Houston Master-Planned Communities & Homebuilding

Heath Melton joined The Howard Hughes Corporation® (HHC) in 2015 and was recently named President of the Phoenix Region with their 37,000 Acre purchase of Douglas Ranch/Trillium. Prior, he served as Executive Vice President, Master Planned Communities Residential in Houston. Heath is responsible for residential planning & development for the award-winning master planned communities of The Woodlands, Bridgeland and The Woodlands Hills. Prior to joining The Howard Hughes Corporation, Heath was a General Manager for Travisso working for Taylor Morrison, Austin Division. He also worked for Sueba and KB Home in the Houston market. Heath is a West Point Graduate and served in the US Army as a Field Artillery Officer for five years where he deployed to Kosovo and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

As founder and principal of The Signorelli Company, Danny Signorelli has more than 20 years of executive management experience in all facets of real estate development including: acquisitions, finance, residential and commercial development, leasing, marketing and property management. Danny founded the company bearing his name in 1994. Over Danny’s 20+ year career, he has played an active role in commercial and residential development in Texas and Oklahoma. From large scale master planned communities to niche infill / redevelopment and mixed-use projects, his broad experience and entrepreneurial skills have helped fuel the company’s unprecedented growth. Under his leadership, The Signorelli Company is unique to the real estate industry, with company divisions focusing on land, retail, medical, commercial development and residential development. Since its inception, the company has been involved in over 6,000 acres of residential, commercial and multi-family projects. Leading an experienced executive team and a company 50 people strong, Danny exemplifies the company’s focus of “Building better places and spaces to live, work and play.” After 20 years of dramatic growth, he has positioned the company with enviable projects and land positions to take the company to the next level.

Uri Man is Executive VP of Land Tejas responsible for mixed-use projects and commercial land. Land Tejas is the top developer of master-planned communities in the Houston market based on number of lots developed and sold. (source: John Burns/RCLCo 2019 & 2020 annual rankings) Mr. Man is jointly responsible for managing overall resources in optimizing project profitability. He oversees amenity design and construction and is the Land Tejas spokesperson for matters pertaining to investor proposals, government officials, builders and the media. Mr. Man is also the founder and CEO of The Lagoon Development Company which develops large crystal clear lagoons with beach life and watersports for Land Tejas master-planned communities and as stand-alone public access attractions. The company’s mission is to make luxury beach life accessible to Land Tejas communities and the general public. Mr. Man previously led the technology company Crystal Lagoons US Corp’s entrance into the US market. When first introduced, the crystal clear lagoon concept was pitched to land developers as a way to improve the quality of life for home owners who would value walking to turquoise blue water and white sandy beaches moments from their new homes. With tremendous demand from the general public, the idea of opening the lagoon as a ticketed attraction was born. The Lagoon Development Company is making this dream a reality with the first lagoon in the US to be open to the general public at Lago Mar in Texas City. The Lago Mar lagoon has beaches reserved for residents of the top selling community and the opposite end of this lagoon has been open to the general public this year for limited time, limited capacity events such as #SummerLagoonfest and the recently announced #OktoberLagoonfest. The company is now raising capital to build a world class beach club for the general public. The Lago Mar lagoon is the largest in the United States by perimeter and length and anchors a future 100-acre mixed-use entertainment district which when complete will be surrounded by new waterfront hotels, restaurants and bars. As CEO of Lagoon Development, Mr. Man leads a talented team of design, development, construction and marketing professionals. The company has a 3 rd lagoon under development and expects to break ground on 4 additional lagoons in the next 24 months. Mr. Man has been entrenched in the real estate development scene since 2002 having sourced and overseen developments including more than 4,000 apartments and homes as an executive of The Related Group, Gables Residential and Ram Development. Over the past 15 years, Mr. Man’s ground-up development projects ranged from single-family master-planned communities, to market rate apartment and condominium projects, to a 300,000 square foot retail lifestyle center. Mr. Man was also an executive of the Florida Panthers NHL Hockey Team where he led the development of the team’s new training facility. Mr. Man holds a General Contractor license and Real Estate Broker’s license and has taught real estate and business courses at Florida Atlantic University and University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Man serves on the executive committee of Land Tejas, Houston’s top ranked residential development company (by number of lots developed and sold). Mr. Man has served on the Urban Land Institute (ULI) National Community Development Council. Mr. Man was awarded the Florida ‘Young Leader of the Year’ award by the ULI for his ability to bring stakeholders together for the greater good of the local community and his personal contributions to the real estate development industry. Mr. Man has served on the boards of several charities and has been active in raising funds for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, Friends of the Israeli Defense Fund (FIDF), and the Miami Dolphins NFL Cancer Challenge. Mr. Man received a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Man has been a regular contributor to national news shows on Fox Business, CNN, CNBC and others providing his opinion regarding real estate markets and the US economy.

As Managing Principal, Elizabeth is focused on guiding the firm’s vision and creating an exceptional experience for both the client and the Clark Condon team. Poised and concise, her leadership supports firm growth through mentorship and company strategy. Throughout her career, she has built a diverse portfolio of public and private projects with a passion for design excellence, creativity, and community impact. She excels at relationship building and creative design solutions. An accomplished designer, she collaborates with the client and design team to create memorable spaces that inspire, educate, and intertwine with nature. Elizabeth joined Clark Condon in 2004 after graduating from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s of Landscape Architecture.

Duane Heckmann is a greater Houston area advisor with more than 35 years of raw land and residential lot brokerage experience in Houston and the surrounding counties. He has developed extensive knowledge regarding utilities, drainage, surface control and other unique development issues, as well as a comprehensive working knowledge of land values and overall market trends. Duane has very strong relationships with developers, homebuilders, banks, funds and investors that are active in the Houston market, and also assists and advises a large number of owners with their respective land holdings. He has assisted most of Houston’s master planned community developers, commercial developers, lot developers and landowners with their raw land needs as well as selling land and lots to homebuilders, commercial/mixed use developers, industrial developers and investors. Duane has also completed extensive work for national, regional and local banks including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Enterprise Bank, assisting them to analyze their real estate holdings and disposition of various assets. Prior to joining Land Advisors Organization, Duane ran his own commercial real estate company for 15 years. He is a member of the West Houston Association, Urban Land Institute, Houston’s Commercial Real Estate Network (CREN), The Greater Houston Partnership and is a board member of FiveTwo Network, a nonprofit organization. Duane received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Sam Houston State University and has held his Texas Real Estate Broker’s license since 1988.

Catherine Lee is the Chief Operating Officer and In-House Counsel for Douglas Elliman Texas. In addition to legal counsel, Catherine is charged with driving the company’s growth and managing financial operations as well as all day-to-day operations including marketing, human resources, recruiting, accounting, and business development. Prior to this position, Catherine served as Chief Operating Officer and Partner of Sudhoff Companies, until Douglas Elliman formed a joint venture with Sudhoff Companies creating Douglas Elliman Texas. She has been a strategic family investor with Sudhoff Companies since 2010, becoming a major influencer in the company’s luxury real estate development across retail, multifamily, and residential with projects ranging from value-add repositioning to ground-up construction. Before capitalizing in real estate, Catherine owned operated, and franchised 22 Applebee’s statewide and managed a 70-manager team with 1,300 employees. She was the only female franchisee for the global restaurant brand. Prior to the restaurant business, Catherine previously served as an Associate with Vinson & Elkins in their finance section. Born and raised in Houston, Catherine graduated with honors from Rice University and holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Jay is the Vice President of Build for Rent for The Signorelli Company (TSC). He is responsible for working with all divisions in executing the business strategy across The Signorelli Company’s entire BFR platform. This includes coordinating with the Development, Acquisition, and Construction teams on the execution and growth of the BFR pipeline throughout the greater Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin markets. Jay also coordinates and assists with managing debt and equity capitalization efforts while working with TSC’s Property Management teams with respect to all BFR initiatives, programming, and performance. Since joining the firm in 2017, Jay has played an integral role in the development and leasing of one of TSC’s flagship developments, Valley Ranch, one of the largest mixed-use developments in Texas and leading the Signorelli team in launching it's Build-For Rent divisions, Rental Properties of America. Prior to the Signorelli Company, Jay worked as an investment and development advisor for speculativeindustrial and office space with a Houston-based portfolio company providing services and manufactured products to the global energy and industrial markets. Jay also served as a leasing and development associate with Worth Partners in College Station, where he helped establish 100% occupancy with the firm’s student housing portfolio of over 500 Class-A Multi-Family units and residential homes. Jay holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Texas A&M University and is a licensed Texas Real EstateSales Agent . He is also an active member of Urban Land Institute (ULI), Aggie Real Estate Network, Leadership Montgomery County (LMC), and is member of the Greater Houston Partnership Real Estate Committee. Jay is also involved with the Aggie ACHIEVE program at Texas A&M University.

Raised in San Antonio, TX Graduate of Texas A&M University, Class of ‘06 Master’s Degree in Real Estate from University of North Texas Pioneered new use of analytics for Toll MPC team to oversee $1.25B+ in construction spend Started Bold Fox Development in Summer 2019 Have 3 projects in active Development 2018-2019 President of the Montgomery County Builders/Developers Division 2018-2019 Member of the Board of Directors for Greater Houston Builders Association Charter Director of the Quality Communities Alliance of Texas Member of the Drainage Committee for the West Houston Association 2018 Outstanding committee member for the WHA Drainage Committee Elected to the Pearland City Council in December 2020 Married to Wife Nikki Kamkar (Deloitte Partner) and has 3 children (Maxwell, Matteo, and Nicholas) and 3 dogs in Pearland

Jimmie Jenkins is Vice President, Master Planned Communities for Toll Brothers. His duties include strategic planning and development oversight for Toll Brothers master planned communities. Prior to joining Toll Brothers, Jimmie served as Senior Vice President of Huffines Communities. Prior to joining Huffines, Jimmie served as Vice President of Acquisitions for Shea Homes Active Lifestyle Communities Previously, Jimmie co-founded Newland Communities and served as President of both its Texas and Arizona divisions, and later as corporate Senior Vice President of Strategic Acquisitions. Jimmie holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Houston Law Center, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. He is licensed by the State Bar of Texas. Jimmie is also a past president of the Greater Houston Builders Association.

Ting Qiao has played a key role in transforming the face of real estate across the state of Texas, disrupting residential community development and redefining what the term “home” means. Founded by Ting in 2016, Wan Bridge is now a leading operator of build-to-rent communities in Texas, with offices and projects throughout the Houston, DFW, and surrounding Austin areas. Ting believes in a leadership style that focuses on treating people with respect and giving them the support to “work hard, have fun and make a lot of money” while emphasizing the importance of innovation, technology, and team culture. Ting has been recognized as an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist for the past three years and several Houston Business Journal awards including 2022 Most Admired CEO. Under Ting’s guidance, Wan Bridge has been extended the recognition of many awards including the 2022 TAB Star Award, the 2022 Landmark Award, the 2022 The Fire Award, the 2021 Innovation Award, and Best Places to Work.

Jacob Quinn is a Risk Management professional that caters to Real Estate owners, developers, and managers. Jacob and his team design programs for single and multifamily clients to make insurance become a partial profit center rather than a guaranteed sunk cost. Jacob and his colleagues, manage and mitigate insurance for clients ranging from regional investors and developers to institutional operators. Regarding Single Family Residential operators, Jacob and his team assist clients from start to finish. From a developer of SFR, the Builders Risk and Construction Liability (WRAPS) fall under their purview, to acquiring SFR to rent, Jacob and his team customize tailor-made policies to contain their clients Total Cost of Risk. Insgroup/BRP are licensed in all 50 states, and have strategically located offices throughout the lower 48, to assist their clients on everything from contract review, refinance negotiations, claims mitigation, inspections, etc. Jacob Quinn has been with Insgroup for over eight years, he is married to a native Houstonian and entrepreneur who is president of one of the top Art Advisory Firms in Texas, they have two boys, two dogs and on his free time he attempts to play golf and cheers on any sport related to Houston and the Ole Miss Rebels.