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Leasing & Development Panel

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  James Martell

  President

  Ridge Development

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  Steve Groetsema

  Principal

  Bridge Industrial

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  Kevin Matzke

  Kevin is a founding member and Managing Principal of Clarius Partners and is responsible for all aspects of the business. This includes the joint oversight of all company operations, including human resources, administration, accounting, financial management, debt and equity financing, marketing, client relations, and new business procurement on a national, regional and local basis. Kevin also leads the company’s management, development and leasing efforts for Clarius Park Morris, Clarius Park Joliet, and Clarius Park McCook in greater Chicago and Clarius Park Arcadia North, in northeastern Pennsylvania. Prior to forming Clarius Partners, Kevin was Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for the Central Region and Northeast Region at Higgins Development Partners, responsible for all phases of land, industrial and office development projects, including new business identification, pursuit, underwriting, entitlement, construction, management and leasing. Prior to joining Higgins, Kevin was a Senior Vice President with Catellus Development Corporation, where he led all aspects of land, office and industrial development projects in the Chicago region, while playing a key role in sourcing new business and opening a new Northeast regional office serving New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In 2005 when ProLogis acquired Catellus, Kevin was named Senior Vice President and Market Officer of Capital Deployment for New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Prior to Catellus, Kevin was a Project Manager for Hines Interests, LP, in Chicago. Kevin graduated with a bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado, College of Architecture and Planning, and a Master of Engineering in Construction Engineering and Management from the University of Michigan. Since 1997, Kevin has directly led in the successful identification, transaction and development of over 1,500 acres of land and 4.7 million square feet of office and industrial build-to-suit projects. Kevin has been a member of the board of directors of the Chicago Chapter of NAIOP since 2001, serving currently as its legislative committee chair, and in the past as its president; in addition to NAIOP, Kevin is active with several other industry and non-industry organizations. Kevin is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Illinois.

  Clarius Partners

  Managing Partner

  Kevin Matzke

  Managing Partner

  Clarius Partners

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  Geoffrey Kasselman

  Geoffrey Kasselman, SIOR, LEED AP, serves as an Executive Managing Director at NKF where he leads the company’s National Industrial Practice. In this capacity, he guides the direction and expansion of the firm’s industrial brokerage capabilities across North America, including supporting various corporate portfolio, e-commerce, manufacturing, food & beverage, and data center projects, while also promoting the benefits of sustainability, technology and innovation for the sector. He also serves as CEO and Founder of Op2mize Energy, a strategic energy procurement firm. Mr. Kasselman was recently honored as a member of the 2017 Midwest CRE Hall of Fame, a 2016 CoStar Power Broker, and recently won NKF’s Outstanding Service Award for 2016, in addition to numerous other honors and distinctions received over his 30-year career. He is a prominent national speaker and accomplished author on a variety of topics including economic trends, innovation, sustainability and the exponential future of CRE. Over the course of his career he has completed more than 1,000 transactions worth in excess of $1 billion. In addition to his NKF responsibilities, Mr. Kasselman is serving a one-year term as the 2017 Society of Industrial and Office Realtors® (SIOR) Global President. SIOR was founded in 1941 by the US Government to help secure industrial facilities in support of the World War II effort. In this regard, SIOR has been servicing the commercial real estate industry for over 75 years. In this volunteer role, Kasselman leads the preeminent non-profit commercial real estate services organization in an array of strategic and global initiatives while acting as an ambassador and discussing the many benefits of becoming a SIOR designee.

  Newmark Knight Frank

  Executive Managing Director

  Geoffrey Kasselman

  Executive Managing Director

  Newmark Knight Frank

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  Keith Stauber

  Keith Stauber, SIOR, is a Managing Director with JLL where he is focused on leading new business efforts and expanding strategic client relationships. Keith assists corporations and investors/owners with the development and implementation of their real estate strategies including the acquisition, disposition and development of facilities in Chicago as well as in the United States and internationally. Keith has more than 20 years of experience in acquisitions, leasing, investment sales and build-to-suit development. Prior to joining JLL, Keith was Senior Regional Director of First Industrial Realty Trust’s Midwest region where he oversaw all aspects of a 10 million square foot portfolio and in addition completed 2.8 million square feet of build-to-suits across the Midwest and Southeast. He joined First Industrial in 2006 from Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler, where he was one of the top industrial brokers. His current and previous clients include Andersen Corporation, Caterpillar, Kimberly-Clark, Kohler Company, Pechiney, Power Packaging (now Exel Logistics), Inc., SC Johnson, Snapple Beverage Co., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Whirlpool, Cabot Properties, Inc., CenterPoint Properties, Clarion, Duke Realty, First Industrial Realty Trust, IDI, JP Morgan, Liberty Property Trust, Meritex Enterprises, Northern Builders, Prudential Ridge Property Trust, Sitex Realty Group and The State Teachers Retirement Systems of Ohio. Keith holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Chapter of NAIOP. He is an active member of SIOR and previously served as President of the Chicago chapter as well as having held other officer positions. He is an active member and a former Board Member of the Association of Industrial Real Estate Brokers (AIRE). Keith formerly served as a Board Member of Glencoe School District 35.

  JLL

  Managing Director

  Keith Stauber

  Managing Director

  JLL

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  Brian Liston

  BRIAN P. LISTON, MBA, JD, is president of Liston & Tsantilis in Chicago where he specializes in the area of eminent domain, property tax litigation and incentives. He has successfully tried numerous jury and bench property tax appeal hearings and eminent domain trials throughout the State of Illinois bringing successful resolutions to his clients. He has secured jury verdicts and tax refunds in excess of one billion dollars. Mr. Liston has been on the team of 61 National Association for Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) awards given for his legal work on Incentives and land use projects throughout the Midwest. He has been ranked #1 by The Leading Lawyers Network for 8 straight years, and has been recognized in the Wall Street Journal as one of the premier lawyers in the United States.

  Liston & Tsantilis

  Partner

  Moderator

  Brian Liston

  Partner

  Liston & Tsantilis

What's Your Deal?

Investment Panel

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  Michael Brennan

  Chairman

  Brennan Investment Group

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  Alissa Adler

  I bring more than 30 years of experience to my position as senior vice president of Colliers | Chicago. I specialize in investment sales, as well as debt and equity placement for office properties. In my career, I have executed over $1.2 billion in real estate transactions. I am widely recognized for utilizing my broad real estate knowledge and strong nationwide connections to uniquely serve my diverse client base. Prior to Podolsky Circle’s merger with Colliers | Chicago in 2019, I was managing principal at Podolsky Circle where I was a member of the Middle Market Investment Advisory Team focused on the sale of office and industrial properties. Prior the merger which formed Podolsky Circle, I established Circle Realty Advisors, LLC. As president of the company, I was responsible for all operations and staffing in addition to asset management and investment advisory work for clients. Preceding the formation of Circle, I served as vice president of acquisitions and dispositions at Duke Realty Corporation leading the Midwest markets including Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri and Minnesota. I transacted across office, industrial and retail property types and was also a member of Duke’s management committee. Prior to my tenure at Duke, I was vice president of dispositions for Equity Office Properties Trust. In this role, I was responsible for the successful sale of transactions nationwide, including assets in distress and tertiary markets. I also held the position of asset manager for both Equity Office and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Chicago. Asset management responsibilities included CBD high-rise and suburban office, regional malls, neighborhood retail and industrial properties on a national basis.

  Colliers

  Senior Vice President

  Alissa Adler

  Senior Vice President

  Colliers

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  Mark Goode

  Founding Principal

  Venture One Real Estate

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  Jim Clewlow

  Mr. Clewlow became Chief Investment Officer in January of 2005, after serving as Senior Vice President of Investments. He joined CenterPoint in 1997 and oversees investment activity for the Company. Additionally, he managed CenterPoint Venture, a joint venture of the company and the California Public Retirement System (CalPERS), the nation's largest pension fund, which ultimately purchased the company in 2006. Mr. Clewlow has been involved in industrial real estate since graduating from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1985. He worked for CBRE as an industrial real estate broker for 11 years serving the Chicago area and joined CenterPoint in an acquisitions capacity. Mr. Clewlow received his Master’s in Business Administration in 2004 from Kellogg's Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Mr. Clewlow is a member of NAIOP Chicago and served as the organization’s President in 2012. Mr. Clewlow was appointed by the Governor of the State of Illinois to serve as a Commissioner on the Illinois Medical District.

  CenterPoint Properties

  CIO

  Jim Clewlow

  CIO

  CenterPoint Properties

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  Douglas Kiersey, Jr.

  Doug Kiersey is President of Dermody Properties and oversees all of the company’s operations and strategic initiatives including capital formation, acquisition, development, and investment management activities. He is a member of the Dermody Properties Advisory Board and chairs the company’s Executive and Investment Committees. Since Mr. Kiersey joined the company in 2011, Dermody Properties has developed and acquired industrial logistics assets with an aggregate value in excess of $2.5 billion. Mr. Kiersey is located in the Chicago regional office. Mr. Kiersey has over 30 years of experience in logistics properties in more than 20 major U.S. markets. Prior to joining Dermody Properties, he spent 17 years at Prologis, in various roles including Midwest Regional Director, where he had responsibility for an 84 MSF portfolio and a team of 75 associates. Prior to joining Prologis, Mr. Kiersey worked at Cushman & Wakefield for 11 years. Mr. Kiersey earned his B.S. in Business Administration from Oregon State University, and an M.B.A. from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University where he is a member of the Kellogg Real Estate Advisory Council. He is also a member of the Urban Land Institute (“ULI”) and the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (“SIOR”).

  Dermody Properties

  President

  Douglas Kiersey, Jr.

  President

  Dermody Properties

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  Erik Foster

  Erik is a Principal of Avison Young and the Practice Leader of the firm’s Industrial Capital Markets Group. He oversees a national team providing asset advisory, disposition, equity sourcing, development capitalization and sale-leaseback services to a wide range of institutional and privately held commercial property owners across North America. With more than 20 years of experience and $4 billion in transactions, Erik has built a strong track record in the industrial, healthcare and office property sectors. He frequently is selected to advise institutional investors on sales of multi-market portfolios and individual asset assignments throughout the U.S. and internationally. Erik often is called upon to provide market commentary to national, regional and local media outlets and is a frequent speaker at national commercial real estate industry events.

  Avison Young

  Principal, Capital Markets Group​

  Moderator

  Erik Foster

  Principal, Capital Markets Group​

  Avison Young