I-195 commission picks new day-to-day leader

PETER MCNALLY is the new executive director of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission. / COURTESY I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION
PETER MCNALLY is the new executive director of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission. / COURTESY I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION

(Updated 11:54 a.m.)
PROVIDENCE — The I-195 Redevelopment District Commission has a new executive director. Peter McNally, a real estate investment manager, was selected Monday as the commission’s new administrative leader, succeeding Jan Brodie, who unexpectedly announced her resignation last month.
The appointment, effective Sept. 1, was approved at the commission’s meeting Monday, according to a news release from spokeswoman Dyana Koelsch.
McNally, who lives in Providence, has had an extensive career in commercial real estate, according to a resume made public Monday. He has managed or put together large urban development projects in cities including New York and Los Angeles, according to Koelsch.
From 2004 to 2014 McNally was an investment manager for BlackRock Real Estate, most recently serving as managing director and head of its global client group. In that capacity, he was responsible for capital raising activity and client relations for nearly 300 clients, including state, local and corporate pension funds in the United States and abroad.
He previously was head of transactions for BlackRock Real Estate, which had $20 billion in holdings, including office and residential properties, retail malls and industrial buildings.
Before joining BlackRock in 2004, McNally was a portfolio and acquisitions manager for SSR Realty Advisors, a senior vice president at GE Capital Real Estate and an assistant vice president at AEW Capital Management.
He holds a master’s degree in real estate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Boston University.

In a statement, I-195 Redevelopment Commission Chairman Joseph F. Azrack said McNally’s arrival comes as the commission moves into a phase of leveraging development on the former highway lands to act as an economic catalyst for Rhode Island. “Peter is a great addition to our team, as we now enter the next phase of generating purposeful development on the I-195 land,” Azrack said.

McNally, in a statement, said his passion is urban development. “The overarching goal for the 195 land is to create an environment which attracts high value-add employers and new residents to the city,” he said. “With that in mind, I view this as an opportunity to help draw in those that benefit from being in close proximity to our colleges and universities and see their future intertwined with Providence’s knowledge-based economy.”
The job was posted on the I-195 commission website, according to Koelsch.
McNally returned to New England from New York about a year ago, after leaving his career at BlackRock, according to Koelsch.
“When he came back to the area, he looked for ways to be of service and introduced himself to government and business leaders,” she said, in an email.

Azrack met him about three months ago, she said. There was a desire to move quickly to appoint a successor for Brodie, she said, alluding to the recently approved, uniform Providence tax stabilization agreement policy for the I-195 district, and financial incentives made available for development in the new state budget, including $25 million for district projects.
“There was a desire to move quickly to fill it since there are major proposals in the works, and the added complexities that involve new incentives and the city’s TSA that are now in place,” she wrote.

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