Name: Stephen Lebovitz
Title: President
Company: CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.
Location: Waltham
Birthplace and year: Charleston, S.C., 1961
Family: Wife, Lisa; kids: Andrew (16), Matthew (14), Abby (12), Julia (9)
College: Stanford University
First job in real estate or allied field: Goldman-Sachs
What do you do now and what are you planning for the future? Involved in all aspects of leading CBL, the fourth largest mall company in the country.
Hobbies: Biking, skiing
Favorite book: "Into Thin Air"
Favorite movie: "Braveheart"
Person you admire most (outside of family): Lance Armstrong
Key to success: The greatest thing about this business is that every project has its own unique challenges. There is never a dull moment.
If you had to choose another vocation what would it be? Teaching
Hingham, MA Union Square Donuts, the Somerville-based donut shop, will open a new location at Derby Street Shops later this summer. Founded in 2012, Union Square Donuts has built a devoted following across Greater Boston for its from-scratch approach and creative flavor combinations.
Now what? As the year comes to a close, the state of retail is always in the news. The answers vary greatly depending on who in the various related industries you ask, each offering a unique lens on the challenges and opportunities ahead.
This may seem self-serving, and I’ll be the first to admit it. But unlike some of the artificial intelligence tools now reshaping our industry, I am fully aware of my own bias. So, hear me out. The rise of AI in commercial real estate is not a distant threat or a speculative headline.