Post Properties' longtime CEO, David Stockert, will segue out of day-to-day operations of a newly merged apartment conglomerate by year's end. And yes, Post's brand will stay, for now.

We spoke with Dave following his appearance at our Big Show: Midtown & Downtown event this morning at the Georgia Aquarium. Dave, who spoke on our Downtown Atlanta panel, told us after the talks that he will likely ascend to the board of directors of a post-Post Properties/Mid-America Apartments REIT merger.

The pending $4B marriage was announced earlier this month—the resulting entity will own more than 300 properties with 105,000 units—and will be led by MAA CEO Eric Bolton and headquartered in Memphis.

Dave—here on a panel with AGH's Randy Gold, SkyView Partners' Todd Schneider and DTJ Design's Todd Hill—says he's focused on simply getting the deal done by the end of the year. He also confirmed that MAA will keep the Post brand on the REIT's current portfolio because the company sees “value” in a singular brand.

But, he's unsure how the brand will continue or grow moving forward. “What we don't want to end up with is with two different companies in one company,” Dave says.

We also learned Trillist Cos may not only be doing a hotel along Crescent Avenue. We spoke with Trillist CEO Scott Leventhal (on left with Shumacher Group's Harold Shumacher) after his panel appearance this morning; he tells us the firm also owns land adjacent to its planned SLS Hotel & Residences at 1122 Crescent Ave.

The plot, at 1138 Peachtree St, where he originally planned to build a Mandarin Oriental hotel, could instead see some 312 apartment units that could include a mix of condos. “Expect an announcement soon,” Scott teased.