Building Relationships in Commercial Real Estate is Key to Success for Danielle Priore ’17
“Danielle is a lot happier when she is in warm weather,” Danielle Priore’17 laughs as she recalls this quote from her brother. Warm weather and palm trees were not the only selling points that drew Danielle to the University of San Diego from Cleveland, OH. While she admits that the sunshine was an added bonus, Danielle shared that USD’s values-based education and growing real estate program sealed the deal for her.
As the daughter of two real estate professionals, Danielle considered real estate as a career path, but during her freshman year at USD, she was still undecided. Her friend, Alex Splinter ’17, introduced her to Jackie Greulich, associate director of real estate student and career services at the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate.
“Once you meet Jackie, it’s game over,” says Danielle. Jackie has over 30 years of experience working in the real estate industry and spends much of her time playing ‘matchmaker’ with students and employers. Jackie beams with pride when USD real estate students come in to her office to ring the Ernest W. Hahn Hiring Bell, when they land a job. The bell is an homage to one of the founders of the real estate program at USD.
“I knew right away that Danielle was a smart student who would embrace all that the real estate program had to offer,” says Jackie. “She had an incredible willingness to work harder than most students and a desire to give back to others.”
Jackie was instrumental in making an introduction to Kelly Souza ’03, managing director at Wells Fargo, a relationship that Danielle shared was the most important one in her commercial real estate career. Danielle and Kelly shared a similar passion for finance and real estate. Kelly immediately recognized Danielle’s potential and committed herself to mentoring Danielle in her senior year.
“Danielle has a curiosity to learn and grow every day,” says Kelly. “This combined with her work ethic are a recipe for success.”
It was through one of Kelly’s industry connections that Danielle identified the area of commercial real estate that would end up being the niche she was looking for. An industry segment that spoke to her passion for finance and real estate was the area of debt and structured finance.
While at USD, Danielle became involved in many co-curricular activities. In 2017, in Danielle’s senior year, she was recruited by the Executive Director of the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate, Stath Karras, to participate in the NAIOP University Challenge. The semester-long project is an opportunity for top real estate students at USD, SDSU and UCSD to compete head-to-head in a highest and best use real estate competition. Danielle refers to it as one of the highlights of her time at USD.
“The competition allows students to take the academic and applied learning they have received and incorporate it to a hypothetical redevelopment of a real and significant property in San Diego County,” says Stath.
With Danielle at the helm as the NAIOP team captain, along with other standout students, including Alex Splinter ’17, Gwen Walter ’17 and Forrest Greenwalt ’17, USD took first place in the 2017 competition. Subsequent USD teams also won in 2019 and in 2022.
“The NAIOP University Challenge taught us how to work as a team,” says Danielle. “We each had a different skill set and I think that, along with our teamwork, is what led us to victory.”
In her senior year, Danielle found herself with a full schedule seven days a week. While not in class, she was building relationships off campus with commercial real estate industry professionals. On campus, she served as the student body vice president and undergraduate representative for the academic affairs committee of the board of trustees, remained at the top of her class and was recognized for her hard work and academic excellence with real estate scholarships.
One particular award, the Stephen R. Dows Real Estate Scholarship stands out most to Danielle. After reading about Dows, a real estate professional that passed away in 2011 and his “unique, big-hearted and loyal” personality, she felt honored to be the recipient of that scholarship.
With graduation on the horizon, there was one last surprise awaiting Danielle—she was invited to attend a reception to honor the ‘Alcala 100,’ a prestigious alumni group consisting of leaders from each graduating class. Shaun Moothart ’06, a senior vice president at CBRE in Newport Beach, was in attendance that night to honor the elite students. Shaun was looking to hire a sharp analyst but had not yet found the right fit. He was immediately impressed with Danielle and it didn’t take long before she was offered a job at CBRE and joined Moothart’s team after graduation.
After a year and a half working in Newport Beach, Danielle transferred internally within CBRE to a new position in New York City. While the position involved structured finance for hotels, a property type she did not yet have experience with, it was an exciting new challenge. Many of her friends that had recently moved to New York urged her to take a leap of faith and make the move. Danielle explored the idea and within three weeks of the offer, she made the cross-country move.
Part of her new responsibilities in New York City included spending more time with lenders, one of which was the standout team at Pacific Western Bank, a non-recourse construction lender. The New York office, which offers bridge and ground-up construction financing throughout the Eastern U.S., is led by the company’s executive vice president, Patrick Crandall.
“Patrick is the most genuine person and so well respected in the industry,” says Danielle. She was not only impressed with the company’s leadership, but also with the tight knit culture of the team at Pacific Western Bank, which reminded Danielle of her days at USD.
“They truly enjoy working with each other and have such a positive company culture,” says Danielle. Eventually, she was extended an offer to join Pacific Western Bank, where she now serves as a senior investment associate in New York.
Danielle credits her success in commercial real estate to the relationships that she has made along her career journey— ones she has nurtured over the years. She is grateful for the opportunities that she has been given and wants to provide the same support to others going forward.
Working in a historically male-dominated industry, many women supported and inspired Danielle throughout her journey.
“They showed me that being a woman in commercial real estate is an asset—an opportunity,” says Danielle. Her success is, in part, because of the support she received from other USD alumnae. This inspired her to establish the Danielle Priore Women in Real Estate Scholarship to support young women starting their careers in real estate and as a way to pay tribute to the mentors that helped her along the way—mentors like Kelly Souza.
“Danielle is such a gracious and kind human being and I feel blessed to have spent time with her,” says Kelly. "I am so proud that she is out in the world elevating the real estate community.”
Danielle is indeed making her mark in the real estate community from the West Coast to East Coast. Proof of this comes by way of USD’s Kaysa Lundberg ’23 who is majoring in real estate. Kaysa is the most recent recipient of Danielle’s scholarship.
“I am grateful for women like Danielle—she is a successful woman in commercial real estate who is giving back to the USD community and is an example of a woman whose qualities I wish to emulate in my own career.”