March 12, 2015 -
Front Section
According to Trans National Properties, developer and owner of 133 Federal St. and the Trans National building at 2 Charlesgate in the Fenway, veteran real estate professional Justin Krebs has joined Trans National as executive vice president. Krebs, who most recently was the partner in charge of Normandy Real Estate Partners Boston & New England offices, joins Trans National to expand its real estate investment and development platform, and to lead the development team working on the proposed 740' Trans National Tower. An iconic mixed-use development in Winthrop Sq., as proposed, Trans National Tower will include hotel, residential, office, and ground floor retail at the Winthrop Sq. Garage site and 133 Federal St., which is currently owned by Trans National.
Prior to joining Trans National Properties, Krebs managed Normandy's highly successful ownership and repositioning of the John Hancock Tower. In addition, he was responsible for the permitting and co-development of the 378-unit Troy residential project in the South End, along with the historic redevelopment of the Ames Building into a boutique hotel.
Steve Belkin, CEO of Trans National said, "Justin is well-respected in all aspects of the real estate industry both locally and nationally, including his extensive permitting, finance and development experience with hotels, residential and office properties, which makes him uniquely qualified to lead our growing development team. Trans National Properties in conjunction with Holiday Fenoglio Fowler (HFF) issued a RFP last fall and interviewed industry-leading co-developers with mixed-use tower experience. Justin Krebs will be leading Trans National Properties' process to choose this co-developer. HFF has also been engaged to arrange the financing for this development."
Krebs also has extensive experience securing tenants, financing and developing corporate build-to-suit office projects, including luring powerhouse Bain Capital to the John Hancock Tower. In recent years, Krebs was also responsible for the ground-up development of two major office projects, including securing Trip Advisors move to its new 300,000 s/f global headquarters in Needham and Adobe's LEED Certified Platinum build-to-suit office building in Waltham.
Previous to building Normandy's Boston platform, MKrebs was a senior vice president at JP Morgan where he completed over $4 billion in real estate investments and joint ventures from Boston to Florida, including a development joint venture with Avalon Bay on pioneering projects on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, as well as with Samuels & Associates on the Trilogy, a mixed-use residential project which spurred the wave of transformative development in the Fenway area of Boston.
Krebs said, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which leverages my experience and skills. My first priority is the company's transformative mixed-use 740' Trans National Tower. I will also be working on additional unique opportunities and developments in Greater Boston, as we expand and build upon Steve's existing platform."