Born in New York City, Berg has been in the restaurant business for over 17 years working for

upscale steakhouses in key markets including Las Vegas, Mexico City and his hometown. He

began his career as an in-house butcher with a proud family heritage rooted in the restaurant

business. His great-grandfather was a kosher butcher in Chicago, his grandfather owned the

iconic Orange Julius juice stand in Los Angeles and his brother is a well-known chef who has an

impressive resume working for restaurateurs such as Daniel Boulud and Andrew Carmellini.

In June 2015, Benjamin Berg opened his first concept, B&B Butchers & Restaurant, an upscale

steakhouse and traditional butcher shop on Washington Avenue, to rave reviews from critics,

celebrities and Houstonians. In December 2017, he purchased Carmelo’s Ristorante Italiano, a

traditional, family-owned and operated restaurant located in Houston’s Energy Corridor since

1981. Now named Carmelo’s Cucina Italiana, Berg along with his brother and Executive Chef,

Daniel Berg, are serving fresh, rustic Italian-American food in an approachable, neighborhood

setting with first-class service. After successfully opening a second location of B&B Butchers &

Restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas in January 2018, he formed Berg Hospitality Group, which

conceives, launches and operates restaurants in Texas with a commitment to giving back to the

local communities. The budding culinary group is also responsible for creating B.B. Lemon, an

elevated eatery and bar serving classic, straightforward food and cocktails, which opened in

November 2018 across the street from B&B Butchers & Restaurant in Houston, and Benjamin,

his namesake restaurant set to open in late 2019 inside a luxury apartment building in

downtown Houston, along with more concepts to come. With a true passion for the hospitality

industry, all of Berg’s restaurants focus on offering excellent service, unique atmospheres and

unparalleled experiences for their guests.

Prior to his career in restaurants, Berg worked for The Point, a luxury hotel company voted the

#1 small hotel in the country at the time. He began as a bellman and worked his way up,

learning every detail of the different facets of the hospitality business. He brings this same,

service-oriented mindset to his restaurants. Berg received a Master of Hospitality Management

from Cornell University and a B.A. in Art History from Tulane University.

Highlights of the awards and honors Berg has received include:

o Named “Honorable Mention” in the Houston Business Journal 2016 40 Under 40 Awards

o Recipient of the Preservation Houston 2016 Good Brick Award for the rehabilitation of the

former Dittman Bakery Building into B&B Butchers & Restaurant

o Recipient of the Houston Business Journal 2018 40 Under 40 Awards

o Named a “Hurricane Hero” by Houston CityBook, KPRC-NBC 2, Houston Chronicle and

PaperCity Houston for his charitable efforts after Hurricane Harvey

o Named a “Leader and Legend” in 2018 by Houston CityBook

Gin Braverman is the founder and creative director of the visionary firm gin design group. She has spent the last decade shaping Houston’s burgeoning hospitality scene, developing originative and fully integrated designs for award-winning food and beverage concepts, independent chefs, sommeliers and national restaurant and hospitality groups.

Like all worthwhile paths, Gin’s was winding. After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin, her career began in NYC working in production for TV and film, ultimately designing for HGTV’s extreme home remodel show Home Rules. She also spent significant time abroad, traveling Europe and living in Asia, at one point working with a Taiwanese design firm. When she moved to Houston, she joined the team at Installations Antiques, where she deepened her appreciation for and understanding of artisanship in the built-environment apprenticing in their workshop. Multi-cultural fascination and global immersion define her approach and inform her diverse design portfolio both in and outside of Houston.

The firm's work has been featured in such esteemed publications as GQ, Architectural Digest, The Architect’s Newspaper, Texas Monthly, PaperCity, Wallpaper* City Guide, Interior Design, The New York Times, Hospitality Design, and others.

Founding Partner Todd Mason has more than 36 years of real estate

experience as a principal and a consultant with an extensive background

in land and investment sales, property acquisition, asset management, and

brokerage. Mr. Mason has been in involved in more than $3.0 billion in

transactions during his career.

In December of 2012 he sold his brokerage operation, Mason Partners to

Avison Young, but maintained separate ownership in MLB Capital Partners,

LLC to continue investing as a Principal and General Partner in commercial

real estate projects and in June 2020 he left Avison Young to concentrate

full time on the investment and development business of MLB Capital

Partners. Prior to forming Mason Partners in December 2010, Mr. Mason

was a shareholder of McDade, Smith, Gould, Johnston, Mason + Company

where he served as their CFO for 8 years. He served as Senior Director –

Brokerage Services Group with Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) of Texas 1990-2002 and prior to his tenure with

C&W Mr. Mason spent two years as an associate at the Horne Company. During his tenure at C&W,he won

C&W’s coveted National Service Excellence award two times. In 1997, he was named the Commercial Broker

of the Year by the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR). He also received the Commercial Professional of

the Year for 1998 from the Association of Commercial Real Estate Professionals (ACRP), the 1998 Industrial

Broker of the Year from the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), the 1999

Industrial Co-broker of the Year from NAIOP, and won CCIM’s 2002 Real Estate Forecast competition. In

2004 METRO contracted with Mr. Mason to serve as their Vice President of Real Estate and Joint

Development where he successfully managed the largest Right of Way acquisition plan in their history as

well as structuring their first public / private partnerships for development around park and rides and train

stations. In 2015, Real Estate Forum named him one of the top 20 Investment Brokers in the nation, and in 2018

he was recognized by SIOR for Top Industrial Transactions Worldwide.

Education and Affiliation

Mr. Mason is a Past Chairman of the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) and is currently active in the Urban

Land Institute (ULI). He has previously held such titles as President of Brae Burn Country Club, President of

the Exchange Club of Houston, President of the Stella Link Redevelopment Association (SLRA) and Chairman

of the Board for the 16,000-member Houston Association of Realtors (HAR). He also served as Chairman of

the Association of Commercial Real Estate Professionals (ACRP), the Downtown Historic District, and the

Development Board of the Archdiocese of Galveston Houston. Mr. Mason has served as a Board Member of the

Houston Architectural Foundation, Braes Bayou Little League, Boulevard Oaks Civic Association (BOCA) and

Braeswood Place Homeowners Association and has been manager of numerousWest University Little League

teams. Mr. Mason is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in petroleum

geology.

Sarah Starry is the Director of Leasing for Radom Capital, where she maintains up-to-date knowledge of retail trends, develops and executes creative leasing strategies, and cultivates new relationships with prospective tenants and members of the brokerage community. In addition to canvasing and targeting local and first-to-market fashion, food, fitness and beauty concepts, she also actively participates in the site planning, design processes, and marketing materials.

Sarah was previously with Streetwise Retail Advisors where she gained experience representing tenants, landlords, and transacting on behalf of buyers and sellers of commercial property. Here she uncovered her passion for urban mixed-use development, particularly those that push the envelope, and a desire to make relationships with tenants seeking spaces of that type.

A resident of the Heights since graduating from Texas A&M University, Sarah is a Vice Chair on the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Parade Committee, sits on the Young Professionals Board of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston, and is the founder and designer of the recognized “bed. no breakfast”, Starry’s Studio, in her hometown of Fredericksburg, Texas.

Matt Shafiezadeh is the founder of Urban Genesis, a real estate investment and

development company with acute strategies tied to advancing affordability across multiple

product classes. Since its founding in 2013, Matt has grown Urban Genesis to $1.4 billion

of AUM.

Prior to Urban Genesis, Matt was a senior investment officer at Lionstone Investments

where he sourced over $2.0 billion of commercial real estate assets across the

country. Matt also spent time at both Highland Capital Management and Lazard Freres &

Co on Distressed Investments and M&A/Restructuring. He graduated in finance from the

University of Texas at Austin in 2007.

As President and co-founder of Clark Condon, a Houston-based landscape architectural design firm, Sheila oversees design and general operations for the firm. Her depth of experience, from recreational and commercial facilities to public sector projects, gives her a broad-based knowledge that assures accuracy and client satisfaction. Sheila remains engaged and collaborative within the firm and serves as a mentor sharing her more than three decades of expertise. Moreover, her leadership directs and supports a team disciplined in how to respond to the growing value of environmental stewardship. Sheila earned a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture at Rutgers in 1981 and co-founded Clark Condon four years later. She was also the past recipient of the Outstanding Alumni Award from the Department of Landscape Architecture at Rutgers University. In 2006, she was inducted as a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Kim was born in Flushing, New York and come from many generations of New Yorkers. It was a culture shock when she first moved to Houston, Texas in the late 70's but can now say Y'all with the best of them. Kim graduated from the University of Houston with a BBA in Marketing and has worked in media her entire life. Kim played and coached soccer for many years and even spent a summer in England playing in tournaments. The oldest of three girls, she now has two sons (the first born Texans in her family), a husband and three male rescue dogs.

As a born and raised Houstonian Monica has always been interested in the changing landscape of our

international city. After graduating from Texas A&M University with a focus on business and psychology,

she began her career in the Oil & Gas industry as an engineering recruiter before returning to graduate

school for a Masters in Psychology from Houston Baptist University and a Masters in International

Business from the University of St. Thomas. In 2009, she founded the Marketing & PR agency, COLAB,

helping technology companies, healthcare organizations and non-profits manage social media and

communications programs, before a client turned into a full-time position with St. Luke's Episcopal

Health System, now CHI St. Luke's, where she created the first “ePhilanthropy” program at St. Luke's

Foundation managing all their digital philanthropy. Monica joined The Black Sheep Agency, a cause-

driven marketing agency, where she led strategy for the City of Houston’s General Plan with the

Planning Department and the Arts and Culture Plan with the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs; later

returning to her technology roots when she served Houston-based fintech start-up P97 as the Vice

President of Marketing. In 2017 she ventured into the exciting world of Commercial Real Estate joining

the boutique urban community development firm, Revive Development, where she currently serves as

the Director of Leasing and Marketing. The innovative work Revive has done throughout the historic

Heights, and her own neighborhood, Garden Oaks, drew her to this opportunity. At Revive, Monica has

been able to utilize her skills as a community organizer and marketing professional to work alongside

community members creatively curating commerical spaces, as they revive, repurpose and renovate

structures for new and inventive uses. She currently serves on the Discovery Green Marketing

Committee and is an active Board Member of the Foster YMCA in Oak Forest. She is a 200 Hour

Registered Yoga teacher and enjoys fitness, crashing midcentury open houses, and pretending she’s a

touring backup dancer for Justin Timberlake.