Philadelphia Construction, Development And Design Trends

Shelah has over fifteen years of experience in commercial real estate. Prior to joining Nuveen Green Capital, Shelah had various lending roles including Commercial Real Estate Lending Specialist for Capitol Bank, VP Commercial Real Estate Loan Officer for Bancorp Bank, and Senior Investment Analyst for PGIM Real Estate Finance. Additionally, Shelah spent many years working as an advisor to commercial real estate developers, aiding in structuring their JV partnerships, and helping raise debt and equity. Shelah received a BS in Economics from the Wharton Undergraduate program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ernie is a licensed / registered professional engineer in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan and Wisconsin. He was born in Rochester, NY; happily married to his wife, Peggy, the father of Martha and Roy, and grandfather of Luke. Ernie received his B.S. degree in Biology/Geology from the University of Rochester and his M.S. degree in Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ernie lives in Center City, Philadelphia overlooking the City’s Art Museum. His professional contributions have covered a range of environmental and geotechnical projects from multi-site due diligence to remedial action, and building foundations, to bridges, dams, and tunnels. Ernie is a Senior Principal with GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. (GZA) and is President of its New York State Affiliate. Ernie started his career with GZA in its Buffalo, New York office in 1986, starting as a Project Engineer, then eventually named the Office Manager in 1995. He relocated to GZA’s Metro Philadelphia Office in 2009 after managing the Buffalo Office for over 10-years. He initially manage GZA’s Metro Philadelphia operations (offices in Fort Washington, PA and Hammonton, NJ) and worked to expand its geotechnical practice in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Ernie sat on GZA’s Board of Directors from 2013 – 2016 and served as the Mid-Atlantic Region’s Operational Officer from 2012 through 2016. In February 2016, he relocated the GZA Fort Washington, PA office to its current location in Center City Philadelphia (1515 Market Street, Suite 945) and transitioned the office management. GZA is a Massachusetts based corporation with over 700 staff in 31 offices within the Northeast quadrant of the United States. GZA’s holding company is GZA GeoEnvironmental Technologies, a Delaware Corporation. The Company focuses on five core service areas – geotechnical, environmental, water, ecology, and construction support.

As a Vice President and Pennsylvania native, Greg is leading the efforts to build DAVIS' presence in the greater Philadelphia region. Greg has established an impressive construction career managing critical projects, including multiple complex healthcare construction projects for a world-renowned healthcare provider based in Pittsburgh. Earlier in his career, Greg worked for DAVIS in the DC Metro region until he moved back to his home state. Now, he's using his business development skills to build strong relationships and take DAVIS to the next level.

Philadelphia resident, Logan Kramer, also known as Design Pro Development’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, is a self-made and motivated Real Estate Developer, Acquisition Specialist and Zoning Expert. Logan has successfully built over 400 properties and created feasible and sustainable projects by obtaining over 50 variances. To date, Logan has been involved in $110MM of development projects and property transactions. Logan currently owns a $70MM real estate portfolio that is on track to grow to $90MM by the end of 2022. Educated at Temple University’s Fox School of Business, he secured a diversified education which included expertise with Management Information Systems (MIS), Real Estate Law, and Entrepreneurial Concepts. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis in Fairmount Park, running the Schuylkill River Trail, trying out Philadelphia’s newest restaurants, and watching all Philadelphia sports. He is passionate about achieving his own personal goals, as well his partners, and this drive and commitment is reflected in the contacts he makes and the results he achieves. Logan works hard and plays hard as he believes a balanced life provides the energy needed to achieve great results. “When you play, play hard; when you work, don’t play at all.” –Theodore Roosevelt

Gregg leads SHIFT Builders / SHIFT Development and monitors all projects in our extensive Philadelphia portfolio from pre-construction design to post-construction closeout. He provides his development and construction experience to our partners through our NextGen Impact Platform for various projects around the country. Gregg has over 35 years of experience in various types of projects, including multifamily, health care, office, commercial, and retail. Prior to SHIFT, Gregg served as Project Executive of Prestige Building Company and was a partner with Korman Communities. Gregg earned a BS degree in Commerce and Engineering from Drexel University.

William Sproule is the Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters (EASRCC). EASRCC represents more than 41,000 members in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the Territory of Puerto Rico. Our members come from many different trade groups, including: commercial/residential carpenters; heavy highway; piledrivers; floor-layers; mill cabinet; and tradeshow. William is the former President & Regional Manager of the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters which was dissolved and merged into Keystone + Mountain + Lakes Regional Council of Carpenters on May 30, 2018. After the merger William was appointed as the Assistant Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Keystone + Mountain + Lakes Regional Council of Carpenters which would be renamed to the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters in December of 2019. In April of 2019, William was appointed Executive Secretary-Treasurer. As Executive Secretary-Treasurer of EASRCC William’s duties include managing and leading the development of the organization’s policies and procedures; overseeing all of the day-to-day operations for the Council’s local unions in developing collective bargaining agreements; and organizing and expanding work opportunities for union membership.

From Seattle to Saudi Arabia with multiple stops in between, John G. Spitz brings to Gattuso Development Partners an international reputation for excellence in commercial project management and construction. A veteran of tour tours with Liberty Property Trust, where he served until recently as Senior Director of Development and Construction, John has vast experience in contract negotiations, scheduling, estimating, value engineering, project programming, and project/construction management that he earned in the successful construction of multiple high-profile projects around the world. From 2009-2016, John was the Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for Hill International’s operations in Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where he managed over $40 billion in construction projects. In this capacity, John oversaw the dramatic expansion of Hill International’s Middle Eastern workforce, growing its staff from 37 to 385 employees. During his tenure, John also led the company’s efforts to train and mentor in-country engineers, and he served as a guest lecturer at project sites throughout the Middle East and in Turkey. Before joining Hill, John was Vice President of Construction and Development for Liberty, one of the nation’s largest real estate investment trusts, where he led the team responsible for the construction of all Philadelphia projects, including the award-winning Comcast Center, the signature 975-foot tall, 1.25 million square-foot office tower that became Comcast’s international headquarters upon its completion in 2009. Before that, John was Vice President of Design and Construction for the Arden Group, where he managed the design and development of various luxury commercial projects, including the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Center City Philadelphia. Mr. Spitz earned his B.S. in building sciences from Auburn University.

Kyle Easley serves as a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of BKP Development Group and is adept in providing final approval on site selection, navigating and ultimately closing real estate transactions on behalf of BKP. As a Howard University School of Law graduate, Mr. Easley leans on his legal background and expertise to plan, structure and execute on BKP’s transactional goals. To achieve these goals, Mr. Easley works through complex transactional obstacles and has assembled a team of attorneys, architects, and engineers to turn the firm’s business plan and vision into reality. Before co-founding BKP, Mr. Easley served as Development Manager & Deputy General Counsel for Banneker Ventures; one of the country’s top minority-owned real estate development and general contracting firms. Mr. Easley holds a BA in Finance from Clark Atlanta University and a Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law.

Ori C. Feibush is an entrepreneur, small business owner, and real estate developer. As President and Founder of OCF Realty, Feibush has built a successful real estate brokerage that provides comprehensive services in property management, home buying and selling, and development. His offices have developed nearly one thousand residential and commercial units throughout the city, with projects ranging in scale from one-off single-family homes to mid-rise apartment buildings. Over the years, Ori has given much of his development focus to the struggling Point Breeze community, investing millions of dollars to rehabilitate the neighborhood's once-vibrant commercial corridor and donating heavily to various neighborhood groups and schools. The OCF Realty brokerage has two offices in Philadelphia and another opening soon in Margate, New Jersey. Currently, OCF is developing 17 individual real estate projects totaling 101 Single-Family Homes, 630 apartments, and about 200,000 square feet of commercial spaces. Their offices presently manage over 1,800 rental units across Philadelphia and lease nearly 1,000 units annually. In 2021, OCF Realty brokered more than $360 Million in real estate sales and anticipate a strong close to 2022 . Throughout all of this, OCF has cultivated strong relationships with best-in-class contractors, architects, engineers, attorneys and vendors, ensuring the delivery of an exceptional quality product.

Abe is an experienced Commercial Banking Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the banking & financial service industry in all its segments; Small business, middle market, corporate banking and commercial real estate lending. Abe acts as a primary banking advisor, lender, and trusted financial partner to successful companies, real estate developers and asset managers in the Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey region. Abe holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance from Temple University's Fox School of Business with a focus in Management of Financial institutions Abe is currently a Northwest Bank Executive & Lender for the Delaware Valley region. In his current role as regional vice president of commercial banking, he leads all aspects of Northwest Bank’s expansion in the Delaware Valley region; This includes loan production, origination and execution, portfolio management, compliance, marketing and communication, and diversity and inclusion efforts. Abe was one of 20 individuals throughout the Greater Philadelphia region to be honored for their impact on the region and its business community through their leadership. The Philadelphia Business Journal named Abe, regional vice president of commercial banking, Northwest Bank, as a 2022 Diversity in Business Award honoree. In addition, he was recently named a 2022 class recipient of AL DÍA’s 40 Under Forty awards. Abe serves as a board member of 2 great non-profit organizations: Justice For Our Neighbors: A Philadelphia non-profit offering legal services to low income immigrants and refugees. (http://www.jfondv.org/) Live Work Philadelphia: A resident growth strategy that benefits all Philadelphian (https://www.liveworkphilly.com/). Abe also actively mentors graduating seniors from his alma mater Temple University Fox School of Business. Interesting facts about Abe: Abe lived overseas for 10 years, speaks 3 languages fluently, enjoys traveling, working out, and well-crafted whiskey cocktails.