Chris Byrns.
Chris Byrns, 27
Associate Director of Real Estate Equity Acquisitions at Barings
Chris Byrns’ foray into commercial real estate finance was initially driven by an interest in the development and architecture aspect of the business.
Byrns’ first job after earning a master’s in real estate development from Columbia was with JLL’s New York debt and equity team in 2017, where he helped arrange Savanna’s $463 million acquisition loan from Deutsche Bank for 5 Bryant Park.
“I was drawn to the team as the group was involved in many of the city’s most prominent construction projects,” Byrns said. “While I joined the team to be closer to development and architecture, I soon found myself particularly interested in the finance side of real estate.”
As Byrns grew more interested in finance, he took an opportunity to join the real estate group of investment bank Hammond Hanlon Camp, which specialized in healthcare deals. He joined the Manhattan-based equity investment team at Barings in June as the next step in his real estate financing journey.
As associate director of the Barings real estate equity acquisitions team, Byrns evaluates investment opportunities primarily on the East Coast with a focus on the New York region. He works on deals of all sizes and asset classes, and has been targeting life sciences and industrial opportunities of late.
Such a trajectory was far from clear early on. Byrns earned a bachelor’s in history from Cornell. He knew even in his undergraduate days, however, that a real estate path was in his future.
“I didn’t necessarily know how I would end up in real estate, but a I knew a couple of developers from my hometown who studied liberal arts, and I told myself that if they found a way to go from the liberal arts into real estate then I could find a way to,” said Byrns, who grew up in Annapolis, Md. “I’m grateful and feel really lucky for having the good fortune to work with a lot of really smart people, and I’ve been able to learn from some of the best in the industry. —A.C.
