Celeste Tanner is the co-founder and chief development officer of Confluent Development. Bringing nearly 20 years of industry experience, she established the full-service real estate investment and development firm to bring a new vision of development within the industry to life. In her role, she steers the firm’s execution across all phases of real estate development, successfully delivering custom and complex projects that create significant value in their respective communities. Since the company’s inception in 2014, Celeste has overseen more than $1.5 billion in development projects across the organization’s diverse portfolio, consisting of more than 100 industrial, office, retail, mixed-use and senior housing development projects. Under Celeste’s guidance, Confluent has delivered award-winning projects and works with some of the country’s most sophisticated clients including Target, FedEx, Starbucks, Mikron Corporation, Vectra Bank, and Charter Communications, among others. In her previous role as director of real estate development at Opus Development Company, Celeste led the real estate project team for its Denver office and played a key role in the ground-up development of more than 5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family space. Celeste holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado at Denver, is an alumnus of the Downtown Denver Partnership Leadership Program, and has been awarded for her outstanding achievements from organizations such as The Denver Business Journal, CREW, NAIOP Colorado and Bisnow. Giving Back in Business and Community Celeste has represented the development industry both locally and nationally through her leadership in NAIOP, where she previously served as the chapter president for Colorado. Currently an executive committee member on NAIOP’s national board, she provides a voice for Colorado’s development industry at the national table. Celeste also contributes her leadership well beyond the industry and into the community. She serves on the board of Wheat Ridge Localworks, where she contributes her industry expertise to help implement the organization’s business and home improvement loan programs, among others, focused on enhancing the city’s economic vitality and neighborhood revitalization. Celeste also represents District I as a member in Renewal Wheat Ridge (RWR), an Urban Renewal Authority committed to improving the visual aesthetics and environmental aspects of Wheat Ridge, meanwhile adhering to the wants and needs of the community.

With a legacy of more than 40 y ears of real estate and hospitality experience, Dave Johnstone, McWhinney’s Chief Investment Officer - Hospitality, is responsible for acquisitions, developments, asset management and dispositions. Specifically, he creates and executes business strategies associated with all hospitality-related acquisitions and development. His career began in 1979 in the Windy City at Laventhol and Horwath, a hospitality accounting and consulting firm, before moving in 1981 to open their Denver office. He then served as an Investment Manager for Prudential Property Company in Atlanta, GA in 1987, where he was responsible for an equity portfolio of hotel properties located in the Southeastern United States. He then joined Sage Hospitality in 1989, where he served as Principal for the Denver-based, nation-wide owner/ operator of hotels. In 1996 he departed for Hong Kong, and his role as Vice President, Development for the Asia/Pacific region at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, a subsidiary of Marriott International, Inc., where he negotiated operating, management and technical services contracts for new hotel projects. In his final role before joining McWhinney in 2015, Dave joined Miller Global Properties, LLC, a real estate pension fund advisory firm, in 1998 , where he developed and acquired hotels throughout the United States. Passionate about creating new destinations with endless possibilities in the ever-changing world of hospitality, Dave is driven by the numerous opportunities McWhinney discovers. He continues to give back to the industry that has shaped his professional life by serving on university boards and councils, as a guest lecturer and authoring several articles and book chapters on industry related topics

Matt Joblon is a founding partner and serves as Chief Executive Officer for BMC Investments. Since 2010, BMC has acquired and managed over 8,000 multifamily units in metro Denver comprising an asset value just over $1 billion. Also in that time span BMC has developed or is in the process of developing over $500 million in projects, all in Cherry Creek. Some of the projects include market leaders such as the Steele Creek luxury apartment project and the new Halcyon Hotel. Through those projects, BMC has been instrumental in bringing world class retail and restaurant concepts to Cherry Creek including Matsuhisa, Quality Italian, Le Bilboquet, Soul Cycle, CB2 and Departure. BMC currently has over 200 employees and is growing at a fast pace. Lastly, BMC has another $500 million in development projects in the pipeline in Cherry Creek, Boulder and the Fitzsimmons Medical Campus, and is in the process of sourcing thousands of multifamily units outside of Denver. Mr. Joblon received a B.B.A. in Entrepreneurship and Real Estate Finance from Babson College and is on the Board of the Blue Sky Fund.

Daniel is responsible for the vision, design, entitlements and execution of new and existing real estate developments, and strategic positioning of all real estate assets. Previously, Daniel was the Senior Principal and Practice Leader for the Stantec Buildings and ViBE groups in Colorado, where he oversaw the vision, design and execution for multiple life sciences and healthcare facilities, mixed-use developments, sports and entertainment districts, arenas, urban districts, shopping experiences, nationally and in over 15 countries. He has over 20 years of experience in visioning, planning, urban design, architecture, interior design, branding and graphic design, environmental graphics and wayfinding, sustainable design, and placemaking. Daniel earned a Master of Architecture and Healthcare Design from Texas A&M University. He received his Bachelor of Architecture degree in from the Instituto Superior de Arquitectura in Mexico City, and the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa, Israel. He serves on the Colorado University LEEDS Real Estate Center International Advisory Board, the ULI’s RETL Council, and the Better Boulder Board of Directors. For Daniel, delivering captivating, relevant, sustainable, and exceptionally unique projects is the status quo. He designs and develops places where people elect to spend their time. He finds connections and meaning; creating beautiful design, focused on the experience.

Chris Perry, an Account Executive at AvidXchange, specializes in helping real estate and property management companies grow their portfolios and maintain existing properties more efficiently while improving financial processes through automation and best practices. Prior to joining AvidXchange, Chris spent 12-years with Colliers International. In his most recent role as National Controller for the Real Estate Management Services National Accounting Team, he oversaw a team of more than 150 accounting professionals responsible for providing full accounting services for a portfolio consisting of 135 million square feet of commercial office, industrial, residential, and retail space. Before joining Colliers International, Chris spent time as the Finance Manager at Rock Investments and Chief Financial Officer for Consolidated Tires, Inc. Mr. Perry also served for 5 years as an Associate and Senior Associate in the real estate consulting groups of Deloitte and Touche LLP as well as Arthur Andersen LLP. Chris holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Auburn University and Master’s in Accounting from the University of Georgia. He is actively involved with Healing Haiti, a non-profit organization that works to bring food, water, and education to the impoverished people of Haiti.

Austin Kane is Vice President, Regional Director working out of Denver, Colorado. He oversees Unico’s real estate investments in Colorado and Texas. Austin co-directs and executes asset strategies on more than 3.6M rentable square feet of class A office and retail space and is Unico’s point of contact for new business opportunities in his region. Prior to joining Unico in 2013, Austin was a broker with the Frederick Ross Company for more than 10 years. In this role, he worked with institutional landlords from across the country. During his tenure with Frederick Ross, Austin completed more than 250 lease transactions. He also worked closely with management to mentor young brokers and connect with the larger Denver community. While with Unico, Austin has overseen multiple successful leasing efforts on repositioned properties, setting a bar within individual competitive sets in multiple markets and submarkets. Additionally, Austin has identified multiple off-market office investment opportunities that have closed as well as a significant off-market development play that is currently in progress. Austin was elected President of the Denver Metro Commercial Association of Realtors in 2013, and was the recipient of Allen P. Hackstaff Award for outstanding community involvement. Austin serves on the Downtown Denver Partnership Business Improvement District as Secretary and is a member of the Executive Committee for the 5280/Downtown Loop. Austin also is a member of ULI. Austin believes that real estate is a service business, and he excels at creating positive, lasting relationships.

Jason graduated from Michigan State University before working for several manufacturers, mortgage lenders and international government contractors, where he led business development and capital raise efforts. His experience and personality have earned him a vast network of capital providers and clients, which led to the co-founding of PlattPointe Capital. Jason splits time on business development and capital advisory for his ever-growing book of clients. Jason focuses on private debt and special situation lending but is adept in all areas of commercial real estate finance. He regularly speaks at conferences and presents on CRE capital markets to law firms and banks demystifying the world of CRE private debt and equity.

Laci Knowles is a managing director of the Special District Group and works with clients to structure deals at all phases of the development cycle, with significant experience in financing the earliest phases of development. Laci is an expert in debt obligations secured by complex revenue streams, including tax increment financing, revenue sharing arrangements between special districts and local governments and various other financing mechanisms unique to development. Prior to joining D.A. Davidson & Co. in 2017, she practiced as a public finance attorney in Colorado, serving as disclosure counsel both to issuers and underwriters and specializing in disclosure in connection with nonrated special district financings. Laci holds a JD degree from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, a master's degree from the University of Denver’s Korbel School for International Studies and a bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas.

Deanne’s practice encompasses all areas of real estate law, business law, banking law and creditor’s rights. The majority of her legal career has focused on the representation of large and small financial institutions and other creditors in residential and commercial foreclosures, loan workouts, deficiency actions and real estate-related litigation. Deanne has significant experience negotiating and documenting loan transactions involving real estate. She drafts and negotiates leases, license agreements, cell tower leases and enjoys working with small businesses and entrepreneurs on entity formation, organization documents and contracts. In addition to her work, Deanne is active in the legal community and is a frequent author and speaker on a variety of real estate law and creditor’s rights topics. Deanne is currently a member of the Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee and is a liaison to the Colorado Bar Association Real Estate Section Council. In addition, Deanne is the Managing Editor of the Colorado Bar Association/CLE Colorado Real Estate Practice books and collaborates with the other authors to teach the 13-week course in real estate law to new lawyers, paralegals, and other attendees.

In his role as senior vice president, Chris Briggs leads cross-functional initiatives that support Buxton’s work in the public sector and commercial real estate industry. Since joining the company in 2003, Chris has held leadership positions in operations, product development, marketing, client experience, and sales – including as a consultant to Buxton’s retail and healthcare clients. He has been a featured speaker at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and the Texas A&M Mays School of Business. Chris is actively involved in the business and educational community. He has been an adjunct instructor at the TCU Neeley School of Business MBA program, coordinated the Buxton Challenge at the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative and Texas A&M University, served on the advisory board for the International City/County Managers Association, contributed to the Harvard Business Review, and served on the board of the University of North Texas College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS). He received a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of North Texas and continued executive education from Southern Methodist University. Chris has been recognized by the UNT College of Arts and Sciences as an Outstanding Alumnus.