Molly Morgan forges a new team while continuing a family legacy

As Executive Vice President, Retail Property Management Leasing, Molly Morgan has to keep her eye on every retail trend around — from the growing interest in health, to the latest restaurants to demographic trends. That’s because Molly’s team oversees the merchandising and leasing of redevelopment and ground-up development projects for more than 40 premier mixed-use assets in markets from California to the Carolinas.

It could be overwhelming, but retail runs in Molly’s blood.

As the daughter of Greg Maloney, the recently retired President and CEO of JLL's Americas Property Management Retail division, Molly was no stranger to commercial real estate, and had the option of joining the industry after college. Through her father’s connections, she had an offer for a commercial real estate position; on her own, she was offered a more traditional sales job.

“Being a little stubborn, I went with the sales job,” she says. “I absolutely hated it. I had gone to a few ICSC conferences in Las Vegas, and kept asking myself, ‘Why did I not listen to my dad and go into this industry? Everyone seems to love what they do, and things are always fun and exciting.’”

She quickly found a position as a merchant relations coordinator with a smaller real estate company and began learning the business her way. She worked with tenants, then moved on to market a large mixed-use project in the Atlanta area, followed by overseeing portfolio reviews for a major REIT.

“I started in marketing, but I always knew I wanted to be on the leasing side, so each move I made got me closer to getting into leasing,” she notes.

Her earliest real estate jobs were in the mixed-use and lifestyle arena, which was particularly useful when she joined JLL in 2013, where she worked on the Galleria at Fort Lauderdale, and also on the mixed-use, ground-up development Halcyon.

“I started to build a business around mixed-use,” she continues. “I felt that was an area that we had not tapped, though a lot of clients had a need for leasing in that specialty.”

In 2021, she approached Paul Chase, Managing Director of Retail Property Management Leasing and Business Development, with the idea to create a new, dedicated group to focus on top-tier mixed-use properties around the U.S.

“I told him that we could build a business around this,” she says. “There had been a silo around it, with another person on the West Coast working on a couple of similar assets. I thought we should pull these together and create a boutique leasing group that specializes in these assets.”

Molly Morgan and her family.

“We have five core members, but can also pull people from our traditional portfolio, as well as partnering with our local brokers,” she said. “Our team now really is more than 20 people.”

A mom of 7- and 8-year-old daughters, Molly begins most days like every other working parent.

“My days start with getting my girls ready for school and getting everyone out the door,” she says. “I try to get a morning workout in to clear my head and then catch up on all my emails.”

Molly’s team focuses on the unique needs of mixed-use properties, finding entrepreneurial restaurants, retailers and designers that create an immediate buzz in the community. By definition, no two days are the same for Molly, be they filled with property tours, client meetings, calling retailers or retail tours. She’s frequently at the many properties she oversees to get that local vibe.

“I think it is more fun to be out of the office,” she says. “It’s also very important in creating these retail communities to see what the market is craving: what places are crowded; what people are looking for. We have to be on top of trends — what is the latest and greatest restaurant, what clothes do people want? If we’re stuck behind a desk, we won’t see them.”

Some of these trends they are seeing include a focus on boutique fitness, self-care and wellness, she says.

She’s also active in JLL’s Women’s Business Network and is preparing to start the Women’s Leadership Program that will launch in April. And in the family tradition (Greg Maloney is a past ICSC Trustee), she’s also been involved with ICSC’s Next Gen program, helping to educate and support the leaders of tomorrow.

“I’m lucky in that there are a lot of women in the generations before me who have paved the way for women like me,” she said. “When I first started working out of college, there was not a lot of flexibility for a working mom. I could see the stress that caused. While it is still extremely challenging, people are more understanding now.

“I’ve had so many phenomenal mentors, and obviously my best mentor is my dad. I’m so lucky to have learned so much from him,” she says. “One of the biggest things I’ve learned is the importance of relationships — the people and your team come first. He really exemplifies that.”

Another lesson was how to balance work and family.

“Even at my dad’s level of success, we always came first,” she said. “I’ve always admired his ability to do that.”

Outside the industry, she volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, her local church and more. With all that, there isn’t much time, ironically, to do the one thing that she loves and matters to her career — shop.