Michael Shohet is vice president of JLL financial and professional services firm and is the Southern Nevada chapter president of NAIOP, the largest real estate trade organization in Las Vegas, with more than 200 member companies. NAIOP focuses on networking, education and advocacy, including government affairs.
If you could change one thing about Southern Nevada, what would it be?
Other than skipping the month of August, I’d like Southern Nevada to position itself to attract younger professionals. Our tourism industry has built a great base of employment that we need to build on and increase the level of our educated workforce. Investing in and improving our education system, both at the K-12 and post-secondary levels, will help attract new industries with higher-paying jobs. This in turn will attract new talent to our market. I think this virtuous cycle is one of the keys to economic development and growth.
What’s the biggest issue facing Southern Nevada?
In addition to education, taxes and land availability, there is a significant level of uncertainty with the proposed commerce tax and potential reforms to property tax caps. While increased taxes and fees can be onerous and detrimental to business initiatives, uncertainty is worse. Lastly, while it may seem like there is plenty of land here, the fact is the federal government controls most of the land in the state, including most of the undeveloped land surrounding Las Vegas. In the short term, the result is higher land prices than some of our neighbors, such as Reno, Salt Lake City and Phoenix. This is a major factor when businesses are deciding where to locate new facilities. In the long term, this situation limits the amount of land available for future commercial development, which results in limits on economic development and job growth.
What has been your most exciting professional project to date?
My most exciting project is always my next one. I like to continually challenge myself.
That said, working with Larry Ruvo and Frank Gehry on the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health was a highlight. It is not often you have the opportunity to work with personalities and talents like them. Managing the Zappos project in the old City Hall was a close second.
What are your main duties and goals as NAIOP president?
I see my role with NAIOP as the champion of our mission. This year, we have three new initiatives that our board has committed to take on.
First, we are working on leadership development. We have a great program called the Developing Leaders Institute, which is a yearlong industry-training program. We need to provide a pathway for some of these up-and-coming stars to take on a leadership role within the organization. We put together a task force of industry leaders to help us look at our bylaws and build strategies to accomplish this.
Second, we are trying to renew our relationship with UNLV. We would like to foster a collaborative partnership and recruit new student members. During the recession, UNLV graduates were not looking to the real estate business as a potential career path. We need to change that.
Finally, we are embarking on a diversity campaign. While we have made improvements in gender equality in terms of representation on our board, in our organization and in our industry, there is a long way to go. The real estate industry should represent a cross-section of the demographic make-up of our city. We will work with the various chambers of commerce (Urban, Latin, Asian) to build strategies to accomplish this.
What was your industry’s biggest surprise in 2015?
The announcement of the Faraday project. For industrial real estate, this project is the catalyst for delivering utilities to 3,000 acres of developable industrial land at Apex Industrial Park. This will help address our land-availability issue and will provide low-cost land for future industrial development. In addition, it represents a shift in the types of industries we have been able to attract and could be a catalyst for additional manufacturers to come here.
What are you reading?
I normally read business or leadership books, but I’m currently reading “Life,” Keith Richards’ autobiography. Playing guitar is one of the things I do to relax, and music is a passion of mine.
What do you do after work?
I have a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old, so evenings are the regular routine — soccer practices, homework and dinner. I coach the Brian Head ski team, so the kids and I are up there two to three weekends a month or in Salt Lake City at races. I raced when I was a kid in Canada, and both of my kids love it, too. I love travel and outdoor activities, and skiing is at the top of that list. During my career, I have taken two “ski sabbaticals.” In 1999, I embarked on a three-month ski tour living out of the back of a 1976 VW van and visiting some of the best ski resorts on the West Coast. In 2001, I took another three months off work to ski in Lake Tahoe. Travel is my other passion. In my 20s, I backpacked all over South America and Europe, and I still like to take trips to interesting places. This past holiday season, I spent a week in Guatemala.
Blackberry, iPhone or Android?
As much as I would love to support Blackberry, a Canadian company, I’m an iPhone user.
Describe your management style.
I’m definitely a consensus builder. I’m also an engineer by training, so my strength really lies in creative problem solving. I love diving into a complex problem and coming up with a creative solution.
Whom do you admire and why?
I admire my brother. As kids, we were both academically inclined, and we were good at math and science. I took the practical route with an education in engineering and a career in construction and development. Simon chose to follow his creative passion and embarked on a career in film. For many years, he toiled in that industry, working freelance to establish a “reel.” Now as a director of photography, he has achieved success and shoots movies, commercials and music videos. He recently shot a video for Rihanna and Drake. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I had chosen a career following a different passion, like skiing.
What is something people might not know about you?
I spent time in a Bolivian prison — but you have to buy me a drink if you want the full story.