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Speakers and Panels

NoMa & Union Market

Norman Jemal

Norman Jemal

Principal

Douglas Development

Bill Hard

Bill Hard

Principal & EVP

LCOR

Doug Firstenberg

Doug Firstenberg

Founding Principal

Stonebridge

Sam Swiller

Sam Swiller

Director

Gallaudet University

Andy VanHorn

Andy VanHorn

Head of Real Estate

Washington Commanders

Adam Davis

Adam Davis

VP

Foulger-Pratt

Mike Killelea
Moderator

Mike Killelea

SVP

L.F. Jennings

Norman Jemal

Principal

Douglas Development

Norman Jemal began his career in real estate in the early 1990’s. He serves as the Principal and Senior Vice President for Douglas Development Corporation and currently directs all of the leasing activity for the company and throughout his career has negotiated and leased over five million square feet with a cumulative value of over one billion dollars. As a principal with the company, Norman is involved in all aspects of the business including acquisitions and dispositions, development, finance and corporate strategic planning. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Washington, DC Economic Partnership, an organization that promotes business opportunities throughout the District and contributes to business retention and attraction activities, and on the Board of Trustees for Ford’s Theatre. He has also served on the Board of Directors for The Little Blue House, a family development center that serves as an oasis for low-income, poor and struggling families. As of 2015 Norman serves on the board of United Bank.

Bill Hard

Principal & EVP

LCOR

Mr. Hard is the senior executive for LCOR’s Bethesda, MD office, responsible for all Washington, DC metropolitan area development activity. Among his accomplishments are the development of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office headquarters in Alexandria, VA, the acquisition of the COMSAT campus in Clarksburg, MD, the development of North Bethesda Center at the White Flint Metrorail station in Maryland, and the Oyster School/Henry Adams House in the District of Columbia.

Mr. Hard’s affiliation with LCOR dates to 1981 when he joined its predecessor The Linpro Company as a Partner. He subsequently was named Vice President of LCOR upon its founding in 1992, and an Executive Vice President and Principal in 1999.

He is actively involved in a number of industry organizations serving on the Executive Committee of the Urban Land Institute’s Washington, DC District Council, Treasurer of Hospice Caring, Inc., and Chairman of the Real Estate Committee of the Montgomery College Foundation.

A graduate of Lafayette College, he also was awarded an MA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Doug Firstenberg

Founding Principal

Stonebridge

A founding principal of Stonebridge, Douglas Firstenberg directs firmwide strategic planning, oversees landmark development projects, and plays a key role in major transaction negotiations. Under his leadership, Stonebridge has developed several of the region’s most innovative and successful urban mixed-use properties, including breakthrough transit-oriented developments and public/private initiatives.

Mr. Firstenberg has more than thirty-five years of real estate industry experience, leading complex development projects totaling more than 10 million square feet and $4 billion in value. Mr. Firstenberg started his career with K.S. Sweet Associates, a Philadelphia-based real estate and investment firm where he was named partner. In 1993, he co-founded Stonebridge Associates in Washington, D.C., and led the transformation of the firm into an urban infill mixed-use developer. Mr. Firstenberg graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts and currently serves in leadership roles of several industry and charitable organizations.

Sam Swiller

Director

Gallaudet University

Serving as the Director of Real Estate and Economic Development at Gallaudet University (www.gallaudet.edu), the only university in the world where all classes, programs and services are designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students. Leading initiatives to ensure 150 year-old Gallaudet’s long-term financial health and asset accumulation, while generating value to the institution’s academic mission and neighboring communities. Additionally, serving as the Director of the Gallaudet University Foundation, which we established to enhance the University's real estate expertise and focus, by providing adroit functional and decision-making capabilities. Current efforts include overseeing the planning for an eight acres, 1.5 million square foot mixed-use development along the campus’ 6th Street NE edge and developments supporting the University's $450 million Campus Master Plan.

Andy VanHorn

Head of Real Estate

Washington Commanders

Andy VanHorn is the Head of Real Estate for the Washington Commanders, where he oversees all of their real estate efforts, including the search for a new stadium site.

VanHorn joins the team with over 25 years of experience in all aspects of real estate investment, development, and operations. He most recently was President and Chief Development Officer at Dweck Properties, establishing a $900M development pipeline on company owned properties and a construction management company which completed $100M in work in its first three years.

Before Dweck Properties, Andy was an Executive Vice President at JBG Smith responsible for entitlement, community and governmental activities associated with the company's portfolio in National Landing. He has led a variety of notable projects in the DMV area, including Amazon’s HQ2, Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus, and the mixed-use Potomac Yard commercial center.

Andy also worked in real estate private equity with Buvermo Properties and Charles E. Smith & Clark Construction. He received his BS in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University and his MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.

Andy serves as a Board Member and an Officer for True Ground Housing Partners, a regional affordable housing developer. He is also an appointed member of the Arlington County Economic Development Commission.

Adam Davis

VP

Foulger-Pratt

Adam Davis brings more than 15 years of experience in commercial real estate development and finance. Since joining Foulger-Pratt in 2004, Mr. Davis has been responsible for retail development and acquisitions.

Before he joined Foulger-Pratt Development, Mr. Davis worked in commercial real estate finance in Utah. Mr. Davis holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Brigham Young University and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Johns Hopkins University.

Emerging Northeast DC Markets

Michael Meers
Rhode Island Ave

Michael Meers

Executive Vice President

MidCity Development

John Wilkinson
Eckington

John Wilkinson

President

Boundary Companies

Bo Menkiti
Brookland

Bo Menkiti

CEO

Menkiti Group

Chris Doerr

Chris Doerr

Managing Director

Walker & Dunlop Investment Sales

Alex Shepley
Moderator

Alex Shepley

Account Executive

Honest Buildings

Michael Meers

Rhode Island Ave

MidCity Development

Michael oversees the acquisition, management, and capitalization of MidCity’s portfolio, which features over 9,000 units of market rate and government assisted multifamily properties primarily located in the Mid-Atlantic region. Michael has been pivotal in the repositioning of several key assets, most significantly the redevelopment of the Brookland Manor Apartments and Brentwood Village Shopping Center into RIA, a 20-acre mixed-income, mixed-use project in the heart of Washington, DC. Among Michael’s philanthropic activities, he presently serves on the Board of the Agnes and Eugene Ford Foundation, where he oversees social impact investments in resident services and community-based organizations that enrich the communities in which MidCity owns assets. Michael holds a B.A. from Washington and Lee University and an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland.

Bo Menkiti

Brookland

Menkiti Group

Bo Menkiti is the Founder and CEO of the Menkiti Group, a real estate company dedicated to transforming lives

and communities through real estate. The Menkiti Group is focused on strengthening neighborhoods through

the strategic development, management, and disposition of real estate in urban markets. Mr. Menkiti also

serves as CEO and is the Founding Partner of Keller Williams Capital Properties, a residential real estate

brokerage managed by the Menkiti Group.

Mr. Menkiti’s work has been featured in David Bornstein’s book on social entrepreneurs “How to Change the

World,” and in Stephen Goldsmith’s “The Power of Social Innovation.” Mr. Menkiti has been recognized

nationally by Ebony and Inc. Magazine as one of the coolest young entrepreneurs in America, and was awarded

The National Association of Realtors Prestigious “30 under 30” award in 2006. Mr. Menkiti was also honored

as a Minority Business Leader by the Washington Business Journal and named to the paper’s 2014 Power 100,

a list of the most influential business leaders in the Washington metropolitan area. He was also recently

honored by the National Association of Realtors as the District of Columbia Realtor of the Year in 2014 and as

Keller Williams Realty International’s 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year.

Under Mr. Menkiti’s leadership, the Menkiti Group and Keller Williams Capital Properties have been recognized

by Inc. Magazine as being among the fastest growing private companies in the nation and by the Initiative for

Competitive Inner City (ICIC) and Fortune Magazine as two of the fastest growing inner city businesses in

America.

Prior to forming the Menkiti Group and Keller Williams Capital Properties, Mr. Menkiti served as Chief

Operating Officer of College Summit, a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the college

enrollment rate of low-income students. In this capacity, Mr. Menkiti oversaw the organization’s successful

growth into a multi-site national organization.

Mr. Menkiti served as the 2013 President of the District of Columbia Association of Realtors and is a board

member of City First Bank of DC and Dance Place. Mr. Menkiti also serves as a member of the Steering

Committee of the Small Business Policy Project and on the board of DC Water, the District of Columbia Water

and Sewer Authority. In 2015, Mr. Menkiti was inducted on the board of the Myer Foundation, the Federal

City Council, and was elected as the Executive Board Member of Prolanthropy. Earlier this year, Mr. Menkiti

launched the Capital Properties Menkiti Group Foundation, an organization that focuses its resources on

serving the diverse social needs existing in the National Capital Area.

Mr. Menkiti is a graduate of Harvard University. He lives in the District with his wife and three young sons.

Chris Doerr

Managing Director

Walker & Dunlop Investment Sales

Christopher Doerr, managing director, joined Walker & Dunlop Investment Sales group in November 2015. Mr. Doerr will be responsible for the origination and execution of investment sales and equity capital raise for multifamily assets in the Mid-Atlantic and will be based out of the Bethesda, Maryland office.

Prior to joining Walker & Dunlop, Mr. Doerr served as a senior managing director for five years at Cushman & Wakefield where he worked with the owners of institutional real estate providing disposition services for multifamily properties and land in the Washington, D.C. area as well as joint venture structuring, recapitalization, and equity placement. Before Cushman & Wakefield, Mr. Doerr was vice president of multifamily investments for Grubb & Ellis.

Mr. Doerr holds a juris doctorate/MBA from the University of Richmond and a BBA from James Madison University.

Beyond the Company, Mr. Doerr is a member of the DC Real Estate Group, Urban Land Institute, National Multi-Housing Council, and the Virginia Bar Association.

Robin-Eve Jasper
What's new in NoMa!

Robin-Eve Jasper

President, NoMa BID

President, NoMa Parks Foundation

Ross Draber
Welcome Remarks

Ross Draber

COO

United Bank

Robin-Eve Jasper

What's new in NoMa!

President, NoMa Parks Foundation

Robin-Eve Jasper is President of the NoMa BID. With a passion for issues at the intersection of public policy and private investment, Robin-Eve’s career includes working as a corporate attorney and lobbyist in New York and Washington DC, commercial development experience in Washington DC, a leadership role at DC’s largest nonprofit provider of affordable rental housing, and providing real estate consulting services to governments and educational institutions nationwide.

Recently, Robin-Eve served as Director of Washington, DC’s Department of Real Estate Services where she oversaw eradication of a backlog of hundreds of million of dollars of capital projects, and developed and implemented cutting edge space utilization standards. Robin-Eve conceived of and implemented the public private partnership for the redevelopment of the former Washington Star print planting at 200 Eye Street SE, which received several 2012 “Deal of the Year” awards from local and national entities.

Robin-Eve has been active in NoMa for many years. She worked as part of the successful coalition to see the shuttered McKinley Technology High School re-opened as the District’s premier technology high school. Robin-Eve represented the development firm of Greenebaum and Rose in NoMa transactions as well as on the NoMa Stakeholders Coalition. In 2007, Robin-Eve was a consultant to the NoMa Improvement Association, working on establishing the NoMa Business Improvement District.

Ross Draber

Welcome Remarks

United Bank

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.

Summary

Join Bisnow and our cast of all-star panelists for a morning filled with great networking and content as we dive into NoMa, Union Market and the emerging Northeast DC markets.

Come for the networking, stay for the content!

Venue

Three Constitution Square
175 N Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
(Adjacent to NoMa-Gallaudet U Metro Station)

Floor: 7th Floor


On-site and overflow garage at 100 Florida Avenue (prevailing rates at Colonial Parking apply)

Agenda

Time Activity
11:30 AM
12:20 PM
Coffee, Networking, & Breakfast
12:20 PM
1:10 PM
Emerging NE DC Markets
1:10 PM
1:15 PM
Panel Opening Remarks: Robin-Eve Jasper
1:15 PM
2:00 PM
NoMa/Union Market
2:00 PM
2:30 PM
Post-game Networking