Mayor Van R. Johnson II serves as the official head of the City of Savannah. He presides at all meetings of the Mayor and Aldermen and performs all other duties of the office of the Mayor. As Executive Officer, the Mayor signs all motions, resolutions, and ordinances passed by the Savannah City Council and votes in all meetings of the Mayor and Aldermen. In times of danger or emergency, the Mayor may, with the consent of the Mayor and Aldermen, take command of the police and govern the city by proclamation, maintaining order and enforcing laws.

Purpose, Passion, and People are the core principles that guide and drive the life of the Honorable Van R. Johnson, II, the 67th Mayor of the City of Savannah, GA.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, but with strong Savannah roots, Mayor Johnson is a New York City Public School System graduate who has earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Savannah State University and Georgia Southern University.

As a former radio talk show host, political commentator, and former author of local weekly columns, Mayor Johnson has distinguished himself as an independent, thoughtful, and passionate voice on current events.

As a nationally certified professional in Human Resources and a Georgia-certified Law Enforcement professional, Mayor Johnson has utilized his unique skill set as a sought-after trainer, speaker, and consultant in these areas. He is a graduate of Leadership Savannah and Leadership Georgia.

In 2004, Mayor Johnson was elected First District Alderman for the City of Savannah. He was re-elected to 3 subsequent terms by the citizens of the District, averaging more than 75 percent of the total vote. During his tenure as an Alderman, Mayor Johnson served as Mayor Pro Tem and Vice Chairman of the Council. He consistently used this sacred platform to advocate for the least, the last, and the lost; and promote inclusion and equity for all of Savannah's citizens.

Mayor Johnson also demonstrated leadership nationally as a Board member of the National League of Cities, the United States Conference of Mayors, and the African American Mayors Association.

Mayor Johnson is nationally recognized as an innovator and thought leader in youth development and engagement through his service of over 27 years as the Director of the Chatham County Youth Commission. Since then, he has assisted cities and counties nationwide in developing governmental youth leadership programs, including co-founding the Savannah Youth Council in 2004.

Mayor Johnson's dedication to children, youth, and families is evident in our local community. He has served as the President of the Board of Directors of the Wesley Community Centers of Savannah, past Board Chair of the Chatham County Department of Family and Children Services, and numerous local non-profit organizations. He is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and the International Fraternity of Delta Sigma Pi, along with countless other social and civic organizations.

Mayor Johnson's leadership and humanitarian efforts have been recognized with numerous awards, honors, and distinctions, including a Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Savannah State University and recognition as one of Georgia Trend Magazine's 100 Most Influential Georgians for the past three consecutive years.

Khrista has over 25 years’ experience in the multifamily industry. She has a vast wealth of development, property management and operations knowledge, specializing in main and secondary markets throughout the Southeast. At MCP, Khrista is responsible for site feasibility, market analysis, amenity design, pre-leasing and property management operations.

Prior to joining MCP, Khrista was the COO at Kole Management Company (KMC) where she managed development and acquisition operations for KMC’s multifamily asset platform totaling over 5,000 units and 134 team members throughout the Southeast. During her tenure at KMC, she led efforts in the acquisition of 5 assets totaling 1,156 units and oversaw the ground-up development of 4 assets totaling 380 units. Khrista also launched the company’s third-party property management business and grew this line of business to 18 assets totaling over 3,000 units. The entire KMC portfolio and platform were acquired by an institutional investor in 2020.

Prior to KMC, Khrista was the Southeast Senior Regional Manager with Greystar, the nation’s largest apartment management company. At Greystar, she oversaw property operations for 10 assets totaling over 2,000 units and 47 team members and assisted in the ground-up development of 3 assets totaling 654 units. Previous to Greystar, she served as Director of Operations for Johnson Development Associates (JDA) where she launched the company’s development strategy for The Haven Apartments brand of multifamily projects. At JDA, Khrista participated in the ground-up development and leasing of 6 assets totaling over 1,700 units.

Khrista holds a BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Interior Design. She has served on the Boards of the Coastal Georgia Apartment Association, The Lowcountry Apartment Association and the Lowcountry Workforce Investment Board. She is a licensed REALTOR in the state of Georgia and a licensed Property Manager in Charge (PMIC) in the state of South Carolina.

Kyle has 20 years of commercial real estate experience focused primarily on investment and development activities.

Most recently, Kyle spent six years as Managing Director at Crescent Communities, where he led the development of over $650M in projects ranging from urban, mixed-use to suburban multifamily.

Prior to joining Crescent, Kyle was Senior Vice President of Development for Carter & Associates. At Carter, Kyle led the development and financing of over 1,000 multifamily units and 300,000 square feet of office projects valued at more than $500 million. Prior to Carter, Kyle spent nine years in investing and development roles at Novare Group, where he was involved in the development and financing of over 5,000 multifamily units and over 100,000 square feet of retail space.

Kyle earned a BBA in Finance from The University of Georgia and is a CFA® charterholder. He is a member of the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc. Advisory Board and is a youth sports coach. Kyle lives in Marietta, GA with his wife and two teenage children.

Chase joined Vista Residential Partners in 2022 and currently serves as Managing Director – SE Regional Partner with a focus on Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. Chase brings nearly a decade of real estate industry experience, as a multifamily market-rate developer in the Southeast with a background as a professional civil engineer. In his role, Chase is responsible for all aspects of the development lifecycle inclusive of new development business through site acquisition, navigation of entitlements, and working through strategic partnerships with various equity partners/lenders and disposition. He is actively engaged with staying current with market trends and prides himself in creating and executing quality products.

Prior to joining Vista Residential Partners, Chase served as the Vice President of Development for The NRP Group and Mill Creek Residential. During his tenure, he worked through various multifamily product types spanning from urban core development to suburban markets, while integrating retail concepts.

Chase holds a Professional Engineering License for the state of Georgia, a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Auburn University, and is involved with ULI, NAIOP among other Real Estate Organizations.

Paul Newman is a seasoned real estate broker with over 20 years of industry experience and the owner of Statesboro Real Estate, the #1 independent real estate agency in the Statesboro/Bulloch County area since its founding in 2015. Under his leadership, the agency has built a stellar reputation—frequently voted “Best of the Boro” and featured on Statesboro Magazine’s “Fabulist” list for outstanding service.

Widely respected for his deep knowledge of the local market and unwavering commitment to client success, Paul has helped countless buyers, sellers, and investors achieve their real estate goals across both residential and commercial sectors.

Beyond traditional brokerage, Paul is actively involved in real estate development and property management. He is currently developing two new multifamily communities: Twin Oaks in Richmond Hill and Latitude 32 in Statesboro. He also led the successful lease-up of Woodford Station in Statesboro to 100% occupancy and is preparing to take on a condo-conversion sale in the area.

In addition, Paul owns and operates PMG Rentals, a trusted property management company serving the greater Statesboro area, further expanding his impact on the local housing market.

Brett Feemster is the Senior Regional Partner and Director of National Accounts – U.S. for Multivista Construction Documentation Services. He is the owner of the Savannah, Georgia office, serving southeast Georgia and coastal South Carolina, and is also a partner in Multivista’s Greenville, SC and Charlotte, NC offices.

Over the course of his career, Brett has overseen documentation services for more than $3 billion worth of construction projects, spanning 1,850 projects nationwide, including over 400 multifamily developments. His 15 years of experience in the construction industry have made him a trusted leader and a key asset to the Multivista team.

A graduate of the University of Georgia, Brett earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Real Estate Finance in 2005.

A proud Savannah native, Brett lives in Savannah with his wife, Katie, and their three children—Callie, Annie, and Jack.

Dr. Walter Kemmsies is widely viewed as one of the foremost experts on ports, rail, and infrastructure in the U.S. His areas of expertise include demand forecasting, maritime and overall global trade regulatory issues, public and private port and infrastructure financing, and long term strategic planning and capital investment. Having worked in major cities all over the world, Walter has a global perspective which uniquely qualifies him as a global trade economist.

Walter currently advises several major U.S. Port Authorities and is routinely asked to work on complex issues with various investment banks. private equity firms, and public regulatory agencies. He provides substantial support to the freight movement industry via publication of port volume data for the American Association of Port Authorities, presentations at major international industry conferences, and advises the U.S. Department of Commerce on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Walter recently testified to the U.S. Senate Transportation and Commerce Subcommittee on issues affecting freight industry. He has also published research in scholarly journals.

Prior to joining JLL, Dr. Kemmsies was the Chief Economist for Moffat & Nichol, a leading global infrastructure advisement firm. Proceeding his experience working with Moffat & Nichol, Walter was the Head of European Strategy at JP Morgan in London, and, earlier, Head of Global Industry Strategy at UBS in Zurich and London. Walter is a licensed real estate agent.

Mr. Smith joined Seefried Properties in 2000 and serves as Senior Vice President. He is responsible for leasing existing and future industrial product, locating development opportunities, selling excess land and pursuing build-to-suit opportunities on existing land sites. In addition, Mr. Smith oversees Seefried's third-party management business that is currently compromised of 13 million square feet of institutionally owned product.

Mr. Smiths' portfolio includes buildings owned by major institutional owners, smaller privately held investors and Seefried developed buildings.

His concentrations include leasing and marketing of a 15 million square foot portfolio in Atlanta compromised of industrial product throughout all of Atlanta’s major submarkets.

Joe Curley is the Leasing and Acquisitions Specialist of the Southeast Region with McCraney Property Company.

Mr. Curley leads operations and is responsible for driving growth and identifying opportunistic markets while advancing relationships with capital partners.

Mr. Curley’s previous asset management experience specializing in valuation, portfolio risk management, and investor relations, provides him with unique insight into identifying expansion opportunities in existing and opportunistic markets. Mr. Curley’s involvement in all facets of the industrial development cycle, from underwriting new development opportunities, strategic acquisitions, dispositions, joint venture prospects, to leasing and property management, makes him invaluable to the McCraney Property Company team. Mr. Curley attended Villanova University where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Real Estate. He maintains an active role with alumni.

Josh joined INCO Group in December 24' to serve as their Director of Business Development. He is responsible for company-wide marketing efforts, public relations and driving new business for INCO's manufacturing Design | Build services. Most recently he has been tasked with opening and leading INCO's new office in Savannah to help bolster their growth in the region. Josh has over 5 years of experience in running business development for Atlanta based firms in the A/E/C industry. He is Partner & Vice President of Atlanta based nonprofit, Achieving Bright Community Dreams, a social networking and philanthropy group centered around building community through golf. He attained his B.B.A in Marketing from the Terry College of Business at UGA in 2018.