Bisnow Boston Awards: The Next Generation Of CRE Leaders

Rachel Walters

Sr. Market Development Manager
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Joe O'Brien

Regional Director, New England
View

Joe O’Brien is Regional Director of New England for View Inc. based in Boston. Joe joined View in 2016 and has overseen View projects installed in over 1.5 million square feet. Representative developments include Office, Life Science, Airport, Multifamily, and Healthcare. Joe leads View’s operations and new business efforts in New England working closely with investors, developers, contractors, architects, and tenants. Prior to View, he spent several years in San Francisco with a distributed energy technology company. Joe holds a Bachelor’s degree from The University of Massachusetts Amherst and lives in Boston.

Leo Rusk

VP
HYM Investment Group

Katie Britt Snyder

Vice President
National Development

Katie has over 10 years experience working in the real estate development arena. As a Vice President on the development team, Katie is responsible for managing all aspects of the real estate development process, including design, permitting, leasing, financing, and construction. Since joining National Development in March 2015, Katie has focused her time on the redevelopment and transformation of The District Burlington, a suburban office park formerly known as New England Executive Park located in Burlington, MA, to a vibrant, mixed-use development. Prior to joining National Development, Katie has worked on a variety of project types including, large mixed-use developments, ground-up office buildings, institutional capital improvements, and high-end office fit outs. In her free time, Katie enjoys spending time with close friends and family, ideally in Cape Cod or on the ski slope!

Travis D'Amato

Managing Director
Walker & Dunlop

With over 15 years of diverse real estate experience, Travis D’Amato, managing director, joined Walker & Dunlop Investment Sales in March 2018. Mr. D’Amato is responsible for the origination and execution of investment sales and equity capital raise assignments for multifamily assets in the Greater Boston area. Prior to joining Walker & Dunlop, Mr. D’Amato served as a managing director with JLL and participated in over 60 sales, land, and equity transactions throughout the New England region with an aggregate value in excess of $3 billion. Earlier in his career, he accumulated nine additional years of real estate experience with CBRE, Apartment Realty Advisors, and WinnCompanies. Mr. D’Amato holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College. Beyond the company, Mr. D’Amato is a licensed real estate broker in the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. He is President-elect of the Real Estate Finance Association (REFA), and a member of Urban Land Institute (ULI), National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and NAIOP. He also serves on the board of trustees for the Greater New England Chapter of The Multiple Sclerosis Society and is co-chair of the Outreach Council for Heading Home.

Jeff Cameron

Project Executive
J. Calnan & Associates

Jeff has been with JC&A for over 10 years and has risen through the ranks to Project Executive. As a Project Executive, Jeff is responsible for the overall management and coordination of a project from preliminary planning through construction and final occupancy. His responsibilities include supervision of staff and subcontractors, trade coordination, logistics and safety planning, subcontractor buy-out, contract negotiation, requisition review and approval, financial status reports, budget reports, quality control, and client satisfaction. Within his role at JC&A, Jeff has been involved with numerous complex construction projects including Philips, Pegasystems, BJ’s, Marlborough Hills, Kayak, Tripadvisor and the Sage School to name a few. His experiences include extensive involvement with preconstruction planning, conceptual estimating, value engineering, phasing and scheduling for all phases of construction. Jeff is a true testament of the success of JC&A’s internal training program having grown both personally and professionally. As such, he now holds a leadership role and helps with the coordination of all of JC&A’s Training Initiatives. Jeff is actively involved in the community and industry serving as a member of our JCares Committee as well as the Board of Directors of the Wentworth Alumni Association. He is also an engaged member of IFMA and the Construction Managers Association of America (CMAA). Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from Wentworth Institute of Technology and lives in Easton, MA with his wife, Maria and their 2 sons, Christian and Lucas.

Mike Weber

Principal
Gaston Electrical

As Principal at Gaston Electrical, Mike is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of the company and operations. Additional responsibilities include business development, preconstruction budgeting and estimating, project management of large projects and management of the operations group. Mike is a licensed Master Electrician and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Boston College. He is also a Member of the Permanent Building Committee for the Town of Medfield, MA – assisting in the oversight of all town-related building projects.

Michael DiMella

Managing Partner
Charlesgate Realty Group

Michael DiMella is a nationally recognized leader in the real estate industry. For his innovative real estate sales & marketing skills and strategic thinking, he was chosen to receive the prestigious 30 Under 30 Realtors in America award from Realtor Magazine. He is also frequently cited in local and national news publications, like The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, Boston Magazine, and Banker & Tradesman for his insight and perspective on the Boston real estate market. Michael has a strong educational background in Economics/Econometrics, in which he earned a Master’s Degree from Boston University (where he was also a member of the nationally ranked BU Terrier ice hockey team). Honed through education and years of empirical research, his ability to use sound statistical analysis to spot trends in the housing market and make investment recommendations is especially prized by clients. See our Boston real estate blog for examples of his market research. Michael is a leader in the real estate industry and is currently serving as President of the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. He has served on the Board of Directors at the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB), the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR), and the National Association of Realtors (NAR). At NAR, he also Co-Chaired the 2011 National Association of Realtors Conference & Expo. Besides the “30 Under 30″ recognition, Michael has won awards for both leadership and for marketing. He was selected as a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Future Leader and has won the Massachusetts Association of Realtors Website Design Contest for best company website. Michael is also a Principal of IGNITION Residential, an interdisciplinary multifamily development advisory and marketing firm; and Charlesgate Property Management, a full service apartment and condo association property management firm. He lives in Boston’s South End, enjoys outdoor sports like sailing, skiing, and scuba diving in his spare time and definitely has a few strong opinions about cooking and eating great food…just ask him!

Mike Garrido

President
Trident Ventures

Mike Garrido is one of the most dynamic dealmakers in the country. Before the age of 40, Mike had already structured joint ventures/sales of buildings with a diverse set of Fortune 500 tenants and household names such as Stanford University, General Dynamics, General Electric, Cardinal Health, Philips, Home Depot, CVS and Domino’s Pizza. Mike has transacted on over 5 million sf of FedEx projects alone, including the company’s corporate headquarters. His most recent transaction was a state-of-the-art furniture distribution center for Wayfair. Mike loves skiing, tennis and yoga, while visiting a new city in the world every year with his family.

Tom Sullivan

Executive Director
Cushman & Wakefield

Daniel McGrath

SVP, Director of Asset Management
Berkeley Investments

Dan McGrath oversees the leasing and asset management of Berkeley’s overall investment portfolio. In this capacity, he develops and implements strategies to add value to the portfolio, manages all leasing activity, and oversees property performance. He is also involved in investor reporting and has served in project management roles overseeing permitting efforts and redevelopment projects at various properties across the portfolio. Before joining Berkeley, Dan spent nearly 14 years at New Boston Fund, a private equity real estate investment firm. Dan is an active member of ULI as well as NAIOP, where he is past chair of the Programs Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. He is a past recipient of the NAIOP MA President’s Award and its National Developing Leader Award. Dan is also an active volunteer with United Way. He holds a BA from Harvard University and an MS-RED from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

William "Rob" Halter

VP
Elkus Manfredi Architects

Rob Halter is a Vice President at Elkus Manfredi Architects with 25 years of experience in architectural design for complex mixed-use and institutional projects. He is a skilled project leader who is proficient in his role as a designer and firm representative to various city agencies, community groups, and his clients. Prior to joining Elkus Manfredi, Rob worked for 13 years in Seattle, Washington, creating environmentally sustainable designs for higher education institutions in that region. Since joining Elkus Manfredi in 2005, Rob has been involved with mixed-use, retail, and urban design projects in North America and internationally, including master planning and design for the Shops at Hudson Yards in New York City, master planning and design of a new 34 acre mixed use town center in Perimeter Center, Georgia, master planning and the design of a new mixed use 240 acre City Center in Santa Clara, California. Completed projects include the flagship Neiman Marcus stores at the Natick Mall in Massachusetts and Roosevelt Field Mall in Hempstead, Long Island, as well as the award-winning Paramount Center at Emerson College. He is currently the project director for the Copley Place Retail Expansion and 52-story Residential Tower in Boston and the design of the 22-story retail and residential tower at 150 Seaport Boulevard, The St. Regis Residences, Boston. Rob is a registered architect and member of the American Institute of Architects, the Boston Society of Architects, the US Green Building Council, and he serves on the Building Committee of the Town of Franklin, MA. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the School of Architecture & Environmental Design at Kent State University, in addition to a Bachelor of Science degree from Kent State.

Nathan Bernard

Partner
Nixon Peabody

Nathan Bernard is a partner focusing in the areas of the low-income housing (LIHTC) and new markets (NMTC) tax credits. I work with investors and syndicators to apply LIHTCs to help finance the development of affordable housing for working families across the country. I have also structured complex transactions with multiple layers of funding for certain targeted populations such as the elderly and the disabled. I also work with investors and community development entities in the NMTC field, helping to finance the construction or rehabilitation of hospitals, factories and schools using financing from the sale of NMTCs. These projects help bring jobs and economic growth to historically underserved areas. Having worked extensively with several different tax credit areas, I have been involved in structuring complex transactions using several sources of financing, including HOME loans, HUD financing and tax-exempt bonds. Sometimes, transactions combine multiple tax credits, such as the recent renovation of a historic hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that involved state and federal LIHTC and historic rehabilitation (HTC) tax credits. Another transaction combined solar credit and NMTC financing to place solar panels on the roofs of low-income housing developments. These innovative structures cause me to constantly think “outside the box” on the best way to serve clients. Working with clients at all levels has given me the ability to see a broader picture of the growing trends in our industry and better understand the impact tax incentive financing can have on our communities. I see a lot of opportunity in how public/private partnerships will continue to expand to provide develop and revitalize communities. As demand for tax incentive financing increases, our industry will continue to find new and innovative structures to meet this demand.

Jessica Hughes

Managing Director
Tishman Speyer

Ms. Hughes joined Tishman Speyer in 2018 and is currently responsible for the company’s operations in the Boston region including acquisitions, dispositions, asset management, and development. She joined Tishman Speyer from JLL, where she was a Managing Director in the Boston Capital Markets group and member of JLL’s International Capital Group. Previously, she was a Senior Vice President at Beacon Capital Partners, responsible for acquisitions and dispositions in major US markets, as well as establishing Beacon’s offshore offices in London and Paris. Ms. Hughes has a BA in History from Dartmouth College. She serves as a board member at the Boston Center for the Arts.

Carolyn Desmond

VP, Development
Skanska

Carolyn has 15 years of experience in real estate development working on complex projects ranging from multifamily condominiums and apartments, office, mixed-use, and urban retail. She has managed all aspects of the real estate development process including acquisition, financing, design development, construction oversight, leasing, and divestment. Carolyn has spent the last 9 years with Skanska Commercial Development in various roles and offices. Her most recent notable role was as a Director of Development overseeing the development of 121 Seaport Boulevard, a 400,000SF office tower in the Seaport neighborhood of Boston. In 2013/14 Carolyn spent 1 year in Warsaw, Poland with Skanska’s European development operations leading design and development efforts for a 1million SF high rise office project. Prior to joining Skanska in 2010, Carolyn worked for PN Hoffman & Associates in Washington DC as Senior Manager for development where she was involved in all facets of development for large multi-family and mixed-use projects. Carolyn is a graduate of The University of Virginia with a degree in Civil Engineering.

Lauren Jezienicki

SVP Boston
Bozzuto Development Company

Lauren Jezienicki is responsible for identifying development opportunities and overseeing the company’s New England development pipeline of nearly two million square feet. Prior to joining Bozzuto, Lauren worked at The JBG Companies in Chevy Chase, Maryland, where she served as a Vice President of Development and was responsible for the underwriting, design, entitlement, construction, and delivery of nearly one million square feet of urban multifamily projects. Prior to working at The JBG Companies, Lauren was an Assistant Development Manager at The Shooshan Company in Arlington, Virginia on the Liberty Center project, a one million square foot mixed-use project in the Ballston neighborhood. Lauren graduated from Boston University with a bachelor’s in business administration and Columbia University with a master’s in business administration. She is an active member of NAIOP Massachusetts and the Urban Land Institute. Lauren also serves on as an Executive Committee Board Member of the Design Museum Foundation.

Bridget Beckeman

Managing Director, Retail Strategies
The Wilder Companies

Fred Borges

Senior Managing Director
Rockpoint Group

Fred Borges is involved in Rockpoint’s eastern United States investment and asset management activities. Mr. Borges is based in Rockpoint’s Boston office. Prior to joining Rockpoint in 2011, Mr. Borges worked at Barclays Capital in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group for one year and previously at Cabot Properties for two years. Mr. Borges received a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University.

Michael Barelli

VP, Development
New England Development

Michael Barelli, Vice President, Development, at New England Development, is responsible for managing the development of Allston Yards, and coordinating planning among the project’s partners. Michael is responsible for all aspects of the project’s entitlement, programming, design, and execution. At New England Development, Michael has successfully managed the development of 2 of the company’s 5 outlet centers – Outlets of Little Rock and Outlets of Des Moines – and leads the company’s residential and mixed-use development efforts in the City of Boston. Michael has 17 years of experience in real estate entitlements, management, and development for large-scale, regionally-significant projects. Prior to joining New England Development, he worked in New York for Forest City Ratner Companies, where he managed the development of Ridge Hill, a 1.3 Million SF lifestyle center on 81 acres in Yonkers, NY. He also spent several years in real estate roles at LAZ Parking and Central Parking System, and began his career as a transportation engineer at Sam Schwartz Engineering in New York. Michael graduated from Princeton University with a BSE in Civil & Environmental Engineering and a Certificate in Architecture. He also holds a Master’s in Transportation Planning and Engineering from Polytechnic University. Michael is a member of the real estate committee at the Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester.

Elizabeth Lintz

Director
Goulston & Storrs

Elizabeth Lintz represents sophisticated developers, investors and lenders in real estate financing, acquisitions and dispositions involving a range of asset classes, including retail, multifamily, mixed-use and office properties. Liz’s broad-based transactional practice includes portfolio real estate and equity acquisitions and dispositions, portfolio mortgage financing, mezzanine lending, low-income housing and historic tax credit deals, as well as secured and unsecured syndicated loans.

Patrick McMahon

SVP, Regional Development
Federal Realty Investment Trust

Patrick McMahon is senior vice president – regional development for Federal Realty Investment Trust. In this capacity, he is responsible for the management of the Trust’s development pipeline in the Northeast, including the multi-phase development at Assembly Row in Somerville, Massachusetts. Mr. McMahon, who has been active in real estate development for nearly 20 years, joined the Trust in 2013 and most recently served as vice president – development. Prior to this, Mr. McMahon was vice president of development in the Northeast Region at Simpson Housing LLLP, where he oversaw all aspects of the development process. Prior to that, he was a project director at Edward A. Fish Associates, a large New England real estate development company. Mr. McMahon sits on the Board of Directors for Heading Home, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides shelter and social services to homeless families. He also sits on the Board of Trustees for the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, Inc., a 40-year-old non-profit affordable housing development corporation. Mr. McMahon holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Boston College.

Bryan Furze

VP, Leasing
WS Development

Dana Griffin

Director, Development
Jamestown

Dana Griffin is the Director of Development at Jamestown. Mr. Griffin joined the company in 2013 as Vice President, Development and Construction. He oversees development opportunities on select assets nationwide. Mr. Griffin’s primary responsibilities include advancing the strategic vision for an asset, determining feasibility, and establishing scope and budgets to maximize overall asset value. Prior to joining Jamestown, he was a Senior Vice President at Jones Lang LaSalle. Mr. Griffin has an extensive development and construction background, with past assignments including life science work, new building infrastructure, a wide array of repositioning work, and leading entitlement efforts. He currently serves on the boards for the Back Bay Association, the Seaport TMA, A Better City, and the Boston Municipal Research Bureau. Mr. Griffin received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Alex Main

Project Executive
Wise Construction

Project Executive Alex Main joined Wise Construction in 2009, and has grown to become the area’s industry leader on complex, logistically-challenging projects ranging from $10M - $100M. With a focus on life-science, clinical, and manufacturing facilities, he thoroughly understands the intricacies of these specialized buildings. Alex has worked to bring the latest technologies and delivery methods to every project, including design assist, immersive 3D scanning, virtual pull planning, and cloud-based project management, reducing both project risk and timelines for all his clients. His innate creativity helps him work to develop solutions for complex constructability issues, something that often comes up while converting some of Boston’s oldest buildings into modern lab spaces. A sampling of his clients includes Vertex, Novartis, Takeda, Moderna, Agios, Biogen, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Jamestown, and Flagship Pioneering. A natural leader, Alex frequently works to mentor some of the industry’s up-and-coming young professionals. He is a graduate of Wentworth Institute of Technology, and is an active member of the WIT Alumni Association, the Spondylitis Association of America, MassBio, and NAIOP

Troy Merkel

Partner, Real Estate Senior Analyst
RSM

Troy has 15 years of experience in audit and consulting, with a particular emphasis in real estate and financial services reporting, in accordance with US GAAP, IFRS, NCREIF PREA Reporting Standards and income tax basis. He is also an expert in accounting for asset acquisitions and complex leases and specializes in various tax-advantageous, in particular Opportunity Zones and government subsidized deal structures. Troy’s financial services background involves audits of private equity funds, which hold equity or debt interests in a variety of industries including technology, consumer products, personal services, real estate and renewable resources. His expertise includes complex valuations, mezzanine and first lender analysis, as well as, the evaluation of options. In 2018, Troy was selected as a senior analyst in RSM’s cutting edge Industry Eminence Program, which positions its senior analysts to understand, forecast and communicate economic, business and technology trends shaping the industries RSM serves. These senior analysts advise clients on conditions impacting middle market leaders. Troy’s focus is on the real estate industry.

Matt Edlen

Director
Gerding Edlen

Matt Edlen oversees acquisitions and development in the Midwest and East Coast for Gerding Edlen's various investment funds. Matt is responsible for sourcing, negotiating and executing on investment opportunities across key urban markets within those regions. Prior to his role in acquisitions, Matt was focused on the development and management of the firms internal multifamily marketing and sales platform. His efforts have helped the firm invest over $500 million worth of real estate across the country in cities such as Seattle, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago. Matt has also served as board member and Chair of the Site Selection Committee for PHAME Academy, board member and Co-chair of the Arts Connector Program of Business for Culture and the Arts Young and Young Alumni board member of Young People's Theater Project. Matt earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Loyola University of Chicago.

Jennie Friend

Managing Director
Morgan Stanley

Jennie Pries Friend is an Executive Director of Morgan Stanley. Ms. Friend joined Morgan Stanley in 2001, where she is an officer in the firm’s real estate investing practice in New York. Ms. Friend currently oversees 5MM sf (~$4B) of Class A office and retail assets and has primary responsibility for the ongoing oversight and redevelopment of several regional malls. Ms. Friend leads Morgan Stanley’s investment activity in the Greater Boston market, executing ~$1B of acquisitions. She manages the platform’s long term investments in One Post Office Square and Rowes Wharf and has led the core fund’s expansion into the life science market, marked by its acquisitions of 200 Cambridge Park Drive and 733 Concord Avenue in Alewife. Prior to her role in the investing business, Ms. Friend was a real estate consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in its Financial Advisory Services group providing clients with transactional support and servicing distressed portfolios. Ms. Friend completed her Bachelor of Science at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael Diminico

Partner, Managing Director
King Street Properties

John Hynes, Jr.

Vice President
Boston Global Investors

John Hynes IV joined the BGI team in 2014. Prior to his role as Project Executive of the 10 World Trade commercial development, John oversaw numerous Seaport Square projects, totaling over $150M of development in 3-years. He has also helped lead BGI’s new business efforts, and serves as the primary point of contact for project approvals with City and State agencies. Before BGI, John spent 4 years working in the finance and construction industries in Boston, North Carolina, and Miami. John holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and lives in South Boston.

Nick Herz

Managing Director
Boston Realty Advisors

Nick Herz is a Managing Director and Partner in the Capital Markets group. In this capacity he is focused on expanding debt finance, equity placement, and investment sales activity. His experience encompasses capital transactions in excess of $2 billion across all major asset classes. Prior to joining Boston Realty Advisors, Mr. Herz served as Senior Vice President in the Capital Markets groups at CB Richard Ellis/New England and Colliers International (formerly Meredith & Grew). Nick is a member of NAIOP, ULI and REFA. He received a BA in Economics from Tulane and an MBA from Babson College.

Greg Bohenko

Acquisitions Manager
Samuels & Associates

Brendan Carroll

Dir. of Intelligence
Perry CRE

Brendan joined Perry CRE in March of 2017 as Director of Intelligence. Throughout his 20-year career, he has helped both landlord and tenant clients identify opportunities using a deeply analytical approach to the real estate business. Having held similar roles at firms such as Transwestern RBJ, Brendan has used analytics to detect property mispricings, advise on timing and point out trends identifiable through sophisticated methods. Most recently, Brendan was President and Director of Intelligence at Encompass Real Estate Strategy. Brendan’s research has been featured numerous times through local and national print, radio and television media outlets. An ardent supporter of smart growth and related initiatives, Brendan lives in central Boston and rides a bike to work.

Benjamin Pleat

CEO, Co-Founder
Cobu

Ben Pleat is CEO and Founder of Cobu, a real estate technology and services company that is changing the apartment living experience by powering genuine community through technology, experiences, and analytics. As a New York native, Ben has seen first hand just how impactful a sense of community can be toward bringing a sense of belonging to a physical space. Ben is constantly fascinated by innovation in the built world, and has explored the nexus of real estate and technology while with companies like WeWork, Goldman Sachs, and Israel Cleantech Ventures. Ben is based in Downtown Boston with his team.