Mark J. Parrell

President, Chief Executive Officer, Equity Residential

Since taking the helm of Chicago-based REIT Equity Residential in 2019, Parrell has had to steer the S&P 500 company through the post-pandemic landscape, executing a strategic pivot from its traditional coastal strongholds into high-growth Sun Belt markets.

In August 2024, Parrell orchestrated the $964 million acquisition of an 11-property portfolio from Blackstone, adding more than 3,500 units in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Denver, boosting the firm’s U.S. apartment portfolio to nearly 80,000 units.

With some Sun Belt markets overbuilt and developers needing to find a way out of their construction debt deals, the price was called attractive by Equity Residential’s CIO, who predicted rents in the newly acquired complex would improve over time.

The deal underscored Parrell’s strategy to diversify the REIT’s holdings beyond its core markets of New York, San Francisco, and Boston, targeting a “higher-end renter demographic” in regions with growing supply dynamics.

A veteran of the firm, Parrell joined Equity Residential in 1999 and served as CFO from 2007 to 2018, working under late founder Sam Zell. He holds a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Parrell also serves on the board of the Real Estate Roundtable and is the Second Vice Chair of Nareit, a Washington D.C.-based lobbying group for REITs.

— Caleb McCullough