Emily Mager has been a land planner with The Haskell Company for almost two years.
WHAT DOES SHE DO?
“We have a consulting services group here at Haskell and we handle everything from interior design to landscape design to land planning. With land planning, we handle due diligence, investigation or site analysis, some permit investigation and coordination with government agencies to get the project from conception to a stage where we can start construction.”
WHAT TYPE OF PROJECTS DOES SHE WORK ON?
The consulting group works with all of the different divisions within Haskell including industrial, commercial, educational and institutional. “I could be working on a big warehouse one day and the next day a hospital.”
WHERE DOES
SHE WORK?
All over the United States with a lot of focus on Jacksonville. She has worked most recently with the Baptist Medical Center renovations and the new Deerwood Park buildings.
RELATIONSHIP WITH COMMERCIAL REALTORS?
“Realtors are the ones that make the deals happen. Our relationship isn’t direct, but everything that happens at Haskell is a direct result of a real estate transaction. We help to get their sale to a building. Realtors are the missing link for what I do as a planner. They help with identification of sites and they might know that that this site is hot. When they come to me, I say listen, these are the other issues that you need to know as far as how it fits into an urban context or how it fits into a city’s master plan.”
IS SHE LICENSED?
Almost. She has taken the real estate course and is preparing to take the state exam. “I really like investment analysis. For me, it is also exposure to another end of the business that I am not real familiar with, but am growing in interest with.”
JACK OF ALL TRADES?
“I step in and help our project teams which are made up of architects, engineers and construction managers, so I get involved anywhere they need me to. So, it could be out there prospecting for a brand new facility or it could be going into a place where they are expanding and so we have to get involved with the existing company.”
BEFORE HASKELL?
She decided to move to Cleveland to attend graduate school at Cleveland State University to get a master’s degree in urban planning, real estate finance and economic development. While there, she decided to get a job, so she went to work for the City of Cleveland in economic development. “I wanted to have the opportunity to take what I was learning and put it into an application.”
WHAT DID SHE DO
IN CLEVELAND?
“I dealt with retail development. I handled getting financial assistance for projects coming into the city. I basically helped entice companies to come to the city. It was an incentive program for anything from a small mom and pop store front retail center to a 200,000 square foot renovation.”
BEFORE CLEVELAND?
She was an assistant planner in the City of Jacksonville’s planning department.
WHY WORK FOR HASKELL AND DO LAND PLANNING?
“I wanted to see the other side, if you will. I have a friend who worked here that was a planner and they let me know about an opportunity here. I thought what a great way to learn what it really takes to get a project off the ground. My real exposure has been to every level of the project and I understand now how a government decision to delay a project for 30 days or to delay a hearing or to somehow delay what’s happening with the project really affects the bottom line.”
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR JOB?
“I like that it is different every day. I like that I am dealing with different types of projects. I also like working with so many different people. I’ve really met a lot of talented people that I can learn from.”
WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR INTEREST IN SCIENCE?
When she started college, she thought she was going to go into environmental law and so she started taking science classes. “Science was not a natural for me. I worked very hard to train my mind to think like a scientist. I was always told that if you were going into environmental law, you need to know how scientists think.”
WHY WORK WITH CITIES AND PLANNING?
Mager grew up halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh in Sharon, Pa. “Both of those cities were on their way down, if not all the way, when I was growing up. I liked seeing them revitalize. I remember driving around looking at the old buildings wondering why people don’t redevelop these old cites. I’ve always have been intrigued by cities and how they move.”
ADVICE TO OTHERS?
“The experiences that I have had have really been a great learning experience because I learned from some of the best people. If you just sit and watch and learn from what other people do, you can really expand your own horizons and be even better at what you do.”
WHAT HAS HELPED YOU MOST TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
“People who have helped me learn and grow. People who were willing to take a chance on me. Also, my ability to be a chameleon and fill a lot of different roles. The chances that have been given to me and my ability to take them and run with them.”
LAW SCHOOL?
Mager decided she didn’t want to go to law school after college, but the idea is still not out of her head. “I really have thought about it. My focus now is real estate transactions and land use law. It has crossed my mind several times and it won’t go away.”
COLLEGE
Mager has a bachelor’s degree in botany and environmental science from Miami University in Ohio.
AFTER COLLEGE?
She moved to Orlando and worked at Walt Disney World for a year. “I was Scientist Emily at the Land at Epcot Center. I actually worked in the hydroponic greenhouses. It was kind of interesting because I was working with some of what I knew and giving presentations.”
MOVED TO JACKSONVILLE?
After Epcot to work with the City of Jacksonville.
INVOLVEMENT IN ASSOCIATIONS?
She is a participant in the Brownfield Coalition and a member of Commercial Real Estate Women of Jacksonville, American Planning Association, Urban Land Institute and the American Institute for Certified Planners.
FAMILY
She lives with her cat, Diamond, in Windsor Parke.
WHAT DOES SHE DO WHEN NOT WORKING?
She teaches aerobics part-time and is involved with the alumni of Alpha Delta Pi, which volunteers with the Ronald McDonald House.
FAVORITES
She cites “Lord of the Rings” as her favorite movie and her favorite television show as “Providence.” A book she recently read and would recommend is “Traveling Mercies” by Anne Lamott. Her favorite places to visit are Orlando and Ohio. When dining out she enjoys the Sam Won Garden on University Boulevard.
— by Michele Newbern Gillis