Benjamin Hester Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Supporting growth strategy and execution of The Aspen Group's family of brands.

Chicago, Il

• Team leader in providing research and advisory services to clients to help with strategy and decision making, to improve organizational and portfolio planning and to improve execution• Augment or replace the internal real estate roles of its clients in an outsourced management and services capacity• Expert facilitator of portfolio expansion and existing portfolio optimization, working tirelessly to reduce client occupancy costs and mitigate portfolio risk through its lease administration services ($40M+ occupancy savings executed LY)

Deerfield, Il

• Portfolio Manager of +1,300 Drugstore Sites in West Coast (CA, OR, WA, ID, UT, HI & AK)• Strategize New Development and Optimization for Senior Leadership Review / Approval• Executed $5M+ Occupancy Savings from Territory P&L (Blend/Extend, Rent Reduction, Landlord Cash Contribution)

Deerfield, Il

• Manage Walgreens real estate portfolio comprised of retail drugstore and healthcare assets• Fruitfully negotiated and presented over $400M in real estate transactions garnering upwards of $1.5B in revenue to internal / external senior leadership teams• Overseen lease negotiation, construction, deployment of 100+ on time and budget store openings• Lead innovative strategy with multi-discipline teams to exceed corporate growth and savings goals• Negotiate deal terms for new locations, acquisitions, strategic relocations, lease options / restructure, dispositions and major store remodels in a manner that optimizes shareholder value• Collaborate with external service providers to proactively manage lease options and refine development opportunities to maximize corporate value

Deerfield, Il

• Lead design development and deployment teams for high-profile flagship store program• Deployed to support Well Experience remodel program: disseminated, documented, deployed design review directives for internal/external project stakeholders• Proactively communicated design dependencies and conflict implications to project leaders to mitigate coordination efforts and increase synergies• Developed and managed design standards to comply with evolving program leader specifications

Deerfield, Il

• Provided sites feasibility and preliminary planning studies for over 200 retail development projects for real estate department in preparation for executive committee• Addressed permitting, zoning, code compliance and variance issues for various Walgreen development projects• Generated impact reports and mitigation plans for Walgreen Law to maximize compensation while minimizing operation impact on eminent domain land acquisitions

Certificate, Real Estate Finance & Investment

Certificate #92717691

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Architecture

Activities and Societies: AIAS