Cristi Lewis is an audit partner based in CohnReznick’s Charlotte office. She is a member of the firm’s Construction Industry Practice. Cristi has more than 15 years of public accounting experience encompassing financial statement audits, accounting, business consulting, agreed upon procedures engagements, regulatory compliance and benefit plan audits. Her industry experience includes construction contractors, commercial real estate, residential multi-family housing, and governmental agencies (including PHAs). She has also worked with many small business clients.

Throughout her career, Cristi has been tasked with planning and performing audit, tax, and agreed upon procedures engagements while also providing training, supervision and work reviews for audit associates. She has extensive experience planning and executing audits in compliance with GAGAS, HUD audit guidelines, and OMB A-133. Her real estate and construction industry experience includes commercial and multi-family residential, land development, specialty contractors and property management. She has also worked extensively on due diligence engagements for an SEC client relative to the acquisition of contractors across the country.

Education:

B.S., Accounting – University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

As CEO, Mr. Payne has primary responsibility for the overall strategic direction, growth and development of Ginkgo. From February 2007 until the formation of Ginkgo, he served as the CEO of Babcock & Brown Residential. Prior to Babcock’s acquisition of BNP, Phil was the Chairman of BNP, spearheading its growth from a passive REIT in 1994 to an apartment REIT with approximately 9,000 apartment units by 2007. As BNP’s Chairman, Phil led the sale of the company to Babcock & Brown Ltd. in 2007, at a valuation that represented a doubling in BNP’s share price from the time he took over as Chairman. In addition to his duties at Ginkgo, Phil is a member of the Board of Directors for Ashford Hospitality Trust, a REIT focused on the hospitality industry. Phil received a BS degree and a JD degree, both from The College of William and Mary in Virginia, in 1973 and 1978, respectively. He holds a license (inactive) to practice law in the State of Virginia. Phil is a member of the National Multi Housing Council and the Urban Land Institute (“ULI”). He is the founding Chairman of ULI’s Responsible Property Investing Council and is co-chairman of ULI’s Climate, Land Use and Energy Committee. He is a member of Fannie Mae’s Green Financing Taskforce and the Leadership Council for Garrison Institute’s Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) Program. Phil has written for various publications and spoken at numerous conferences on a variety of topics, including real estate investment trusts, securities regulations, finance and responsible property investing..

Grey focuses on the development, brokerage and leasing of office, medical office and infill residential projects. Previous experience includes serving as a partner at Mark Pierce Poole Properties (2001-2008), senior vice president of the Trammell Crow Company (1998-2000) and director of office leasing at Faison Associates (1992-97). Grey, along with Patrick Pierce and Jensie Teague, founded Selwyn Property Group in 2009. Since his first industry position at Childress Klein Properties in 1990, Grey has been responsible for the development of several million square feet of office, medical office, retail, and infill residential properties.

Grey graduated from Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) a t the University of Virginia. He is a Licensed Real Estate Broker in North Carolina and South Carolina, and is the past President of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP).

Projects that Grey has been involved with include 605 Lexington Avenue (infill office building in Charlotte, 800 St. Mary's Street (infill boutique apartment project in Raleigh), 1500 Kenilworth (infill townhome project in Charlotte), Park at Drexel (infill boutique apartment project in Charlotte), OrthoCarolina Medical Office Building (Charlotte), and Dabney Exchange Retail Development (Henderson).

As CEO, Steve leads all aspects of The Spectrum Companies, implementing strategy, guiding team leaders, and overseeing the operations of its four service lines: Asset Management, Capital Management, Development, and Contract Services.

A 16-year veteran of the company, Steve joined Spectrum’s commercial leasing team in 2004, then led its residential division for 10 years before being named Chief Operating Officer in January of 2017.

Steve was the key leader in forming Spectrum’s new vision to become an evergreen company and establishing our mission to “change lives by creating special places.” He is responsible for ensuring team members are aligned and focused on living our vision and mission daily.

Steve lives in Charlotte with his wife, Erin, and their two small children, Grace and Jack.

As Chief Development Officer, Travis Garland oversees the day-to-day business across all asset classes at Portman, playing a key role in shaping strategy, executing transactions, and driving the development of new and existing product types.

Previously, Travis served as Managing Director of Office at Portman, where he led transactions totaling over $4 billion in gross value, including leasing, operations, and dispositions. He is an active member of NAIOP and ULI. His achievements have earned him recognition as a NAIOP “Top Producer” in 2014 and 2018, as well as the #2 Producer in 2016, 2020, and 2021. He was also named one of Real Estate Forum’s 40 Under 40 in 2014 and has been recognized as a CoStar Power Broker from 2013 to 2021.

Travis holds a B.B.A. in real estate from the University of Georgia and is a licensed Broker in Georgia and North Carolina. He has been active in commercial real estate since 2005.

Melanie Gersper is ACRE’s Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Gersper is responsible for oversight of property management (inclusive of marketing, facilities, recruiting), asset management, and has a meaningful role in acquisitions and dispositions. Her work history includes operating large portfolios of owned and fee-managed assets, both stabilized and new development, in several markets.

Ms. Gersper’s previous positions include COO at CFLane, Senior Vice President of Operations at Bell Partners, President of Operations for Cortland Partners and Regional Vice President of Lane Company. Earlier accomplishments include serving as Regional Manager, as well as in other capacities, for Gables Residential, which was a publicly-traded REIT at the time. She earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.