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Speakers and Panels

Unlocking Self Storage Growth

Overcoming municipal zoning and entitlement roadblocks and identifying investment opportunities

Donnie Berry

Donnie Berry

Self Storage Capital Markets Industry Specialist

Robert Fransen

Robert Fransen

President

Coro Realty

Katharine Lau

Katharine Lau

CEO & Co-Founder

Stuf Storage

Patrick McAllister

Patrick McAllister

Partner & CEO

Storage Building Company

Cono Passione

Cono Passione

Vice President of Project Management, Atlanta

Rycon Construction

Scott Zucker
Moderator

Scott Zucker

Shareholder

Weissman, Zucker Euster + Katz

Robert Fransen

President

Coro Realty

Mr. Fransen serves as Coro’s President. In this capacity, he is responsible for Coro's acquisitions, dispositions and financing activities, as well as overseeing its strategy and investment management. From 2010 to 2017, Mr. Fransen served as Coro’s Chief Investment Officer.

Prior to joining Coro in 2010, Mr. Fransen was President, North American Operations of the Slokker Group, headquartered in Washington, DC. There he oversaw commercial, residential and specialty properties in 13 U.S states and Canadian provinces.

Mr. Fransen previously served as legal counsel at Baker Botts LLP and Battle Fowler LLP. Mr. Fransen received a B.A. from the University of Virginia, a J.D. from the Fordham University School of Law and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Mr. Fransen is a member of International Council of Shopping Centers, Urban Land Institute and Midtown Alliance, a director of the Buckhead Coalition, and board member of Central Atlanta Progress.

Katharine Lau

CEO & Co-Founder

Stuf Storage

Katharine Lau is CEO and Co-Founder of Stuf, one of Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies in 2022. She was named to Inc. Magazine’s Female Founders 100 list in the same year. Katharine is passionate about reinventing consumer experiences in the physical world and leads the company’s strategic vision and overall strategy in transforming the self-storage industry.

From 2015-2020, Katharine led supply growth at Industrious, the nation’s largest premium shared workplace provider. She built and managed a 20+ person team and oversaw the company’s rapid expansion while developing go-to-market strategies for new digital products and tenant experience services. As VP of Real Estate, Katharine pioneered an "industry first” asset and liability-light growth strategy leading to CBRE’s partial acquisition of Industrious in early 2021.

Prior to Industrious, Katharine worked at Equinox as Manager of Development, supporting the company’s national expansion of luxury fitness clubs. She previously worked at L&L Holding Company and PGIM Real Estate (Prudential).

Patrick McAllister

Partner & CEO

Storage Building Company

Patrick McCallister is a seasoned leader in the steel construction and prefabricated storage building industry, with 15+ years of hands-on experience managing complex projects and driving business growth. As Partner and CEO of Storage Building Company, LLC, based in Bradenton, Florida, he oversees operations, strategy, and client relations for a company known for its high-quality metal building solutions within the self storage industry.

Throughout his career, Patrick has held key roles in project management, estimating, product development, and business development at companies including SS|20 Building Systems, Trident Building Systems, Crystal Steel Fabricators, and GMF Steel Group. His deep industry knowledge, practical problem-solving, and passion for building better infrastructure have made him a trusted voice in the field.

Whether he’s leading teams, developing innovative building systems, or sharing insights at industry events, Patrick brings a straightforward, results-driven approach to every challenge.

Cono Passione

Vice President of Project Management, Atlanta

Rycon Construction

Cono Passione oversees the project management and field operations teams at Rycon’s Atlanta office, guiding projects from preconstruction through closeout with 16 years of industry experience. His diverse portfolio includes work in education, food service, commercial, retail, and self-storage sectors. Rycon has completed over $450M in self-storage projects across 15 states, leveraging expertise in construction management, general contracting, and design-build services. Cono plays a key role in advancing self-storage initiatives, including ground-up construction, renovations, and adaptive re-use projects. A graduate of the University of Akron with a Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering Technology, Cono began his career as a project manager before joining Rycon’s Pittsburgh office in 2014. He progressed through roles such as Project Manager and Director of Special Projects before relocating to Atlanta in 2021, where he serves as Vice President.

Scott Zucker

Moderator

Weissman, Zucker Euster + Katz

Scott Zucker is a founding partner in the Atlanta law firm of Weissmann Zucker Euster +

Katz, P.C. and has been practicing law since 1987. Scott represents self storage owners

and managers throughout the country on legal matters including property development,

facility construction, lease preparation, employment policies and tenant claims defense.

Scott is outside counsel to the national Self Storage Association, legal counsel to a

number of State self storage associations including the Georgia Self Storage Association,

a frequent lecturer at national self storage conventions and is a contributing legal writer

for self-storage trade magazines such as the Mini- Storage Messenger, Inside Self Storage

and SSA Magazine. Scott is the author of “Legal Topics in Self Storage”, a two volume

guidebook to self storage development and operations and a partner in the Self Storage

Legal Network, a subscription based legal information service for self storage owners and

managers.

The Future of Cold Storage

Deciphering how evolving design and, demand and supply chain shifts for new developments

Josh Lewis

Josh Lewis

COO

RL Cold

Joseph Paskov

Joseph Paskov

Principal, Investments

BGO

Sean Gilbert

Sean Gilbert

Principal, Acquisitions

Saxum Real Estate

Gregory Camp

Gregory Camp

Vice President of Project Development, National Cold

FCL

Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly

SVP, National Food Facilities Group

CBRE

Edward Piscopo
Moderator

Edward Piscopo

Director of Energy Solutions

Madison Energy Infastructure

Joseph Paskov

Principal, Investments

BGO

Joseph Paskov is a Principal on BGO’s U.S. Investments Team. Joseph is responsible for the sourcing and execution of new investment opportunities on behalf of all BGO clients, and has closed on over $2 billion of investment activity throughout his tenure at the Firm. Joseph leads the Firm’s SFR / BTR strategy in the U.S., co-leads the Firm’s distressed credit and non-performing loan strategy in the U.S., and is also responsible for the Firm’s investment activity across the Southeast and the Midwest. Joseph has been with BGO since 2016 and has over 12 years of experience in the real estate industry. Joseph also serves as a guest lecturer for the University of Wisconsin Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics. Joseph is a Certified Public Accountant. Joseph graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Accountancy, was an academic scholarship recipient, recipient of the Most Outstanding Teaching award, and a member of the Dean’s List.

Sean Gilbert

Principal, Acquisitions

Saxum Real Estate

Sean Gilbert, as Principal, spearheads the origination, evaluation and closing activities for all of Saxum’s acquisition and joint venture opportunities. Sean continues to focus on the growth of the acquisitions platform to support new asset class and new geographic strategies for the firm.

Since joining Saxum shortly after its founding, Sean has been instrumental in the growth of the portfolio to include a variety of different asset classes including cold storage, industrial, multifamily and student housing. Sean has led the start and expansion of Saxum’s cold storage platform, which now totals over 3M SF nationally and is recognized among the most active cold storage development platforms in the U.S.

Prior to joining Saxum, Sean worked in the real estate investment banking group at Hammond Hanlon Camp LLC (“H2C”) where he successfully completed over $1 billion in real estate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, single asset and portfolio dispositions, sale/leasebacks and institutional capital raises.

Sean was recently selected among Globe Street’s 2023 50 under 40 list. Sean is a graduate of Columbia University with an M.S. in Real Estate Development and Providence College with a B.S. in Finance. Sean is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (“YPO”), as well as a NAIOP member, currently serving as the Co-Chair of the ICON Cold Storage Conference.

Gregory Camp

Vice President of Project Development, National Cold

FCL

Greg is the Vice President of Project Development for FCL’s national cold storage practice. In this capacity, he partners with prospective customers and clients looking to expand and innovate their cold chain infrastructure to achieve greater business and societal impact.

He brings to the role over 25 years of food & beverage industry and construction management experience, including extensive technical expertise in industrial refrigerated environments. Greg has traveled nationally and internationally working with leading developers and national food & beverage brands on the design/build of state-of-the-art cold storage projects. What matters most to Greg is establishing collaboration, transparency, and trust around all sides of the table with the goal of delivering turnkey facilities that exceed expectations while driving business results and the life-cycle partnerships that continue to feed the world

Kevin Kelly

SVP, National Food Facilities Group

CBRE

Kevin Kelly is a core member of the CBRE National Food Facilities Group, specializing in industrial food facilities worldwide. While most industrial real estate brokers are focused on a submarket within a single metropolitan area, Kevin and his partners, David Sours and Lucy Durbin, focus on the narrow band of industrial real estate that serves the food processing, manufacturing, and distribution industry. The team’s high level of specialization and expertise within the food sector has allowed the group to deliver superior advisory service in accommodating its clients’ unique real estate needs on both a transactional level as well as a high-level strategic basis.

Kevin’s clients include some of the largest companies in the food processing, food service, grocery, and cold storage industries, in addition to many smaller food companies globally. Leveraging experience, expertise, resources, and national market coverage, Kevin serves as a strategic partner for his clients in handling their complex real estate needs worldwide.

Edward Piscopo

Moderator

Madison Energy Infastructure

Ed Piscopo brings over 30 years of experience in the commercial real estate, utility, and related industries, establishing himself as a trusted leader and strategist. As Director of Energy Solutions at Madison Energy Infrastructure (MEI), Ed plays a pivotal role in advancing the company’s mission to become a premier clean energy investment platform. His expertise helps drive high-impact opportunities for partners and clients, ensuring sustainable results that are both innovative and impactful.

At MEI, Ed helps lead the charge in the development, financing, and long-term management of clean energy projects. With a portfolio that includes over 700 Megawatts of assets across more than 29 states, the company’s commitment to delivering certainty, speed, and trust in clean energy solutions is underscored by Ed's leadership. His ability to navigate complex challenges and simplify the transition to clean energy is central to the company’s ongoing success and growth.

Throughout his career, Ed has held several Board positions with local and regional utility, commercial real estate, and charitable organizations, further cementing his reputation as a respected executive and trusted partner to clients, colleagues, and project stakeholders. With a track record of successfully executing hundreds of projects, Ed remains focused on achieving meaningful, measurable results that exceed expectations and drive positive change in the clean energy sector.

Maximizing Returns in the Industrial Outdoor Storage Ecosystem

Best practices in overcoming financial hurdles, cap rate compression, zoning hurdles and NIMBYISM sentiment

Rob Logan

Rob Logan

Principal

B&D Holdings

Ryan Battistoni

Ryan Battistoni

Founding Partner & COO

Timber Hill

J.D. Salazar

J.D. Salazar

CEO

Champion Realty Advisors

Sanjay Raghavaraju

Sanjay Raghavaraju

Founder & CEO

33 Holdings

Ryan Meehan

Ryan Meehan

SVP of Acquisitions/ISF

Stonemont Financial Group

Justin Horowitz
Moderator

Justin Horowitz

Senior Managing Director

Cooper Horowitz

Rob Logan

Principal

B&D Holdings

Rob Logan, Principal, oversees all acquisitions and capital markets efforts at B&D Holdings. During his tenure, the firm has completed over 100 acquisitions across the nation and various recapitalizations of existing portfolio assets. He began his career at ICAP working in structured credit products for nine years, before transitioning into the commercial real estate industry with roles on the capital markets advisory team at G.S. Wilcox & Co. and the New York City based debt capital markets team at Newmark Knight Frank. He has a bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College in Economics and Latin American Studies and earned a Masters in Real Estate from New York University.

Ryan Battistoni

Founding Partner & COO

Timber Hill

Ryan Battistoni is a Founding Partner of Timber Hill Group, where he serves as Chief Operating Officer as well as the head of the firm’s asset management and development divisions. He has over 15 years of experience in industrial real estate, and during his career he has completed more than $400 million in development and construction projects and has been responsible for overseeing portfolios valued at more than $1.2 billion across the U.S. Since its creation in 2018, Timber Hill Group has focused primarily on the purchase and development of logistics-centered industrial service facilities across the United States.

Prior to 2019, Mr. Battistoni oversaw national portfolio operations for Sitex Group, a New York-based private equity real estate firm with assets in New York, New Jersey, Chicago and Los Angeles. He began his career with Colliers international, where he played an integral role in the management of several large institutional industrial portfolios in the Chicagoland area.

Mt. Battistoni is a graduate of Marquette University, where he received an undergraduate degree in Finance. He resides in Downers Grove, IL with his wife and three children.

J.D. Salazar

CEO

Champion Realty Advisors

JD Salazar is the Chief Executive Officer of Champion, responsible for the sourcing and acquiring opportunities for the Company throughout major consumption zones and transportation centers in the United States. JD founded Champion in 1997, which went on to become one of the most successful 100% Hispanic owned commercial real estate brokerage companies in the US. JD's career in real estate spans 38 years and includes involvement in over 20 million square feet of industrial lease and sale transactions, and the development of four major Class A business parks in the Chicago Area. JD has extensive experience in sourcing and acquiring transportation related properties and outdoor storage properties. Prior to re­ branding Champion into an Industrial Outdoor Storage (IOS) acquisition, development and management company, JD was one of the two founding members of Industrial Outdoor Ventures (“IOV”). At IOV, JD was a member of the investment Committee and one of five members of the Board of Directors, While at IOV, JD sourced over 50% of the company's acquisitions.

In 2019 JD guided Champion into a strategic investment relationship with Timber Hill Group (“THG”). Since then, Champion and THG have invested over $500,000,000 in IOS properties in Miami FL, Jacksonville FL, Memphis TN, Dallas, Ft. Worth and Laredo TX. Investments include managed truck parking yards, fleet yards, container yards, freight terminals and transload facilities.

JD is a member of the Warehouse Education and Research Council ("WERC") and The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals ("CSCMP”). JD has been involved in urban and international Christian Missionary outreach. Outreach that includes operational and financial support for homeless non-profits in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, The Deborah House Project in Timisoara Romania, Stephens Children in Cairo Egypt and Musalaha in the West Bank of Israel.

JD earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Energy and Power Systems from the University of New Mexico. JD also earned an MBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. He is married co Carol Rediehs and lives in Burr Ridge, IL

Ryan Meehan

SVP of Acquisitions/ISF

Stonemont Financial Group

Ryan Meehan serves as a Senior Vice President for Stonemont Financial Group, responsible for leading the firm’s acquisition initiatives and Industrial Outdoor Storage platform. Throughout his nearly 20-year career, Ryan has experience across multiple private equity real estate disciplines including acquisitions, dispositions, portfolio management, debt placement, leasing, asset management and accounting. Mr. Meehan has been involved in the capitalization of over $2.5 billion of direct commercial real estate investments and has led the asset management and strategic oversight of over $3.5 billion of commercial product. Ryan’s experience spans multiple product types across primary, secondary, and tertiary markets nationally on behalf of international and U.S.-based institutional capital sources.

Prior to Stonemont, Ryan was a Director at Rialto Capital Management within its equity investment group where he led various sourcing, execution, and asset management responsibilities for the firm’s opportunistic and value-add investing strategies.

Mr. Meehan earned his B.S. in Accounting from Oglethorpe University.

Remarks

Raj Sheth

Raj Sheth

CEO

Boardwalk Development Group

Raj Sheth

CEO

Boardwalk Development Group

Raj’s broad career spans over 30 years in Private Equity, Commercial Real Estate Investments and Development, Investment Banking, Hedge Fund Management, Strategy Consulting, and Executive Education. He has developed a strong and significant track record as a disciplined investor over the past forty (40) years.

During his 18 years in Self Storage, Raj’s average realized return on projects has been a 39% IRR. Average Equity Multiple has been 3.0x. Raj’s company is among the Top 50 self storage owner/operators in the country with more than $500M of Assets Under Management (AUM).

Previously, Raj was a Founder and Managing Director for Insight Capital Management, LLC, a hedge fund. During Raj’s tenure the fund achieved returns of 107% in just four years. The Fund was focused on investing in stocks of publicly held companies whose businesses are durable, financially secure and selling at deep discounts to their intrinsic values.

Prior to his current activities, Raj worked at InCore (the Institute for Communications Research & Education), a strategy consulting and mergers and acquisitions advisory firm. Through InCore, Raj worked for numerous companies including AT&T, Sprint, Con Edison, Motorola, Southern California Edison, Telecom Italia, Wipro and others.

Raj earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Illinois, and his MBA (concentration in Marketing and Finance) with Honors from the University of Southern California. He serves as a Board Member of the Sheth Education Foundation. He is a member of REIAC: Real Estate Investment Advisory Council in Atlanta and is also a Charter Member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE-Atlanta) where he served as Treasurer in 2007. He formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Self Storage

Association for two years. He resides with his wife and has three adult children. Raj is an avid traveler and has visited 60 countries throughout his lifetime.

Why You Should Attend This Event

Why This Matters:

Atlanta, as the most populated Southeastern US metropolitan area, has been one of the key beneficiaries of the SunBelt migration movement. As a result of this, industrial real estate in an overarching sense, and storage facilities of multiple types, have seen increased investment and development demand. Within the self storage space, currently 1.4 Million sf is in the active development pipeline. Atlanta is one of the largest cold storage markets in the country, with 10 Million sf of product currently, and a strong agricultural and food processing ecosystem supporting the market. Within the industrial outdoor storage sector, the market has seen national firms targeting investments locally, as the once niche sector attracts institutional level attention

As the market continues to grow, there is investment potential and a need for new product across these subareas of the industrial sector, though they are not without specific headwinds. A rising sense of NIMBYISM, zoning and entitlement hurdles have made new development more complex within this ecosystem. While demand is high and continuing to rise, new construction activity has already taken notice. Join Bisnow, and our assembled panelists, as we plan to detail how firms are overcoming pressing issues and realizing investment opportunity within the storage landscape locally to better position you for your next deal. 

What You'll Learn:

  • With over 1 Million sf of active projects in the self storage pipeline, what future development demand exists for these types of assets in the metro area?

  • How are developers and investors choosing identifying optimal sites for self storage facilities?

  • How can zoning and entitlement hurdles be navigated in areas that may be less welcoming for self storage? 

  • What design and development needs exist for future cold storage facilities as supply chain demands shift?

  • With aging inventory, yet higher vacancy compared to markets of similar size, what is the outlook for future cold storage investment potential locally?

  • How are ios investors navigating the rush of institutional capital into the space? 

  • With elevated interest rates and cap rate compression for ios assets, what is the short term acquisition outlook for the region?

  • How are ios developers tackling site selection and hesitant municipalities to bring new product to market?

For questions regarding content and speaking  opportunities please email our Atlanta Director of Operations, Brandon Elsasser, at brandon.elsasser@bisnow.com. Interested in sponsoring? Please email our market Co-Head, Ben Blachman at ben.blachman@bisnow.com. Finally, to request disability-related accommodations, please contact ariel.fromm@bisnow.com no later than seven business days prior to the event.

Venue

W Atlanta Downtown
45 Ivan Allen Jr Blvd NW
Atlanta, GA 30308

Ballroom: Great Room
Floor: 4th Floor


Nearby Self-Parking Garages

Option 1: 50 Ivan Allen Jr Blvd NW, Atlanta, GA  30308

Option 2: 65 W Peachtree Pl NW, Atlanta, GA  30303

Hotel Parking Options: valet $35-40

Get Directions

Agenda

Time Activity
12:00 PM
1:30 PM
Pre-Event Networking, Registration & Breakfast
1:30 PM
2:15 PM
The Future of Cold Storage

-Deciphering how evolving design and, demand and supply chain shifts for new developments

2:15 PM
2:30 PM
Brief Networking Break
2:30 PM
3:15 PM
Unlocking Self Storage Growth

-Overcoming municipal zoning and entitlement roadblocks and identifying investment opportunities

3:15 PM
4:00 PM
Maximizing Returns in the Industrial Outdoor Storage Ecosystem

-Best practices in overcoming financial hurdles, cap rate compression, zoning hurdles and NIMBYISM sentiment

4:00 PM
4:30 PM
Closing Networking

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