Christine Torres began her career in commercial real estate as a tenant rep broker for Colliers International and MB Real Estate. There, she saw tenants’ connectivity requirements become increasingly sophisticated and leasing teams struggling to effectively communicate how their buildings stacked up in response. As Head of Chicago for WiredScore, Christine leads the adoption of Wired Certification in the Chicago market to solve this issue for tenants and property owners.

Mr. Pachucki is Founder and Principal of the IBT Group LLC, which focuses on creative urban

developments in metropolitan areas. Current projects include 1200 Fulton, a full-block creative

office, retail and entertainment complex in the West Fulton Market area of Chicago.

Mr. Pachucki is responsible for strategic management of all development activities for IBT Group

including pipeline, acquisition, financing, planning, leasing and project execution. He has over

30 years of real estate experience and has been involved in the development of over ten million

of square feet of office, residential and retail space throughout the country during his career.

Prior to the formation of the IBT Group, Mr. Pachucki started and oversaw retail development in

the Midwest for Opus Group of Companies, a family owned real estate company which was one

of the largest privately held real estate companies in the country.

Prior to OPUS he spent several years with Balcor as Vice president where he was responsible for

an extensive national portfolio of 2,000,000 square feet of commercial space and 60,000

residential units. An architect by training, Mr. Pachucki spent several years with at the time the

largest architectural firm in Wisconsin, Mochon, Schutte, Hackworthy & Juerisson, where he was

involved in various aspects of the design process for institutional and commercial buildings

including airports, schools and residential projects.

Mr. Pachucki graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in

Architecture and also completed graduate level studies at the University of Wisconsin Graduate

School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

immy founded UJAMAA Construction in 2002. His vision was to create a company that would provide exceptional construction services in a socially responsible manner, to “rebuild our community one block at a time.” UJAMAA has grown dramatically under his leadership, and is now the premier diversity construction firm in the city of Chicago.

Jimmy earned a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology and completed numerous MBA courses at Purdue University. He graduated from the Entrepreneurship Center program at Purdue University Calumet and is a member of the inaugural NextOne entrepreneurial program with the Chicago Urban League and Northwestern University’s Kellogg Business School. He also successfully completed the Executive Education program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He is a past Chair of the Builders’ Association and the Illinois Chapter of the Association of General Contractors.

Jimmy has been honored with several distinguished community and professional awards. He and his wife and family live in the community where UJAMAA was founded.

As a founding principal of Structured Development, LLC, J. Michael Drew has been engaged in the real estate development and construction management business for nearly 40 years. Michael matriculated at the University of Illinois where he studied Business Administration and Architecture. Over 25 years as a general contractor, Michael has had extensive experience in all phases of the construction process, especially scheduling of labor forces and subcontractors and comparative purchasing of material and equipment. Notable projects completed include City Hall Lobby and Entrance Renovations, Marshall Field and State of Illinois Pedways, Clark Lake and Roosevelt Subway Stations, McCormick Place Expansion, and numerous utility tunnel installations. He was an active participant in the conversion and renovation of obsolete loft buildings to commercial and residential reuse throughout the City, including Riverworks on Goose Island, Lincoln Lofts in Lakeview, 1415 Dayton and 1333 Kingsbury in the Halsted Triangle. During his tenure as a principal of Structured Development, the firm completed over 2,000,000 square feet of product including Lincoln Park Center, Blackhawk on Halsted, Kingsbury Center, and Kendall College at Riverworks. Structured Development is the Managing Partner on the “nationally significant” New City mixed use project. Structured was awarded the Adaptive Reuse Project of 2008 by the Landmark Preservation Council for its historic conversion of the Chicago and Northwestern Powerhouse to office and retail.

Michael represented the Builders Association of Greater Chicago on the City’s Minority Relations Committee, served on the recent Land Use Task Force Committee, and is a long term member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, Urban Land Institute, and Lambda Alpha International. He is a 20 year member of World Presidents Organization, and a past President of Olympia Fields Country Club. Michael has served on the Advisory Board for the Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate at Roosevelt University for over a decade.

Danielle Dy Buncio is the Co-Founder and CEO of VIATechnik, a construction and engineering services firm transforming the construction industry. Through virtual design and construction VT blends global human capital with cutting-edge construction technologies. Danielle leads the company’s strategic growth efforts and builds and manages client relationships with some of the largest AEC firms around the country. Under Danielle’s leadership, the firm’s innovative and landmark projects have included everything from a point cloud BIM of one of the world’s largest breweries to the creation of a virtual “gaming” environment of a nuclear power plant. Danielle and the VIATechnik team are spearheading advancement of BIM, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Artificial Intelligence in the industry. Prior to founding VIATechnik, Danielle worked for general contractors in Silicon Valley, Sydney, and Chicago. As a Civil Engineer and a LEED Accredited Professional, she has extensive commercial building, heavy civil, and marine construction experience. She holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Danielle is a recognized industry thought leader and has spoken at industry events including ENR Groundbreaking Women in Construction, ENR FutureTech, AGC BIMForum, CSI Master Specifiers Retreat, Dodge Annual Construction Outlook, and Autodesk University. Danielle was the closing keynote at the Builtworlds CEO Tech Forum in 2016. She was recently invited to China to speak to key government officials and industry leaders on global trends in BIM and construction technology. Danielle was named one of the top “Women to Watch in Virtual Reality” and she received the 2017 Women in Construction Award by Constructech Magazine. She is also on the Advisory Board of Flux.io, a technology start-up born out of GoogleX, tacking the issue of big data for construction.

Marc Blum has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of real estate investment and portfolio management. His work has encompassed a variety of areas, including acquisition, reposition and disposition of more than $750 million dollars in real estate assets, financial analysis and due diligence. Marc’s prior experience – including Vice President of Acquisitions for Klaff Realty and Senior Asset Manager for Ocwen Financial Corporation and Ocwen Investment Corporation – provide a solid base for his role as Chief Operating Officer at Next Realty.

Marc’s diverse responsibilities include acquisition and dispositions, property and asset management, leasing of all portfolio properties, as well as partnership and financial structuring and reporting. Marc holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Marketing from Syracuse University in addition to a master’s degree in Real Estate Investment from New York University. He also holds CCIM and CPM designations.

Mr. Adler is a 25-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry and is the Executive Vice President of The Missner Group. He leads the firm's real estate acquisitions, business development, and capital fundraising for syndication and equity funds.

As Executive Vice President, Mr. Adler sources equity investment opportunities thereby bringing qualified investments to the firm, its partners, and its clients. He is responsible for the development and maintenance of solid donor relationships, and the identification and implementation of new direct response programs intended to increase income and reduce the cost of fundraising. Mr. Adler also manages the real estate brokers responsible for the sale or leasing of the firm's properties and has been instrumental in the completion of several major lease signings on the firm's behalf.

Prior to joining the Missner Group in 2004, Mr. Adler was a partner at Landstar Development, a private equity and real estate acquisition firm where he was responsible for more than 30 transactions valued in excess of $100 million. Mr. Adler was also employed as a commercial real estate broker for a number of years for firms including Sheldon F. Good & Associates, Baird & Warner Commercial and Grubb & Ellis where he was consistently recognized as a top producer.

Mr. Adler is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he earned his Bachelor of Arts. He is an active volunteer for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF).

Professional Designations and Affiliations

Association of Industrial Real Estate Brokers (AIRE)

Illinois CCIM Chapter

John Russell is President of W.E. O’Neil’s Chicago and Austin regions and has been with the company throughout his entire career, beginning as a Project Engineer and progressing through the ranks over the last 40 years. He assumed leadership of the Chicago region in 2018 and has worked to deliver on W.E. O’Neil’s mission of bringing thoughtful leadership to the building experience through his collaborative personality. His strong management skills and operations background make him an excellent leader and a trusted business partner in real estate development, design, and construction industry.

John is passionate about promoting diversity and inclusion in the construction industry and is active in various community workforce development initiatives on the south and west sides of Chicago. He is also a founding member of HIRE 360, Chicago’s leading workforce development organization.

In addition to his support of diversity and inclusion in the construction industry, John is an active member and former Chairman of the Chicago Builders’ Association, and is involved with the American Institute of Architects, the Lean Construction Institute, Chicago Architecture Foundation, as well as several organizations near W.E. O’Neil’s Chicago office, including the West Central Association Chamber of Commerce and the West Loop Community Organization.

Arie Barendrecht is the CEO and Founder of WiredScore, the pioneer behind the international Wired Certification standard that evaluates and distinguishes best-in-class Internet connectivity in commercial buildings. Holding degrees from The Wharton MBA Program and University of California, Berkeley, Arie worked with the Boston Consulting Group prior to founding WiredScore, where he focused on the technology and media industries as a consultant.

Noah Gottlieb is the founder of The X Company; an unconventional members-only club with attainable apartments for the culturally curious. It’s a home, it’s a gym, it’s a work space, it’s energizing experiences, it’s a pool bar, and your new network. It’s an X.

The Chicago-based company’s project pipeline spans ten major markets, over $1 billion of construction activity, and over 10,000 beds.

In addition to running The X Company, Noah also volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Thresholds; a provider of mental health services where he sits on the real estate committee, and The Dovetail Project; an initiative designed to help at risk, adolescent fathers.

Edmund Woodbury is responsible for leading the firm’s executive management team and executing on the vision and strategic direction set by the firm. Mr. Woodbury has twenty-five years of experience in the real estate industry in numerous executive positions focused on the successful development of $1.5 billion of urban mixed-use projects. Ed is a registered architect and practiced for seven years in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in various senior design and management positions. He also held senior positions in Oxford Properties and BCE Development (now Brookfield) before joining McCaffery Interests. Ed is also active in his community, having served on his zoning board, plan commission and is a former Trustee and President of the village in which he resides. Mr. Woodbury received a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the University of Illinois.

Tina Bird is a Partner in the Real Estate Practice Group and her practice is nationwide, including contract drafting and negotiation, arbitrations, civil trials, mediations, claim preparation and mid-project analysis.

Tina represents material suppliers, subcontractors, contractors, construction managers, design-builders, architects, owners and sureties in every aspect of their business.

Before joining Freeborn, Tina was a Partner at Clark Hill PLC in the Firm's Construction, Business and Corporate Transactions, Litigation and Real Estate departments.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

Defended a construction company against breach of warranty claims as to construction of a subdivision of single-family homes.

Represented and was successful on behalf of many subcontractors in asserting mechanic’s lien claims on both public and private projects, and general contractors on private projects including the preparation of the actual liens and the prosecution of the lien litigation itself.

Represented large developers in breach of contract claims including projects in Maryland and Florida.

Negotiated multi-million dollar contracts for the construction of the Trump Tower and McCormick Place Expansion projects.

Successfully prosecuted multi-million dollar contractor claim concerning construction of the Cleveland Browns stadium.

Successfully appealed a trial court decision resulting in the creation of mechanic’s lien rights for trucking and hauling of construction material.

Represented large national developer in securing disputed zoning rights for construction of a multi-million dollar shopping center.