News
Accomplished Real Estate Veteran to Serve as Market Leader in Tampa Office
TAMPA, Fla. (September 8, 2020) – Foundry Commercial, a full-service real estate services and investment firm with offices across the Southeast, is pleased to announce the hiring of real estate banking veteran David Kern to the position of Market Leader in Foundry’s Tampa office. Throughout his career, Kern has financed over $15 billion of commercial real estate through the country including several Foundry-led developments, including Crews Commerce Center and Princeton Oaks (Orlando), WestPark 85 (Charlotte) and the Carrie Meek International Business Park, home to the recently opened 855,000-square foot Amazon fulfillment center in Opa-Locka (South Florida).
“Having supported top-tier real estate operators and developers throughout my career, I’m excited to join Foundry’s platform and contribute to their impressive growth and success throughout the southeast,” said Kern, a long-time Tampa resident. “While supporting Foundry’s business during the past five years, I’ve had the opportunity to understand and appreciate their culture and the high caliber of their very tight-knit team, which I look forward to working with as we continue to build a best-in-class full service real estate platform serving clients throughout Tampa Bay.”
In his role at Foundry Commercial, Kern will be responsible for increasing the footprint of Foundry’s services business in the greater Tampa market, expanding its presence even further into leasing and management opportunities in one of the top real estate markets in the country. Kern will also be working closely with Foundry’s Development & Investment platform to secure additional investment and partnership opportunities, while also supporting Foundry’s growing healthcare platform offerings.
“Over the past decade, we have been consistently growing Foundry’s presence throughout the southeast, and we’re thrilled David is joining our team to continue to identify both services and investment opportunities in this region,” said Alex Rosario, Principal and North Florida Market Leader for Foundry Commercial.
Most recently, Kern served as Executive Director at J.P. Morgan, where he was responsible for providing banking solutions to Florida-based real estate firms. Previously, he was the North Florida Market Manager for Regions Bank, where he spent 19 years after starting his career at Barnett Bank (now Bank of America). He serves on the Executive Committee for the advisory board to the University of Florida’s MSRE (Master of Science in Real Estate) Program within the Warrington College of Business. He is a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) and is a member of ULI. He volunteers with Meals on Wheels and is a member of Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church.
Earlier this year, it was announced that the partners of Foundry Commercial acquired majority ownership of the company, while also establishing a new equity relationship with an investor that continues to position the company as one of the fastest-growing commercial services and development and investment platforms in the United States. Foundry Commercial was just named the second largest commercial real estate developer by the Tampa Bay Business Journal, following the delivery of the first phase of the Lakeside Logistics project in Polk County. Additionally, Foundry has recently added more than 768,000 square feet of new management assignments throughout the region with clients such as Apollo and Washington Capital Management.
“How cool is it that we have developed a strong and trusted relationship with David over many years and have now recruited him to be a part of the Foundry team? It’s so exciting that he’s joining us to help lead the growth of such a dynamic market, where we have a long history of successfully serving third-party clients and capital partners,” said Gregg Ickes, President of Real Estate Services.
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About Foundry Commercial
Foundry Commercial is a full-service real estate services and investment company with over 350 employees and more than 58 million square feet of management and leasing across the Southeast and Texas. Since 2007, Foundry has provided leasing, brokerage, building management, corporate services, and project management services, and is the largest real estate service provider to religious and not-for-profit organizations in the country. Foundry also includes a development and investment platform that is fully integrated into its services business, leveraging its local market expertise to control more than one billion in advantaged investment opportunities with their JV partners. For more information, visit www.foundrycommercial.com.
Media Contact:
Lauren Leetun, APR
Director of Public Relations
Lauren.Leetun@foundrycommercial.com
(407) 592-7923