Matthew Simo is the President and Chief Executive Officer at Urban Renaissance Group (URG) where he drives the company’s vision and long-term strategy and provides operational oversight. Matthew has been with URG since its inception in 2006.
Prior to becoming CEO, Matthew served as President and Chief Investment Officer where he led the company’s investment strategy, guided acquisition and development activities, and fostered partnerships with strategic institutional and private investors. Under his leadership, URG invested in and managed a portfolio exceeding 20 million square feet and $7 billion, which included office, retail, multifamily and hotel properties.
Before joining URG, Matthew worked at Trizec Properties in Chicago. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate at Harvard University. Matthew is also a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional.
Matthew is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (Placemaking National Product Council, Center for Sustainable Leadership, Leadership for Change) and the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association. He also serves on the Runstad Department for Real Estate Advisory Board at the University of Washington and has been a lecturer on Equity Ventures for the University of Washington Commercial Real Estate Certificate Program since 2014.
“At Urban Renaissance Group, we focus on sustainable long-term value creation. We do this by recognizing often overlooked opportunities and understanding and appropriately pricing real versus perceived risk. In doing so, we can make well-informed, strategic investments that have a positive impact on the communities we invest in.”
