Loudoun County State of the Market & Schmooze

Chris Clemente founded the Comstock organization in 1985 and has guided its growth and diversification since its inception. Mr. Clemente managed the growth of Comstock as a private enterprise until the 2004 initial public offering of Comstock Homebuilding Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHCI), now known as Comstock Holding Companies®, Inc. (“Comstock” or “Company”). Since the IPO, Mr. Clemente has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Comstock and is the largest individual stockholder of the Company. Mr. Clemente chairs Comstock’s Executive Committee, which charts strategic direction, evaluates acquisition opportunities, and oversees strategic partnerships, including multiple public-private partnerships. Mr. Clemente is also Managing Member of Comstock Partners, LC (“Partners”), a family-owned, private company founded by Mr. Clemente in 1999 to focus on commercial real estate development and investment. Following its IPO, Comstock expanded its for-sale homebuilding operation into multiple key markets in the southeastern United States, while the commercial development operation of Partners remained focused on the Washington, DC market. Following the Great Recession, Comstock scaled back its for-sale homebuilding operation to focus solely on the Washington, DC market. Mr. Clemente managed the two companies as separate firms with distinct management teams and investment objectives until early 2018, when Comstock announced its plan to wind-down its for-sale homebuilding operation and refocus on commercial development, real estate asset management, and real estate related services. To execute this strategic plan, the operating platforms of Comstock and Partners were combined, and changes were made to the management team. To anchor the transition, Partners entered a long-term, cost-plus asset management agreement covering its portfolio of commercial properties, which had grown to include millions of square feet of stabilized buildings and development assets strategically located at key transit stations on Metro’s new Silver Line in the Dulles Corridor of Northern Virginia that have an estimated value at full build out of approximately $3 billion. Key assets included in the portfolio of managed assets, include; Reston Station, a 4.5 million square foot transit-oriented and mixed-use development covering nearly 40 acres surrounding the terminus station of Phase I of the Silver Line in Reston, Virginia, and Loudoun Station, a 2+ million square foot transit-oriented and mixed-use development located adjacent to the terminus station of Phase II of the Silver Line in Ashburn, Virginia. Mr. Clemente attended the University of Wisconsin and George Mason University where he studied Business and Psychology. Mr. Clemente and his wife, Tracy Schar, have been long-time supporters of numerous charitable organizations in the Washington, DC region that support international adoptions, foster care programs, and that provide educational, housing and other assistance to families and children in-need.

Kurt Marx is the market president for United Bank’s Fairfax West region, encompassing Loudoun County and parts of Fairfax County. He is a 1980 graduate of George Washington University and he has been employed in the local banking industry since 1986. Kurt is an active member and has served in various positions within St. Theresa Catholic Church, Ashburn, VA. Since 2012, he has served as director and treasurer for the non-profit Mosaic-Virginia which operates a clinic in Lansdowne, VA and provides free women’s health care services.

Buddy Rizer serves as the Executive Director for economic development in Loudoun County, Virginia, which was named the 2021 Economic Development Organization of the Year by the International Economic Development Council. He leads the agency responsible for encouraging growth and developing relationships with Loudoun’s business community in both the commercial and agricultural- based business sectors. During his tenure, Rizer and his team have attracted more than $65 billion in new commercial investment and more than 60 thousand new jobs. During this time, the growth in the commercial based has helped lower the tax rate in Loudoun by more than 48 cents on the dollar, saving residents thousands of dollars annually on their tax bill. Mr. Rizer has been named a Tech Titan eight times by Washingtonian Magazine (2017 – 2024), one of the 50 most influential Virginians six times by Virginia Business Magazine (2018 – 2023), a five-time member of Virginia’s Power 500 (2020 – 2024), and three times named to the Washington Business Journal’s Power 100 as one of the most influential businesspeople in Washington, DC (2020, 2022, 2023). In 2024, he was named as one of the 50 most influential people in Northern Virginia by Northern Virginia Magazine. Mr. Rizer is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), a certified Entrepreneurship Development Professional (EDP), has a master’s in business administration/economics from Longwood University and is a graduate of Virginia Tech's Local Government Management Graduate Program.

Monica Backmon is the Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) and has led NVTA since May 2014. Bringing more than 25 years of public and private sector transportation experience, Ms. Backmon oversees the region’s long-range planning, prioritization, and funding of regionally significant projects bringing multimodal transportation solutions to Northern Virginia. Managing an annual revenue stream provided through House Bill 2313 that is trending at $425 million per year, Ms. Backmon led the NVTA through the adoption of all seven funding programs, the most recent occurring in July of 2024. With the implementation of NVTA’s funding programs, NVTA is advancing 140 regional multimodal transportation projects totaling more than $3.8 billion for congestion reduction throughout the region. Ms. Backmon also oversees the distribution of $110 million annually to the Authority’s nine member localities for their local transportation priorities, which surpassed a total of $1 billion in September 2023. Ms. Backmon holds a B.A. in Psychology and a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Nene has been leading the Northern Virginia Science Center Foundation since 2010 and is among its earliest founders. In the past 15 years, the Center has served over a half million children, families and educators at its interim museum site, the Children’s Science Center Lab, and through its mobile STEM programs serving Loudoun, Fairfax, Prince William counties and the greater region. Nene oversees current operations and leads the effort to build the new Northern Virginia Science Center, now under construction in Sterling at Kincora. The new world-class interactive science center is being developed via a public private partnership with Loudoun County, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Science Museum of Virginia. Nene’s volunteer work includes serving on the Board of Directors for the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, Northern Virginia Technology Council, Association of Science and Technology Centers, and Northwest Federal Credit Union Foundation. Nene is a self-described “Hokie-Hoo”, holding an Industrial Engineering degree from Virginia Tech and an MBA from University of Virginia’s Darden School. Outside of work and volunteering, Nene enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and three adult children hiking, paddling and skiing.

Stephanie is a Partner and Landscape Architect who directs complex large-scale mixed use and urban design projects for some of the nation’s leading developers. Known for thinking of every detail like an editor or producer, she motivates her studios to uncover the less obvious solutions that result in an elevated experience. Stephanie thrives during the implementation phase of a project when she can swap her plans for a hard hat and watch her ideas transform into reality. As an advocate for social equity in the built environment, Stephanie understands the intersection of design and social equity, and strives to engage diverse stakeholders and community members to build consensus and understanding with every project on which she works.

Colleen Gillis is the founder & CEO of the land use and zoning law firm, Curata Partners. Her practice includes representing major developers and national, regional and local companies in all areas of land use entitlement, including office, retail, industrial, mixed-use, residential, hotel and large planned community projects. Her prior experience as a transactional real estate lawyer enables her to effectively and efficiently advise and assist clients on the nuanced interrelationship of entitlement, acquisition, financing and divestment during the life cycle of a given project. Over the past decade, Colleen has received numerous awards and recognition for her outstanding work as a land use and zoning lawyer, including being named to the Washington Business Journal’s Power 100 list, being nominated for Leesburg Today’s “40 under 40” Award, being listed in the US Legal 500 for Real Estate and Construction, and being named a “Woman to Watch” by the Loudoun Business Journal. Colleen is a member of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Dulles Corridor Rail Association Executive Committee and has previously served on the Leadership Fairfax Board of Directors and the Board of Directors for the Alzheimer's Association for the National Capital Area.

Charles A. Yudd joined JK Land Holdings in March of 2024 and currently serves as the Director of Land Planning and Development. Mr. Yudd directs site planning and entitlement efforts for an expansive portfolio of projects that includes data center development, warehouse, and flex-industrial projects. JKLH was founded in 2016 and maintains a keen focus on the need for balance between preserving lands for future generations and commercial and industrial development in areas well suited for economic growth. JKLH reinvests funds gained from land acquisition into protecting properties from future development. Over the past decade, JKLH has strategically redeployed more than 22,000 acres of its purchases into conservation easements, ensuring vulnerable vistas and habitats are preserved and protected for future generations. Prior to joining JKLH, Mr. Yudd served as Deputy County Administrator for Loudoun County, Virginia from 2016 until 2024 and retired in early 2024 after 26 years of service to the County. Mr. Yudd earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia. He has also earned the Credentialed Manager designation from the International City/County Management Association. Mr. Yudd previously served as the Chairman of the Board of the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy in Ashburn, Virginia. Currently, he serves as a Trustee of the Claude Moore Charitable Trust in Fairfax and is a member of the Board of Directors of Loudoun Water in Ashburn, Virginia. Mr. Yudd lives with his wife Barbara in Waterford, Virginia, and they have two adult children and one grandchild.

Greg is an experienced developer, investment manager and consultant with decades of experience in residential projects of all product types. He specializes in the development of single family and townhouse lots, ground up and value add market rate apartments and affordable, seniors and student housing.

Erin L. Swisshelm joined the firm in 2021 as an associate for the Land Use & Zoning practice group in the Loudoun office. Prior to joining the firm, Erin was an Assistant County Attorney at the Frederick County Attorney’s office in Winchester, Virginia. Prior to working at the Frederick County Attorney’s office, Erin worked as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Erin attended law school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.