W. Kelly

Chief Executive Officer & Trustee, Jbg Smith Pptys

Search every verified W. Kelly interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Matt Kelly, CEO of JBG Smith, has discussed the company's strategy of shifting its portfolio from office to multifamily assets, noting that the company was about 80% office when it was created in 2017 and is now over 50% multifamily. He stated that most of the company's future growth will be "disproportionately multifamily versus office." Kelly has also commented on the broader office market, saying there is "too much office space and not enough demand to fill it" and that some obsolete office buildings will need to be converted to other uses, such as multifamily or hospitality. He described National Landing, where JBG Smith is building Amazon's second headquarters, as benefiting from defense-sector demand tailwinds but not being immune to national office market pressures. Kelly has spoken about the company's use of technology, including real-time building monitoring systems for energy efficiency, active indoor air quality monitoring, and piloting new technologies like carbon capture. He also noted that JBG Smith has integrated 5G connectivity and fiber in its submarkets to provide private cellular networking to commercial tenants. Reflecting on the broader industry, Kelly said he believes the next few years will be "pretty exciting" as the industry enters a "new normal phase" after the challenges of the pandemic, inflationary pressures, and global conflict. He has also emphasized the role of REITs in democratizing real estate ownership and making it accessible to retail investors)Skip