Women in CRE: Katie Reinsmidt
As COO of CBL Properties, she has helped redevelop properties with non-retail tenants.
Twenty years ago, Katie Reinsmidt moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., from St. Louis, Mo., to join CBL Properties as director of investor relations for the retail REIT. Today, she is executive vice president & COO at the company, which owns and manages 93 properties totaling 57.8 million square feet across 22 states, including enclosed malls, outlet centers and lifestyle retail centers.
Reinsmidt was promoted to her current role in May 2023 after spending more than six years as CIO. She manages portfolio operations, driving strategic growth initiatives, enhanced analytics, financial performance and operating efficiencies, while continuing to oversee investor relations, ESG and corporate communications programs.
“Whether it’s where you live, work, learn or play or what you invest in, everyone connects in some way through real estate,” she notes. “It’s exciting to be a part of that world, building relationships and in some way getting to shape the physical world we live in.”
Earlier roles included senior vice president of investor relations/corporate investments; vice president of corporate communications and investor relations; and director of corporate communications and investor relations.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and worked as an analyst for A.G. Edwards before making the move to CBL.
Making change positive
Reinsmidt has been instrumental in driving CBL’s success, helping redevelop properties by adding hotels, medical, self-storage and entertainment uses. At Westmoreland Mall, a 977,000-square-foot asset in Greensburg, Pa., The Cordish Co. redeveloped a defunct department store as Live! Casino Pittsburgh. The 100,000-square-foot destination opened nearly four years ago, offering gaming, entertainment and restaurants.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, in a joint venture with Davis Moore Capital, recently opened a more than 20,000-square-foot medical office building in a former restaurant at Friendly Center in Greensboro, N.C. The facility offers pediatric care, family medicine, imaging and urgent care.
Taking on new challenges and overcoming obstacles can be painful, notes Reinsmidt, but the process allows you to grow as a leader and person.
“This industry, and more specifically our company, has gone through so much change over the past 20 years,” she shared. “It’s been in a near constant state of evolution. When the norm is always shifting, you have to learn to thrive and make the change positive.”
Being confident in your own abilities goes along with making those tough calls, Reinsmidt added. “Know that there is nothing you can’t master given time and opportunity.”
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