Adele Huang.
Adele Huang, 29
Vice president of the consulting group at CBRE
Adele Huang wasn’t sure what part of commercial real estate she wanted to work in, just that she wanted to be in the field in New York City. After finishing her stint at CBRE (CBRE)’s 14-month, highly-selective Wheel Program — which gave her a taste of the brokerage’s different divisions — consulting won the day.
“In traditional brokerage, you’re mostly out there canvassing, doing cold calls, trying to get the meetings,” she said. “[In consulting,] they really train you based on the technical side of the business first. You’re really just immersed in the model and trying to understand what real estate costs the client incurs.”
Huang said consulting’s analytical side played to her strengths and the proof is in the pudding. Since 2016, Huang has worked on 55 transactions that totaled 2.8 million square feet.
These include Washington, D.C.-based Wiley law firm’s 166,000-square-foot deal at Tishman Speyer’s 2050 M Street development. Huang helped Wiley find a solution for its 300,000-square-foot headquarters that was spread across two separate buildings — of which the firm only used 80 percent — and sign a lease well ahead of its previous arrangement’s expiration. She’s also worked on cosmetics company Shiseido’s relocation of its North American headquarters to 220,000 square feet at 390 Madison Avenue.
Huang was born in Canada, lived for a couple of years in China, and returned to Canada before her family settled in Rockville, Md. A trip to New York in 2001 sealed the deal for her on eventually moving to the city.
“I just fell in love with the energy of the city,” she said. “Washington, D.C., didn’t have that same buzz to me.”
She graduated with a bachelor’s in hospitality management from Cornell University and, before CBRE, had internships at the hospitality lending team at GE Capital and the brand marketing division of Wyndham Worldwide.
During the coronavirus lockdown, she’s been focused on talking to her current clients about managing their portfolios post-COVID shutdown. In her spare time, the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, resident enjoys running, trying new eateries, tennis and cooking.
