Maleda Berhane
Principal & CEO
Maleda Berhane is the CEO, a Principal, and co-founder of AR Spruce LLC, a Philadelphia-based real estate services and development company that plans, creates, and manages real estate. Maleda’s deep background in real estate development and re-development, both for her own portfolio and on a fee basis for others, encompasses expertise in feasibility and site selection, entitlements, construction, and marketing. She leads the company’s project management services, including community, client, and vendor relations.
AR Spruce was formed in 2020 by the merger of Spruce Real Estate Partners and AthenianRazak, providing greater depth and capabilities to both companies. Since the merger, the new company is experiencing significant growth and was successfully awarded three projects in its first sixty days: two Philadelphia Rebuild projects with the Project User Make the World Better, and a mixed-use LIHTC multi-family and NMTC commercial project with Impact Services at ‘A’ & Indiana Streets.
While contemplating their merger, Spruce and AthenianRazak joined forces on several projects to strengthen their working relationship. They managed the vacant Hahnemann Hospital campus, stabilized and refurbished the steeple of Philadelphia’s historic Christ Church, managed State Park houses for the PA DCNR, and managed three apartment buildings as a Receiver in West Philadelphia.
Prior to founding AR Spruce, Maleda led Spruce Real Estate Partners, which she founded in 2013. At Spruce REP, she developed a 7-story, ground-up new construction, structural steel, panelized building, completed the adaptive re-use conversion of a historic Bell Telephone building in Philadelphia, and provided consulting and project management services to clients, including managing the Landlord’s build-out of the CB2 Crate and Barrel store, the in-progress $4 million Salem Baptist Church expansion in Abington, on-going upgrades at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, and design, entitlement, and construction management for Global Leadership Academy Charter School’s, West Philadelphia and Southwest Philadelphia campuses.
Before founding Spruce REP, Maleda was Director of Project Management Services at Concordis Real Estate Advisors for 10 years, where she represented corporate and institutional clients on real estate development and construction projects such as the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, Keystone Academy Charter School, and a major transformation at the African American Museum in Philadelphia.
In her early years, she served as a Development Manager at Aegis Property Group, and Project Engineer for the Mid-Atlantic division of Skanska USA Building, Inc.
Maleda has been recognized by the Philadelphia Business Journal as a Diversity in Business Award honoree.
Selected Affiliations:
- African American Real Estate Professionals, Executive Board Vice President
- NAIOP Philadelphia Chapter Board Member
- ULI Philadelphia, Advisory Board Member, and DE&I Committee
- The Economy League, PAGE Real estate and Construction Subcommittee
- CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women)
- African American Museum Re-Imagined Committee
- Education:
- Drexel University, BS, Architectural Engineering
- Drexel University, BS, Civil Engineering
- Temple University, Real Estate Institute