Charlotte State of the Market

Justin is a Principal at White Point Partners and focuses on all aspects of executing investment opportunities and asset management. He is also a member of the Investment Committee. Justin previously worked in J.P. Morgan’s Real Estate & Lodging Investment Banking Group where he closed on over $30 billion of M&A transactions and raised over $7 billion of debt and equity capital. Justin began his career at Clark Realty Capital, a real estate developer in Washington, D.C., where he focused on multifamily and mixed-use development, as well as military housing privatization. Justin received a Master of Business Administration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Bachelor of Arts in History from Duke University. He is a contributing author and member of the Urban Land Institute.

Andrea Barry has over two decades of experience in creative professional services, with a focus in the real estate development, hospitality, architecture, engineering, construction, and design industries. She holds a BFA in Visual Communication with an emphasis in Design and Marketing and is a Certified LEED Green Associate. Throughout her roles in design, advertising, marketing, program management, and business leadership, her passion has been helping clients achieve their business objectives through creative storytelling, stakeholder engagement, and innovative communication strategies. As the Director of Client Success for NINE dot ARTS, Andrea focuses on strengthening client relationships while helping partners achieve maximum value and engagement through their curated art programs and creative placemaking efforts. She is especially focused on helping clients leverage opportunities for positive social impact and meaningful contributions to the creative economy.

Mark is a Deal Principal and Managing Director on the Development and Investments team. In that role, he leads underwriting, capitalization, and sourcing efforts for industrial, multifamily, retail, and office transactions in North and South Carolina. Previous to Foundry, Mark was the Senior Vice President & Managing Director for Cousins Properties’ Charlotte portfolio, acting as market leader for six years. Prior to that, he was a Senior Vice President and Partner at Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, leading up to and including that firm’s acquisition by Foundry in 2015. He also spent nine years within Bank of America’s corporate real estate department, where he was a Senior Vice President and Transaction Director for a 20-million square foot portfolio in the Southeastern US. Mark holds a Doctorate and Masters in Business Administration, a Six Sigma Black Belt, and is currently a Board Director for Charlotte Center City Partners.

David has 27 years of experience in the acquisition, development, development and construction of mixed-use projects nationally. He has been involved in over $5 Billion in various commercial, retail, multi-family, and industrial projects. He has spent most of his career in the Carolinas where he is from but has developed property nationwide. He has completed large retail projects with anchors such as Publix, Wegmans and Harris Teeter. Prior to joining the Catalyst team, David lead SunCap' efforts in the multi-family and mixed-use space covering the US but primarily focused on the Carolinas. Prior to that, David lead Cortland Partners efforts in the Western US, covering NV, UT, AZ & CO. David received a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Business Administration from Kenan Flagler at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an active ULI member and is a CCIM candidate.

Alyson Craig currently serves as the Planning Director for the City of Charlotte, overseeing department initiatives that includes Charlotte 2040 Comprehensive Plan implementation, the Unified Development Ordinance, Regional Transportation Planning, long range planning, land development permitting, historic districts, urban design, annexations and the rezoning process. She also provides oversight to the City’s One Stop Shop initiative that created a multi-department collaborative approach to land development permitting that opened in 2020 as the CLT Development Center. Alyson previously served as the City’s Deputy Planning Director since 2018. Prior to joining the City of Charlotte, Alyson worked at UNC Charlotte as the Co-Director of the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate and the Director of the Master of Science in Real Estate (MSRE) program.  She taught classes in the MSRE program that included Site Planning and Real Estate Development and took students abroad each summer to study real estate and land use planning in countries across the world. Prior to joining the faculty at UNC Charlotte, Alyson worked for Grubb Properties’ Investment team managing office, multi-family, and mixed-use development and acquisition projects. Before moving to Charlotte in 2011, she was Vice President of a planning and engineering firm in Florida working with clients on development agreements and entitlements, rezonings, and annexations for large multi-use land development projects.  Alyson has a Bachelor in Science in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Science in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, and a Master of Science in Real Estate.

Tom Planishek is The Charlotte Division Manager for Clancy & Theys Construction Company and has over 17 years of experience in the Carolinas Construction industry. Tom brings preconstruction and operations expertise to many diverse project types within corporate workplace, life sciences, mixed use, and institutional market sectors. Under Toms leadership the C&T Charlotte division has grown to over 60 local employees and has quadrupled its market share in the Charlotte region since 2019. Tom holds a Bachelors of Architecture degree from Philadelphia University as well as a MBA from Wake Forest.

John is a Professional Geologist and Registered Site Manager with over 13 years of experience in environmental consulting. John began his career at Hart & Hickman, PC after graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of North Carolina Charlotte with a Bachelor of Science in Geology in 2009. John has experience conducting soil, groundwater, and vapor assessment and remediation on a variety of commercial and industrial sites in the Southeast. John enjoys spending time and traveling with his wife and two daughters, learning to cook the perfect brisket, fishing, and training Brazilian jiu-jitsu.