Sarah Watterson

President at Brightline

Sarah Watterson is responsible for all aspects of business development and delivery for Brightline West, including the transit oriented development and rail infrastructure strategy, design and execution. She was most recently the Head of Development at Florida East Coast Industries, a multi-faceted real estate and transportation company headquartered in South Florida. Sarah has been employed by Fortress Investment Group or its affiliates in various leadership capacities since 2011.

Previously, Sarah was the CEO of Drive Shack (NYSE:DS), an owner and operator of 75+ golf courses. During her time at Drive Shack, she internalized the management of the company, converted the company from a REIT to an operating company and built out a new business line, called Drive Shack, which nationally develops and operates 10+ acre technology driven entertainment driving range facilities.

Sarah helped lead the acquisition, ownership syndication and restructuring of the Milwaukee Bucks for Fortress owner, Wes Edens, and co-owner, Marc Lasry. Following the acquisition of the team, Sarah moved to Milwaukee to work on the development of a 725,000 SF arena and 20 acres of surrounding mixed use development.

Prior to her time in Milwaukee, Sarah was on the Private Equity team at Fortress Investment Group. She began her career at Goldman Sachs in the Sales & Trading Division.

Sarah graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University with a degree in Applied Economics and Management.

Timeline

  • President

    Current role

  • Chief Development Officer & Head of West Coast Operations

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