May 2012
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BOMA/NY GENERATIONS: The Kleeman Family

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Welcome to our new column celebrating BOMA/NY members who've encouraged family members to join our industry, and made real estate a family affair. Our debut column features James R. Kleeman, RPA, BOMA/NY Treasurer and newly-elected Chairman of the BOMA Middle Atlantic Region.

Jim Kleeman was on his way. He’d just graduated, gotten a good job in the electrical trades and was working at the most famous building in America  —  The World Trade Center. But his fortunes were about to get even better. After work one day, his neighbor Bob DiChiara (at the time, they shared a driveway in Carnarsie), asked him if he’d be interested in working for the Port Authority of NY/NJ (PANYNJ), which owned and operated the towers. Bob, who later served with distinction as a BOMA/NY Board member, was a manager with the PANYNJ and always looking for young talent. He’d watched Jim grow up and felt he’d be a good fit.

Today, after a career that took him from an apprenticeship to site-wide property management at the World Trade Center and then on to one of the industry’s plum jobs — General Manager of the BOMA International TOBY award-winning Time Warner Center, where he also won the BOMA/NY Pinnacle and TOBY Award for Outstanding Local Member of the Year — Jim has come home to the Port Authority as its Deputy Director of Redevelopment for the new World Trade Center site. There, he is continuing to pursue his "passion for real estate" and for the remarkable city-within-a-city that launched his career.

Top (l-r) Joseph, Jim and Jonathan

Bottom (l-r) James, Jo-Anne and Jenine

That passion first drove him to put in long nights hitting the books to achieve a BS in Business Management and his RPA designation, all while raising four children with wife Jo-Anne.  It led him to volunteer for BOMA/NY committees, serve as BOMA/NY’s representative to BOMA International on mixed-use building management, and become one of the creators of BOMA 360, the national benchmark for management excellence. It motivated him to look beyond New York real estate circles and volunteer for a host of regional and international assignments, culminating this past April 20th with his installation as Chairman of BOMA’s Middle Atlantic Region for 2012. True to form, Jim is already formulating creative ideas to attract the next generation into the property management fold.

He’s already done some of his best recruiting at home. Creativity and a love for the profession are being carried on by eldest son James and daughter Jenine who followed their father into the business — though the choice was not forced on them, Jenine recounts. "It was more as if he led us by unspoken example." Seeing how Dad loved learning about operations, the everyday challenges, interacting with tenants and facilitating a solution to solve their needs proved to be inspirational and irresistible.

Both son and daughter share their father’s enthusiasm. "I love my job!" they each answer quickly when asked about their careers, which follow different specialties within the industry. In 2008, Jenine, who had her heart set on being a teacher for as long as she could remember, completed her undergraduate teaching degree early, and saw the nine-month hiatus between finishing her BA and entering graduate school as "the opportunity to try out something different and really neat." She had numerous offers, including a very tempting one from a leading fashion designer. Though her father did not interfere and the decision was hers entirely, seeing "how happy Dad was going to work every day" helped tip the scales in favor of of an offer from Vornado. 

She thoroughly enjoyed the variety of the workplace —" no two days are ever alike" — and welcomed the sense of community that comes from working at a building. Four years later her community is the BOMA International TOBY award winner, 90 Church Street, where she works as the Assistant Property Manager.  Catering to government tenants (including the U.S. Post Office,) and dramatically rehabilitated and remediated after 9/11, 90 Church is a complex structure with unique demands.

Meeting the day-to-day needs of tenants and assisting with building operations would be enough for some, but not Jenine. Her teacher’s sensibilities are very much in evidence on the job as she seeks out more opportunities. She has obtained her Certificate from NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies/NYU Shack Institute of Real Estate and is back in the classroom pursuing her RPA with BOMI, while studying for her FSD. She also has her sights on LEED, the perfect example of what she calls the "endless possibilities" that continue to open up in the "niches within the niche" of real estate. Her natural teaching skills and gift for clear communication come into play as she works with and mentors staff, or explains technical situations to tenants.

Enthusiastic and well-spoken, older brother James has been specializing in the business development and entrepreneurial aspects of real estate for nine years, and holds both a Masters in Real Estate Development from NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, and a Graduate Certificate in Hospitality Industry studies from the University’s Tisch Center for Hospitality. He now manages Emerge212, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SL Green Realty Corp.

(l-r) Jim, James, Jenine, Jo-Anne, Joseph and Jonathan

While he jokes that friends often think being in real estate means renting apartments (and he does have his broker’s license), James is in a dynamic niche filled with the challenges and opportunities he relishes. As Director of Emerge212, he helps provide a "fully-serviced office platform" for companies in need of prime space without the encumbrances of leasing directly. James oversees "a turnkey, plug and play office suites environment that is growing steadily and filling a key market need. I love its many facets—construction, leasing, marketing, design, staffing, customer service. All these pieces are critical to overall success and it is so satisfying to make them all come together."

He revels in "the entrepreneurial dimension of my job, whether it’s identifying another location for Emerge212, meeting with and motivating my team, discussing strategies with my clients or identifying a market need and then creating a solution." He is in the midst of such creativity now as he develops a new real estate portal, ConceptSpace.com, to capitalize on the growing demand for temporary space by connecting owners with people interested in such space for businesses ranging from pop up shops to film shoots. James has been mastering this growing trend and its revenue-producing opportunities from the time he entered the business. ConceptSpace.com, he says, "will enable any landlord, big or small, commercial or residential, to capitalize on this trending demand and maximize their income." The launch date is targeted for later this year. 

Like his sister, James highly recommends real estate as a career for his peers. Like his father, he describes it as his passion, for real estate has very much become the Kleeman family business. Youngest brother Jonathan, a student at the University of Michigan, will spend this summer in real estate as an intern at Rockwood Capital. Jenine’s fiancé, Tom Lavin, who’s in commercial acquisitions and asset management at RFR Holding LLC, pitches in with market insight or welcomes the chance to learn from his future in-laws. While she may not be pursuing such work full-time, Jo-Anne is in the mix through her involvement in buying, renovating and selling apartments. Whether on holidays, a quick Saturday visit or during every day conversation, talk around the kitchen table inevitably turns to work, where even middle brother Joseph, who opted for the world of hedge funds, jumps in, offering his take on the financial markets. Over the years, these family sessions have been a schoolroom in disguise. "I can’t help but learn from Dad," says Jenine. "He’s the best teacher I’ve had," echoes James.

It’s evident that as a father, Jim Kleeman is thrilled that James and Jenine share his love for the field and are carving out their own careers so successfully. But he’s also completely committed to having as many  young people as possible experience the opportunities — and rewards. "Real estate encompasses many talents and skills. To any young person out there, I’d say find your strength and you’ll find a place for it in real estate. There’s a lot of choice in our business, not only in the type of work you do, but how you do it every day. You can be at a desk, out working with customers, on-site as part of a mechanical or technical team, or on a construction site. It’s all there for you — you can make it yours."

His family could not agree more.

New York’s Tallest

BOMAFACTS wrapped up this story with Jim Kleeman, the Port Authority of NYNJ’s Deputy Director of Redevelopment for the World Trade Center site, on April 30th, the day the World Trade Center surpassed the legendary Empire State Building to officially become the tallest building in Manhattan.

In one year, it is projected that the shimmering tower will be complete, soaring another 500 feet to reach its symbolic, and very patriotic, apex of 1776 feet.