trade groups and associations pre-dates the Chapter’s formation in 1985, and he has experienced numerous commercial real estate cycles that have tested the mettle of the collective real estate industry, St. John Properties, and himself.
Q: What are some your earliest recollections of NAIOP Maryland?
ESJ: “We were members of several commercial real estate-related organizations beginning in the 1970s including BOMA, Home Builders of Maryland, and, of course, NAIP (now NAIOP Maryland) This presented the opportunity to meet with our peer group, discuss important issues of the day and, of course, network. I remember that the networking sessions started attracting many ancillary companies, including those selling services and products like aluminum siding, which detracted from our mission a bit. The membership was extremely robust but dropped dramatically once the banking crisis hit in the early 1990s. I recall losing most of our members. That was an extremely difficult time for everyone and only the strongest survived.
Q. Winning the NAIOP “National Developer of Year Award” in 2018 was, in your words, achieving the commercial real estate holy grail. Describe your emotions when you learned of this win.
ESJ: “One of our vice presidents called me with the news; initially, I didn’t believe him. You mean we won ‘Maryland Developer of the Year, right’ I asked him. When the answer was ‘No, Ed – we won the National Developer of the Year,’ I hung up the phone. My mind could not accept or process that news. I always believed that award was reserved for large, national commercial real estate companies. I called him back about three hours later and asked, ‘Tell me again what we won.’ When the answer came back the same, I replied ‘You are sure, right? This is not a game you are playing with me?’ It was not until I talked to him for a third time that the news actually sunk in.”
Q. You invited the entire company to the awards luncheon in Washington, D.C. What did this honor mean to you and the company?
ESJ: “We hire the best and brightest talent in the commercial real estate industry so I wanted to honor our team as well by having them participate in the ceremony. I equate the honor to winning an Academy Award – it is incredibly difficult to win and the culmination of all the work we have accomplished and successes we have achieved. The honor brings tremendous prestige, credibility, and recognition. The award is something we will always cherish and talk about and it is something no other company in the Baltimore area has.”
Q. MIE Properties Steve Hartman was elected as NAIOP Maryland’s first president in 1985. What were the circumstances that led to this?
ESJ: “Steve, together with Patrick Hughes, handled legislative activities on behalf of a group of Maryland-area commercial real estate developers at the time and, given the importance of this effort, he was the natural choice to lead the Chapter. He was the first in a long line of employees that have volunteered to further the mission of NAIOP Maryland over the years.”
Q. In that same vein, the company has always been a staunch supporter of the Chapter’s legislative activities. Why is this is so vital?
ESJ: “The best way to explain this is the proposed ‘rain tax’ bill which charged property owners a fee for stormwater that flowed through a project’s impervious surfaces and eventually made its way to the Chesapeake Bay. It was a high-profile and hotly-contested piece of legislature that impacted nearly every property owner in Maryland and served as a rallying cry that ignited a commercial real estate coalition. NAIOP Maryland represents the interests of all companies engaged in commercial real estate, and everyone in the industry should be fully-updated on the issues at stake. It remains critical to have a presence in Annapolis to protect us.”
Q. Cathy Ward proposed the Penny Per Square Foot program as a funding mechanism to help pay for the Chapter’s legislative efforts. What are your memories about that initial idea?
ESJ: “I was emphatic that other commercial real estate developers join in because it seemed as if our company was footing the majority of the bill at the time. This idea was utopia because now we would be involving all the major commercial real estate stakeholders to provide financial support.”
Q. The Maryland commercial real estate community is uniquely known for its friendly competition. What role does NAIOP Maryland play in this?
ESJ: “St. John Properties is active in many cities and states around the country, and I believe this type of organization and programming are extremely rare. Networking with your peer group and sharing information helps professionals do their jobs better and help understand the industry and real estate environment. NAIOP Maryland makes networking easy given the regularity of programming and I always recall the camaraderie and laughter at the holiday luncheons.”
Q. Any particular memories of the holiday event?
ESJ: “Way back when, we only constructed brown brick, one-story buildings and, at one particular holiday event, they made fun of this fact. At the event, they announced ‘St. John Properties has entered Germany and here is a photo of their product.’ Of course, it was an image of our same brown brick building. Then they announced, ‘and here is their England building and their France building’ with the same image. Next, ‘St. John Properties is now constructing multi-story buildings,’ and they simply stacked three of our one-story brick buildings on top of each other. I turned to the person sitting next to me and remarked that ‘maybe we need to change the color of our brick.’”