Brandon Heim, 33

Even as an undergraduate at Pennsylvania State University, Brandon Heim knew he wanted to be involved in commercial real estate, but he certainly didn’t think he’d make a career in the highest reaches of the industry’s financial side. 

Heim recalled enjoying taking an occasional course on real estate while enrolled, but he wasn’t one to pursue real estate internships during his summers. 

“At the time, I thought of real estate as something I would invest in personally later in life, versus an institutional career,” he said.  

But once he learned about the true scale of commercial real estate finance and the various career paths one can take, Heim quickly jumped in the deep end. After several years earning his stripes at Morgan Stanley and at Global Atlantic Financial Group, he found his sweet spot overseeing credit investments at Ares Real Estate.

Under Ares’ $25 billion debt platform, Heim has worked on numerous transactions that span multiple property types. Heim has financed everything from hotels, industrial warehouses, self-storage portfolios, multifamily buildings, senior housing facilities, retail centers, for-sale condominiums and office towers, and said he enjoys the complexity and diversity of his origination volume.

“This variety is one of the unique aspects of the role and has allowed me to build strong relationships with borrowers at a number of top-tier real estate firms,” he said. 

Signature deals of Heim’s include a $772 million construction loan for Related Ross to build the CityPlace towers office complex in West Palm Beach, Fla., and a $300 million loan to renovate a luxury hotel in South Florida. 

Heim also said that one of the most enjoyable aspects of his job is that he mentors more than 10 junior debt team members. That responsibility helped him learn how to bring together and motivate different skill sets, he said. 

“It’s incredible to watch the junior team grow from summer interns to knowledgeable real estate professionals in just a few years,” he said.