Steve Lieberman

• Big Box
• National Advisory
• National Retail Chains
• Strategic Planning
• Surplus Property Disposition
• Tenant Representation

Steve Lieberman is the CEO and Co-Chairman of The Retail Connection LP, one of the top retail real estate brokerage, advisory, investment and management firms in the U.S.

TRC operates investment platforms including Connected Development, Connected Acquisition and Connected Capital. The firm also provides asset and property management through its Connected Management division.

Lieberman is a nationally recognized leader in the commercial real estate industry consistently named as one of the Top Retail dealmakers in the U.S. and the top retail dealmaker in the DFW Metroplex. He is a visionary pioneer of retail data mining and tenant representation who built the top retail real estate brokerage and development firm in the state.

Prior to forming The Retail Connection, Lieberman was President of The Weitzman Group. In 1986, he began his real estate career with Henry S. Miller | Grubb & Ellis where he rose to Vice President and head of the company’s North Texas Commercial Retail Division.

Early in his career, he recognized how inefficient the retail real estate market is, how valuable information can be and how invaluable the retailer is, particularly in markets with replaceable real estate. The potential influence that could be derived by generating unique data and representing leading retail chains was all the inspiration he needed. He went to work developing models and systems to capture and deliver information much more effectively.

He broke from the prevailing brokerage practice of representing properties to become laser focused on representing every retailer he could and developing direct relationships with the leading property owners in the market, becoming an early pioneer of retail tenant representation. In an industry that was built on the principle of scarcity and at a time when Texas was red-lined per the Savings and Loan crisis, Lieberman’s business development talent and abundance mentality led to his aggressively building teams and sharing information, exponentially leveraging his capacity. The strategy became the nucleus of his business going forward. His unprecedented tenant rep career and ultimately, The Retail Connection evolved out of this focus.

Today, TRC has over 110 employees and represents more than 300 of the leading naitonal retail and restaurant chains in the country and over 30 million square feet of retail properties. The company has four offices statewide — in Dallas | Ft. Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin, leading its clients through Texas, Southwest, and North America retail markets putting together approximately a billion dollars in transactions annually.

The company’s investment platform, Connected Investments [CIS], extends the reach of its clients’ expansion programs by virtue of the enhanced scope of solutions delivered to meet their needs and is one of the most prolific retail developers and investors in the Southwest.

Focused exclusively on tenant-driven collaborations, TRC|CIS led joint ventures have acquired, redeveloped and developed over six million square feet of shopping centers to date. TRC has a strong management operation and its Connected Capital group has seen three of its portfolio companies successfully go public and three acquired by category-leading publicly held retail chains.

Lieberman leads by example, annually putting together approximately a million square feet in transactions.

Lieberman and TRC have received notable accolades including his receipt of North Texas’ highest commercial property sector recognition, the Stemmons Service Award from the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors and Real Estate Professionals and the company’s being named as one of DFW’s Best Places to Work by the Dallas Business Journal; Top 100 Places to Work by the Dallas Morning News; Fastest Growing Companies SMU | Cox School of Business; DFW’s Largest Commercial Real Estate Brokerages; DFW’s Largest Commercial Developer; Best Retail Leases; Retail Deal of the Year, Retail Lease of the Year, Best Development; Retail Dealmaker of the Year; Dallas 500 | Most Powerful Business Leaders of DFW; and Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Lieberman is active in several professional organizations including the International Council of Shopping Centers [ICSC], The Real Estate Council [TREC], and he is a former Board Member of The North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors, the Alzheimer’s Association, and Legacy Senior Communities.

In addition, Lieberman is active in numerous community and charitable organizations. He currently serves on the Boards of Baylor Health Care System Foundation and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Lieberman is also on the Executive Council of the University of Texas Real Estate Finance and Investment Center and a member of the Dallas Assembly. He formerly has served on the Board of Trustees for the Greenhill School, Willowbend Retirement Housing, The Jewish Community Center of Dallas, the Dallas Summer Musicals and the United Way Campaign Cabinet Committee.

Lieberman received his undergraduate degree from Tulane University and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.