In 1984, Mr. Gates co-founded CenterPoint Properties Trust and served as Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for the next 22 years. During that period, CenterPoint became the Nation's first publicly traded Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE: CNT) as well as the largest private property owner/developer in the Metropolitan Chicago Region. In 2006, the Company was acquired by the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) for approximately $3.4 billion, resulting in a 23% compound annual return to shareholders (dividends reinvested) over its 14 years as a public company. Upon the successful closing of that transaction, Mr. Gates retired to pursue a variety of other interests.
From 2007-2018, Mr. Gates served as a Director and Chairman of the Governance Committee of DCT Industrial Trust (NYSE: DCT), a leading publicly traded warehouse/industrial property REIT which owned, developed and internally managed over 73 million square feet of logistics properties in high demand U.S. distribution markets. DCT Industrial was acquired by Prologis (NYSE: PLD) on August 22, 2018, for $8.4 billion. This resulted in a 25% compound annual rate of return during the 12 years of Mr. Gates’s Board leadership.
In addition, Mr. Gates has been a board member and committee chairman of seven publicly traded corporations. Meanwhile, he has served on the Boards of numerous non-for-profit institutions and is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PortaeCo, LLC, a multisector family investment company.
He began his career as an Assistant to Governor James R. Thompson of Illinois. In 1979, he joined CB/Richard Ellis (now CBRE), and in 1981, co-founded the Chicago office of Jones Lang Wootton (now JLL). Mr. Gates graduated from Groton School in 1972 and from Trinity College in 1976 with a BSc in Economics and Philosophy.
Mr. Gates has also received numerous awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Urban Land Institute and the Lifetime Award for Excellence from the NAIOP. In addition, he was named "Outstanding REIT CEO" for the six consecutive years prior to the sale of CenterPoint by Realty Stock Review in their annual survey of institutional investors.
Mr. Gates is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, World President's Organization (WPO), and the Urban Land Institute - Board of Governors.
GOVERNMENTAL LEADERSHIP
From 2010 to 2014, Mr. Gates was Chairman of the Board of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), which oversees all rail, bus, subway, elevated, and other forms of public transit in the six-county metropolitan Chicago region. RTA owns, controls funding, and integrates the Chicago Transit Authority (Urban Subway, Elevated, Bus), Metra (Commuter Rail), and Pace (Suburban Bus). This system provides 2.2 million rides per day and has annual operating revenue and capital expenditures exceeding $6 billion.
From 2007-2010, Mr. Gates served as Chairman of the Reform Board and Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Metropolitan Pier and Exhibition Authority, which owns and operates Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center and Navy Pier. These facilities anchor Chicago's convention and tourism business and host over 50 million visitors per year. Mr. Gates oversaw the operational, financial, and legislative restructuring of the Authority, increasing Chicago's attractiveness and financial capability as the nation’s leading convention destination.
