Joseph Harberg is a talented executive leader, entrepreneur, and legal counselor with nearly 35 years of business, law and investment experience within the real estate, retail, restaurant, energy efficiency, and marketing and advertising industries. Joe is a skilled negotiator and mediator with a proven record of reducing or resolving conflicts by finding common ground for mutual success. He is capable of driving results at any level and is recognized as someone who fosters innovation and realism in deal structure. With a wealth of expertise in venture capital and private equity, mergers and acquisitions, business development strategy, negotiation, and public speaking, Joe’s talents place him among the top tier of individuals who can provide strong leadership for a multitude of situations, stimulate strong growth opportunities for the organizations and help develop and implement strategic plans for all stages of a business lifecycle. For close to 35 years, Joe is has been negotiating real estate transactions for growth, restructurings and terminations with a keen ability to help organizations secure, keep and manage prime property for conducting sound operations.
Joe has been a licensed attorney / mediator and member of the State Bar of Texas since 1986. He is also a licensed attorney and a member of the New York Bar, since 2004. Joe has been a mediator since 2011 specializing in complex business and real estate litigation. Joe is a section member of the Alternate Dispute Resolution sections of the State Bar of Texas and the Dallas Bar Association.
Joe is the founder and Managing Partner of HWGA Group, a real estate strategic planning and consulting firm representing retailers and restaurateurs worldwide. Joe has been a member of ICSC for nearly 35 years and has served on numerous ICSC panels on negotiation, strategy and trends in the retail and restaurant real estate space, His client roster has included many of the nation’s most notable specialty retail and restaurants concepts, including Apple, Restoration Hardware, House of Blues, Oakley, Brinker, Cheesecake Factory, Warner Brothers, Eddie Bauer and many others. Previously, Joe served as founder and CEO of The Harberg Masinter Company (now Open Realty Advisors).
Joe has been an investor in consumer based companies for over 30 years and is also the founding and managing partner of Retail & Restaurant Growth Capital. Joe's notable investments include Restoration Hardware, Quiznos, Beauty First, Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salons, Texas Land & Cattle, Uncle Julio’s, Cafe Express and most recently, the Common Desk.
Joe is a current board member of the North Texas chapter of the Anti-Defamation League and a past board member of The Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas and Congregation Shearith Israel. Joe is also a past board member of many other public and private retail and restaurant companies and civic organizations. He served as an advisor to The Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanities at SMU and Oxford University. Joe served as President of the 2009 AFI Dallas International Film Festival and was on the Advisory Board of the Dallas Film Society from 2006 - 2010. Joe and his wife Amy co-chaired the 2008 Vogel Alcove Arts Performance featuring Gladys Knight, which benefited the Vogel Alcove Childcare Center for the Homeless. He has previously served as the President of the Southern Regional Association of Small Business Investment Companies (SoRASBIC) and is a past Director on the Board of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC).
Joe received a BBA in finance from the University of Texas and a JD from the University of Houston Law School. He lives in Dallas with his wife, Amy, and three children.