Mike Kirby, Green Street Advisors’ co-founder, chairman and director of research, has been awarded the Pension Real Estate Association’s (PREA) biennial James A. Graaskamp Award, honoring real estate researchers who “contribute to the common body of knowledge some practical insights gained through significant research.”
Kirby told REIT.com that the real estate industry has transitioned in the last 25 years from a place where investors found it difficult to readily access the market to a “pretty favorable place for investors.” The commercial real estate arena, in which REITs play a big role, has become much more transparent and efficient, Kirby said. Part of the reason is the type of research being done by many industry participants, “and a lot of those folks are prior Graaskamp winners,” he noted. “It’s an honor to be counted a member of that club,” Kirby said.
Kirby noted that the award is particularly meaningful because PREA has historically recognized private market players, rather than someone who specializes in publicly traded real estate. Green Street’s public market research on commercial real estate investment covers more than 100 companies across North America and Europe.
Kirby co-founded Green Street in 1985 and is the architect of the firm’s commercial real estate and REIT valuation models. The award is named in memory of James A. Graaskamp, a professor of real estate at the University of Wisconsin and an advocate of research that would be of immediate use to investment decision makers.