Opening Keynote

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  Alyson Craig

  Alyson Craig currently serves as the Planning Director for the City of Charlotte, overseeing department initiatives that includes Charlotte 2040 Comprehensive Plan implementation, the Unified Development Ordinance, Regional Transportation Planning, long range planning, land development permitting, historic districts, urban design, annexations and the rezoning process. She also provides oversight to the City’s One Stop Shop initiative that created a multi-department collaborative approach to land development permitting that opened in 2020 as the CLT Development Center. Alyson previously served as the City’s Deputy Planning Director since 2018. Prior to joining the City of Charlotte, Alyson worked at UNC Charlotte as the Co-Director of the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate and the Director of the Master of Science in Real Estate (MSRE) program.  She taught classes in the MSRE program that included Site Planning and Real Estate Development and took students abroad each summer to study real estate and land use planning in countries across the world. Prior to joining the faculty at UNC Charlotte, Alyson worked for Grubb Properties’ Investment team managing office, multi-family, and mixed-use development and acquisition projects. Before moving to Charlotte in 2011, she was Vice President of a planning and engineering firm in Florida working with clients on development agreements and entitlements, rezonings, and annexations for large multi-use land development projects.  Alyson has a Bachelor in Science in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Science in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, and a Master of Science in Real Estate.

  City of Charlotte

  Planning Director

  Keynote

  Alyson Craig

  Planning Director

  City of Charlotte

Innovations in Construction

Creative processes optimizing construction and their advantages + hurdles

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  Keith Ammons

  Keith is Vice President of Construction where he oversees all aspects of construction, including, pre-construction, budgeting, operations, quality control and delivery. He was previously at Crescent Communities, where he oversaw the construction of a 750,000 square foot office tower in Uptown Charlotte. Prior to Crescent, Keith worked at large real estate service providers and a Fortune 100 company in similar construction roles. Over his 18-year career, he has led large operations teams and has personally overseen more than $1 billion in project execution. Keith received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

  White Point Partners

  VP, Construction

  Keith Ammons

  VP, Construction

  White Point Partners

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  Ashley Peterson

  Ashley Peterson is a Partner with Proffitt Dixon Partners, specializing in complex multifamily and mixed-use development throughout the southeast. With more than a decade of commercial real estate experience, Ashley has been involved with the successful entitlement, financing, design, construction, lease-up, and disposition of thirteen multifamily and mixed-use communities, totaling more than 3,000 units and 50K sf of retail in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. She has led and contributed to projects totaling nearly $1.0 billion in capital investment throughout the southeastern U.S., while simultaneously maintaining an ongoing active pipeline. Early in her career Ashley managed the deployment of over $2 billion in media advertising for a top ten Fortune 500 client at a tier-1 agency in New York City. After leaving New York and returning to her hometown of Charlotte, Ashley joined Proffitt Dixon Partners where she focused on ground-up multifamily development, serving in roles from Development Associate to Director of Development. She was then recruited to nationally acclaimed Crescent Communities as Director of Development where she was promoted to Managing Director and led numerous simultaneously executed complex mixed-use projects in the greater Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham region. In 2022 Ashley had an opportunity to rejoin Proffitt Dixon Partners as a Partner where she is currently responsible for sourcing and leading notable southeastern multifamily and mixed-use developments. Active in the community and industry, Ashley sits on the Development Committee of the Board of Directors of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. Ashley is also a member of professional associations such as the Urban Land Institute and the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association and frequently serves as a speaker at notable industry conferences. She volunteers and contributes regularly as a member of Myers Park Presbyterian Church, as well as with other not-for-profit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Second Harvest Food Bank, and Junior Achievement. Ashley graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is married to her husband, Matt, with whom she has a son, Henry, and daughter, Campbell.

  Proffitt Dixon Partners

  Partner

  Ashley Peterson

  Partner

  Proffitt Dixon Partners

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  Nick Richardson

  Nick is a designer at Smallwood focusing on creating spaces where people want to live and recharge. A licensed Architect with 17 years of experience, Nick focuses on high rise multi-family residential for rental and condominium markets, hospitality, mixed use, and adaptive re-use conversions. Nick approaches each project from the experience of the user and balances client and developer requirements to create successful partnerships, and impactful projects. Smallwood is a multi-disciplinary design firm headquartered in Atlanta for 45 years with a portfolio of work throughout the US. In Charlotte, the firm has designed over 3,000 multi-family residential units, and 4.5 million SF of office space for a variety of clients and partners.

  Smallwood

  Designer

  Nick Richardson

  Designer

  Smallwood

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  Mark Valenti

  Mark Valenti is Sales Manager for Porcelanosa in North Carolina and South Carolina. A native of Chapel Hill, NC, Mark has almost a decade of experience in the building materials industry and is a trusted vendor partner of multifamily developers, commercial architects and interior designers across the Southeast. Porcelanosa enjoys a worldwide reputation for its innovative products and cutting-edge manufacturing techniques. A leading manufacturer of tiles, porcelain slabs, cabinets, other interior finishes and architectural systems, Porcelanosa operates 37 locations and employs almost 500 people in the US. The company opened its Charlotte showroom in May 2024. Mark attended UNC-Greensboro and lives in Gaston County, NC with his wife and three children.

  Porcelanosa

  Manager

  Mark Valenti

  Manager

  Porcelanosa

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  Chad Askew

  Chad Askew is a graduate of Clemson University and received a Master of Architecture from Virginia Tech. With over 25 years of experience, Chad shares responsibility for marketing and client development at Housing Studio and has been with the firm for 20 years. He also oversees roughly half the projects in the studio at any given time and is heavily involved in the design of projects, insuring that projects meet the client’s needs and adhere to a high standard of design quality. Chad holds accreditations from USGBC and the Construction Science Institute, among others. He has served on the American Institute of Architects’ Housing & Community Development Knowledge Community Advisory Committee for the past 10 years and served a term on the Mecklenburg County Building Development Commission in Charlotte. Chad’s design and management experience with Housing Studio and other firms resulted in the creation of thousands of apartment units in dozens of apartments communities across the country. He has been involved in a wide range of construction types including wood frame, load-bearing masonry, wood-frame deck wrap, wood frame over podium, steel construction and post-tensioned concrete construction with steel stud infill. These projects span a range of multi-family residential product types including market rate housing, mixed-use, student housing, senior and active adult housing, affordable housing, and as range of urban and suburban housing typologies. This range of experience allows Chad and Housing Studio to counsel clients on a wide range of issues including site and amenity planning built around creating a sense of place and engagement, how to leverage a site’s natural attributes to maximize density in a cost effective manner and strategies for affordable construction techniques.

  Senior Associate

  Housing Studio

  Moderator

  Chad Askew

  Housing Studio

  Senior Associate

Managing Construction Costs While Optimizing Quality + Speed to Market

Implementing systems to keep projects on schedule and budget

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  Bill Morrison

  Bill Morrison joined Portman’s development team as Vice President of Construction. Bill is a native of Decatur, Georgia and grew up in Gwinnett County. He graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a BS in Building Construction and has an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Bill holds the Certified Construction Manager (CCM) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP) designations and has been associated with 18 LEED designated projects during his 25 year career. Bill started his career with a mechanical contractor then moved into general contracting with Holder Construction. He has worked in owner’s representation and development roles with Carter & Associates, Emory University, Jones Lang LaSalle, and most recently with Skanska where he was Vice President of Operations. Bill currently lives in Druid Hills with his wife, 2 daughters, and golden retriever. He serves on several committees with the College of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology and is involved in several civic organizations in the area. When not working, Bill enjoys traveling, hiking, kayaking, and spending time with his family.

  Portman Holdings

  EVP, Construction

  Bill Morrison

  EVP, Construction

  Portman Holdings

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  Alp Kirmizioglu

  Executive Managing Director, Construction

  RangeWater Real Estate

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  Rachel Russell Krenz

  Rachel is a real estate developer, city planner, preservationist, community advocate, New Orleans native, and resident of Charlotte, N.C. She manages and executes development opportunities for Ram Realty in the Carolinas. Ram is an affiliated group of companies and partnerships that acquire, develop, and finance retail and multifamily properties in the Southeast. Rachel’s professional background in place-making includes her work at the National Trust for Historic Preservation and as Vice President of Real Estate Development for Grubb Properties and Milhaus. She is an active member of Urban Land Institute (including Management Committee, Chair of Mission Advancement, WLI 2019 Real Estate Champion, past national Multifamily Council, and Urban Plan volunteer). Rachel has a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina with a specialization in real estate development and design. Her education also includes an undergraduate degree from Sewanee: The University of the South, a graduate-level Certificate in Historic Preservation from Goucher College, and real estate-focused coursework at Kenan-Flagler Business School. Notable neighborhood work includes her involvement in the South End Board Committee, Founder of Montford Park Partners, North Tryon Vision Plan Steering Committee, Glen Lennox Neighborhood Conservation District and Development Agreement, and Villa Heights Neighborhood. Select projects from Rachel’s development portfolio include Hub South End (Charlotte), Hawk (Charlotte), Glen Lennox (Chapel Hill), Link Montford (Charlotte), Link West End (Greenville, S.C.), and Link Innovation Quarter (Winston Salem, N.C.).

  Ram Realty Advisors

  VP, Development

  Rachel Russell Krenz

  VP, Development

  Ram Realty Advisors

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  Joey Smith

  As vice president for Frampton’s Manufacturing & Industrial market, Joey focuses on strategic planning, team member development, work acquisition, company development, client relationships, and complete project delivery. Joey has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing and industrial design-build work. His experience spans multiple project types including Automotive, Tier Suppliers, Process Chemical, Battery Manufacturing and Advanced Manufacturing. Joey is also responsible for leading Frampton’s Charlotte office and is a member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team.

  Vice President

  Frampton Construction

  Joey Smith

  Frampton Construction

  Vice President

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  Evan Taylor

  Evan Taylor serves as a Senior Vice President for NFP’s Property & Casualty Group where he is responsible for client relationships throughout the southeast. Over his career, Evan has developed an expertise in a number of insurance disciplines to include workers’ compensation, cyber liability insurance and alternative risk financing for complex organizations. His client base primarily includes manufacturing, construction and technology related businesses. He currently holds the professional designations as a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Certified Authority in Workers’ Compensation (CAWC) and received both the Business Insurance 2020 Break Out Award and Risk & Insurance Manufacturing Power Broker Award in 2020. Evan’s subject matter expertise is based in years of experience. He began his career at the FBI, where he assisted in managing both National Security and Criminal Cyber and Counterintelligence investigations across North Carolina. Subsequently, Evan managed several national programs for BB&T Bank and helped create the bank’s national Emergency Management program. Evan earned his BA from Wake Forest University and a MS in Leadership and Organizational Development from Pfeiffer University. He currently resides in Charlotte, NC, with his wife and two daughters.

  NFP

  Managing Director

  Moderator

  Evan Taylor

  Managing Director

  NFP