BOSTON–Leslie Cohen, a longtime Boston commercial real estate executive who has held senior leadership positions at two prominent local development firms, is launching a new consulting company focused on helping growing real estate businesses strengthen their internal operations.
Cohen this week launched Ops Alchemy, an operations consulting firm that will work primarily with smaller and growing companies looking to improve their organizational structure, processes and day-to-day operations.
The move marks a new chapter for Cohen after more than two decades in the commercial real estate industry, including senior roles at Samuels & Associates and The Davis Companies.
Cohen’s launch of Ops Alchemy was first reported by Bisnow in a story by Taylor Driscoll published Aug. 31. Cohen told Bisnow that she intends to work with smaller firms that are growing and need help restructuring their internal operations. She described the transition as a significant personal change, telling Bisnow, “This is a big change for me.”
Rather than continuing in an executive role at a single development company, Cohen is bringing her experience in development, asset management, investments and corporate operations to companies that may not yet have the internal infrastructure of larger real estate organizations.
From Development to Operations Leadership
Cohen has built a career spanning more than 20 years in Greater Boston’s real estate industry, with experience extending across development, investment, asset management and organizational operations.
Before joining Davis, Cohen served as chief operating officer and head of asset management at Samuels & Associates, where she helped execute the firm’s strategic vision across major developments in Boston and surrounding communities.
Her responsibilities included organizational efficiency, staff engagement and workplace culture, as well as efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion within the company.
In October 2022, The Davis Companies appointed Cohen as its chief operating officer. At Davis, she became part of the firm’s senior management team and worked on business strategy as well as the company’s day-to-day operations.
Her responsibilities at Davis included implementing governance structures and process-management strategies aimed at improving corporate efficiency and execution. She also oversaw several operating functions, including property management, legal, human resources, public relations and marketing.
At the time of her appointment, Davis Co-President Stephen Davis described Cohen as a leader whose experience and approach would contribute to the firm’s succession planning and future growth.
Cohen’s career has therefore extended well beyond traditional real estate development. Her work has increasingly centered on the organizational infrastructure required to operate and grow a development and investment company—from people and processes to governance, culture and execution.
A New Role for a Veteran Executive
Ops Alchemy represents a shift from leading operations within an individual real estate company to advising multiple businesses on how they can build more effective organizations.
The focus on smaller and growing firms reflects a segment of the market where companies may have ambitious development or investment strategies but lack the operational systems and management structures of larger organizations.
Cohen’s experience gives her exposure to both sides of that challenge. At Samuels & Associates and Davis, she worked on the systems and processes needed to support established real estate businesses while also helping those organizations navigate growth and change.
Her new consulting platform will allow her to apply that experience across different companies and organizational structures.
Deep Roots in Boston’s Real Estate Community
Cohen has also been active in industry and civic organizations throughout her career.
She served as president of CREW Boston, formerly known as NEWiRE, and was president of NAIOP Massachusetts in 2020. She has also served on the NAIOP Massachusetts Board Management Committee.
Her community involvement has included co-chairing the Heading Home Housewarming event, co-leading the Wonder Women fundraising team and serving on the Wonder Women board. She also served on the Building and Grounds Committee at Tufts University.
Her professional and civic contributions have earned multiple recognitions, including being named among Bisnow’s Power Women in Commercial Real Estate and receiving a Woman Who Means Business recognition from the Boston Business Journal, along with multiple honors from CREW Boston.
A Brookline resident, Cohen holds a Bachelor of Civil and Environmental Engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from Babson College.
With Ops Alchemy, Cohen is taking the operational expertise developed through more than 20 years in Boston’s real estate industry and turning it into a standalone advisory business—one aimed at helping the next generation of growing real estate companies build the organizational foundation needed to scale.
