Aakash Thakkar joined EYA in 2004 as a Development Executive and now is a Executive Vice President for Acquisition and Development with EYA. His responsibilities include overall project stewardship, new deal sourcing and acquisition, site selection, and project development through the design and governmental and community approval process. Mr. Thakkar is a member of and guest speaker for the Urban Land Institute and the District of Columbia Building Industry Association. He is a member of the Smart Growth Recognition Award Jury, the Riverdale Park Mixed-Use Town Center Committee, and of the Hyattsville CDC Board. He was a member of the Obama for American Mid-Atlantic Finance Committee and a co-founder (along with his wife) of the Thakkar/Giallourakis Scholarship Fund for St. John's College High School. Mr. Thakkar has a BS in Accounting and Political Science from LaSalle University and holds both an MBA and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University. Mr. Thakkar is a native Washingtonian.

As President and CEO of Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners, Mr. Lynch assumes primary responsibility for firm management and project coordination, with a commitment to developing a quality product and superior service. That commitment has produced distinctive urban mixed-use projects for investors and a distinguished list of public, private and non-profit clients.

Mr. Lynch has over twenty years’ experience in public and private real estate as an investor and advisor, including projects in Silicon Valley, CA and Washington, DC. He founded Jair Lynch in 1998 and has completed more than 65 projects totaling almost 4.3 million square feet of development in DC, with an additional 1.7 million square feet in his development pipeline. He is a driving force for urban regeneration, working to create walkable urban places to empower people, develop place and create prosperity.

Mr. Oliver T. Carr, III has been the President and Chief Executive Officer at Carr Properties Holdings LP since 2004. Mr. Carr co-founded Carr Capital Corporation in 1994 and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer until 2005. He was responsible for managing Carr Capital, and led managing major acquisitions and financial transactions at the firm. Mr. Carr served as a Director of WashingtonFirst Bankshares, Inc. and its subsidiary WashingtonFirst Bank from December 2012 to May 17, 2013. He served as an Independent Director of Alliance Bankshares Corporation since July 2007. Mr. Carr served as a Director of Alliance Bank Corporation since August 15, 2007 and Alliance Bankshares Corporation since July 2007. He received Master of Science in Real Estate Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992 and his Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies, with a concentration in Economics, from Trinity College in 1987.

Mr. Trimmer has over 15 years of experience overseeing mixed-use and build-to-suit office development. He oversees several large scale redevelopment projects in Montgomery and Fairfax Counties, and GSA build-to-suit commercial buildings. He served as Project Executive for the delivery of a 575,000 SF build-to-suit for a new research campus for The National Cancer Institute, the 935,000 SF renovation of the Parklawn Building for Health and Human Services, and the development of a new 491,000 SF headquarters for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Prior to joining The JBG Companies in 2007, Mr. Trimmer was a Development Executive at Clark Realty Capital and had a previous tenure with JBG as an Associate. He is a member of ULI, NAIOP, the DC Real Estate Group, and is an accredited member of the Congress for New Urbanism. He is currently serving on the Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force and the Phase 2 Dulles Rail Transportation Improvement Advisory Board. In the community, he is a board member of The Non-Profit Village, on the Special Gifts Committee for the Arlington Free Clinic, and on the Golf for Babies Committee for the March of Dimes. B.S. in Civil Engineering, The University of Virginia; M.B.A., Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Deborah Ratner Salzberg manages Uplands’ investor relations and capital-raising activities.

She previously was the Washington, DC Region Chairman for Brookfield Properties, a global real estate development and operating company with 300 million square feet of prime commercial space and 59,000 apartments under management, as well as 9 million square feet of commercial space in development.

Prior to joining Brookfield, Debby worked for over 30 years at Forest City Realty Trust. Most recently, she served as President of Forest City Washington, a subsidiary of Forest City Realty Trust, overseeing the company’s activities in the DC, Philadelphia, Boston, and New Jersey markets. During her career with Forest City, Debby’s responsibilities spanned development, leasing, construction, financing, and management, beginning with individual projects and progressing to executive supervision of multiple high-profile, large-scale developments in the DC Region, including The Yards in the Capitol Riverfront district, Waterfront Station in Southwest DC, and the redevelopment of Ballston Quarter in Arlington, Virginia.

Debby began her career as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. She earned a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco, and is a member of the California Bar Association. Debby is active with numerous community and professional organizations, including the Federal City Council, District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA), the Washington Housing Conservancy, the Urban Land Institute, Kenyon College, CubeSmart (CUBE), and the NY Common Real Estate Advisory Committe

Prem Devadas, President, is a 25-year veteran of the hospitality industry. After ten years with The Potomac Hotel Group in Washington, D.C., he left the Regional Director of Operations position to manage the lodging portfolio for CCA Industries whose holdings include The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, VA, The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, TN and Kiawah Island Resort near Charleston, SC. As Managing Director, he repositioned the Jefferson Hotel and the Hermitage Hotel through extensive renovations, and achieved Mobil Five Star and AAA Five Diamond awards for the respective properties. At Kiawah Island, he directed the development and successful opening in August 2004 of The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, the new 255-room ultra-luxury hotel, which is hailed as one of the world's best.

Monty Hoffman formed Hoffman & Associates in 1993 with a single townhouse conversion and has since then transformed the company into a market leader of real estate development in the Washington, DC, metro area and beyond. With more than 30 years of experience, Monty actively leads the company’s business development and market strategy, as well as the design initiatives for every Hoffman project.

Monty has been recognized in Washington’s SmartCEO’s Future 50 list and the Washington Business Journal’s Power 100. He is a founding board member of the DC Students Construction Trades Foundation, which provides educational and apprenticeship opportunities for District students interested in design, engineering, and construction. He served on the DC Public Schools Engineering Advisory Board and is a current board member of the Federal City Council and Southwest Business Improvement District. Monty graduated from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown with a Bachelor of Science in Civil/Structural Engineering Technology. He is married with three children and lives in Potomac, MD

With more than 35 years of leadership experience in commercial real estate, Mitchell Schear ran two of Washington’s most influential real estate companies owning and developing some of the most iconic office and residential projects in DC. Today, Mitchell has turned his focus to “PropTech”, the dynamic intersection of the burgeoning new creative/tech sector and traditional brick and mortar. From 2019 - 2023 Mitchell was an Executive Partner at Camber Creek, effectively combining his passion for PropTech with his wealth of commercial real estate experience. Camber Creek is the longest standing real estate technology venture capital firm with a proven and successful track record of investing in emerging real estate technology market leaders, catalyzing growth for those companies, and achieving outsized returns for its investors. In his role at Camber Creek, Mitchell focused on selecting portfolio companies to invest in, and then cultivating and growing them. He brought investing, operating and leadership experience and expertise across a broad range of real estate verticals, including development, leasing, construction and property management. From 2003 until 2017, Mitchell was President of Vornado/Charles E. Smith, the DC division of Vornado Realty Trust, a $20 billion real estate investment trust. In that role, he directed the strategy, performance and growth of Vornado’s extensive 20+ million square foot portfolio in the Washington DC region. In Arlington, VA, his forward-thinking, placemaking vision transformed Crystal City (now “National Landing”) into a vibrant, creative community that became home to a growing innovation hub and great restaurants/retail concepts. From 2017 – 2020, Mitchell served as a board member for JBG SMITH, a successor company and the largest real estate company in the Washington metropolitan area. Prior to joining Vornado in April 2003, Mitchell spent 15 years at The Kaempfer Company, where, as President, he oversaw all of the company’s development, leasing, and management activities. In 2021, Mitchell was appointed to the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents Facilities Committee where he will work to provide leadership and oversight for the revitalization and maintenance of the vast real estate holdings of Smithsonian. He is also involved in a variety of organizations and charities, including Higher Achievement where he rallied the real estate and business community to raise more than $1 million annually for this organization dedicated to helping at-risk middle-school kids excel and succeed. In 2016, Mitchell was honored by Higher Achievement for his extraordinary leadership and commitment. For many years, Mitchell has been a value-add member of numerous private and public boards, task forces, and advisory committees. In 2015, he was honored by Transwestern as Trendsetter of the Year in recognition of his legacy of innovation, quality and many contributions to the Washington community. In 2007, Mitchell was recognized by the District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA) with its highest honor, the Achievement Award.

Wilbur “Tom” Simmons has been the President of Kimco’s Mid-Atlantic Shopping Center Region since 2004. Mr. Simmons is responsible for overseeing Asset Management, Leasing, Property Management, Acquisition and Disposition, Development and Redevelopment in the Mid-Atlantic comprised of 14.5 million square feet in 120 properties in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Prior to joining Kimco, Mr. Simmons was a Vice President of Acquisitions and Development with Mid-Atlantic Realty Trust where he was employed for over 12 years.

Mr. Simmons holds a Bachelor of Arts from Gettysburg College and a Master of Science in Real Estate from The Johns Hopkins University.

David Brainerd is Chief Investment Officer, responsible for sourcing, negotiating, and closing property acquisitions and overseeing investment management and disposition of owned properties. Mr. Brainerd also manages relationships with existing equity partners; and has supervised investments representing over 2.5 million square feet of shopping centers, 1.4 million square feet of office space, and approximately 7,000 acres of land for Madison Marquette. He also serves as a Senior Vice President for Capital Guidance.

Mr. Brainerd began his career with the mortgage-backed securities team of First Boston Corporation’s Real Estate Finance Group. There he was responsible for the underwriting of large portfolios of commercial and residential mortgage loans for purchase and securitization by the firm. Mr. Brainerd brings almost 25 years of industry experience, and has been involved in real estate investment transactions with an aggregate value of $1.5 billion.

Mr. Brainerd holds a master’s degree in management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, where he serves as vice chair of the Commercial and Retail Development Council (Silver Flight), and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Stephen J. Pettit was born in Ohio in 1954, the son of an aerospace engineer and a librarian. He graduated from University of Notre Dame with a B.A. (Government and Asian Studies, magna cum laude) in 1976 and from Duke Law (Order of the Coif) in 1979. He practiced law for thirty years, the last twenty of which with Occidental Petroleum. He has appeared as an advocate in numerous trials and appeals around the US; acted as counsel in M & A and financing transactions in the US and abroad; managed corporate legal, government affairs, procurement and compliance functions; and advised companies doing business in over two dozen countries. He retired in 2009, only to be asked to return to help manage Qatari Diar, a sovereign wealth fund developing real estate in over 20 countries. He helped reorganize their operations in Europe and the Americas, sits on the boards of a number of its subsidiaries and joint ventures and has recently been named non-executive chairman of Qatari Diar Americas, Inc. in Washington, D.C. His interests in history, anthropology and ecology have thus far resulted in extensive travel to all the Earth’s continents except Australia.

Mr. Alsup is a senior managing director is the founding partner of the Hines Washington, D.C. office. He has responsibility for selected major development, leasing and property management activities in the Washington, D.C., area. Since joining the firm in 1979, Mr. Alsup has been responsible for commercial real estate projects (development, acquisition and third-party management) totaling more than 11.5 million square feet of space. Currently, Mr. Alsup is the Senior Project Officer responsible for the development of CityCenterDC, a 1.5 million-square-foot, mixed-use project in Washington, D.C. comprised of 190,000 square feet of retail, 520,000 square feet of office, residential (458 rental units and 218 for-sale units) and parks and public open spaces; and development of the Conrad Washington, D.C. Hotel at CityCenterDC, a 350-room luxury hotel to begin construction in April 2016.

Alsup received a BS in Economics from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia and his MBA from the University of North Carolina.

Vicki Davis is responsible for managing the acquisition, planning, design, and

implementation of all Urban Atlantic projects, and asset management of properties that

the company owns and its Mid-City Community CDE investment portfolio. With over 28

years of experience in real estate development, she formerly served as Deputy Director

of the Maryland Housing Fund and Maryland DHCD -Division of Credit Assurance. Her

experience also includes portfolio management for MNC Financial-South Charles Realty

and multifamily development for Trammell Crow Residential.

As President of Urban Atlantic Development, Ms. Davis has managed development of

over $2 billion in real estate projects and asset managed over $4 billion in real estate

investments. She has developed over 6,000 multifamily residential units and 600,000

commercial square feet for Urban Atlantic, including eight HOPE VI mixed-finance public

housing redevelopment projects, as well as transit-oriented mixed-use projects.

Ms. Davis holds a MBA in Finance from American University, an MS in Engineering &

Construction Management from University of Texas, and a BS in Civil Engineering from

the University of Maryland. She taught for 12 years in the Johns Hopkins Real Estate

MBA program and is a LEED AP.

Robert H. Braunohler, Regional Vice President, is responsible for the management, leasing, development and acquisition of properties in the Washington metropolitan area. For 20 years prior to joining Property Group Partners in 2001, he was a partner at The JBG Companies, a Washington-based commercial and residential developer. He is an active board member and past president of the District of Columbia Building Industry Association, a member of the Urban Land Institute, and serves on the boards of the Capitol Hill and Downtown Business Improvement Districts.

Mr. Braunohler is also a board member of two non-profit organizations working to increase job opportunities in the construction industry for inner-city residents. He graduated from Princeton University and received a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University.

Gary is the Chief Investment Officer and a Partner of Meridian. Gary is responsible for

acquisitions, capital activities and investor relations.  He also serves as Chair of the Investment

Committee. Gary led the fundraising and investing efforts of Meridian Realty Partners I and II,

Meridian’s discretionary private equity funds raised in 2012 and 2016. Between these two funds,

Gary has completed in excess of $2.5 billion in investments with over $1 billion of equity in 15

transactions.

With over 30 years of industry experience, Gary represented Meridian in its first 3 years of

investments as a partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP in Washington, DC. He then headed up the

Real Estate Fund’s Acquisitions Group as a partner at The Carlyle Group, where he led and

completed over $12 billion of investments with $3.4 billion of equity in nearly 200 transactions.

These included the acquisition, development, structured financing, and recapitalization of office,

hotel, retail, residential, industrial, land, senior living, and mixed-use properties. He also led the

firm’s efforts in the formation of Carlyle Realty Partners I, II, III, IV and V – an aggregate of

over $5 billion in investor commitments – before joining The Meridian Group in November

2007.

Gary received his B.A. from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. from The University of Texas

School of Law. Gary is on the Advisory Board for George Washington University Business

School's Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis.

Todd Stokes, managing partner of the Tysons, Virginia office, has been with Baker Tilly

since 2001. He provides oversight and leadership to the professionals serving the greater

Washington, D.C. area and is a member of the firm’s management committee.

Todd believes in the teaching culture of Baker Tilly and helps develop client service

leaders and Valued Business Advisors. He works across multiple disciplines and teams to

provide opportunities to the future leaders of the firm.

Experience

> Provides leadership, management and strategic direction for the Tysons office

including providing insight and advice to client engagement teams, fostering

employee development and recruiting and driving growth

> Works primarily with owners and financial officers of construction and real estate

companies providing business consulting and accounting services

> Serves as a Valued Business Advisor to his clients, providing guidance on

organizational structure, incentive compensation, estate and succession planning

> Engages with his clients to generate specific tax and business planning opportunities,

as well as deliver strategic expertise on more complex accounting and advisory

matters, based on his extensive construction and real estate experience

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Steven Siegel is a partner at Weller Development Company. He has over 20 years of development, finance, and public policy experience with expertise in executing public-private development transactions and financings.

Prior to joining Weller Development, Mr. Siegel served as a senior advisor at Sagamore Development Company before joining the company full-time. As executive vice president, Mr. Siegel led the execution of the Port Covington project by overseeing the master planning and entitlement, public and private financing, strategic planning and communications, and policy and lobbying teams.

Previously, Mr. Siegel was founder and president of Davey Street Partners, a real estate development and advisory firm focused on public-private projects in the Washington metropolitan area. Prior to Davey Street Partners, Mr. Siegel served as Director of Development in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development in Washington, D.C. where he managed D.C.’s $13 billion, public-private real estate development portfolio.

Mr. Siegel also served as Vice President of Acquisitions for a Mid-Atlantic multi-family developer where he led the pursuit, acquisition, financing, and development of over 1,000 multi-family residential market rate units.

Mr. Weller is a senior real estate professional with over twenty

years of experience in the residential, commercial, and mixed-use

real estate market. He has previously owned, directed, and

managed many aspects of real estate enterprises, including

development and construction companies. Mr. Weller is an

experienced business manager with a consistent track record of

successfully employing best business practices to reduce operating

costs, increase production, and bring development projects to

successful completion.

Mr. Weller founded and established Sagamore Development with

Under Armour Founder and CEO, Kevin Plank, to redefine Baltimore through the acquisition,

development, and programming of land in Port Covington. He organized and staffed the

business enterprise and acquired over 250 acres of waterfront properties through multiple

large-scale transactions. Since its inception, Sagamore Development has evolved into a full

service real estate company with a full offering of services and expertise including acquisition,

development, construction management, and property management.

Sagamore Development’s current projects include the master planning and execution of Port

Covington, a luxury hotel at Recreation Pier, the Sagamore Spirit whiskey distillery and

restaurant, high-end retail in Georgetown, and a Light Manufacturing and Innovation Center at

City Garage.

Demian Costa is a Partner at Weller Development Company, the lead developer

for the Port Covington project in Baltimore City. As a Partner with Weller

Development, Demian focuses on raising capital, leasing, and new business

creation. Additionally, Demian serves as the Managing Director of Sagamore

Ventures, the private investment subsidiary of Plank Industries.

Demian began his career in the military. He is veteran having served 12 years as a

US Navy SEAL.  Following his military career, Demian co-founded FX Studios,

focused on building virtual and on-premise employee wellness programs globally.

Additionally, Demian co-founded Sagamore Ventures, focusing on double bottom-

line investments that drive positive economic impact in urban areas. He is

currently focused on innovation and economic growth in Baltimore City and

beyond. Demian holds an undergraduate degree in finance and an MBA from the

University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Mark Pollak has practiced for more than 30 years with a focus on the public financing of complex real estate projects and sports stadiums. He also has experience creating public-private partnerships to develop central business districts. His clients include local institutions and companies as well as national corporations and major real estate developers and investors in the mid-Atlantic area.

Ross Draber is the chief operating officer of United Bank, a subsidiary of United Bankshares, Inc., a $19.3 billion bank holding company. He is responsible for the performance and profitability of the Bank, directing commercial and consumer banking sales and service operations throughout the Washington, D.C. metro area. Draber oversees the region’s market presidents and works alongside them to drive growth and develop business strategy and execution plans.

Draber has played an integral role in United Bank’s expansion since assuming the role in 2015. During that time, United Bank has grown to over 70 branches in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. It has the number one deposit market share among community banks in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Statistical Area. Draber is highly involved with the merger and acquisition team and was instrumental in the Bank’s successful acquisitions of Cardinal Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries George Mason Mortgage, LLC and Cardinal Wealth Services, Inc. (2017); Bank of Georgetown (2016); and Virginia Commerce Bank (2014).

Draber previously served as a senior vice president of treasury and corporate finance. In this role, he managed the capital adequacy and regulatory risk of United Bankshares, Inc., serving on the Asset Liability Committee (ALCO) and stress test development team. He oversaw the mergers and acquisitions analysis and supervised commercial loan pricing and term sheet structuring within United Bank. Prior to that, Draber held several positions in treasury and credit administration.

Draber is a CFA® charterholder and a 2017 Washington Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree. He graduated from Washington and Lee University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Business Administration.