Chris Macke is a partner in KJK’s Real Estate practice group. He brings more than a decade of senior in-house leadership experience guiding complex real estate transactions and managing large national retail portfolios. Drawing on that background, he advises developers, owners, investors, and operators on acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, financing, and strategic portfolio planning.
Before joining KJK, Chris served as Senior Vice President of Real Estate at Variety Wholesalers, Inc., where he led site selection, market research, lease administration, property management, construction, store planning, and real estate legal functions. He previously spent more than 12 years at a large publicly traded retailer, most recently as Vice President of Legal for real estate, leading the company’s real estate legal function.
Over the course of his career, Chris has led and closed nearly $1.5 billion in real estate transactions, including ground-up distribution center developments, synthetic lease financings, sale-leaseback transactions, corporate headquarters projects, and large-scale portfolio dispositions. His work frequently involved sophisticated financing structures and institutional counterparties, requiring coordination across legal, operational, and executive teams.
As head of real estate legal for a Fortune 500 retailer, Chris managed a revolving lease portfolio spanning nearly 1,500 locations across the continental United States and worked with more than 1,000 landlords. He oversaw all documentation related to real estate transactions, supported public company reporting requirements, and directed real estate and property-related litigation, including matters that proceeded through trial and verdict.
A former Ohio State baseball player, Chris maintains a broad national network through the OSU athletics community and is active across both the Cleveland and Columbus markets.
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