History of GSP & Capital Markets with Steve Bram & Gary Tenzer
·The Landscape Podcast
Senior Managing Director & Principal / GSP Co-Founder
Gary M. Tenzer is a Senior Managing Director & Principal of George Smith Partners, Inc. George Smith, the firm's founder, recruited Tenzer to join in 1979. Throughout the company's evolution, Tenzer has maintained Smith's core principles and played a pivotal role in establishing the firm's national prominence in real estate. He has been personally involved in arranging over $10 billion in real estate financing across the United States.
Tenzer brings more than 40 years of expertise in originating, structuring, and underwriting sophisticated real estate financing transactions, with properties reaching $250 million in debt and equity financing. He enhances team capabilities through strategic insight and creative financing solutions for residential, multifamily, retail, office, commercial, industrial, mixed-use, congregate care, hospitality, land development, large-scale community development, and special purpose properties.
Tenzer serves as an expert witness, providing testimony in over 300 real estate litigation matters across federal and state courts nationwide. His practical experience in real estate finance, feasibility assessment, and transaction standards make him a sought-after expert.
In 2009, Tenzer was appointed interest rate expert for General Growth Properties, Inc.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy—the second-largest U.S. mall owner with 158 of its 200 malls. The Operating Engineers Pension Trust, a $2 billion Taft Hartley fund, engaged him as their real estate financing advisor.
Tenzer previously served on boards for a NYSE-listed active-adult community developer and a federally chartered commercial bank. He co-chaired the 2012-2013 Crocker Symposium on Real Estate and Law and serves on advisory boards for USC Lusk Center and UCLA Ziman Center. He lectures frequently at UCLA Anderson and USC Marshall School of Business.
Current and Former Professional and Academic Affiliations
He holds a B.A. in Economics from UC Berkeley, an M.B.A. in Finance and Entrepreneurship from USC, and an M.S.B.A. in Real Estate Finance from USC.
