A growing real estate firm is gearing up for the future with the addition of a commercial real estate veteran in its employee ranks.
Tessa Commercial Real Estate recently added Libby Lassiter as the firm’s new principal, and its a move that leaders hope will continue to help boost the ranks of women in the industry.
Lassiter formerly served as president of Bayer Properties, which was acquired earlier this month by Dallas-based firm Centennial.
“With the imminent acquisition of Bayer Properties by Centennial, it was an appropriate time for me to depart and move onto a new challenge,” Lassiter said. “Meredith Calhoun and I have worked together on The Hardwick for the last two years and we believe there is a wonderful opportunity to grow Tessa. I enjoy recruiting talent and see myself as a culture creator, so working together to achieve those goals was very appealing to me.”
According to the CREW 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Benchmark Survey, Meredith Calhoun, Tessa’s founder and CEO, and Lassiter are a part of less than 10% of women who have C-Suite positions in the commercial real estate industry.
“Working with Meredith was important to me. She is highly talented and has a solid vision for Tessa’s future. And the name Tessa is “asset” spelled backwards, such a fun twist on that industry term,” Lassiter said.
Lassiter said she plans to recruit talented commercial real estate professionals to Tessa that also want to have ownership in CRE assets through the company’s investment platform in order to take it to the next level.
“Tessa’s goals for the next 12 months are all about skillset,” Calhoun said. “We’re recruiting rock stars and rising stars to round out the team. Our short-term initiatives are focused on revenue growth. But most important, we want to have fun, have good impact and do great projects. In that order.”
At Tessa Lassiter will also continue her involvement as an ambassador for CORE (Career Opportunities in Real Estate), an Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE) scholarship Program, which is focused on increasing diversity. Lassiter said Birmingham needs to improve diversity levels in the commercial real estate scene.
“I am involved with CORE as an ambassador, and our goal is to bring 20,000 people of color into our industry over the next 10 years,” Lassiter said. “There is already much CRE support in Birmingham for CORE and we are 100% committed to achieve greater diversity in our industry. Change is coming, and I am happy to be part of a leadership group committed to achieving that change.”
Birmingham is doing some things right, Lassiter said, like, “investing in its heart — our downtown — which is critical to the health of all the communities within and surrounding Birmingham.”
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