Brian Leary joined Crescent Communities as president of its commercial / mixed use business unit in 2014. In this role, he directs the company’s office, industrial and retail developments and property management across the country. With 17 years of experience in commercial real estate and development, he specializes in large and small-scale, mixed use holdings.

Prior to joining Crescent, Brian held senior management and executive positions with Jacoby Development, Inc., Atlanta Beltline, Inc., AIG Global Real Estate, Atlantic Station, LLC and Central Atlanta Progress. While at Jacoby Development, a national developer of corporate, mixed-use and retail projects, he was the driving force behind ONE Daytona, a 4.5-million square foot joint venture with International Speedway Corp. As vice president of AIG Global Real Estate, he oversaw the design and development of Atlantic Station, a 13.5-million square foot joint venture that, at the time, represented the largest urban brownfield redevelopment in the United States. Previously Brian served as president and CEO of Atlanta Beltline, Inc., the organization planning and executing the implements of the BeltLine, one of the country’s largest, most wide-ranging urban redevelopment projects.

Active in the industry and his community, Brian served on the Board of Trustees of Leadership Atlanta and the Urban Land Institute’s Livable Communities Coalition Council as well as the Governing Board of Atlanta Medical Center. He is a national author and speaker on topics including real estate trends, sustainability and transportation for the Urban Land Institute, United States Congress, Harvard University and others. Brian graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a bachelor of science in architecture and a master’s degree in city and regional planning.

Jay has been involved in commercial real estate brokerage, consulting and development full-time since 1987. Prior to moving to Charlotte in 1997, he spent 10 years in downtown Washington, D.C., as a commercial real estate broker initially with Grubb & Ellis and later with Faison. In Charlotte, Jay was Vice President, Corporate Services, with Lincoln Harris where he represented such clients as US LEC, J.C. Bradford & Company, Interstate/Johnson Lane, ALLTEL, Wachovia Securities, Bank of America and The Urban Land Institute. During his four years with Lincoln Harris, he completed over 60 transactions in 50 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Jay left Lincoln Harris in 2001 to form Insite Properties.

At Insite, Jay is responsible for strategic direction, management oversight, investment decisions, investor relations, and capitalization of Insite’s acquisitions and development projects.

Jim Merrifield has directed the commercial development of 4,000 acres of land and 3.5 million square feet of buildings during his career. In addition to Crown Point, NorthCross, and Whitehall, Jim’s projects include Charlotte International Trade Center, Mooresville Gateway, Poplar Point Business Park, University East Business Park, and Waterford Center.

With over 30 years of real estate experience, Jim has overall responsibility for MPV Properties. He is involved in financial planning, securing debt and equity, personnel management, project design and construction, site acquisition, development and zoning, leasing and site sales.

After he served with Spaulding & Slye from 1980 to 1985 in Boston, Oklahoma City and Charlotte, he joined Crosland in 1985 and purchased a majority interest in its Commercial Division in 1997. In 2004 he purchased the remaining interests in Crosland Commercial and changed the organization’s name to Merrifield Partners.

Jim received a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Colgate University in 1975 and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1980.

Gary Chesson co-founded Trinity Capital Advisors in 2001 to acquire and develop office, industrial, and mixed-use assets throughout the Southeast. He oversees the firm’s office acquisition and development activities and is responsible for raising high net worth and institutional capital for investment throughout Trinity Capital’s portfolio. Investments are capitalized through Trinity Capital’s Value Fund series and through partnerships with many of the country’s top institutional investors. The firm has acquired or developed more than 15 million square feet of space totaling over $1.9 billion. Projects include some of the most successful workplace real estate properties in the Southeast, such as Perimeter Park, Ally Center, NASCAR Plaza, Perimeter Woods Business Park, Toringdon Office Park, and Westlake Business Park. Gary, a 26-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry, is also a co-founder of sister company Trinity Partners, which serves as Trinity Capital’s operating platform. Before founding those companies, he worked for Childress Klein Properties and focused on office leasing, development, and tenant representation. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he frequently lectures at the University’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Active in the community, Gary has served on the boards of the Urban Ministry Center, Alexander Youth Network, the Charlotte Rescue Mission, and Charlotte Family Housing. In addition, he’s active in Social Venture Partners, the Hopeway Foundation, Purple Stride Pancreatic Cancer Awareness, Running Works, The Relatives, and Thompson Child & Family Focus. He’s also a youth Sunday School teacher at Christ Lutheran Church.

Bret Estridge has 15 years of experience in the construction industry and serves as the Area Manager – Charlotte for Wharton-Smith, a top 400 ENR Contractor providing general contracting, construction management and design-build services throughout the Southeast.

Bret previously worked as the Director of Project Solutions and Business Development for Balfour Beatty, an international construction group focused on commercial buildings, power and utility systems, and transportation projects. His recent successes in the Charlotte market include oversight of the 500 East Morehead Office Building, Dowd YMCA Pritchard Parking Deck, and Design Center of the Carolinas Parking Deck.

In 2014 Bret was named one of the Top 40 Under 40 by the Charlotte Business Journal, a prestigious honor recognizing young professionals who have played a key role in shaping their community. He is a member of Leadership Charlotte Class 36 and serves on the board for the local chapter of American Red Cross.

Bret has a bachelor’s degree in construction management with a minor in business administration from East Carolina University and is a LEED Associated Professional BD+C by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

John Boylan started his career with Spectrum in 1989. Hired as a

marketing representative in Charlotte, he relocated to Winston-Salem in

1991 to begin Spectrum’s presence in the Triad region. In February of

1997, he also assumed responsibilities for the Raleigh portfolio.

In November of 2004, Mr. Boylan was named president of Spectrum

Properties Management Company. He plays a lead role in the company’s

operations and is directly responsible for the leasing and management

functions of our Spectrum Carolina’s portfolio, currently consisting of over 5

million square feet. Mr. Boylan also provides expertise in acquiring new

business and identifying new development opportunities.

As founding partner of SunCap Property Group, Flint brings over 30 years of national commercial real estate development expertise to his leadership role at the company. Flint started in the business as a commercial real estate broker in his native town of Miami, Florida spending most of his initial eight years in the industry with Cushman & Wakefield. While there, Flint worked on behalf of institutional landlords leasing space in Class "A " urban and suburban office buildings as well as building a substantial book of business in the tenant representation side of the business.

With over 18 years of commercial real estate experience, Michael has been responsible for leading over

$2.0 billion of multifamily and mixed-use investments throughout the southeastern U.S.

Since joining Crescent Communities in 2013, Michael has led the predevelopment and entitlement of 20+

multifamily and mixed-use communities totaling over 7,000 residential units and 200,000 SF of retail.

Michael and his team are currently responsible for sourcing and executing Crescent’s multifamily investment

portfolio throughout the Carolinas and Tennessee.

Prior to joining Crescent, Michael served as the Vice President of Development for Aimco, a national

apartment REIT, where he led the Company’s multifamily redevelopment platform throughout the

southeastern U.S.

Michael graduated from the University of Richmond with a degree in Business Administration and holds an

MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Active in the community and industry, Michael sits on the Board of Directors of the Greater Charlotte

Apartment Association and Classroom Central, a Charlotte based NPO supplying students and teachers

with over $6.5MM of free school supplies annually. Michael is also a member of the Urban Land Institute

and National Multi Housing Council and volunteers his time regularly with Habitat Charlotte.

Michael currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife Summer and their four-year old son,

Jackson.

Jeff Brown is a Member within Moore & Van Allen's Real Estate practice group. He

focuses his practice on the representation of investors and developers in an array of

real estate-related transactions and ventures.

Brown represents and serves as counsel to his clients in a comprehensive range of real

estate-related matters, from financing, acquisitions and dispositions, joint venture and

real estate investment structuring, and development, including complex land use,

entitlement and public/private economic development projects. Brown is also active in

certain government relations matters.