The Future of Houston Office

Bob joined Moody Rambin in 1994 bringing his office agency leasing experience to the firm. Bob has leased office properties throughout the Houston metro market for numerous clients from high net worth individuals to national institutional clients. As Managing Director and over thirty years in office leasing, Bob directs the daily operations with a team of tenured agency leasing office professionals. Prior to joining Moody Rambin, Bob started commercial real estate in 1983 with a local developer Don Mafrige Real Estate where he focused on interior construction and office property management. In 1988, Bob joined Everest Funds and worked under the late Howard Weathers where he transitioned from property management to landlord focused leased transactions. Bob is a native Houstonian, married to his wife Leia and has two daughters, Lillian (14) and Margaret (12). He enjoys spending time with family anywhere along the Texas coast or in central Texas hill country enjoying outdoor activities.

Kevin Wyatt is a Senior Vice President of Lincoln Property Company. Kevin has over twenty-six years of diversified professional experience in commercial real estate. His primary responsibility includes leasing for a variety of institutional third party managed real estate assets including high and low rise commercial office buildings, retail, service centers/warehouse facilities and industrial parks totaling nearly one million square feet. In his 26 years of experience, he has represented major corporate clients, including ING Baring, MetLife, Manufacturers Life, New York Life, Realty Financial Partners, and Harbert Financial. Notable leases in his career include a 700,000 SF lease for Dynegy Inc., a 235,000 SF corporate headquarter consolidation for Exterran (the NAIOP “Deal of the Year”), a 139,083 SF lease for Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, a 121,000 SF lease with Wells Fargo Bank and a 101,600 SF lease for Targa Resources. Kevin was runner up for the NAIOP “Deal of the Year” for the Dynegy Lease and has been named a Real Estate “Heavy Hitter” by HBJ on several occasions.

Edward has served as Griffin Partners' leader since 2002, managing the company's strategic direction, guiding investment and development practices, and overseeing day-to-day management operations and has 30 years of commercial real estate experience.

Pat is President of the Houston office of Colliers International. Pat relocated to Houston from Florida where he served as President of the Colliers offices in Tampa Bay, Orlando and Southwest Florida. Pat has over 34 years of experience in commercial real estate as a producing broker, educator, sales manager and managing broker. ​Pat started his career as Director of Marketing for a real estate data base company where he spent three years interviewing top brokerage houses throughout the United States and assisted in their automation needs as a consultant and instructor. As President of the Colliers Houston office, he has direct responsibility for recruiting, training and managing the sales and leasing teams, property management and business plan creation and coordination for the company. PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS Pat was responsible for building and organizing retail service delivery capabilities for Colliers worldwide as chairman of the Colliers Retail Specialty Group (96-2000, 2002-2013). Pat is also a founding member of the Colliers Oil and Gas practice group. Among his academic accomplishments, Pat wrote the capstone case study for the CCIM program's final course offering from 1986 - 1998. The case study combined the marketing and financial concepts taught by CCIM to allow the students to apply the material to a simulated commercial property disposition. He has been an instructor for NACORE’s (now CORENET) Intermediate Finance Course and was awarded the Top-Rated Faculty Certificate in 2000. Pat has been quoted in national and regional publications including the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, Newsweek, Real Estate Forum, National Real Estate Investor, Globe Street and others. He has been an expert panelist for NAIOP, Real Share, ICSC and many other real estate organizations. Pat has served as a member (and Chairman) of the Colliers Managers Steering committee, the Board of Directors for Colliers USA and is the immediate past Chairman of the Colliers USA Board of Advisors. In 2003, Pat was awarded Colliers Manager of the Year. In 2004, he was chosen by Colliers International as the Tom Richardson Award recipient, an honor based on strength of character. In 2012, Pat was chosen as the recipient of the Colliers USA Pinnacle Award for service excellence. Pat is the only person in Colliers to win all three of these awards. He served as an instructor for Colliers University 2010-14. In 2017 Pat was recognized as a “Best Boss” by Real Estate Forum magazine. EDUCATION Bachelor of Science - Louisiana State University (Finance / Pre-law) SIOR - Office Brokerage I & II MCR - Intermediate Finance MCR - Advanced Finance MCR - Negotiations MCR - Surplus Property Disposition MCR - Retail Site Selection MCR - Enterprise Project Management ICSC - Lease Language / Legal Issues

As Casoro Group’s CIO and Fund Manager for the Onyx Impact Fund, Mehul is responsible for strategizing and executing the firm’s growth strategy in investing in real assets that meet or exceed performance thresholds. Mehul specializes in identifying and acquiring multifamily investments throughout the United States for Casoro Group’s institutional, family office, and high-net-worth clients, as well as its discretionary non-traded multifamily income REIT, Upside Avenue. At Casoro Group, Mehul plays a crucial role in developing the firm’s market presence, uncovering profitable opportunities, leading the underwriting, structuring, negotiation, and closing of new acquisitions. Mehul also oversees the company’s equity and debt capital raising activities. With more than 15 years of commercial transaction experience, Mehul brings deep expertise in the acquisition and asset management of multiple asset types, including multifamily, student housing, industrial, office, and retail. Mehul has also built close relationships with some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and family offices. Most recently, he was Head of Investments at Nitya Capital in Houston, a firm with over $2.5 billion of assets under management in multifamily, office and retail assets. Previously, as Director – Fund Management at Hines, one of the largest privately held global real estate investors and managers, he managed several funds including opportunistic, value- added and sustainable income fund strategies. Prior to joining Hines, Mehul led a real estate development business which focused on residential and mixed-use projects. He has contributed to the investment and development of more than 17 million square feet of commercial real estate across Americas, Europe and Asia. He holds an M.S. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech, and an M.S. in Real Estate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mehul is also an adjunct professor teaching Real Estate

John S. Moody, Jr., is Board Certified in Commercial Real Estate by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has extensive experience in real estate development, leasing, acquisitions, sales and financing. He represents developers, owners, families, financial institutions, investors, retailers and private equity funds in acquisitions, sales, development, leasing, financing and construction of all types of real estate.

Director of Leasing Rima Soroka specializes in the leasing and marketing of the company’s nearly nine million square foot Houston portfolio. Soroka brings creativity, tenacity and responsiveness, along with more than 14 years of prior experience working with the highest level of institutional clients and top quality assets in Houston and New York City, to her role. Before Parkway, she was a First Vice President with CBRE for over a decade. Through new development and the repositioning of undervalued assets, she created more than $650 million in value for her clients, which ranged from institutional investors to local developers. Before relocating to Houston, Soroka was a senior financial analyst with CBRE’s Manhattan Agency Group, working with landlords such as the Trump Organization and the Kushner Companies. She is active in National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), Urban Land Institute (ULI), the Jewish Federation’s Commercial Real Estate Society and Preservation Houston. Soroka is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin. Her awards include 2020 HBJ Heavy Hitter, Connect Media’s Next Generation Award 2018 and CBRE Rookie of the Year 2012.

Jason Presley is a Senior Vice President with CBRE. He has over 19 years of experience focusing on institutional quality office buildings in locations such as Houston, Dallas, Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay area and Chicago. Immediately prior to rejoining CBRE, Mr. Presley was a Portfolio Manager for Lionstone Investments. In that role, he was primarily responsible for value and performance for the Cash Flow Office platform, representing over $1B in Net Asset Value. Mr. Presley began his career at CBRE, in the Global Corporate Services group in Houston where he represented large corporate and professional clients in office leases. As an Asset Manager at Lionstone, Mr. Presley oversaw leasing for 2.5 MSF in 22 assets across 10 metro areas. This role gave him access to best-in-class leasing tactics. He also modeled and analyzed complex lease transactions, making thoughtful decisions that maximized asset returns and achieved fund goals. Mr. Presley also has 8 years of occupier representation experience. As a result, he understands value drivers for tenants and how to best communicate with their representatives, and he has forged close personal relationships with key members of the occupier representative community.

Brandon Avedikian joined Holt Lunsford Commercial (HLC) in 2016 and serves as Managing Principal of the Houston Office Group. Brandon was originally in HLC’s Dallas Office Group, where he was responsible for executing transactions on approximately 2 million square feet of office assets, representing both private and institutional investors. In February 2020, Brandon relocated to Houston, where he is responsible for growing HLC’s office portfolio and providing exceptional service to clients. Prior to joining HLC, Brandon was an assurance professional at Ernst & Young, LLP in Fort Worth, where he performed financial statement audits on both public and private organizations in the real estate, oil & gas, and oilfield services industries. Brandon received a BBA in accounting and master’s degree in accounting from Abilene Christian University. Brandon is a Texas Real Estate Commission license holder, a member of NAIOP, and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Ed is the founder, president, chairman, and CEO ofARVO Realty Advisors, a successful and highly respected full-service commercial real estate firm based in Houston, Texas.He has mentored and guided hundreds of minority business executives and developed Invest In My Own Community, a program helping those from underserved communities create generational wealth.

Ken Mendez started in the built environment solutions in 1996, and has worked in several capacities in the Architecture & Design industry. Gaining expertise from a multitude of teams and manufacturers, he has served as a District Account Manager for both Kimball and Teknion, then moving on to Vice President of Sales for both Office Pavilion, and Workplace Solutions. For three years, Ken was the Regional Director for Knoll for the Houston Region. He currently utilizes his expertise in the multifamily market at Division Six and CORE Office Interiors in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. His bold approach puts people, process, and technology at the forefront of his go-to-market strategy. Ken excels at his job because of the care and growth he provides for his clients and employees to maximize their potential and ensure they each have the solutions and tools they need to succeed.

Stephanie Tsuru spent 25 years in the health care industry before receiving her MLS at Rice, which redefined and changed the trajectory of her life. Empowered by the strength and potential of women and disappointed by their frequent circumstances, she founded SheSpace a female focused work, meeting and programming space to support and bring all women together while mentoring both women and the girls of Houston. Drawing on more than 35 years of experience, she brings her wisdom and passion to a space which advances women’s relationships, social and professional networks, and the power of the cohabitation effect. She is passionate about philanthropic work, specifically literacy efforts co-founding Houston’s state-of-the-art mobile library fleet. Among her accomplishments is recently being named a Greater Houston’s Women’s Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame recipient and an ABC/Channel 13 Women of Distinction. An avid runner and defender of public spaces, she is co-chairing the Hermann Park Commons Capital Campaign. She recently indulged in her fondness of life-long learning by completing the Rice Leadership Accelerator. Born into a family of Eagle Scouts, she is now married to an Eagle Scout who is currently a National Executive Board Member. Frank is also a Past President for the Sam Houston Area Council, so Stephanie is well versed in the power of Scouting and the importance of embracing change and leadership to continue moving the organization forward successfully.

As a parents of four busy children, David and his wife of 30 years know well that teamwork is essential to managing a two career family – great training for managing projects and serving complex organizations. He has learned from from his children and his clients that each one has different needs and goals, and that one size does not fit all. When David is not thinking, writing or speaking about the intersection of technology, culture and human behavior on the built environment, he enjoys gardening. The challenge of creating an environment unique to its location where things can grow and thrive energizes him and fuels his parallel passion for creating spaces where organizations and people flourish. (When basil is in season, he is particularly proud of his homemade pesto) David leads the Interiors Studio in the Houston office of Corgan, an international firm of researchers and innovators who bring curiosity, passion and dedication to Interior Design and Architecture worldwide.

As a founder and the CEO of Vari, Jason McCann’s mission is to help companies create environments that elevate people. A lifelong entrepreneur, Jason has more than 30 years of experience building and running successful companies. He learned the importance of putting the customer first early-on while working in his mother’s hair salon as a child. Jason co-founded VariDesk in 2013, and the brand quickly became synonymous with sit-stand desks. Under his leadership, the company grew at an incredible pace and expanded its product and service offerings significantly, calling for it’s new, more inclusive name – Vari. Today, the company has grown into a workspace innovation company that provides everything high-growth businesses need to unlock the potential of their workforce – from a full suite of office furniture to the workspaces themselves, offering space-as-a-service with VariSpace. A multi-tenant campus ideation lab designed to elevate the way businesses approach office, VariSpace offers first-class amenities, fully furnished offices, and flexible lease terms to enterprise-level clients. Jason accepted the award for 2016’s fastest growing company in the Dallas area at the annual SMU Cox Dallas 100™ Awards Ceremony, and in 2017 he was honored with EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year award alongside his co-founder and longtime business partner. In 2021, D CEO Magazine named Jason CEO of the Year. Jason has spoken at industry events including Dreamforce, The C-Suite Conference, and Startup Grind. In 2018, Jason was interviewed by CNN Money on the NYSE floor, and he spoke at Australia’s Parliament in 2015 regarding workspace innovations and their effects on public health. He has been published by Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc., and more. Jason lives in Coppell, Texas with his wife of 25 years and their three children. He is a board member at the Texas Real Estate Council and a member of Eric’s Club, a distinguished and select group of University of Houston’s Hilton College that build a legacy of student inspiration. Jason earned both his B.S. and MBA from the University of Houston.