Director of Real Estate

BRICK EXECUTIVE SEARCH is working with an expanding fast-fashion retailer with 40 locations and an aggressive plan to grow to 100 stores over the next several years. We are seeking a Director of Real Estate who will fully own this retailer's national store portfolio-strategy, renewals, site selection, negotiations, analytics, and landlord relationships. This role centralizes work historically divided among ownership and third-party brokers (Savills) and provides the retailer with a single accountable leader to manage a large and increasingly complex portfolio.

This is a high-impact role that directly influences profitability, growth velocity, and long-term footprint.

Key Responsibilities

1. Portfolio Strategy & Planning

• Build a 3–5 year real estate roadmap to scale from a current 40 stores.
• Analyze regional performance, co-tenancy trends, demographic shifts, mall traffic, and fashion ZIP heat maps to direct expansion or exits.
• Develop and maintain a portfolio scorecard using standardized metrics (e.g., occupancy cost %, sales PSF, EBITDA contribution, renewal risk).
• Present quarterly recommendations to COO and ownership.

1. Lease Administration & Renewals

• Fully manage all lease expirations, options, renewals, rent escalations, and amendment negotiations.
• Maintain a proactive 24-month renewal calendar and internal notification system.
• Perform financial modeling on renewals (rent changes, CAM/NNN impacts, ROI on remodels).
• Ensure timely execution of all lease documents.

1. Market Expansion & Site Selection

• Identify new markets and high-potential locations using the retailers customer density, mall traffic, demographic match, and fashion ZIP scoring method.
• Conduct site tours, prepare comparative site matrices, and present recommendations.
• Partner with brokers (including Savills) to source and vet opportunities.

1. Deal Structuring & Negotiation

• Lead all negotiations with landlords for new stores, renewals, relocations, short-term pop-ups, and rent abatements.
• Secure favorable TI packages, free rent periods, caps on CAM increases, and co-tenancy protections.
• Coordinate with legal on lease review, risk identification, and redline management.
• Compare deals against industry benchmarks to ensure competitiveness.

1. Cross-Functional Execution

• Work closely with Construction, Finance, Operations, and Store Leadership on openings, remodels, and closures.
• Partner with Finance to ensure accurate occupancy cost budgeting and forecasting.
• Provide detailed turnover requirements and timelines to Construction & Ops.

1. Vendor & Broker Management

• Oversee Savills and all other real estate partners; set expectations, KPIs, and reporting cadence.
• Hold brokers accountable to delivering actionable market intel and competitive deal terms.
• Evaluate whether external brokerage workload should be expanded, replaced, or brought in-house.

1. Store Performance Analytics

• Build and maintain dashboards on store health:
• Sales PSF
• Occupancy costs
• Year-1 ramp curves
• Portfolio profitability clusters
• Risk of decline (traffic shifts, anchor closures, competitive encroachment)
• Recommend relocations or closures based on data and financial modeling.

1. Executive Communication & Alignment

• Create succinct, data-backed decks for ownership, COO, and board-level review.
• Provide monthly reporting: renewals, risks, landlord issues, new deals, and market trends.
• Represent the retailer professionally with landlords, developers, and national REIT contacts.

Required Skills & Experience

• 5 years in retail real estate, ideally with a multi-unit specialty retailer (50–200 stores).
• Strong experience managing high-velocity renewals, lease negotiations, and multi-market expansion.
• Advanced financial modeling skills (occupancy cost %, NPV of lease, break-even impact, EBITDA uplift).
• Demonstrated success negotiating rent reductions, TI, abatements, and early termination strategies.
• Competency in reading redlines, coordinating with legal, and managing lease execution processes.
• Strong relationships in the landlord community a plus (e.g., Simon, Brookfield, Macerich, WS, Kimco).
• Highly organized with ability to manage 50 concurrent timelines and lease events.
• Data-oriented and comfortable using scoring frameworks, GIS, and demographic tools.

Success Metrics (Year 1 – Year 2)

• 0 missed renewals or escalation deadlines.
• 10–15% average improvement in renewal terms vs. legacy deals at similar locations.
• Full real estate roadmap created identifying markets for 40→80 store growth.
• Proactive communication on portfolio risks (anchor closures, declining malls, lease cliffs).
• Reduced reliance on ownership for real estate decision-making.
• Faster deal cycle times from LOI → executed lease.

Compensation & Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, life, disability
• 401(k), FSA/HSA, transit benefits
• Generous employee discount