Connect 3 Q&A: Gerald “Jerry” Katell – The Art of CRE

Photos from Jerry Katell

By Chris Egger

Bonafide commercial real estate legend? Renaissance man? Humanitarian? Philanthropist? Artist? If you have known Gerald L. Katell, founder of Katell Properties, you know the labels are earned recognition. If you don’t know “Jerry” as he is known amongst friends and peers the world over, it might be because he has been relatively quiet in CRE circles since taking a well deserved hiatus to pursue his artistic passions and an acting career.

Through all his signature project’s, including the development of Warner Center’s Warner Ridge in the 1990s to the opening of Chesterfield Square, the first significant retail investment in South Los Angeles, which opened in 2002 on the 10th anniversary of the city’s 1992 riots, he has always had a vision on the future of our cities. Connect Media had the distinct pleasure to catch up with Jerry to discuss some of his thoughts on art, acting, and of course commercial real estate.

Q: Your commercial real estate legacy in Los Angeles is undisputed, but what led you to choose acting and the arts as a full time endeavor over the past decade?

A: Candidly, after my wife passed in 1999, I started doing things I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise. I trained for and ran two marathons and went to acting school for four years. I was in a number of USC film school projects to get work for my “reel,” including student films, believe it or not. I got my SAG card appearing in the first film made for Animal Planet, “The Retrievers” starring Robert Wagner and Betty White. After meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger, he referred me to audition for a small, but to me significant, role in “Terminator 3.” That led to a part in “The Ripple Effect” starring Forest Whitaker, Virginia Madsen and Minnie Driver. Only in LA, right? I have also performed in a couple plays, “Just a Song at Twilight” and “Maxwell Street.”

Most recently, singing has become my passion. I always liked singing but I didn’t start serious training until five years ago. I recently put on my first “gig” at a brand new nightclub in Hollywood called The Bourbon Room, a bar and lounge on Hollywood Blvd. with an adjoining theater now showing the musical “Rock of Ages.” I will be singing there once a month in 2020.

Q: When did your art photography become a driving passion?

A: After paying my dues in commercial real estate development, I moved to Rome for two years. It was always a dream of my beloved deceased wife and I to do so. Although I always had a passion for photography, I became much more focused on the art of the image traveling all over Italy and Europe with my camera and lenses. My daughter Jennifer curated my first show, “Ti Amo Italia,” in 2007 in Santa Monica at Edgemar Studios. That same show was then done in Rome. After moving to London in 2009 and continuing with this “renaissance” of purpose, I had my third show at the Jeanie Madsen Gallery in Santa Monica entitled “The Nature of Art” encompassing Iceland and Easter Island. I continued traveling and shooting over the years since then and in October, 2019 opened a show entitled “People and Places” with photography from Italy, Iceland, Easter Island, Sochi, Nepal, Tibet, Chinese Turkestan, Beijing, London, the Ice Hotel, Falkland Islands, S. Georgia Island, Antarctica, Panama, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Death Valley and Yosemite.

Q: What pearls of wisdom do you have for the rising generations of commercial real estate professionals and urban planning talent?

A: As a member of the Young Presidents Organization, YPO Gold and Chief Executives Organization it is important to recognize the benefits of socially relevant service. Not only have I served as a board member for the development of Walt Disney Concert Hall, I also served as Board Chair for LA’s BEST, an after-school program in the poorest LAUSD schools, and I am proud to say helped grow it from 3,000 children in 21 schools to 28,000 children in 180 schools. These types of efforts give us an insight into urban culture and humanism required to be successful in real estate development.

As a real estate developer, one must be something of a futurist, trying to determine what users will want when the project you envision is delivered. From land acquisition and entitlement, to construction and final occupancy. Patience and timing is the name of the game. Design concepts and vision, land use approvals from various agencies often coupled with battles with community associations, planning commissions and city councils or various state agencies, and then finalization of plans is just a start. The developer has to be the conductor of the various players involved, land brokers, land planners, civil engineers, architects, equity partners, construction lenders, contractors, landscape architects, tenant improvement designers and contractors, landscape contractors, utility companies, planning commissions, city councils, environmental agencies and permanent lenders. Each project has quite a story, and I am happy to share a couple (see below links).