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Speakers and Panels

Rina Cutler

Rina Cutler

Senior Director, Major Stations Planning & Development

Amtrak

Rina Cutler

Senior Director, Major Stations Planning & Development

Amtrak

Rina Cutler began working at Amtrak in April of 2015 as the Senior Director

of Major Stations Planning and Development.  She is responsible for advancing

large scale, multi-party master plans and development projects for Amtrak’s largest

stations in the Northeast Corridor and Chicago. In this role she is working with the

development community to prepare for TOD and air rights development for the

stations in her portfolio. These projects will seek to maximize the performance of

these major stations including the optimization of revenue and private equity as

well as commercial and development opportunities.

Before coming to Amtrak, Ms. Cutler was the Deputy Mayor for

Transportation and Utilities for the City of Philadelphia and was responsible for

the coordination and oversight of all transportation and utility functions in the City.

In addition, she served on the SEPTA Board for the 5 county transit agency and on

the regional MPO.

Prior to returning to Philadelphia in 2008, Ms. Cutler served for 5 years as

the Deputy Secretary for Administration for the Pennsylvania Department of

Transportation.

Ms. Cutler has extensive experience in the management and operations of

major transportation systems.  Her prior experience includes Transportation

Commissioner for the City of Boston, and the Director of the Department of

Parking and Traffic for the City of San Francisco. In 2011, American City and

County Magazine named Cutler their Public Works Leader of the Year. In 2012,

COMTO named Ms. Cutler as one of their Women Who Move the Nation. Ms.

Cutler has served on the International Board for WTS, an organization that

represents Women in the Transportation Industry.

Philly's Leasing, Construction and Development Market

Jessica Brock

Jessica Brock

Partner, Real Estate Operations

Longfellow Real Estate Partners

Lauren Gilchrist

Lauren Gilchrist

EVP, Market Leader

Newmark

Ed Opall
Moderator

Ed Opall

Partner

EisnerAmper

Jessica Brock

Partner, Real Estate Operations

Longfellow Real Estate Partners

Jessica collaborates on establishing Longfellow’s strategic direction, identifying acquisition opportunities, and negotiating and structuring transactions in the Southeast. This includes building long-term relationships with research-centric organizations. Jessica serves on Longfellow’s investment committee.

Prior to joining Longfellow, Jessica held positions with the following organizations: Spectrum Properties, and Weyerhaeuser

A native of New Bern, she received her BS from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. In addition, Jessica is a recipient of the TBJ’s 2016 Women in Business award, serves on the Durham YMCA advisory board and on the executive committee of Downtown Durham, Inc. Jessica enjoys spending time with her husband Jason and two children, traveling and running with friends.

Lauren Gilchrist

EVP, Market Leader

Newmark

Lauren Gilchrist is the Executive Vice President and Market Leader of the Greater Philadelphia Region. Gilchrist oversees Newmark Real Estate’s (Newmark’s) full suite of service offerings, managing strategic planning, revenue growth and profitability, recruitment and business development in the company’s Philadelphia, Wayne, Southern New Jersey and Delaware offices.

Based in the Philadelphia CBD office, Gilchrist holds appointments to the Board of Directors for the Philadelphia Facilities Management Corporation/Philadelphia Gas Works, Philadelphia Orchestra, Old City Community Fund, M&T Bank Advisory Board and the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of NAIOP—where she served as Chapter President from 2019 to 2020. In addition, Gilchrist has been recognized by the Philadelphia Business Journal as a 40 Under 40 honoree and a Woman of Distinction, and a Philly Power Woman by Bisnow.

Prior to joining Newmark, Gilchrist was the Managing Director of Research at Longfellow Real Estate Partners, where she directed research strategy, content creation and thought leadership, and provided market research to drive project underwriting and execution. Previously, Gilchrist also held roles as Senior Vice President of Research at JLL, Manager of Research & Analysis at the Center City District and Program Manager at the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness.

Ed Opall

Moderator

EisnerAmper

Edward Opall is a Partner and member of the firm’s Real

Estate and Construction Services Group. Ed has nearly 30

years of experience as a financial professional, specializing in

the real estate development and construction industries.

While Ed’s practice is primarily financial statement audit and

attestation services, he advises numerous clients on income

tax matters and operational consulting matters in these

industries.

His past experience includes serving as a Chief Financial

Officer for a large, Philadelphia-based construction

management firm and a commercial real estate investor and

operator. Ed has deep financial and operational experience in

both construction and real estate development industries and

provides significant insight to his clients.

Ed frequently presents and writes on real estate and

construction industry topics for various professional

organizations and publications.

Acquisitions & Investments Outlook

Kyle Turner

Kyle Turner

VP & Director of Investments

Equus Capital Partners

George Hasenecz

George Hasenecz

SVP - Investments

Brandywine Realty Trust

Douglas Rodio

Douglas Rodio

SMD & co-Head of the Philadelphia Office

HFF

Tawan Davis

Tawan Davis

CEO

Steinbridge Group

Michael Prifti
Moderator

Michael Prifti

Principal

BLT Architects

Kyle Turner

VP & Director of Investments

Equus Capital Partners

Mr. Turner is currently Vice President, Director of Investments for Equus. In his current role, Mr. Turner is responsible for acquisition activities; including sourcing, underwriting and closing transactions in the Mid-Atlantic, Southwest and Southeast markets. In addition to investment and strategy execution; Kyle is responsible for the Firm’s institutional capital raising efforts and to date has been involved in approximately $700 million of capital raised for our commingled Fund business and co-investments. During his career at Equus, Kyle has experience in a wide array of disciplines; including, acquisitions, asset management, development/redevelopment and capital sourcing.

Mr. Turner holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Villanova University and a B.B.A. in Finance from Franklin and Marshall College.

Kyle is involved in a number of community and civic organizations; including as an Advisory Committee for the DiLella Center for Real Estate at Villanova University, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Focused Athletics, a non-profit focused on mentoring, coaching and preparing Philadelphia High School students to play football at the collegiate level through both athletic and academic workshops.

George Hasenecz

SVP - Investments

Brandywine Realty Trust

George S. Hasenecz is the Senior Vice President – Investments of Brandywine Realty Trust. Since 2009, he has been responsible for the Company's portfolio management and investment activities as Brandywine has shifted its portfolio to focus on CBD and town center office properties as well as mixed-use projects in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Austin, TX. Previously, George had served as Brandywine's Vice President of Investments and Director of Acquisitions from 2000 to 2006.

George also worked at ProLogis as Vice President – Capital Deployment from 2006 to 2008 where he oversaw development and investments for the New Jersey and Pennsylvania regions. Prior to his previous tenure at Brandywine, George served as Vice President – Acquisitions with Keystone Property Trust where he oversaw the sale of Keystone’s office portfolio as the company transitioned to a pure-play industrial REIT.

George is the board chair for Starfinder Foundation which is a nonprofit, youth development organization based in Philadelphia. George is also an active member of the Urban Land Institute. George received his B.S. in Accounting and Finance from Drexel University.

Douglas Rodio

SMD & co-Head of the Philadelphia Office

HFF

Mr. Rodio is a Senior Managing Director and co-head of the Philadelphia office alongside senior managing director Mark Thomson, who has served as an office head since the opening of the Philadelphia office in December 2013. Additionally, Mr. Rodio focuses on

office investment sales in Greater Philadelphia and throughout the northeastern United States. During the course of his more than 13-year commercial real estate career, Mr. Rodio has been involved in more than 200 investment sale and financing assignments covering a wide

range of office, industrial, retail and multi-housing totaling more than $6 billion in volume and 30 million square feet. Mr. Rodio joined HFF in July 2016. He was previously with Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) where he was a managing director and co-head of the Philadelphia Capital Markets Group. Priorto joining JLL in 2010, Mr. Rodio held senior office investment sales positions at CBRE and Marcus & Millichap where he was consistently a top producer. He was elected to the National Board of Directors for NAIOP in 2014 and is also an active member of the Urban Land Institute. Mr. Rodio has served as a guest lecturer at the Daniel M. DiLella Center for Real Estate at Villanova University and attended Penn State University where he was a member of the varsity baseball team.

Tawan Davis

CEO

Steinbridge Group

Tawan Davis is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of The Steinbridge Group, which has structured, executed and invested nearly $1 billion in commercial and residential real estate. Under Mr. Davis’ leadership—which includes managing the investment program and overseeing the day-to-day operations and transaction pipeline—Steinbridge is now investing more than $400 million in the urban single-family home market.

The strategy—with a long-term hold commitment—is to acquire and renovate middle income family residences in close proximity to transportation and employment as rental units, helping foster success among working residents in transition neighborhoods.

Passionate about making a positive contribution in each neighborhood in which he invests, Mr. Davis works with a dedicated team to supply high quality housing at ‘rent reasonable’ rates in urban settings, while joining with non-profit organizations and local members to form community partnerships in furtherance of these goals.

Throughout his career Mr. Davis has held several high-level positions both in the private and public sectors, including as President and CIO of a private developer, as a US and European real estate private equity investor with Prudential Real Estate Investors, as an investment banker Goldman Sachs, and as Head of Public-Private Real Estate Partnerships with the New York City Economic Development Corporation in the Michael R. Bloomberg administration.

An adjunct Professor of Finance at New York University’s Shack Institute of Real Estate from 2011 – 2015, Mr. Davis holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Georgetown University, a Master of Science degree in Sociology & Economics from Oxford University, and a Master’s degree from Harvard Business School.

Michael Prifti

Moderator

BLT Architects

Michael Prifti is an architect of significant diversity with architectural experience in new construction and adaptive re-use projects for institutional and development clients, with single-purpose and mixed-use programs. Mr. Prifti is proficient in complex project management and taking plans from concept to completion.

Mr. Prifti and BLTa recently completed the Revel Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. He led the team responsible for ensuring that all 65 architecture, design, and construction partners worked together to deliver Revel on time and within budget. Additionally, he was crucial in the design of the back-of-house facilities, making it one of the most impressive and efficient in the industry.

Additionally, Mr. Prifti has extensive mixed-use experience which includes the design of DC USA, a transit-oriented retail complex in Washington, DC and the in-progress One-2-FiveLIVE a 28,000 square foot retail and entertainment complex in Harlem, NY. DC USA has revitalized an area that had seen a troubled economic environment and One-2-Five LIVE anticipates to do the same.

Mr. Prifti has received a number of honors and awards, including the Thomas Ustick Walter Award in 2010, the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 2005, Architect of the Year from the Coalition of Commercial Real Estate Association in 2004 and 1999, and the Richard Upjohn Fellowship from the American Institute of Architects in 2002. He earned both his Master of Architecture and BA degrees from The University of Pennsylvania.

Debt Financing Outlook

Gregory Marks

Gregory Marks

SMD & Head of Originations

RAIT Financial Trust

Scott Whittle

Scott Whittle

Head of Finance

Rubenstein Partners

Laura Brestelli

Laura Brestelli

VP & Director of Capital Markets

Equus Capital Partners

Doug Harmon

Doug Harmon

Managing Director

Arden Group

George Kotridis
Moderator

George Kotridis

Principal

CLA

Gregory Marks

SMD & Head of Originations

RAIT Financial Trust

Gregory D. Marks – Senior Managing Director – Head of Originations - RAIT Financial

Trust. At RAIT, Mr. Marks is responsible for the management of the origination staff in

the placement of fixed and floating rate CMBS, short term first mortgage bridge

transactions as well as mezzanine and preferred equity transactions. During his tenure at

RAIT Mr. Marks has served as an underwriter, asset manager and originator of various

debt transactions. Prior to joining RAIT, Mr. Marks served as Vice President of

Resource Properties, Inc. from November 1997 through October 2000. From August

1996 through October 1997, Mr. Marks worked as a real estate consultant for Ernst &

Young Kenneth Leventhal and Arthur Andersen from November 1995 through July 1996.

As a consultant Mr. Marks was responsible for analysis in construction feasibility studies,

tax and audit functions related to real estate operating companies and valuations of

commercial property. Mr. Marks graduated from Brandeis University with a BA in

Economics.

Scott Whittle

Head of Finance

Rubenstein Partners

Scott is responsible for working with lending institutions and similar capital providers, procuring new debt at both the property and fund level and managing debt across the portfolio in each fund. Scott joined Rubenstein Partners in July 2015.

Prior to joining Rubenstein Partners, Scott worked at KTR Capital Partners, where he was responsible for debt originations, debt portfolio management and cash management of the funds; the debt portfolio reached over $3.0 billion in total commitments and included portfolio financings, subscription facilities, fund level unsecured debt, build-to-suit and other construction loans as well as CMBS loan assumptions. From 2006 to 2011, he worked at LBC Credit Partners, a private equity firm focused on lending to middle market companies across the United States. In 2004, Scott began his career at Duff & Phelps, where he was focused on business valuation financial advisory.

Scott graduated from University of Maryland in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science.

Laura Brestelli

VP & Director of Capital Markets

Equus Capital Partners

Ms. Brestelli is responsible for debt portfolio management and for arranging, negotiating and closing mortgage loans used in connection with the acquisition, refinance and construction of Equus related real estate projects. Since joining the firm in 2007, she has overseen more than $3 billion in new loan originations as well as the day to day administration of Equus’ loan portfolio and 40+ lending relationships. Prior to joining Equus, Ms. Brestelli worked in business development as a Peace Corps Volunteer and also worked in residential mortgage finance. Ms. Brestelli holds an MBA from The George Washington University and B.S. in Business Administration from University of Delaware. She has been involved in a number of community organizations and is currently serving on the Development Impact Committee for Cedar Park Neighbors and on the Finance Committee for the Parent Infant Center, both in West Philadelphia.

Doug Harmon

Managing Director

Arden Group

Mr. Harmon joined Arden in 2016 to head its debt originations effort. He has 25 years of real estate lending, origination, syndication, and capital markets experience. Mr. Harmon has had senior debt origination and syndication roles at A10 Capital, RBS Securities (Head of Commercial Real Estate Syndicate), KeyBank (member of the Real Estate Capital Management Committee), Merrill Lynch International (co-head for European commercial real estate) and Greenwich Capital Markets/NatWest Bank. He earned a B.A. from Colgate University and a M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in real estate finance. Mr. Harmon holds Series 24, 7, 63 FINRA registrations.

George Kotridis

Moderator

CLA

With more than 25 years in public accounting, George devotes most of his time serving clients in the Real Estate Industry. These include developers, commercial and residential operators, hotels, property and asset managers, home builders, private equity funds, and individual investors. In 2009, he took on the lead role of the legacy LarsonAllen firm’s Real Estate practice and has brought that experience forward focusing on further developing the firm’s capabilities in advisory, assurance, and tax services available to clients in the real estate and hospitality space. He also is a lead resource in the firm helping clients in real estate workout transactions.

Technical experience:

• Assists clients in selecting entity status, advises on partnership and LLC formations, helps with modeling IRR calculations and waterfall provisions, and forecasting distributions and allocations under IRC Subchapter K

• Provides consulting and expert services related to performance, cash flow, and operations of commercial real estate and hotel operations, including litigation support

• Helps clients assess the benefits of cost segregation studies, repair studies, change in accounting methods, as well as help facilitate closely-held business strategic planning initiatives, and design and implementation of succession plans

Education/professional involvement:

• Bachelor of business in accounting from Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

• Certified Public Accountant in the state of Pennsylvania

Speaking engagements:

• Pennsylvania Bar Institute panelist on Distressed Real Estate transactions

• Testified in Federal Bankruptcy Court (Trenton, NJ) on feasibility of petitioner’s plan.

Summary

Join Bisnow and our all-star panelists on Dec 13 for a recap of 2017 and a 2018 forecast. With loads of new development underway and investment activity at an all time high, join us as we take a look to Philadelphia's future.

This year join us as we take a look at Philly's Debt and Financing markets, the latest Acquisitions & Investments, a Leasing Outlook, and a Construction & Major Projects Update.

As always, come early and stay late prime networking!

Join the fun on Twitter by using hashtag #BisnowPhilly and follow @BisnowPHILA!

Venue

The Westin Philadelphia
99 South 17th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Ballroom: Salons 1-2


Valet - $43, Self-Parking - $33

Agenda

Time Activity
12:30 PM
1:30 PM
Coffee, Networking, & Breakfast
1:30 PM
2:00 PM
Philly's Leasing, Construction and Development Market
2:00 PM
2:30 PM
Acquisitions & Investments Outlook: Who's Buying and Selling and How?
2:30 PM
3:00 PM
Debt Financing Outlook
3:00 PM
3:30 PM
More Networking!