Speaker: Tammy Jones ’87, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Basis Investment Group
Ms. Jones has more than 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Over her entire career, Ms. Jones has invested in and loaned CRE assets on behalf of large pension funds and institutional investors, including Equitable Real Estate (largest pension fund advisor and investment management firm at the time), GMACCM (one of the largest CRE lenders, owned by GM) and CWCapital (the U.S. debt investment platform owned by Caisse de dépôt, one of the largest pension fund managers in Quebec). Ms. Jones is a seasoned veteran in CRE investments, capital markets, and structured finance. Since 2009, Ms. Jones has served as both Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Basis Investment Group (Basis), a multi-strategy commercial real estate investment platform she founded with JEMB Realty Corporation that acquires and originates a variety of senior and subordinated loans, preferred equity and joint venture equity positions on behalf of its investors. Under her leadership, Basis has succeeded in closing nearly $4.0 billion in commercial real estate debt and structured equity-related investments across the United States. Prior to joining Basis, Ms. Jones worked at CWCapital LLC (CW) from 2004 to 2009, serving as head of CW’s fixed and floating rate Capital Markets Lending Division and closing approximately $6B in investments. Between 1997 and 2004, Ms. Jones was a Senior Vice President of Commercial Capital Initiatives, Inc., a GMACCM subsidiary (now Berkadia) (GMAC) and part of the leadership team responsible for creating GMAC’s Capital Markets lending division. Prior to her seven years with GMAC, she held various positions on the equity and asset management side of the business at commercial real estate investment companies including Equitable Real Estate and AMRESCO Management, Inc.
Ms. Jones is currently an Independent Director for Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (NYSE: CLI), is an Independent Director for KKR Real Estate Select Trust Inc. – Private (40 Act) REIT, is an Independent Director for Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI), is the Chair of the Real Estate Executive Council (REEC), is a member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women (PCCW), is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, is on the Advisory Board for NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate and is the Vice-Chairman of Basis Impact Group Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a pipeline of women and minorities in commercial real estate. Ms. Jones formerly served as an Independent Director for Monogram Residential Trust, Inc. (NYSE: MORE). Ms. Jones was recognized as one of The Network Journal’s 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business in 2017, received the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) 2019 Finance Catalyst Award and received the 2020 Cornell Baker Industry Leader Award. Ms. Jones holds a BA in Economics from Cornell University and an MBA with a concentration in Real Estate Finance from the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.