Fulfilling Lifelong Dreams
Through Taubman College, Damon Healey, M.U.P. ’10, achieved his goals of earning a graduate degree from the University of Michigan and founding his own real estate firm.
When Damon Healey, M.U.P. ’10, launched Eternal Companies in Bethesda, Maryland, last year, he fulfilled a lifelong dream of owning and operating his own real estate investment and development firm.
The startup venture enables the 44-year-old Detroit native to apply the community-serving concepts of sustainability, walkability, and capacity building he learned at Taubman College to projects focused on extended-stay hotels, multifamily residential development, and office conversions.
“I wanted to bring together the ideas drawn from my banking and real estate experience and try to live out the aspirations I embraced at Taubman College to solve larger community problems — such as office vacancies, disinvestment in cities, and housing shortages — and to create great places for people to live,” Healey says. “I also wanted to replicate that model at scale, across the country and internationally.”
He hit the ground running. In a little over a year, he already has sourced a $600 million, 45-hotel acquisition and development pipeline and forged a joint-venture partnership with a well-heeled institutional equity partner.
Growing up in the Detroit suburbs, Healey decided he wanted to be a real estate developer early in life. Family members worked in the construction business, so he spent his childhood summers on construction sites, learning carpentry, roofing, and plumbing. His father, a local pastor, believed in hard work and self-reliance.
“I remember driving downtown to baseball games at Tiger Stadium on Trumbull Avenue with my dad and seeing the Detroit skyline,” Healey recalls. “That really sparked my interest and curiosity in real estate.”
After the Detroit Tigers moved to Comerica Park in 2000, he often sat in the bleachers gazing at the cityscape and dreamed of owning one of those big, tall buildings.
Healey earned a business degree at Oklahoma State University in 2004 and began working his way up the ladder as a financial analyst at various Michigan real estate investment and commercial mortgage firms, including Marcus & Millichap and Keybank Real Estate Capital.
When the 2008 financial crisis sent the U.S. economy into a tailspin, Healey decided to fulfill another long-held dream of pursuing his graduate studies at the University of Michigan.
“I felt I could learn everything I wanted to learn and get a great foundation at Taubman College through its urban planning curriculum and graduate certificate program in real estate development,” he says.
“The multidisciplinary nature of the university and the ability to cross-pollinate within Taubman College and across campus with other schools and colleges also attracted me to Michigan. I had a fabulous time.”
Christopher Leinberger, former professor of practice in Urban and Regional Planning and the real estate development program, had a strong influence on Healey.
“He talked about creating more sustainable types of development and walkable urban places,” Healey recalls. “That really spoke to me.”
At U-M, Healey had the opportunity to forge valuable connections with high-powered alumni and benefactors, such as Jorge M. Pérez, founder of the Related Group, and the late Samuel Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments.
During a minicourse in the nation’s capital over spring break, Leinberger introduced Healey to Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners in Washington, D.C. The firm later offered him a post-graduation position as a development associate and a “crash course” in urban development.
“The highlight of my time at Jair Lynch was leading my first large-scale, mixed-use development project in northeast D.C.’s H Street corridor,” he says, referring to the revitalization of the 1.5-mile commercial district.
Strategic advancements in real estate management and acquisitions with international grocer Lidl’s U.S. operations and (Brookfield Asset Management-created) Brookwood Hotels firmly established Healey’s credentials and capabilities across multiple asset classes, preparing him to launch the Eternal Companies in January 2023.
Healey firmly believes in giving back to Taubman College, both through monetary donations and by sharing lessons learned with current students. He recently participated in a Career Trek reception for Taubman College students in Washington, D.C., which provided networking opportunities with alumni.
“I found value as a student in connecting with alumni because I could get a vision of what my future might look like by seeing what they were doing,” Healey says. “That web of connections and experiences gave me so much confidence when it came time to leave school and continue on in my career.”
Healey still wears the orange ballcap given to him years ago by Sam Zell when he goes for his daily run. It’s a bit tattered, but he says he’ll never part with it.
