Jeff Gronning is the CEO of Cannon Hill Capital Partners, a vertically integrated real estate private equity firm formed through a management-led buyout of the investment management business of Columbia Property Trust. Prior to founding Cannon Hill, Jeff served as Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at Columbia Property Trust.

Before Columbia, Jeff spent 15 years at Normandy Real Estate Partners, where he co-led the growth of a vertically integrated real estate private equity firm. Prior to Normandy, he served as CFO of Morgan Stanley's real estate investing division.

Insights from Jeff Gronning on Capitalizing on Market Cycles in Commercial Real Estate

After 35 years navigating market cycles from the RTC era through the financial crisis and COVID, Jeff Gronning recognizes the current setup in office real estate. Values are down 40% to 70% from peak, and capital has been flowing away from the sector for years. In late 2025, his firm Cannon Hill Capital Partners announced a partnership with TriPost to acquire up to $1.5 billion in distressed office assets across the Northeast.

Jeff's conviction is rooted in what he's lived through before. When the financial crisis hit in 2008, he and his partners at Normandy Real Estate Partners had dry powder and capital markets expertise that allowed them to acquire assets like Boston's John Hancock Tower while the rest of the market stayed frozen. He believes this moment offers the kind of opportunity he hasn't seen in 15-plus years.

In this episode of The Dealmakers' Edge, Aaron and Jeff discuss what it takes to stay unflappable through multiple market cycles, why persistence and hard work matter more than timing, and what makes this moment feel like a generational opportunity in distressed office.

1:39 - Growing up in Northern Virginia and starting at Coopers & Lybrand during the RTC era

2:56 - Moving to Morgan Stanley and working on Real Estate Fund No. 1

4:44 - Leaving Morgan Stanley in 2005 to co-found Normandy Real Estate Partners

8:17 - Acquiring defaulted loans and controlling assets like John Hancock Tower

12:06 - Negotiating the Normandy-Columbia merger in late 2019 and closing in January 2020

13:13 - PIMCO's take-private transaction and navigating activist investors

15:24 - Spinning out 55 people to form Cannon Hill Capital Partners

17:12 - Announcing the TriPost Capital Partners strategic partnership in Q4 2025

18:25 - Office values down 40-70% and the opportunity in distressed office

20:19 - Three-part strategy: distressed debt, gap equity, and conversions

24:39 - Developing the mental edge to stay unflappable through market cycles

25:50 - Controlling what you can control and grinding through with persistence

Mentioned In Capitalizing on Market Cycles and Office Distress with Jeff Gronning

Cannon Hill Capital Partners | LinkedIn

Jeff Gronning on LinkedIn

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