Sydne Garchik, founder and president of MRK Partners joined Ben Hoffman and Felipe Azenha on the Build World Podcast to share her journey, career milestones, and the experiences that fueled her passion for making an impact in the affordable housing space.
Launched in 2001, The Built World Podcast dives deep into the vibrant real estate scene of the greater Miami area, featuring conversations with industry leaders, innovative developers, and trailblazing entrepreneurs. Listeners get a front-row seat to inspiring stories of how these professionals launched their careers and shaped the dynamic world of real estate.
In this more laid-back, conversational-style interview, Garchik explored her roots and shared how her connection to the world of real estate started early:
“My mom’s a construction lawyer, and my dad’s in real estate,” said Garchik. “So I grew up on the weekends looking at real estate, being taken with bribes of 7-Eleven Slurpees. We would drive around the DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia) and we’d look at real estate. He would take me on the weekends to meetings, and set me up with crayons, and I kind of learned about location and real estate and what that was like. I was probably four, five, six [when this was happening].”
After a childhood full of learning from a real estate developer father and legal-minded mother, Garchik explored other professional options early in her career before eventually answering the call to return to the world she knew best.
“So I was applying for jobs in real estate, and I ended up applying to and getting a job for what became a very large affordable housing shop [in Beverly Hills that mainly worked on Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects]. I was the first employee. I had an awesome time just doing everything under the sun for the two principals. I got to do asset management, accounting, and anything related to affordable [housing] that we were doing, so it was an incredible experience.”
While the affordable housing space often involves a complex and time-intensive process, Garchik found it to be both invigorating and deeply rewarding. Her experience working at an affordable housing company, and later founding MRK Partners, became not just a career but her passion and a calling where she thrives.
“I got introduced to all sorts of creative financing structures. I got to see the process in multiple states. It just proved to me that I loved the space. I think it’s hard to find what you really love to make it such that I don’t feel like work is work. It’s just fun for me. This kind of affordable housing space unlocked that for me because it’s super complex, like putting a puzzle together, but then also very mission-based which plays at my heartstrings and also feeds the creative side of my brain.”
Are you curious about how affordable housing development works? Don’t miss this episode! It’s packed with insights and behind-the-scenes details. Catch it now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen!
