Over the past 40+ years, Dave, as an owner, operator, and senior executive has overseen the acquisition, development, renovation, financing, and management of over $1 Billion of student housing and multifamily assets.

Dave has served as National Director of Lending at Equitec Financial Group, as Executive Vice President of Acquisitions for Campus Crest Communities (NYSE—CCG), and as President and CEO of Glenwood Intermountain Properties.

Dave also served on the founding advisory board of Property Solutions (now Entrata), an award winning, high-tech, property management web portal and on-line software service provider.

Mr. Thomas, who joined St. John Properties in 2009, is responsible for all operations of St. John Properties Utah. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Real Estate Finance from Portland State University and a Master of Science degree in Real Estate from Johns Hopkins University. He has instructed courses in commercial real estate at Johns Hopkins, the University of Baltimore, and the University of Utah, and is a past chairman of the University of Baltimore’s Real Estate & Economic Development Advisory Board.

Jason leads development and construction execution across Six Ridge Partners' commercial platform, owning the successful delivery of business plans, financial performance, schedules, and scope while integrating development, asset management, and capital markets efforts. Jason has been involved in the acquisition, financing, development, construction, asset management, and disposition of more than 4.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial real estate. He holds a Master’s degree in Construction Engineering and Management from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Architecture from Arizona State University.

Preston brings vast experience in Living Environment design to FFKR. He enjoys the collaborative nature at FFKR and the focused studio disciplines that allow opportunities to present, receive feedback, and grow together to become better designers. Preston works with his clients to take their visions and translate them into something tangible and beautiful.

He enjoys being outside, playing basketball, riding his bike, and fishing with his wife and two teenagers in his free time. Preston sold two graphic art pieces to be used for a Comedy Central TV Show set and has attended four tapings of the Ellen Degeneres show, including a "12 Days of Giveaways" when his family won a trip to Jamaica.

Mr. Akerlow is an experienced and successful real estate developer and has been responsible for the ownership, operations, management and the development and leasing of more than 1.5 million square feet of office, industrial and commercial space, in excess of 1,400 hotel rooms, and over 350 condominium units. He has owned, managed, and developed numerous residential land development projects.

Chris Hatch is the CEO & Principal Broker of Legend Commercial. Chris is proud to be a third-generation real estate professional. He started his real estate career learning under the tutelage of his father and grandfather. After several years of establishing his base knowledge in real estate, Chris joined Professional Brokers, a Salt Lake-based retail brokerage office, in 2002. At Professional Brokers, Chris was an active commercial sales and leasing agent and helped with the acquisition and disposition of a number of buildings, as well as assisting a handful of retailers with expansions throughout the Intermountain Area. In 2006, Chris left and returned to his family office where he helped initiate a dozen new development projects and worked as a boutique brokerage office. In 2009, Chris joined a few partners and co-founded Mountain West. Chris anchored the investment division with his newly created net lease sales platform and sold hundreds of single-tenant retail buildings throughout the western US.

Chris and his partners created Forza Management in 2014 with the intention of managing his own properties and offering top-notch property management services to clients. Today, Forza manages five million square feet of property.

In 2017, the timing was right for Chris and his partners to form Legend Commercial as a new brokerage firm in Salt Lake City. Through some mergers and the addition of a number of agents, Legend offers full-service commercial real estate services throughout the Mountain and Desert States.

After acquiring 50 properties, Chris and his partners created Forza Development in 2020 with the intention of creating a new ground-up development team. Forza Development is working on dozens of projects throughout the US and is highly focused on net lease retail development for national retailers. He is on a relentless mission to develop 1,000 drive-thru restaurant locations.

Chris holds active real estate brokers' licenses in Idaho, Montana & Utah. He is an active member of ICSC. He serves as a board member for First Community Bank Utah. He is the secretary for the Anderson Hatch Family Foundation and is passionate about helping troubled youth and helping various charitable organizations throughout the Utah area. He is an avid outdoorsman and loves to boat, fish, ski, and wake surf. Chris and his wife Lindsey are raising their 5 children in SLC.

Nate Hutchinson is a community-focused entrepreneur and real estate investor. While earning his Masters and Bachelor’s degrees at BYU on a football scholarship, he cultivated a work ethic and creativity that have served him well in his career. In 2009, he co-founded Flagship Homes to provide affordable, high-quality housing for Utah residents and foster stronger, more vibrant communities. Despite challenges, Nate's dedication and partnering with all the right people along the way led to the establishment of many successful businesses, many of which are still currently owned and operated by Nate and his partners. Flagship’s main focus, however, remains to enrich communities through thoughtful mixed-use development and a steadfast commitment to excellence, with their crown jewel development being Utah City.

A born tinkerer with a passion for how things come together, Sophia leads Kalesnikoff’s growing presence across the United States mass timber market. Based in Los Angeles, she focuses on early design collaboration, preconstruction strategy, relationship-building, and connecting design intent with efficient manufacturing and delivery for teams pursuing thoughtful, buildable mass timber solutions.

Sophia holds a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and brings experience spanning architecture, manufacturing, and construction, including contributing to the delivery of Los Angeles’ first multifamily mass timber project. Outside of work, she gravitates toward hands-on building projects, campervan conversions, and sketching mass timber housing concepts — often viewing constraints as part of the creative opportunity.

With 13 years of experience in the construction industry, Alexa is a dynamic leader within Mortenson’s design phase process, recognized for her expertise in both technical execution and strategic planning. Drawing on her background as an owner’s representative and project manager in operations, she provides practical, constructable insight during project programming and conceptual design. Alexa is known for effectively coordinating multidisciplinary design teams and fostering collaboration to deliver efficient, high‑quality preconstruction services.