Team Members
Barry D. Schlesinger
Partner, Owner
Barry Schlesinger joined the Ralph Schlesinger Company in 1981 and became a partner in 1986. Initially, Barry was involved in project and construction management on a number of tenant improvement projects. He helped negotiate the business terms for the final phase of development and purchase of the 175,000 square foot OECO Headquarter Building in Milwaukie, Oregon. In 1992, Barry guided the development and construction of a 137,000 square foot warehouse and distribution facility in the Rivergate Industrial District. In addition to leading the land acquisition and entitlement procurement process for the Marriot City Center Hotel and Alder Street Garage developments, Barry negotiated the deal terms with Marriott as well as the acquisition, construction and permanent finance packages for the project. With the opening of the Alder Street Garage in 1997, he recognized the opportunity to enter Portland’s parking management market. Star Park was launched and currently is one of the largest parking management companies in the Pacific Northwest. Barry was instrumental in forming an innovative partnership between Star Park and three minority chambers of commerce to seek and win the City of Portland Smart Park contracts. In 2006, he led the acquisition of the Unitus Building, which was purchased from Unitus Credit Union and master leased to Portland State University.
Barry is past president of Waverly Children’s Home and currently sits on the board of the Children’s Trust Fund of Oregon. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis.
Mark Schlesinger
Partner, Senior Property Manager
An accessible and responsive communicator with a strong eye for detail, Mark Schlesinger oversees the property management of approximately one million square feet of commercial real estate. As Senior Property Manager, he carefully navigates all lease negotiations and renewals, and supervises all tenant improvement build outs and capital improvements. Mark has been a partner with the company since 1986, and was deeply involved with the Ralph Schlesinger Company for the four years before that.
Mark received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Art Center College of Design. He is the immediate past President and Board Member of Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) of Multnomah and Washington Counties, a current Board Member of Portland Center Stage and Trustee for Legacy Good Samaritan, Emanuel Medical Center and Emanuel Children’s Hospital Foundations.
Josh Schlesinger
Vice President, Asset Management
An attentive steward, Josh manages the financial performance of the Schlesinger real estate portfolio. His supervision of approximately one and a half million square feet of commercial real estate in the Pacific Northwest includes leas ing, financial negotiations, underwriting and extensive work on new acquisitions and debt financing. Career highlights include playing a pivotal role in the acquisition, capitalization and master lease negotiation of the Unitus Building to Portland State University, Metropolitan Portland’s second largest lease transaction in 2006. In 2007, Josh led Schlesinger’s acquisition of its Fortune 500 partner’s interest in the Bank of America Financial Center and its successful property conversion from single to multi-tenant. In 2009, Josh was a team member on a joint venture acquisition of one of Portland's largest available urban infill developable sites. This site, known as the Convention District, is a 4 acre location with the potential for over $500 million of development.
Josh graduated with honors in Political Studies from Pitzer College and received his Specialization Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Portland State University in 2006. As a member of the executive committee of the Urban Land Institute, he assisted in expanding the Young Leaders Group membership. Josh has also provided Pro Bono Real Estate Consulting to Oregon’s Department of Education. Currently Josh is actively involved in Urban Land Institute, National Association of Office and Industrial Properties and is a Board Member and Treasurer of the Ralph and Bunny Schlesinger Foundation. In 2010, Josh accepted a Board position at the Center for Real Estate at Portland State University.
Mick O’Connell
Vice President, Real Estate Development
What motivates Mick is the desire to create places that people get excited about. His passion is the revitalization of the urban core, and making cities great places to live and work. Having grown up in Ireland, and lived in many cities across the United States, he has developed a keen understanding for what brings vitality and life to cities.
Mic k joined the Schlesinger Companies in 2006 from the Portland Development Commission. At PDC, in addition to managing several other large-scale redevelopment projects, he facilitated the redevelopment of the Meier & Frank Department Store Building in Downtown Portland by coordinating three-way deals between PDC, Sage Hospitality Resources, and The May Department Stores Company. Prior to PDC, Mick worked with The Taubman Company, one of the country’s largest and most respected shopping center developers.
His repertoire of large-scale urban redevelopment projects and understanding of public financing tools augments Schlesinger Companies’ finesse and fluency in real estate development.
Mick holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the National University of Ireland and a Masters Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also a Registered Civil Engineer in the State of California.
Paul Schlesinger
Partner, Owner
Paul Schlesinger joined the Schlesinger Companies in 1972. In 1982, Paul was involved in forming a partnership with Pacific Telecom, Inc. to develop and build a 275,000 square foot headquarters building in Vancouver, Washington. On this project his duties included development, design, construction management and financing. In 1993, Paul led the development team of the Portland State of Oregon Office Tower in the Lloyd District. Paul's duties included management of the architect and general contractor, as well as interfacing with the Department of General Services for the State of Oregon in the development of this 375,000 Class A office tower.
Paul currently has ownership in some of the Schlesinger Companies and consults on real estate projects internally and to third parties. Paul's experience as a Portland Planning Commissioner (2006-2007) and also a Design Review Commissioner (2002-2007) gives him a keen understanding of Portland's planning and design guidelines.
Paul's commitment to our community is unrivaled as he is active on various local and national boards and has numerous long-standing community affiliations. He has been involved with the Oregon chapter of the American Jewish Committee since 2003 and is presently the Board Treasurer. He acted as Project Manager for the design and construction of the Oregon Holocaust Memorial, completed in August, 2004. Paul has been involved with the Jewish Educational Service of North America (JESNA) since 1998 and has held numerous positions in the organization, presently Treasurer. Paul has also been involved with the City Club of Portland, the Oregon Zoo, and the Gales Creek Diabetic Camp for Children, Portland State University and the Oregon Episcopal School.
Paul attended Menlo College in 1971 through 1972 and Whitworth College from 1972 through 1974.