Karen Butler

Biography: July 2017 Current Responsibilities Karen Butler is Managing Member of Great Harbor Advisors LLC in Palm Beach, Florida, focusing on business development and service delivery for the firm’s Private and Public Sector clients. Ms. Butler is a real estate developer and financier who has closed more than $5 billion in real estate transactions during a 30 year career, leading teams on large and mid-sized development and redevelopment projects, bank group loan restructurings, TIF (Tax Increment Finance) transactions, and project financings for both public and private sector clients. Experience Ms. Butler has extensive experience in the acquisition, financing, and development of real estate, particularly in managing complex credits, lending, workouts, liquidations, underwriting, and project management. She served most recently as a Managing Director in JLL's Public Institutions Group and previously Senior Director, Development and Finance at General Growth Properties, both n Chicago. A former banker (Chemical/ JP Morgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon), public official (Times Square Redevelopment Corporation, a subsidiary of the NY State Urban Development Corporation) and real estate developer (General Growth Properties and Mesirow Stein Real Estate in Chicago), Ms. Butler has financed all property types, restructured companies in or near bankruptcy, served as a project manager for the $2 billion redevelopment of Times Square totaling 7 million square feet, team leader for regional shopping mall redevelopment on both the east and west coasts and as development advisor for the $1 billion redevelopment of the former Glenview Naval Air Station, (The Glen in Glenview, IL), an award winning New Community totaling 5 million square feet on Chicago’s North Shore. Education and Affiliations Ms. Butler’s professional affiliations include the Urban Land Institute (ULI), International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Real Estate Board of New York, Metropolitan Planning Council of Chicago, and the Association for a Better New York. She is a frequent guest lecturer in venues such as the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the National Association of Defense Communities (formerly the NAID now the ADC), ULI, ICSC and several university business schools. She graduated from Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts degree.