BRENDA ELLIOTT KARP

Brenda Elliott Karp is the first and only woman at The Breeden Co. in senior leadership devoted to real estate development partnerships.

Being a woman in her industry is not easy, and Karp is determined to change that.

To help level the playing field, Karp dedicates her life to mentoring women through the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network, the leading professional association for women working in commercial real estate. Involved with CREW Richmond since 2002, she also serves on the national foundation’s board.

“Mentoring is the way we are going to get more women in the industry,” she says.

Karp, who is based in Richmond and has been with Breeden Co. for 14 years, became the Virginia Beach-based real estate company’s vice president of business development last year. She develops new business and construction partnerships and expands the property management side of the business.

Karp was first hired in 2008 to handle the leasing of a 42-acre development called Towne Center West — one of the first mixed-use developments in Henrico County’s affluent Short Pump area. She leased 48,000 square feet to national, regional and local retailers and sold
17 acres, which brought VCU Health, Virginia Eye Institute, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse,
and Home2 Suites by Hilton to the area.

“It was not an easy undertaking,” she says. “I am proud that I leased one of the first mixed-use developments in Short Pump and I still drive by and think, ‘I did that.’”