Baltimore, MD (January 6, 2021) – Karen Cherry, Vice President of Office Leasing for The Howard Hughes Corporation, has been elected to the Board of Directors of NAIOP Maryland. The local association has approximately 400 members and represents the interests of the commercial real estate industry throughout the State of Maryland. Part of NAIOP, a network of approximately 55 chapters in North America, the association is comprised of commercial real estate development companies and professionals engaged with affiliated service companies including the architectural, brokerage, construction, interior design and law industries.
In her role with The Howard Hughes Corporation, Cherry oversees marketing and leasing activities for the company’s office portfolio in Downtown Columbia, consisting of more than 1.8 million square feet of existing space in addition to approximately four million square feet of future development. She has more than 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, focused primarily on landlord representation in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor. Prior to joining Howard Hughes, Cherry was a Principal at Lee & Associates | Maryland and held brokerage positions with Cushman & Wakefield and the Trammell Crow Company among others.
In 2020, Cherry was named to The Daily Record’s list of the Top 100 Women in Maryland for the second time. She first appeared on the list in 2017.
“Earning a place on the board of directors presents an amazing opportunity for me, and I intend to apply my different perspectives from the brokerage and developer sides of the industry to this important role,” stated Karen Cherry.
Cherry was recently appointed by Governor Hogan to serve as Chairman of the Board for the Maryland Marketing Partnership. In addition, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore (EAGB), the Maryland Tech Council and the Howard County Chamber of Commerce. Active in community service, Cherry represents several local non-profit organizations on their Boards, including as a member of the Executive Committee for Blossoms of Hope and as President of the Board for Camp Attaway. She is a 2015 graduate of Leadership Howard County and currently serves as a Class Representative. Cherry is also Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for Leadership U and has worked as a mentor for the program for many years.
Cherry is a graduate of Elizabethtown College where she majored in Business Administration with a double concentration in Marketing and Management.
NAIOP Maryland officers include Jim Lighthizer, Chesapeake Real Estate Group, President; John Hermann, Corporate Office Properties Trust, President-Elect; Kate Jordan, Lee & Associates | Maryland, Vice President; Christopher Nevin, First National Bank, Secretary/Treasurer and Vince Bagli, Merritt Properties, Immediate Past President.
Joining Cherry on the Board of Directors are William Barroll, Corporate Office Properties Trust; Sean Doordan, St. John Properties; Morgan Gilligan, Stewart Title Guaranty Company; Paul Giulio, Hill Management Services; Scooter Monroe, Weller Development Company; Tom Pilon, St. John Properties; Danielle Schline, Prologis; Nicole Wilhelm Smith, ECS Mid-Atlantic; Todd Summerfield, Prologis; Richard Williamson and Scott Wimbrow, MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services.
“Karen is extremely respected by her peers and her diverse commercial real estate background with numerous high-profile companies will serve her and our Chapter well in this new position,” explained Jim Lighthizer of NAIOP Maryland. “On behalf of the Board of Directors, we would like to thank Taylor Fields of Knott Realty Group and Spencer Perry of Truist who have transitioned off the board after providing extremely valuable contributions to our Chapter for many years.”
For additional information visit www.naiopmd.org