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Future of Downtown Austin

Where Are Developers Going Next With Their Office, Hospitality, Retail, Mixed-Use And Residential Projects?

Sondra Wenger
Chase Tower & The Independent

Sondra Wenger

Managing Director, Investments

CIM Group

Matthew Green
Austin Proper Hotel

Matthew Green

Principal

The KOR Group

Richard Singleton
Canopy by Hilton Austin Downtown

Richard Singleton

Principal

Scenic Capital Advisor

Brad Stein

Brad Stein

President

Intracorp Texas

Brett Rhode
Moderator

Brett Rhode

Director

Rhode Partners

Sondra Wenger

Chase Tower & The Independent

CIM Group

Investments of CIM Group. Ms. Wenger has management responsibility for broker relations, and also sources real estate investments across CIM Group’s platforms. Prior to joining CIM in 2009, Ms. Wenger had an extensive career in real estate investments at firms such as Arden Realty under General Electric in the Western United States, Equity Office Properties, and MacFarlane Partners. Earlier in her career she was a Certified Public Accountant.

Ms. Wenger earned a B.S. degree in Business with an emphasis in Accounting, graduating with honors from the University of California Riverside. She is a member of the Urban Land Institute, serves on the Executive Board for the Urban Mixed Use Development Council (Gold Flight), and is a mentor for the young leader partnership program.

Matthew Green

Austin Proper Hotel

The KOR Group

As the managing partner of the Austin office, Matt sources opportunity, oversees development and asset management for Kor. He identifies acquisitions and creates value through planning, entitlement and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Kor, Matt was the VP of Development & Finance at Stratus Properties (STRS) where he served as a development manager, analyst and broker. He underwrote over $350 million of closed debt and $175 million of placed equity. Integral to the team, he managed the development of the W Austin Hotel & Residences. This $300 million development is one million square feet and includes a 2,500 capacity music venue anchored by Austin City Limits. He previously served as a legislative analyst in the Texas Senate. Matt is a Texas native and has resided in Austin since 1999. He holds a BS from the University of Texas at Austin as well as an MS in Community & Regional Planning.

Richard Singleton

Canopy by Hilton Austin Downtown

Scenic Capital Advisor

Rick is the founding principal of Scenic Capital. He directs the firm’s overall investment strategy and leverages his relationships, both institutional and personal, to source investment opportunities. His primary responsibilities include acquisitions, dispositions, contract negotiations, deal structuring, and asset management.

In his 20+ year real estate career, Rick has participated in over $1 billion of commercial real estate transactions. He holds a MBA from the University of Texas with concentrations in corporate and private equity finance.

Brad Stein

President

Intracorp Texas

Brad Stein leads Intracorp’s Texas region, operating out of Austin, Texas. With Brad’s experience, he is responsible for building and leading a multi-functional local team and overseeing Intracorp’s growth in Texas. Brad is well versed in real estate deal making and joint venture partnerships. Prior to joining Intracorp, as a VP with Forestar Group Inc. Brad managed Forestar’s real estate assets through investment and development of mixed use communities in Texas and other markets. Previously, Brad practiced as a real estate attorney in private practice and as in-house counsel for publicly traded companies, Forestar and Temple-Inland.

Brett Rhode

Moderator

Rhode Partners

Brett Rhode is well known for his ability to design and manage large, complex projects, producing award-

winning buildings within budget and schedule constraints. Brett honed his skills for over a decade in New

York City on complex international commissions in the offices of I.M Pei and Phillip Johnson. In Austin as

a Vice President at Page Southerland Page, Brett worked on healthcare and civic projects for eight years

before founding Rhode Partners in 2005. Rhode Partners is organized in an open studio environment to

facilitate team communication and easy client access.

Innovation District

How Austin's Growing Tech Presence Is Transforming The Way We Do Business

Michele Van Hyfte

Michele Van Hyfte

Sustainable Design Leader - Resiliency

HOK

Christopher Laing

Christopher Laing

Executive Director

Capital City Innovation

Eric Olson

Eric Olson

CEO

Babson Diagnostics

Verena Kallhoff

Verena Kallhoff

Manager

Workspaces @ Texas Health CoLab

Bruce Raney

Bruce Raney

Owner

Ichor Construction

Arthur Jackson
Moderator

Arthur Jackson

Director of Economic Development

Austin Chamber of Commerce

Christopher Laing

Executive Director

Capital City Innovation

As executive director of Capital City Innovation, Chris leads an organization that is coordinating

the stakeholders of the innovation district emerging around Austin’s new health complex.

Anchored by the new collaboration among University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School,

Seton Healthcare, and Central Health, and supported by the Downtown Austin Alliance,

Opportunity Austin, and community stakeholders, Austin’s innovation district is committed to

inclusive place-making and healthy community.

Chris serves on the Board of Directors of the South Jersey Technology Park, and the Oversight

Committee for the FDA-funded Philadelphia Pediatric Device Consortium. His particular areas of

expertise include life sciences, medtech, and healthcare.

Previously, Chris was a member of the senior management team of Philadelphia’s University

City Science Center, the country’s oldest and largest urban innovation hub, where he had

specific oversight of commercialization programs, startup investment, and business

incubation/acceleration. Between 2010 and 2016, his portfolio companies collectively raised

almost $600M in venture financing. He also provided direct product and business development

strategy support to university faculty and startups, and managed the Science Center’s Scientific

Advisory Committee.

Chris was recognized with an Emerging Leader award by Pennsylvania BIO in 2012, and

participated in the Greater Philadelphia Leadership Exchange in 2012 and 2014. He became an

Eisenhower Fellow in 2015, through which he had the opportunity to engage with government,

academic, and business leaders in China’s emerging urban innovation centers. He is a member

of the Philadelphia College of Physicians, and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Prior to joining the Science Center, Chris worked for a number of biomedical start-up

companies, ran a research program at the University of Pennsylvania, and was a practicing

companion animal veterinarian in the United Kingdom.

He completed his veterinary training and his PhD (in endocrinology) at the University of Sydney,

and his post-doctoral training (in molecular biology) at the University of Pennsylvania’s School

of Medicine.

Eric Olson

CEO

Babson Diagnostics

Eric Olson is CEO and founder of Babson Diagnostics, an Austin-based healthcare technology company working to improve our customers’ health by

making diagnostic blood testing more convenient, accessible, and human. Babson’s proprietary technology is designed to produce accurate diagnostic results from small capillary samples collected at convenient retail locations.

Eric previously served as an executive at Siemens Healthineers. He served as VP, Portfolio & Product Management for Siemens’ clinical laboratory business. In this role, he was globally responsible for portfolio strategy, product management, and R&D budget allocation for the company’s current and future products, including ADVIA, Centaur, Dimension, Vista, IMMULITE, and Atellica. Eric also served as the global head of Siemens’ clinical laboratory automation and IT business, which advanced from #2 to #1 in market share during his tenure. In this role as VP, Automation & IT, he was also responsible for the company’s web properties and $1B+ in e-commerce operations.

Eric earned his Bachelor’s in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Master’s in Technology Management from the University of Pennsylvania. He has a technical background in software architecture and development.

Verena Kallhoff

Manager

Workspaces @ Texas Health CoLab

Verena Kallhoff, PhD, MBA, leads Workspaces @Dell Medical School, a coworking space for

value-focused health innovation startups. She guides and advises numerous health care

startups on their journey to commercialization. Verena is a mentor in the TEX Venture

Mentoring Service program at the Austin Technology Incubator, providing effecting team

mentoring to startups across the ecosystem. She facilitates the interaction, communication and

partnerships between entrepreneurs, clinicians, researchers, students and other stakeholders

supporting innovation to reinvent the approach to health and healthcare in the US. As part of

the Texas Health CoLab initiative, Verena develops and leads programs that engage and

connect innovators and entrepreneurs to build a supportive and collaborative health innovation

ecosystem.

Prior to moving to Austin and joining Dell Medical School she served as the Innovative

Managing Director of CyBHOR, an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center sponsored

by the National Science Foundation. The center focused on using the tools of computational

surgery to drive improvements in the hospital operating room. In this role, Verena brought

together researchers, industry members and clinicians, building relationships and innovative

capacity.

Verena received her Ph.D. in Human and Molecular Genetics from Baylor College of Medicine

and an MBA from University of Houston- Clear Lake.

Bruce Raney

Owner

Ichor Construction

Bruce Raney is the Owner and Founder of Ichor Construction, Inc. A Central

Texas Design Build Contractor with an emphasis on facilities with Hi-Security,

Hi-Tech and cutting-edge Medical R&D projects. To begin his career Bruce

spent many years working and building in the public sector completing

projects for major University systems and Military bases. Prior to starting

Ichor Construction, Bruce spent several years managing and coordinating

major infrastructure and facilities projects in public/private partnerships for

several federal and state projects throughout the United States. Some of our

current projects are related to the semiconductor, “social platform

development”, medical device and the defense industries. Bruce earned his

Bachelor’s in Construction Science from Texas A&M University and his MBA

from Baylor University. In addition, Bruce is a Certified PMP and Maxwell

Certified Leadership consultant.

Arthur Jackson

Moderator

Austin Chamber of Commerce

Arthur Jackson is the Director of Economic Development for the Austin Chamber of

Commerce, which represents the five county Greater Austin, Texas region. Home to

over 2.1 million residents, the Austin metro is one of the fastest growing and most

economically diverse regions in the nation. Ranking on almost every "best places"

lists, the region's progressive culture, low cost of living, and access to a highly skilled

and talented workforce has positioned the city and region for even greater success.

Arthur's responsibilities at the Austin Chamber include promoting the Austin region as

the premier destination for companies considering a relocation or expansion while

guiding them through the site selection process.

While at the Austin Chamber, he's worked with companies like Merck, PIMCO,

SmileDirectClub, Pfizer, Flextronics, Natera and others to establish an Austin

presence. Arthur is also very integrated with local businesses and continuing to

improve the local business climate.

Prior to joining the Chamber, he worked in Business Development for Allergan Inc. as

part of a Business Development team that set record sales and individually achieved

Sales Representative of the year in his pharmaceutical division.

Arthur received his Bachelors of Business Administration in Marketing from Prairie

View A&M University (Texas A&M System) and also holds an Executive MBA from

the same institution.

Opening Remarks With Facebook's Rachel Jamail

Rachel Jamail

Rachel Jamail

Site Lead

Facebook

Rachel Jamail

Site Lead

Facebook

As Site Lead, Rachel Jamail leads internal and external marketing and communications at Facebook Austin. She previously served as the Director of Global Brand Marketing at Spredfast. She serves on the boards of the Anti-Defamation League and the University of Texas Psychology Department. Rachel is also the Co-Founder of the Notley Fellowship, a two-year-long program that empowers and inspires young business and technology professionals to apply their business skills to make an impact on nonprofits. Rachel earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas and a Master’s from Harvard.

Summary

  1. How are major projects like The Independent, Austin Proper, and The Innovation District impacting the commercial real estate market? How can they overcome the growing parking and density issues that downtown is currently facing?

  2. What are the tenants wanting in an innovation hub? Are we being forward thinking enough or simply reacting to the ‘now’ of the market?

  3. What will Downtown be like in 5 years? What strategies will developers use to redevelop and rehabilitate aged buildings?

  4. What is the overall vision for the Innovation District? Are there other cities or other districts it will be modeled after?

  5. What are the structural challenges created by Austin’s rapid growth and how are market leaders tackling them?

Venue

Omni Austin Downtown
700 San Jacinto at 8th Street
Austin, TX 78701

Ballroom: Longhorn Room - 3rd Floor


$44 valet
$10 self-parking

Agenda

Time Activity
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
Coffee, Networking, & Breakfast
3:00 PM
3:10 PM
Opening Remarks With Facebook's Rachel Jamail

Facebook Talks New Downtown Austin Office!

3:10 PM
3:55 PM
Innovation Districts

How Austin's Growing Tech Presence Is Transforming The Way We Do Business

3:55 PM
4:40 PM
Future of Downtown Austin

Where Are Developers Going Next With Their Office, Hospitality, Retail, Mixed-Use And Residential Projects?

4:30 PM
5:00 PM
More Networking!