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Speakers and Panels

Multifamily Capital Markets: Investments and Trends

Dusty Eddy

Dusty Eddy

SVP, Acquisitions - Southwest

29th Street Capital

Lee Scott

Lee Scott

Loan Officer

PGIM Real Estate Finance

Neil Beldock

Neil Beldock

Senior Executive - Originations & Operations

Pender Capital

Matt Frank

Matt Frank

VP

Hunt Real Estate Capital

Brett Polachek
Moderator

Brett Polachek

Senior Managing Director

Newmark Knight Frank Multifamily

Dusty Eddy

SVP, Acquisitions - Southwest

29th Street Capital

Dusty Eddy is a Vice President of Acquisitions for 29th Street Capital. Living in Phoenix, Mr. Eddy is the local market expert in charge of all multi-family acquisitions in Arizona as well as in Las Vegas, Nevada & San Diego, CA. He currently manages over 800, value-add, units across those markets.

Mr. Eddy has over 14 years of real estate investment, development and asset management experience in various property types including multi-family, retail and medical office. He has participated in transactions valued at more than $1.2 billion in that time. Immediately before joining 29th Street Capital, Mr. Eddy was the Acquisition Manager with Healthcare Trust of America where he closed $455 million in investments.

Mr. Eddy obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Entrepreneurship and Finance from the University of Notre Dame where he graduated magna cum laude. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics and Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he graduated with honors.

Lee Scott

Loan Officer

PGIM Real Estate Finance

Lee Scott is a Loan Officer with PGIM Real Estate Finance. In this role, Lee is responsible for direct lending relationships across the United States with a focus on sourcing multifamily debt on behalf of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, Life Company, and PGIM REF's proprietary Balance Sheet / Bridge Lending programs. Lee opened the PGIM Real Estate Finance San Diego, CA office in 2018 after previously working for the firm in Washington, DC. Lee holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a member of the Urban Land Institute, San Diego Apartment Association, Virginia Tech Pamplin Recent Alumni Board (RAB), and the CFA Society San Diego.

Neil Beldock

Senior Executive - Originations & Operations

Pender Capital

Neil Beldock has over 30 years of experience as a real estate finance professional. Over those 30+ years Neil has held positions at Citigroup, Coast Federal Bank of California, Independence Bank of Los Angeles, Family Savings Bank of Los Angeles, Hamburg Savings Bank of New York, Interbay Funding and Velocity Commercial Capital. Neil has held executive and senior level management positions covering loan originations, loan operations, loan servicing, secondary marketing, loan securitization and joint venture operations. Neil is also a published author having written articles for numerous mortgage industry publications including the Scotsman Guide, Commercial Mortgage Insight, The Mortgage Press and National Mortgage Broker Magazine. Currently, Neil serves as a Senior Executive at Pender Capital Funding in Dallas, Texas.

Matt Frank

VP

Hunt Real Estate Capital

Matthew Frank is a Vice-President at Hunt Real Estate Capital and is responsible for

originations and structuring of commercial mortgages in Arizona and the Southwest.

Mr. Frank is primarily focused on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac small balance loans.

Mr. Frank has more than 15 years commercial real estate experience. Prior to joining Hunt

Real Estate Capital in 2017, Mr. Frank was a Commercial Loan Officer with Alaska USA

Federal Credit Union, where he opened the Phoenix market for the credit union, and helped

to grow their portfolio to $100 million in less than two years. Mr. Frank previously held

commercial banking positions with Unison Bank, and Union Bank in Phoenix.

Mr. Frank received an B.A in History from Arizona State University.

Brett Polachek

Moderator

Newmark Knight Frank Multifamily

Brett Polachek joined Newmark Knight Frank Multifamily as

senior managing director in April 2018 with 20 years of

multifamily sales experience. He is currently involved in all

aspects of the sales process including originating and managing

investment sales transactions, new business development,

valuation analysis and pricing strategies, marketing, and

negotiating and closing transactions. Throughout Mr. Polachek’s

career, he has sold over 30,000 units with a value of over $2

billion.

Prior to joining Newmark Knight Frank Multifamily, Mr. Polachek

was senior director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Multifamily

Investment Sales Group where he was consistently a top

producer, advising clients of multifamily properties with

acquisition and disposition strategies through the Southwestern

U.S. Before his time there, Mr. Polachek worked at CBRE where

he began his brokerage career.

Mr. Polachek holds a Master of Business Administration degree

from Arizona State University and a finance degree from the

University of Arizona.

Developments, Design & Construction: The Future of Multifamily

Melise Balastrieri

Melise Balastrieri

VP

MG Properties

Alexander Kohnen

Alexander Kohnen

Assistant VP, Facilities Management and Operations

Arizona State University

Scott Makee

Scott Makee

Managing Director

Crescent Communities

Jonathan K. Cornelius

Jonathan K. Cornelius

VP & Partner

Fore Property Company

Bryce Hall

Bryce Hall

President

KEPHART

Mike Akerly

Mike Akerly

VP & Regional Manager

Polaris Pacific

Brian Cassidy
Moderator

Brian Cassidy

President

CCBG Architects

Melise Balastrieri

VP

MG Properties

Melise has been with MG Properties since June 1998 and has over 25 years of experience in multi-family property management and condominium conversion. She has managed and overseen multifamily portfolios of up to 12,000 apartment homes throughout the western United States, which included properties as large as 1,100 units. Melise is a Certified Property Manager with the Institute of Real Estate Management. She is a member and instructor with the San Diego County Apartment Association, the California Apartment Association, the National Apartment Association and the North County Managers Association.

Scott Makee

Managing Director

Crescent Communities

As regional director, Scott Makee is responsible for sourcing and entitling

land, designing products, and overseeing the execution of new projects.

Makee joined Crescent in 2007 as a financial analyst. He was promoted to

development manager in 2010 before assuming his current duties in 2011.

Prior to Crescent, Makee was an analyst for CB Richard Ellis’ multifamily

investment group in Miami. With more than a dozen years of business

experience, Makee also served as a senior branding consultant for Interbrand

Wood Healthcare in New York, and vice president for marketing and business

affairs for the Numoda Corporation in Philadelphia. Prior to that, he was a

senior brand manager for Brand Institute, Inc. in Raleigh, N.C., and New York.

Makee is a member of the Urban Land Institute and National Multi Housing

Council.

A Cleveland native, Makee has a master’s degree in business administration

from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree

in business administration from Wake Forest University.

Crescent Communities is a real estate investment company with interests

throughout the southeastern and southwestern United States. Established in

1969, the Charlotte-based company develops single-family, multifamily and

resort residential communities. Crescent also owns and manages business

and industrial parks and shopping centers.

Jonathan K. Cornelius

VP & Partner

Fore Property Company

Mr. Cornelius is a Partner and Vice President at Fore Property Company (Fore) and is responsible for new development and acquisition activities in Arizona, California, and Texas. Mr. Cornelius was previously Vice President of Development with Colonial Properties Trust and prior to Colonial, Director of Land Acquisition with Fore. He began his professional career with Rhodes Design and Development. Mr. Cornelius has developed approximately 4,000 multifamily units including conventional apartments, affordable housing, and condominiums. Mr. Cornelius holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and an M.B.A from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Sustainable Development Council of the Urban Land Institute and the National Multifamily Housing Council.

Bryce Hall

President

KEPHART

Bryce Hall is an accomplished architect and executive with more than 20 years of experience in residential architecture. As the President of KEPHART, he guides the strategic vision and direction of the firm, providing support for eight additional Principals who help drive KEPHART’s success. Bryce’s contagious passion and deep knowledge of the industry inspires his peers to pursue continuous growth and education.

Bryce attended the University of Colorado, where he earned master’s degrees in both architecture and business administration, allowing him to understand the industry more comprehensively from the perspective of both an architect and a developer. His enthusiasm for these two interests, combined with his deep understanding of client needs, have helped solidify KEPHART as the architect of choice for many national developers.

Bryce’s exemplary skills and leadership have earned him recognition as the President of one of Denver’s Best Places to Work, and as a leader in the field of architecture on ColoradoBiz’s 2025 Architects Power List. Bryce also represents and shares KEPHART’s thought leadership on a national stage at events like the National Multifamily Housing Conference and the Pacific Coast Builders’ Conference.

Mike Akerly

VP & Regional Manager

Polaris Pacific

As a Regional Manager for Polaris Pacific, Mike leads the firms’ efforts in Southern California, Arizona, and Hawaii to support strategic growth and provide exemplary service to industry leading development clients. His extensive consulting, project management, and sales experience spans the complete arc of the development process from pre-planning to sell out. By keeping abreast of constantly changing market and demographic trends, he has gained a reputation for being an essential resource in his clients’ efforts to maximize value, overcome obstacles, establish successful projects and forge new markets. Mike earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California (USC) and his Juris Doctor with concentrations in real property and corporate law from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He is licensed in multiple states including CA, NY, MA, and WA and is a member of the Urban Land Institute. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the NY Times, the NY Post, The Observer, The Real Deal, Real Estate Weekly, and Habitat Magazine and his original writings have been widely published in the trades including a column on Business Insider.

Brian Cassidy

Moderator

CCBG Architects

Brian Cassidy, AIA is the President of CCBG Architects, Inc. with studios in downtown Phoenix and San Diego. He has been involved in many adaptive reuse, and mixed-use high-density housing projects in greater Phoenix, including more than 12,000 new apartment units. This work includes a diverse body of warehouse renovations that are breathing new life into our city. Brian passionately advocates to build Phoenix into a world class city in which to live, work, worship and play. He is a graduate of Arizona State University, and is the Chair of the Phoenix Warehouse District Council, which promotes and brands the District in concert with a series of creative volunteers and businesses.

Opening Keynote: Fireside Chat

Ken Abrahams
Keynote

Ken Abrahams

CEO

NexMetro Communities

John Kobierowski
Moderator

John Kobierowski

Senior Managing Partner

ABI Multifamily

Ken Abrahams

Keynote

NexMetro Communities

Ken Abrahams has been an owner, principal, investor, and founder of multiple business enterprises over 35 years. As a real estate professional Abrahams was a founding partner of Diamond Ventures, Inc., one of Arizona’s largest real estate firms with over $1.3 billion in assets. He directed real estate portfolio activities for the firm including land acquistion, planning, entitlement and development of a wide range residential, commercial and industrial real estate assets in diverse geographic markets. Through the practical integration of team building and keen implementation skills, he has consistently and successfully executed the project vision and delivered strong financial results.

By nature, Abrahams is a “builder” who recognizes the importance of strategic thinking tempered by practical realities, forging market based solutions that can adapt to changing conditions. He is a strong leader, skilled in the assembly and management of highly qualified teams of professionals capable of efficiently implementing the plan and reaching established goals on a timely basis.

Abrahams is a member of the Urban Land Institute and numerous other industry organizations committed to real estate industry best practices.

John Kobierowski

Moderator

ABI Multifamily

John Kobierowski has always had a passion for real estate, development and construction. For over 30 years,

John has focused that passion to become a leader in the multifamily industry. His experience includes having

brokered over 1,400 multifamily transactions, developed and sold over 800 condominium units, and

owned/managed over 1,000 apartment units, homes and condos.

In brokerage, John has co-founded and built three successful regional and national brokerage firms and has

had the privilege of working with some of the most innovative and successful people in the multifamily

industry.

What John loves most about this industry is watching, and helping, people grow in their understanding of

owning and operating smaller complexes and building it into a portfolio of multifamily assets. The keys to

success are rooted in hard work, luck (timing) and a solid strategy (evolving skill set).

John is the Senior Managing Partner of ABI Multifamily, a Phoenix-based multifamily brokerage and advisory

firm. ABI represents the next generation of the brokerage business with its focus on cooperative-brokerage.

Unlike brokerage of old, cooperative-brokerage focuses on the building and development of teams of

seasoned and hardworking professionals/brokers. Each member of the team possesses their own unique

skills-sets, knowledge and experience; by embracing individual skillsets, and understanding how it best

compliments/serves the group, maximizes the efficiency and effectiveness of the whole. This is further

strengthened by a strong technological platform and a dedicated support staff team.

Since its launch in 2013, ABI Multifamily has grown into a widely-respected and sought regional brokerage

company with teams servicing Arizona, California and growing into the Texas market. In 2018 alone, the

Phoenix team has closed over 120 multifamily transactions and expects to round out 2019 with over 130

total sales.

Summary

1. What modern amenities are necessary to keep multifamily developments competitive in the market?

2. Mixed-Use developments begin with a creative seed. What does it take to turn a concept into a reality?

3. With several luxury multifamily developments in the pipeline, how are developers working with local governments to maintain affordable housing?

4. Which neighborhoods are best for multifamily and mixed-use investments? Why are these neighborhoods in high demand?

5. How will technology transform the way we design, build and think about our mixed-use and multifamily communities? 

Venue

Sheraton Grand Phoenix
340 N 3rd St
Phoenix, AZ, 85004

Ballroom: Valley of the Sun


Self-Parking $8.00 and Valet Parking $16.00

Agenda

Time Activity
11:30 AM
12:30 PM
Registration, Breakfast & Networking
12:30 PM
1:00 PM
Opening Keynote: Fireside Chat with NexMetro Communities CEO Ken Abrahams
1:00 PM
1:40 PM
Multifamily Capital Markets: Investments and Trends
1:40 PM
2:20 PM
Developments, Design & Construction: The Future of Multifamily
2:20 PM
2:45 PM
Post-Panel Networking