Since joining The Athens Group in 1998, Dustin has been actively involved in managing and overseeing the design, construction and development of the following four major mixed-use luxury resort and hotel development projects with a combined cost of more than one billion dollars: The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, California; The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, Colorado, the Montage Resort & Spa, Laguna Beach, California and the Montage Beverly Hills.

In 2003, Dustin also helped lead the successful entitlement process for the Montage Beverly Hills. Following the opening of Montage Beverly Hills, Dustin was promoted to Vice President and Partner in The Athens Group and helped manage the residential sales and marketing efforts at Montage Beverly Hills that resulted in over $165 Million dollars in residential sales. Dustin is currently leading the entitlement efforts on the redevelopment of the Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica.

Dustin received his undergraduate degree in hospitality administration from Cornell University in 1997 where he also played on the varsity men’s soccer team. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute. Dustin and his wife and three children reside in Los Angeles, California.

David Kuperberg, is Managing Director of Real Estate for Majestic Hospitality Group, a Los Angeles-based development and consulting firm that brings a strategic and hands-on approach to working with hotel developers and owners. With expertise on a global basis across every phase of the development process, including site selection, hotel programming, design and construction, brand selection and negotiations and capital raising, Kuperberg offers a comprehensive perspective that supports both creative vision of a project and its financial viability. He joined Majestic Hospitality from Hyatt, where he was responsible for the continued growth and success of the lifestyle portfolio following Hyatt’s acquisition of Dream Hotel Group in February of 2023. David was previously Chief Development Officer for Dream Hotel Group and following the acquisition, was among the select executives incentivized to integrate and expand the Dream brand within Hyatt’s global portfolio. Also, he served as Senior Vice President of Development for Virgin Hotels prior to joining Dream Hotel Group in 2013.

Kuperberg began his hospitality career in 2004 as Senior Director of Mergers & Acquisitions with Wyndham Hotel Group, where he oversaw the acquisition of Ramada International from Marriott, which included over 200 hotels and resorts worldwide and was responsible for establishing the company’s international growth strategy. Kuperberg earned a graduate degree in management from Yale University and his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California at Berkeley.

Project Executive Mary Jreisat has forged a reputation for completing the most complex and important sports venue and hotel renovations in the most condensed timelines. This is no small feat and is made all the more impressive as she paves the way for herself—and the women behind her—in the construction industry, a field that’s just over 10% women.

With 11 years of experience in the industry, Mary manages all the business aspects of preconstruction and construction, from budgeting and contracts to scheduling, logistics, and implementation. She joined Shawmut nine years ago as part of its Construction Skills Management Training program, rotating through the three main areas of construction—estimating, project management, and superintending—to develop a strong foundational knowledge of all the facets of a project. Her career accelerated from there, quickly being promoted not once but twice. Mary has built some of the most impressive projects in Southern California, from adaptive reuse hotel renovations including The Hoxton in DTLA to stadiums and ballpark renovations at Petco Park.

A testament to her success as a leader and mentor, Mary’s direct reports are women in both project management and field supervision. It's no coincidence that Mary’s projects have consisted of teams that are 50% women. Outside of Shawmut, Mary dedicates her time mentoring and volunteering for ACE Mentor Program and The Posse Foundation.

Selected as one of 20 high-potential employees out of the entire 900-person company, Mary is a sponsee as part of Shawmut’s sponsorship relationships. Recognized as a top performer and rising leader, Mary graduated Shawmut’s Leadership Development Program.

Mary was named a Los Angeles Business Journal Mentor of the Year finalist in the 2023 Women’s Leadership Awards and a 2022 Woman of Influence: Construction, Architecture & Engineering.

Mary has her Designated Design-Build Professional (DBIA) certification and is 30-hour OSHA certified. Mary graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a B.S. in Civil Engineering.

As a Design Manager at DyeLot Interiors, Krystle brings over 15 years of professional experience in interior and architectural design, with a focus on the technical rigor required to successfully deliver complex projects. Her background spans a broad range of markets, including food and beverage, hospitality, multifamily, retail, and workplace, allowing her to apply her experience with diverse operational, regulatory, and construction requirements to cohesive design solutions.

With an education in interior architectural design from Cal State Long Beach, Krystle has built a career grounded in translating design intent into executable documentation and ultimately into the built environment. She is particularly skilled in navigating challenging project constraints, whether driven by codes, budgets, existing conditions, or aggressive schedules, and is passionate about identifying efficient, buildable solutions that maintain design integrity.

Krystle is known for her ability to build strong relationships in all settings, as well as for her personal approach to her leadership and management style.

Rachael Sery serves as the Head of Capital Markets Operations at George Smith Partners, where she leads initiatives to enhance the firm's value to clients and reinforce its position as a market leader during this dynamic period of growth. She is responsible for directing and managing the firm's technology initiatives and dedicated team, oversees training and standards for all employees, and co-leads recruitment efforts.

As Managing Director, she actively originates and executes debt and equity placements across the United States, with a focus on structured finance. Rachael brings specialized expertise in esoteric financings, including EB5, tax credits, and back-of-house leverage. She has a background in hospitality financing and dedicates significant time to clients in that sector, serving as the firm's in-house hospitality expert. Over her career, she has arranged over $5 billion in total project capitalizations across debt and equity markets.

She structures creative, full-capital stack solutions across large-scale development or heavy repositioning opportunities, providing clients with innovative financing strategies.

Rachael began her career at a buyside advisory firm, focusing on net-leased properties and consulting on more than $400 million in commercial acquisitions, primarily in retail and industrial sectors. She further developed expertise during her tenure in the JLL Capital Markets debt & equity placement group, where she worked with institutional clients and gained insights into market trends and international capital.

Having previously been instrumental at GSP, Rachael has returned in this expanded leadership role, bringing fresh perspective and deep understanding of the capital markets landscape.

When not working, she enjoys spending time with family in nature, traveling to new countries, and learning Torah.

Dorothy approaches deals with an owner’s mindset and seeks to strike the right balance between business opportunity and legal risk. With experience both in-house and at top transactional firms, she brings an entrepreneurial perspective and a practical, solution-oriented approach to every negotiation. Her ability to anticipate issues before they arise, combined with her creative, business-forward problem solving, has made her a trusted advisor to clients across the real estate, hospitality, restaurant, cannabis, automotive, manufacturing, and technology sectors. With over 13 years of experience in all phases of complex real estate and business transactions, Dorothy has developed a deep understanding of how to structure and navigate deals in her clients’ best interest. She has facilitated the acquisition, disposition, leasing, financing, and development of over $1.4 billion in real estate assets, including negotiating senior loans, portfolio refinances, seller carry arrangements, and distressed workout scenarios. Her practice includes extensive experience in purchase and sale transactions, commercial financing, leasing, due diligence, contract negotiation, loan documentation, regulatory compliance, construction matters, zoning, and easements. Dorothy has represented purchasers, sellers, landlords, and operating companies across hotels, multifamily communities, office buildings, industrial warehouses, shopping centers, and mixed-use properties throughout the United States. Prior to joining CGS3, Dorothy served as general counsel for Empire, a leading California retailer, manufacturer, and distributor. During her tenure at Empi4e, she led the company’s legal department where she handled complex business, real estate, and regulatory matters. Concurrently, she operated her own independent law firm, Groza Law, for nine years, focusing on major hospitality acquisitions and corporate transactions, including entity formation, governance, shareholder agreements, licensing, and distribution arrangements.

Dorothy previously served as in-house counsel to SOCA, a multi-state real estate developer, and began her legal career as an associate at a business, real estate, and construction litigation firm in Orange County, giving her a foundational understanding of how disputes arise and how to draft to avoid them.

Outside the office, Dorothy is a vintage auto and moto enthusiast who enjoys rally driving and racing through Baja with friends.

Jim is the National Head of Retail Investments and Retail Capital Markets for

Lincoln Property Company, and co-founder of the retail investment firm, Paragon

Commercial Group, Lincoln’s west coast retail investment partner.

Jim began his career as a real estate and finance attorney with Latham & Watkins

LLP where he represented developers, equity investors and lenders in capital

structuring, acquisitions, dispositions, leasing and entitlements throughout the

United States.

Jim co-founded Paragon in 2009 to capitalize on retail real estate investment

opportunities resulting from the GFC market dislocation. Since that time, Jim has

been honored by the Urban Land Institute as one of the “Top 40 Under 40” land

use and real estate professionals in the United States, by the Los Angeles Business

Journal as one of the top 5 retail real estate professionals in Los Angeles, and

twice recognized by the Los Angeles Times as a Commercial Real Estate Visionary.

Jim currently serves in various industry leadership capacities including the

Executive Committee of the Southern Methodist University Folsom Institute for

Real Estate, Policy Advisory Board for the Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban

Economics at UC Berkeley, Executive Committee Board of the USC Gould School

of Law Real Estate Law and Business Forum, immediate past Chairman of the

Urban Land Institute's Small Scale Development Council, and lecturer at the

University of Southern California Gould School of Law and the UC Berkeley

Masters of Real Estate programs.

Jim’s civic involvements include his current service as a Planning Commissioner

for the City of Manhattan Beach, California, as well as a founding donor and

advisor to the SMU Real Estate Impact Fund, a student-driven investment vehicle

focused on impact investing in underserved communities.

Ray oversees the acquisition and development of Southern California projects. Before this role, he held the positions of Manager, Investments and Senior Manager, Investments.

Before joining Regency, Ray held various positions, including Fund Manager at Cityview, a private equity investment firm focused on acquiring and developing multifamily and mixed-use projects. He began his career with Ernst and Young, where he grew to become Senior Associate, focused on assurance and valuation services for client companies specialized in real estate investments.

Ray earned his Bachelor's degree in business economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Later, he earned his Master of Real Estate Development degree from the University of Southern California. He is an active member of ICSC.

In his free time, Ray's first love is the Lakers. He is an avid golfer and tennis player, enjoys the arts, spending time with his family, and is extremely passionate about all things retail, especially grocery stores.

Jason M. Wilson, CLS, is Vice President of Leasing at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, where he leads strategic leasing initiatives overseeing three premier assets in the Los Angeles Flagship Portfolio. With nearly two decades of experience in retail real estate, Jason has driven consistent revenue and occupancy growth through innovative asset-specific strategies, operational excellence, and team development.

Jason has negotiated hundreds of deals across diverse property types, from regional malls to lifestyle centers, earning him recognition as a top deal maker, strategic leader and trusted advisor. His leadership extends beyond transactions as he previously led the nationwide specialty and kiosk leasing programs, guided redevelopment projects, and continues to plays a key role in influencing company-wide policies, including URW’s COVID-19 amendments impacting thousands of tenants. Today, he serves as the U.S. ambassador for URW sustainable leasing initiative.

A passionate advocate for professional development and diversity, Jason has moderated panels, led leadership training programs, and mentored emerging talent within his organization. Jason holds a B.A.S. in Psychology from Ohio University and is a Certified Leasing Specialist Designee. His expertise in retail trends, tenant mix optimization, and long-term asset vision positions him as a thought leader on the future of retail in Southern California.

Jeff oversees the asset management, leasing and operating teams for Federal’s West Coast portfolio, which comprises nearly 6.5 million square feet of some of the best retail and mixed-use real estate in the country.

Prior to his current role, to which he was promoted in 2023, he served as senior vice president, West Coast Leasing. Prior to joining Federal in 2011, Jeff was the principal in charge of leasing for the CIM Group where he was responsible for formulating the leasing strategy on CIM’s commercial portfolio of approximately 12 million square feet. Prior to that, he was vice president of development and operations for Regent Properties, Inc. and before that, he formed and operated Vision Property Management, Inc., a full-service real estate development, leasing and management company. Jeff has over 30 years of experience in leasing, entitlements, property and asset management with an emphasis on redeveloping and repositioning underperforming and functionally obsolete assets.

Jeff received his undergraduate degree in real estate finance, his master of business administration and his master of real estate development from the University of Southern California. In addition, he holds the Certified Leasing Specialist (CLS), Certified Property Manager (CPM), Senior Certified Shopping Center Manager (SCSM), Certified Commercial Investment Manager (CCIM) designations, and retains his position as adjunct faculty at the University of Southern California, teaching Retail Development in the Masters of Real Estate Development program.

Derek brings a passion for “place” to the practice

of architecture. With more than two decades of

experience in a range of commercial and residential

development, the common thread in Derek’s work is

a need to create meaningful experiences of public

space in which the quality of “being there” ads value

beyond the programmed occupancies.

As a leader of RDC’s Placemaking Studio, Derek brings together

the three pillars of full-service architecture: design, technical

knowledge, and project management. Derek enjoys working

with clients to guide them through the architectural process,

helping them to develop their design inspersions into project

realities. “I believe that architecture is the service of design”.

Derek is a licensed California Architect, accredited by the

National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, a

member of American Institute of Architecture, a member of the

International Council of Shopping Centers, and an associate

member of the Urban Land Institute. He holds a Bachelor’s

degree in architecture from the University of California Berkeley,

and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of

Florida.

Craig Coan, a seasoned legal counselor, former accountant, and trader, applies entrepreneurial insight to create value in real estate deals for his varied, nationwide clients, including developers, family office, shopping center owners, private equity portfolio companies, restaurateurs, and REITs.

Craig's career trajectory has been particularly distinguished by his practical approach and entrepreneurial empathy. After practicing law in his twenties, Craig was a market maker on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange for 15 years, a role that required him to make numerous high-stakes decisions daily.

A former CPA with a Big Eight accounting firm, Craig approaches each matter as if his own money is at stake, often applying his accounting and tax skills in the process. That holistic approach applies across a broad spectrum of real estate transactions in which Craig boasts significant experience: acquiring and disposing of distressed assets; office, retail, and industrial leasing on behalf of landlords and tenants; handling development matters; representing borrowers in financing transactions; and overseeing tax-free exchanges.