Laurie Baker, COO at Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT), says the importance of gender equity and diversity within the commercial real estate industry has been amplified as a result of the pandemic.
Speaking on Nareit’s REIT Report, Baker said that while more women are rising to key leadership positions across the industry, the pandemic “in many ways stalled the progress that was being made because they [women] were disproportionately forced to choose between careers and caregiving for their family.”
At the same time, Baker said, the pandemic also presented opportunities in the form of new forms of flexibility and “resetting definitions of career satisfaction and what company success and personal success is.”
Baker, who was named COO in late 2021, also reflected on her more than two decades at Camden, including her work implementing pioneer revenue management technology as well as helping to create Camden’s first investment funds.
In addition, Baker commented on the state of multifamily fundamentals. While supply remains steady, outsized demand for apartment homes, and housing in general, has enabled Camden to maintain high levels of occupancy and strong rental growth, she says.
Baker also highlighted some of the challenges Camden has faced lately. On the development side, that has included getting appliances in place for units to be operational on time, while labor shortages have occurred on the construction side as well as on the operations side from maintenance team members and property staffing.
“We’ve got great partnerships with our vendors and our contractors, but it’s taken a little bit more time and energy to make sure that we’ve secured the goods that we need in order to open up on time for any of our new developments,” Baker said.