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Speakers and Panels

Heather DeFreytas

Heather DeFreytas

Director Development

Keystone

Unlocking Value: Where Are the Opportunities for Adaptive Reuse & Repositioning?

Philip Balderston

Philip Balderston

CEO

Odin Properties

Jason Scholl

Jason Scholl

President

LK Miller

Christopher Horch

Christopher Horch

Associate Partner

JB&B

Brad Molotsky
Moderator

Brad Molotsky

Partner

FisherBroyles

Philip Balderston

CEO

Odin Properties

Philip Balderston is the Founder and CEO of Odin Properties, a diversified real estate investment and management firm with over 3,000 multifamily units and 200,000 square feet of commercial space. Prior to starting Odin, he was the director of Acquisitions and Finance at Philadelphia-based Tower Investments, Inc., responsible for financing various development projects and asset management. Before joining Tower, Philip was an Acquisition and Development Analyst at The KOR Group in Los Angeles. He has a profound understanding of real estate finance and economics, economic cycles, and community development, having completed over 600MM of real estate transactions as a Principal. Philip had also held an analyst and asset management position at Amerimar Enterprises in Philadelphia, is a graduate of the William Penn Charter School in East Falls, and holds a degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in Real Estate Finance and Urban Studies from the Wharton School.

Jason Scholl

President

LK Miller

Jason joined LK Miller in 2002 when he began as a laborer while putting himself through college. While earning his degree in business administration, Jason was promoted to Superintendent and later to Vice President; now, twenty years later, he is the proud President and Owner of the company.

Jason's strong business acumen and textbook knowledge, coupled with his decades of field experience, allows him to expertly guide clients through every aspect of the acquisition (he’s also a licensed real estate salesperson!) and construction process. He prides himself on the highest possible level of client service, and is grateful to lead a dedicated and skillful team of like-minded professionals. As a result, the vast majority of LK Miller's business is from repeat clients and referrals.

Outside of work, Jason enjoys working out, reading, cheering on Philadelphia's sports teams, and spending time with his family in Ocean City, NJ.

Christopher Horch

Associate Partner

JB&B

Christopher Horch joined JB&B in 2002, now serves as an Associate Partner, and is part of the

leadership team for the firm’s growing Philadelphia practice. His current responsibilities include

project management, coordination, design, calculations, field observations and the preparation

of construction documents. He has led the design of heating, ventilation and air conditioning

systems for varied market sectors nationwide and throughout the world, including university, life

science, commercial office, hospitality and infrastructure projects.

Mr. Horch has provided expertise for life science projects such as Penn Medicine’s 3600 Civic

Center Boulevard Overbuild (core and shell and lab fit-outs) as well as infrastructure upgrades

at The Curtis Center, both in Philadelphia. His work on major financial institutions includes

various sites for major financial clients in New York and New Jersey, and his developer building

and infrastructure experience includes One Vanderbilt, TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport

and 1212 Avenue of the Americas. He has also assisted JB&B with the construction of premier

research facilities, such as cyclotron projects at both NYU Langone Health and Memorial Sloan

Kettering in New York City. His experience in higher education includes the NYU Tandon

School of Engineering BioMedical Engineering and Chemical Biomolecular Engineering

Renovation, Barnard College’s Roy and Diana Vagelos Science Center, and John Jay College

of Criminal Justice, all in New York.

Mr. Horch earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh

University and is a licensed Professional Engineer; a LEED Accredited Professional; and a

Certified Energy Auditor. He is a member of ASHRAE, a member of the Young Professionals

Committee of the New York Building Congress, a member of the NYC Builds Bio+ Life Sciences

Committee, and a member of the New York City Mechanical Code Committee. Mr. Horch also

serves as an Expert Peer Review Committee member for the Council on Tall Buildings and

Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

Brad Molotsky

Moderator

FisherBroyles

Brad A. Molotsky practices in the area of real estate law. He serves as a lead for the Duane Morris Project Development/P3 group and as co-head of the firm's Opportunity Zones group. Mr. Molotsky’s primary practice is focused in the areas of opportunity zone fund creation and fund deployment, financing, public private partnership (PPP or P-3), real estate joint ventures (including mixed-use, life sciences and multi-family development), commercial leasing (including a focus in cannabis leasing), and acquisitions and divestitures. He also has deep experience in environmental, social, governance, public company issues such as enterprise risk, internal audit,

compensation, as well as energy efficiency, sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Prior to joining Duane Morris and for nearly 20 years, Brad served as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Brandywine Realty Trust. At Brandywine, Mr. Molotsky was responsible for all legal operations of the company, including acquisitions and divestitures, financings, joint ventures, board matters, insurance procurement, litigation oversight, SEC filing oversight and the legal aspects of capital raising. During his tenure, the company grew from 40 buildings to approximately 300 buildings, totaling 28 million square feet. In 2020, Mr. Molotsky was named a national influencer in the Opportunity Zone space by OZ Magazine and won The Philadelphia Inquirer Influencers of Law Award for Real Estate. He was also named by The Philadelphia Inquirer as an Influencer of Real Estate for Real Estate Legal Excellence in 2019. He was also named in TheLegal Intelligencer's list of Pennsylvania

Trailblazers for 2019. Mr. Molotsky was named one of Philadelphia Business Journal's 2018 "Best of the Bar: Top Lawyers in Philadelphia. He was also named General Counsel of the year by the Philadelphia Business Journal in 2014 and NJBIZ in 2013 and was awarded the Martin Luther King Community Service award in 2014, the Township Sustainability Leader Award in 2016 and the Roger Davis Community Service Award in 2017.

Conversions, Adaptive Reuse & the Economics of Transformation

Lindsey Scannapieco

Lindsey Scannapieco

Managing Partner

Scout

Mark Cartella

Mark Cartella

VP, Development

Alterra Property Group

Evens Charles

Evens Charles

CEO

Frontier Development

Sean Edwards

Sean Edwards

President

Rittenhouse Communications Group

Marques Franklin
Moderator

Marques Franklin

Managing Director

Siemens Financial Services

Evens Charles

CEO

Frontier Development

Evens Charles is the founder and managing principal of Frontier Development & Hospitality Group LLC.

A native of Washington, D.C, Mr. Charles attended Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

where he was a Big East Conference Division-I football athlete. During his five-year athletic tenure at

Temple University, he earned a B.A. in Psychology and a Master of Education. Shortly thereafter, at the

age of 25, Mr. Charles was inspired by his landlord to execute his first small transaction that required

an out-of-pocket investment of $1,000 resulting in a $25K profit six months later. Mr. Charles

organically grew over a ten-year period by executing several successful residential and multi-family

acquisition and development projects, then by the age of 36, made his first hotel investment. He has

since grown Frontier to over a $200 million capitalized portfolio of Hilton and Marriot Internationally

branded hotel assets across six states, with another $560 million of urban infill, commercial real estate

development in its pipeline.

Some of his recent accomplishments includes being recognized as the lead developer of DMPED’s 2021

award of the Hill East Bundle II Project, which is 1.2 million square feet of waterfront, mixed-use

development in Washington DC; The 2021 Business of the Year by Prince Georges County Bi-County

Business; 2019 Black Enterprise largest 100 Black Owned Businesses in the nation and the 2019

Outstanding Entrepreneur Award by the Caribbean American Heritage. He has been featured in various

publications including Hotel Business, Lodging Magazine, Black Enterprise & Business Journals across

multiple cities.

He has an endowed scholarship in his name at Temple University targeting underserved students,

supports many philanthropic causes and serves as a mentor to many. He is also a member of Temple

University’s School of Hospitality & Tourism Board of Visitors, member of the Real Estate Executive

Council (REEC), as well as industry organizations such as the National Alliance of African American

Hotel Owners and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association.

Sean Edwards

President

Rittenhouse Communications Group

Sean Edwards is the President of Rittenhouse Communications Group (RCG), a design build technology integrator for multi-family and hospitality sectors. RCG’s goal is to provide a single pane of glass redundant building technology solutions for a single asset, or a nationwide portfolio.

Why Attend Philadelphia Repositioning, Adaptive Reuse and Conversions Summit

Why This Matters: Philadelphia’s commercial real estate market is undergoing a transformation. With rising office vacancies, aging industrial properties, and shifting tenant demands, developers and investors are rethinking how to repurpose underutilized assets. Whether it’s office-to-residential conversions, industrial-to-life sciences transformations, or mixed-use redevelopments, adaptive reuse is becoming a critical strategy to unlock value in the city’s built environment. Adaptive reuse offers a way forward, but it comes with challenges. From zoning hurdles and financing complexities to construction constraints and tenant demand, navigating these projects requires strategic vision and expertise. Hear from leading developers, investors, and owners who are at the forefront of repositioning Philadelphia’s real estate assets and dive into successful conversion projects, financing strategies, regulatory challenges, and the future of adaptive reuse in the city.

What You Will Learn:

  • Philadelphia’s Repositioning Landscape – Why millions of square feet of office space in Center City remains vacant, and how adaptive reuse is emerging as a key strategy to revitalize underutilized properties.

  • The Future of Office-to-Residential Conversions – How developers are overcoming zoning, structural, and financial hurdles to successfully transform outdated office buildings into multifamily, mixed-use, and hospitality assets.

  • Industrial-to-Life Sciences and Innovation Conversions – Why the Navy Yard, University City, and South Philadelphia are leading the city’s industrial-to-lab conversion boom, and how developers are making these projects financially feasible.

  • Historic Building Reuse and Tax Incentives – How developers are leveraging Philadelphia’s historic tax credit program, 10-year tax abatement, and Keystone Opportunity Zones to finance large-scale repositioning projects.

  • Financing and Capital Markets for Adaptive Reuse – How high interest rates and tighter lending conditions are impacting conversion projects, and which funding strategies and equity partners are making deals happen.

  • Zoning, Policy and Regulatory Challenges – What Philadelphia’s zoning laws, building codes, and land-use policies mean for adaptive reuse projects, and how developers are working with city officials to streamline approvals.

  • Construction and Infrastructure Challenges – How developers are handling outdated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems, code compliance issues, and structural constraints in older buildings.

  • Mixed-Use and Transit-Oriented Redevelopment – Where Philadelphia’s next major mixed-use hubs will emerge as transit-oriented development fuels demand for walkable, live-work-play communities.

  • The Long-Term Vision for Philadelphia’s Built Environment – What’s next for Philadelphia’s skyline, urban districts, and industrial corridors, and how repositioning will shape the city’s real estate market over the next decade.
     

Who Attends This Event: Odin Properties, Frontier Development, Shift Capital, PMC Property Group, MM Partners, Breakthrough Properties, Colliers Engineering & Design, Lubert Adler, Strada Architecture, 9th Street Development Company, August Mack Environmental, Inc., Thornton Tomasetti, Gensler, Clemens Construction, and more!

For questions regarding content, speaking and sponsorship opportunities please email our Senior Event Producer, Virginia Baker, at virginia.baker@bisnow.com. To request disability-related accommodations, please contact ally.araco@bisnow.com no later than seven business days prior to the event.

Agenda

Time Activity
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
Registration, Networking, & Breakfast
1:00 PM
1:45 PM
Unlocking Value: Where Are the Opportunities for Adaptive Reuse & Repositioning?

Explore how the value in Philadelphia’s aging properties is being unlocked. Hear about the biggest hurdles in repositioning projects, and how sustainability, zoning, and financing are shaping the future of adaptive reuse. Get insights on how Philadelphia compares to other major markets and what types of tenants and industries will drive demand in the years ahead.

1:45 PM
2:30 PM
Conversions, Adaptive Reuse & the Economics of Transformation

Discover what’s driving Philadelphia’s adaptive reuse boom as developers rethink outdated office buildings, warehouses, and industrial spaces. Hear about real-world case studies, lessons learned from past conversions, and the financing tools making these projects possible. Learn how demand for residential, life sciences, and creative office space is reshaping the city’s real estate landscape and what it takes to turn aging properties into high-performing assets.

2:30 PM
3:00 PM
Post-Panel Networking

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