Welcome to The Build Up, a podcast designed to give you the inside scoop on commercial real estate in and around Detroit. We’ll be bringing in experts from across the industry to offer their perspectives on the biggest issues they face today and what challenges they expect for the future. Hosted by Kirk Pinho and Arielle Kass from Crain's Detroit Business.
Our guest this week has spent over 40 years at Southfield-based apartment company Village Green. Diane Batayeh is one of only a half-dozen women in the top executive role among the largest apartment management companies in the country. As CEO, she oversees client services and property management of a $10 billion portfolio of about 43,000 apartments nationwide. She rose through the company’s ranks, starting out as a part-time leasing agent in 1980 while she attended the University of Michigan. Over the years, she’s worked in the company’s investment, development, finance and construction businesses, as well as in other roles in management.