Graaskamp Center News

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John Gates Selected as E.J. Plesko Distinquished Speaker in Real Estate Development

February 22, 2008 (11 AM)
Fluno Center Auditorium

John Gates has been selected to be the second speaker in the new E. J. Plesko Distinguished Speaker Series in Real Estate Development. The speaker series was launched in 2007 to bring the considerable real-world development expertise of our alumni and board members to all Wisconsin real estate students. The speaker series was funded by a generous gift from developer E.J. Plesko, a Graaskamp Center advisory board member and president of E.J. Plesko & Associates, a real estate development and management company based in Madison.

The speaker series will feature developers who embody the "Wisconsin tradition" in their spirit, imagination, entrepreneurial skills, and enthusiasm for improving the quality of our built environment. Our goal is to select speakers that will provide significant educational enrichment that is a natural complement to the Center's curriculum. Each speaker for the new lecture series will also be the recipient of the new E.J. Plesko Distinguished Professional in Real Estate Development Award to be presented twice a year.

About John Gates

John Gates has been an active participant and leader in the Chicago real estate market over the last 26 years. He served as Chairman and CEO of Centerpoint Properties Trust for 22 years. At Centerpoint, he created a product and market focused regional industrial investment company that became the largest owner and developer of industrial property in Chicago and the surrounding area. As a public REIT, he went against Wall Street's conventional wisdom by operating in a single market. Centerpoint's substantial financial and market success proved Wall Street wrong.

Gates has also brought many new concepts to the industrial market including branding, capital recycling and a focus on logistics. He used acquisition, development and dispositions to maximize investor performance. One of Gates' most notable development and dispositions is the 2,200 acre redevelopment of the Joliet Arsenal into the Centerpoint Intermodal Center which resulted in a one billion dollar investment of public and private capital.

Today, Gates is the Chairman and CEO of PortaeCo, a private investment company and he serves on several Corporate Boards. He is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization, the Real Estate Roundtable, Urban Land Institute and the National Association. Mr. Gates also devotes approximately half of his professional time to the Boards of not-for-profit organizations. He is Chairman of The Metropolitan Planning Committee and a Board Director for The Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Mr. Gates graduated from Trinity College in 1976 with a BS in Economics and Philosophy.