CO’s 30 Under 30: The Top Leasing and Sales Professionals of 2019
Jenna Heidenberg, 28
Senior Associate, SCG Retail
Jenna Heidenberg is an animal lover, avid podcast listener, and star broker at SCG Retail.
Heidenberg’s family is in real estate. It was always a topic of discussion at the breakfast and dinner table. In college, she wanted to find her own path and was drawn to all things visual: architecture, art history, and communications, but eventually she found her way back to real estate. “I was denying myself something I felt passionate about,” she said.
After spending some time in private equity, Heidenberg decided she wanted a change. “There was a lot of time spent sitting in my office with a jar of peanut butter and spreadsheets,” she said. “I wanted to work with more tangible assets. I also really wanted to interface with people more.”
At SCG, Heidenberg works with David Firestein, to represent Starbucks and Taco Bell on their atypical offerings, including Starbucks’ bakery brand Princi, and Taco Bell’s updated offering Taco Bell Cantina.
Heidenberg helped Starbucks sign an 18,000-square-foot lease for a commissary in Red Hook in 2017 and helped secure locations for several Princi locations. “They’re kind of right-sizing, and looking to capture more lunch traffic, high lunch traffic,” she said. She also represents Taco Bell at their corporate headquarters in New York.
Heidenberg’s work is split 70-30 between her larger clients, and smaller, less-established firms. “Every broker wants a rollout,” she said, but she gives all her clients the same level of service.
When she’s not working, Heidenberg is likely out walking with her dog Scarlett. “It’s one of my favorite ways to decompress and disconnect while simultaneously keeping current on the retail landscape,” she said.—C.G.