J Street Welcomes Industry Veteran

Mike Balaban

The J Street Cos. added commercial real estate industry veteran Mike Balaban to its development team, where he will serve as development executive and be responsible for generating, underwriting and managing new ground up and value-add development opportunities.

Balaban’s background

Balaban has an extensive track record in adaptive re-use and historic redevelopment as well as ground-up development. Most recently, as principal at msb Urban and SB Urban, Balaban focused on the development of the Urban Suites concept and micro-housing developments. Prior to that, he contributed to Lowe Enterprises’ non-hospitality activities in the East Coast area. He started working in real estate in 1988 as an acquisitions officer for Washington Real Estate Investment Trust.  

He has been responsible for the acquisition, development and management of over $1.5 billion of mixed-use projects in the Washington, D.C. region, including the repositioning and redevelopment of the Fairmont Building and the Air Rights Center in Bethesda, Md., the Chevy Chase Pavilion in Chevy Chase, Md., and the Ballston Metro Center. Balaban also oversaw the development of City Vista through 2008, a complex mixed-use project in Mount Vernon Triangle. Recent development project planning and entitlement work includes Blagden Alley and the Latham Hotel.

The veteran holds a Master’s Degree in architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and an MBA from Wharton.

Image courtesy of The J Street Cos.