Weinbaum is president and CEO of Horning, a legacy family-owned company in Washington, D.C. Horning has an incredibly diverse portfolio of multifamily and commercial assets in Greater Washington, D.C., totaling nearly 5,000 housing units and 600,000 square feet of retail owned and managed. In his role, Weinbaum provides strategic oversight of all corporate initiatives, oversees a dedicated team of professionals (nearly 200 strong!), ensures that properties are at peak performance, and finds new opportunities to leverage Horning’s reputation and skill set to further build communities where residents can thrive. Weinbaum holds a JD from the George Washington University School of Law and a BA from Wake Forest University. 

Weinbaum believes that NEXT is critical to the real estate industry because it recognizes the incredible wealth of talent among rising leaders 35 years and older. It provides programmatic and other support to those moving into the C-suite and those flexing their entrepreneurial muscles. Through NEXT, leaders form close relationships with similarly situated peers that will be extremely beneficial as they continue their journey toward more advanced senior leadership positions in the industry. Weinbaum has served as chair of his Public/Private Partnerships Council and chair of ULI Washington. 

In the following Q&A, Weinbaum explores his passion for the commercial real estate industry and his experiences at ULI. 

Q1. So many of us in real estate fall into the industry, and hence CRE professional organizations. How did you get involved with ULI? 

Jamie Weinbaum (JW): I got involved in ULI when I was looking to transition from practicing law into a real estate development role. I had done some small projects on my own—primarily flipping single-family homes—and wanted to ensure that I was learning best practices and getting to know great minds in our industry. ULI was a natural fit from day one. 

Q2. What is the most interesting project you’ve worked on over your career in real estate? 

JW: While working for JBG Smith (formerly the JBG Companies), I led a mixed-use project in the Fort Totten submarket of Washington, D.C., that included 345 apartments above a 110,000-square-foot urban-format Walmart. It was one of the first vertically mixed-use projects in the country that Walmart had been part of, and working with various stakeholders was exciting and also eye-opening! There were so many complicated aspects of the project to work through and challenges related to parking and loading (of course!), as well how the various uses would integrate and feed off one another. I learned a tremendous amount from that experience and am very proud of the building we built. 

Q3. What are you most excited about in regard to the future of the industry? 

JW: Real estate is a reflection of how we live our lives. It provides the shelter under which we raise our families, perform our jobs, and engage in recreation. Because our world is changing so quickly—especially in light of technological advances and the sea change brought about by COVID—it’s fascinating to me to see the rejiggering of our society and its impact on real estate. It’s certainly a fear-inducing time, but I think on a macro level that we’ll feel plenty of pain but also so much innovation that will sustain us over time. Real estate isn’t going anywhere. It’s a basic component of our lives. But it lives and changes—and will at an even faster pace. That’s what excites me. 

Q4. What are you currently reading/watching? 

JW: I tend to read a wide range of books, from leadership fables to biographies to bestselling fiction. I just finished Trust by Hernan Diaz and am about to start Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum. 

As far as TV, my watch lists are overloaded. I like political thrillers, so we are currently binging The Diplomat. 

Check out past “Getting to Know Who’s NEXT” articles here.