How a General Manager is building dreams in Manhattan
Discover how Tanisha Daniels oversees three buildings with meticulous attention to detail and a passion for human connection.
As the general manager of three buildings in one of Manhattan’s best-known neighborhoods, Tanisha Daniels has learned that quite often, it’s the little things you can’t see that make all the difference, from the filters used to keep air clean and safe to getting the materials to repair older buildings.
Overseeing the day-to-day functions of 71 Fifth Avenue, 10 Crosby Street and 130 Prince Street and a retail location at 129 Fifth Ave. entails a lot of walking and a lot of attention to small details, perfect for someone who started her career in accounting but loves the human touch.
“It gives me flexibility, the interaction with people, and knowing the inner workings of everything,” she says.
Her days begin somewhere between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. as calls start coming in. Once she’s commuted into Manhattan (making calls along the way), she begins at 130 Prince Street, overseeing construction, meeting with tenants and vendors and checking on the new restaurant that is under construction at the 120,000-square-foot building that has been recently renovated. By mid-afternoon, she’s walking to 10 Crosby Street to deal with any issues. Her day ends at 71 Fifth, where she also checks in with staff once again, including her coordinator, Kerry Wright.
“None of this would be possible without this team,” Tanisha says.
Originally a psychology major in school, she switched to accounting, earning a B.A. and M.B.A. after she and her high school sweetheart married and started a family in their teens. A headhunter brought her to a post as an accountant for a real estate development company, where she quickly fell in love with the more tangible aspects of a real estate career.
“I loved the whole idea of seeing something be built from the ground up,” she said. “As an accountant, you deal with analytics. And although I did like accounting, I wanted to interact with people more.”
So, she took what many of her colleagues considered a step back to work as a Property Coordinator for a developer of life science campuses, savoring the flexibility of the schedule and the interaction with staff and vendors.
Eventually promoted to Assistant Property Manager at one of the company’s lab and office buildings in Tarrytown, New York, she also had a front-row seat to some of the latest technologies and pharmaceuticals being test at the time by the company’s tenants, while learning the special safety needs including filtration of these buildings.
“Looking at what they were creating and being a part of that was so exciting,” she recalls. “It was a big deal to me — making sure all mechanical systems were up running as intended. I loved it.”
When JLL took over the management of Tanisha’s multi-building campuses in 2017, she joined the company as an Assistant General Manager and in 2016 was promoted to Property Manager. In June 2020, she was promoted to General Manager, eventually given an entirely new challenge — managing three traditional, older mixed-use buildings known as the Madison Portfolio amid a pandemic-related lockdown.
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“We are always practicing safety, but when the pandemic hit, it went up a whole other level. Especially in New York, we went up 20 notches,” she recalled. “Working in a life sciences setting was so stringent that it helped prepare me for Manhattan.”
Tanisha also was learning the needs of older buildings with both office and retail space, literally starting with a baptism not of fire, but water.
“On my first day, we had a major flood,” she recalled, even as she was still technically managing the Tarrytown campuses through the transition. “It was very difficult times, with projects, emergencies, getting materials and repairs completed during Covid. The improvising we did was astounding.”
Fortunately, she had the support of a great team, and long-time mentor Frank Taylor, who had been the director of facilities of her campus in Tarrytown.
“He took me under his wing,” she said. “I admired how he approached his job, stressing that what matters is what you do when no one is looking.”
That support is something that Tanisha says is a staple of JLL and what she tries to do for her own reports. She is a member of JLL’s Empower Black Professionals and other resource networks.
“Mentoring is very satisfying — it only strengthens everyone around you. As a Brown woman, there can be a lot of anxiety walking into a room. You want to be respected. I also want to present myself how I truly am,” she says. “JLL, for me has been that change. I’m a member of several networks within JLL because I want to build bridges and connect with fellow colleagues who are within different communities and offer valuable insight and cultivate ways for me to be a better human and leader. The thing is, it’s not just about diversity — it’s also about inclusion. At JLL, I feel seen, heard and included. It’s where I have been able to be truly myself. I don’t think people realize how powerful that is. It’s why I love being a part of JLL.”