Philadelphia Power Players Summit: Redefining CRE for Philly’s Next Chapter

Jacob E. Reiter is an investor, Managing Partner at Gramercy Park Capital and President of Verde Capital Corp. Founded in 2011, Jake is responsible for strategic investor, operator and platform development (including investment strategies, technology and risk management). Jake is the product of a fourth-generation real estate development family founded in NYC in 1900. Jake has several decades of experience developing capital solutions for real estate operators including developers, funds and REITs on a national basis. Jake brings a pragmatic approach to providing equity and structuring debt for development projects, acquisitions and recapitalizations in all asset classes. With a unique and broad-based background in corporate and leveraged finance, public/private sector transactions, capital markets and strategic tax planning, Jake is able to facilitate maximum asset values and returns for operators and investors. Jake is a Research Sponsor of the Zell/Lurie Center and Ballard Executive Speaker, a member of the National Multifamily Housing Council, NAIOP and ICSC. Jake also sits on the executive boards of Jewish Federation Real Estate (JFRE), Jewish Federation’ Real Estate Committee, and serves as Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation. Jake attended Washington University in St. Louis and Harvard University.

Mr. Korman is Co-CEO of Korman Communities, Inc. The Company is one of the largest owners and managers of multi-family properties in the region with a portfolio of 24 properties, and total market capitalization in excess of $2 Billion. The Company operates throughout major markets in the United States, and is based outside of Philadelphia, PA. The Company was the innovator of short-term furnished apartments in the United States over 50 years ago, and Mr. Korman is a member of the fourth generation to lead this company. The Company operates three brands, including its ARK and AVE properties which feature full service multifamily operations at prime, infill locations. The Company introduced its AKA brand in 2004, an upscale, urban high-rise concept with properties located in New York City, Philadelphia, PA, Washington, D.C., Beverly Hills, CA, and London. Mr. Korman has lead the acquisition, development and financing program of all new properties by the Company, including the entrance into new markets such as New York City, Beverly Hills and London. This growth has allowed Korman Communities to establish relationships with some of the largest and most respected financial and lending institutions in the country. Mr. Korman oversees all new business development, including debt and equity relationships, throughout the Company. Mr. Korman serves on the Board of Trustees of The Philadelphia Police Foundation, Germantown Academy and the Duke University Library Advisory Board. He is also a member of the JFRE Executive Committee, President’s Leadership Council at Jefferson, Zell/Laurie Real Estate Center of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Pennsylvania and New York. Mr. Korman received his B.A from Duke University in 1987, and his M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1992.

DR. STEPHEN KLASKO is a transformative leader and advocate for a revolution in our systems of healthcare and higher education. His 2018 book is titled, Bless This Mess: A Picture Story of Healthcare in America – an account of how the USA was elected to the Intergalactic Council of Cool Health Systems by 2035. As President and CEO of Philadelphia-based Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health since 2013, he has steered one of the nation’s fastest growing academic health institutions based on his vision of re-imagining health care and higher education. His 2017 merger of Thomas Jefferson University with Philadelphia University creates a pre-eminent professional university that includes top-20 programs in fashion and design, coupled with the first design thinking curriculum in a medical school, and with the nation’s leading research on empathy. His track record of success at creating and implementing programs that are shaping the future of health care earned him a place among Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, Becker’s Hospital Review’s 100 Great Leaders in Healthcare in 2018 and on Modern Healthcare’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare and Most Influential Physician Executives in 2017. That same year, his entrepreneurial leadership and success at recruiting helped Thomas Jefferson University Hospital achieve a #16 ranking – and elite Honor Roll status – on U.S.News & World Report’s Best Hospitals list. In 2018, Jefferson was invited to join the World Economic Forum. Dr. Klasko is a nationally recognized advocate for healthcare transformation, having served as dean of two medical colleges, and leader of three academic health centers before becoming President and CEO at Jefferson. He is author of 1999’s The Phantom Stethoscope, 2016’s We Can Fix Healthcare in America, and editor in chief of the journal “Healthcare Transformation.” Under his leadership, Jefferson Health has grown from a three hospitals to 14 with revenues that grew from $2.2 billion to more than $5.1 billion, annualized. The new Jefferson focuses on managing the health of populations in southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. Jefferson has the largest faculty based tele-health network in the country, the NCI-designated Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, and an outpatient footprint that is among the most technologically advanced in the region. This rapid growth led in 2017 to GE Healthcare signing with Jefferson Health the largest risk-shared partnership in the U.S., aimed at saving more than $500 million over eight years. Jefferson has 2018 annualized post-merger revenues of $5.1 billion, more than 30,000 employees, 7,800 students, 6,600 physicians/practitioners and 4,400 faculty. Through a unique four pillar model, academic-clinical-innovation-philanthropy, Jefferson has attracted both venture capital and transformational gifts. Sidney and Caroline Kimmel donated $110 million to Jefferson on June 18, 2014, the largest gift in the University’s history. Philanthropy and innovation have also resulted in the addition of the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health, nationally recognized for its modern medical and integrated therapies, and the Jane and Leonard Korman Respiratory Institute, a unique partnership between Jefferson Health and National Jewish Health. Previously, as CEO of USF Health and Dean of the Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida, Dr. Klasko built the nation’s largest “assessment of technical and teamwork competence” center known as CAMLS (Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation). He also led a partnership with the country’s largest retirement community, The Villages, to create “America’s healthiest hometown,” an innovative primary-care-driven, patient-centric, Medicare-based accountable care model. Dr. Klasko is ideally suited to lead such initiatives, having completed a grant after receiving his MBA from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania on selecting and educating physicians to be leaders of change. His unique medical education program at USF, called SELECT (Scholarly Excellence, Leadership Education, Collaborative Training), is recognized for its focus on choosing medical students based on emotional intelligence and leadership potential. Dr. Klasko also serves on the board of Teleflex (TFX), a NYSE global medical device company with a market cap of $12 billion. He has served on both the audit committee and governance committee and has been a director since 2008. He also is a trustee of Lehigh University, one of the nation’s leading engineering and business schools. He is married to Colleen Wyse, a fashion leader and founder of The Philadelphia Trunk Show, and has three children: Lynne, David and Jill.

Edward Fishman is a leading authority on economic statecraft and sanctions. He teaches at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and is a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy. He also advises companies on geopolitical strategy and invests in early-stage technology startups. Previously, he served at the U.S. State Department as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, at the Pentagon as an advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and at the U.S. Treasury Department as special assistant to the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. His writing and analysis are regularly featured by outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Politico, and NPR. He holds a BA in History from Yale, an MPhil in International Relations from Cambridge, and an MBA from Stanford. He lives with his wife and two children in New York City.

Matthew Pestronk is co-founder of Post Brothers, a real estate investment, development and management company with singular and unique expertise in urban real estate development. Matthew serves as President of the company, engaged in the sponsorship of Class-A multifamily, mixed-use and retail development projects comprised of over 7,000 units that are operating, under development or disposed plus, over 400,000 sf of commercial space, with a total capitalized cost in excess of $2.5 billion. Matthew shares strategic leadership of the company with his brother, Michael, and is engaged in asset management, financing, and project and capital formation. Matthew has worked in real estate capital transactions for his entire 20+-year career and was previously a real estate financing executive in New York City prior to forming Post Brothers. Matthew is also very active in his community and has board service experience for multiple charitable organizations including the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation, Beat the Streets Philadelphia, West Nottingham Academy, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and is the Immediate past Chair of Jewish Federation Real Estate.

Ashish R. Parikh has been the Chief Financial Officer of Hersha Hospitality Trust since 1999. Prior to joining Hersha, Mr. Parikh was in the Mergers and Acquisition Group for Fleet Financial Group where he developed valuable expertise in numerous forms of capital raising activities including leveraged buyouts, bank syndications and venture financing. Mr. Parikh was previously with Tyco International, Ltd. and practiced as a Certified Public Accountant with Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Parikh received his master’s in business administration from The Stern School of Business at New York University (NYU) and a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Mr. Parikh is currently a board member of the Center for Real Estate Finance at NYU’s Stern School, the Philadelphia Real Estate Council, The Committee of Seventy and a member of the Real Estate Capital Policy Advisory Committee of the Real Estate Roundtable.

As President, Michael Markman oversees acquisitions, leasing, financing and development for BET Investments, a real estate management and development company that owns, manages, develops and leases shopping centers, office buildings and apartment complexes throughout the United States. Mr. Markman was formerly general counsel of a publicly traded New York Stock Exchange real estate investment trust (REIT) with over $500 million in assets where he managed all legal matters. He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and the Temple University School of Law and is member of the Pennsylvania Bar. He is a Commissioner in Abington Township, Pennsylvania, past chairman Abington Township Planning Commission, a member of the Board of Directors of the John A. Robbins Company and on the Board of Trustees at Ursinus College. Mr. Markman is a frequent speaker on industry topics and serves on the boards of various charitable groups.