Acquisition and Leasing Trends

Understanding the Factors Leading to Record-Breaking Industrial Activity

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  Steven Schwarz

  Steven leads all aspects of ViaWest Group with primary emphasis on investment and development strategy, deal-sourcing, and capital markets activity. He has thirty years of experience in the development, operations and financing of all types of real estate, with deep experience in industrial and office properties. Through involvement in over $3 billion worth of projects, Steven has provided build-to-suit, speculative development, acquisitions, dispositions and property management services in multiple product types in the Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and Southeast U.S. Prior to forming ViaWest Properties in 2003, Steven led the development as SVP of The Plaza Companies, a full service, medical-office, senior-living development, and property management company. Prior to joining Plaza, Steven rose through the ranks to become COO and EVP of The Hewson Company, a privately-held, real estate development company in the Western U.S. in which capacity he developed properties ranging from mid-rise office buildings to a 2.2MM s.f. industrial complex. Other work experience includes Real Estate Finance work with SunTrust Banks in Atlanta, GA. Steven graduated from The University of Texas Honors Program with a B.A. with Honors in Marketing. He has served as Chairman of the NAIOP Arizona Chapter, on the National Board of Directors of NAIOP, and in national and local capacities with Urban Land Institute (ULI). He has also served on numerous local and national boards and councils of non-profit philanthropic, civic and industry organizations including Greater Phoenix Leadership, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, as Board Chairman of the Jewish Community Association of Greater Phoenix and on the National Board of JFNA. He resides in Paradise Valley, Arizona with his wife Jennifer and has three grown children.

  ViaWest Group

  Founding Partner

  Steven Schwarz

  Founding Partner

  ViaWest Group

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  Gardner Ellner

  Principal

  EQT Exeter

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  Cullen Mahoney

  Cullen Mahoney is a Senior Vice President within Trammell Crow Company’s Phoenix Business Unit. In this role, he focuses on sourcing and executing ground-up development deals and opportunistic acquisitions. Mahoney has responsibility for the entire investment life cycle, including site identification, entitlement procurement, design and construction, project capitalization, asset management, and disposition. Since joining TCC in 2014, Mahoney has directly managed or has played a key role in the development of over $350mm of institutional real estate across Metro Phoenix. His experience spans multiple product types, including office, industrial, multifamily, mixed-use, and land. Mahoney leverages best-in-class market data and strong industry relationships to form investment strategy, identify emerging trends, and source new deal flow. He maintains an unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional client outcomes.

  Trammell Crow Company

  Principal

  Cullen Mahoney

  Principal

  Trammell Crow Company

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  Jeff Foster

  Jeff Foster, Vice President, Market Officer is responsible for overseeing leasing and operations for the 17.5 million square foot Phoenix, Arizona market portfolio. Mr. Foster joined Prologis in May 2005 as a market representative in the Southern California office and was promoted to Market Officer and relocated to Phoenix in 2008. From 2011 through 2017, he was also Market Officer overseeing the Las Vegas portfolio concurrently while overseeing the Phoenix portfolio. Before joining Prologis in 2005, Mr. Foster was an industrial broker at CBRE in Torrance, CA, and has over 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Before CBRE, he was a Data/Voice sales representative for AT&T and previously an Account Executive for a Clear Channel radio station in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Foster received a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He served as a board member of the NAIOP Arizona chapter from 2018 through 2023 and previously served as a board member of the Southern Nevada chapter from 2014-2017. He continues to be actively involved with NAIOP Arizona on committees for both Best of NAIOP and the annual Golf Tournament.

  Prologis

  VP, Market Officer

  Jeff Foster

  VP, Market Officer

  Prologis

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  Rusty Martin

  Rusty is a 25-year local industry veteran who has managed major projects throughout the region. As the General Manager of the Southwest Division, Rusty provides executive leadership and oversight to all Graycor projects and teams in the region, ensuring a best-in-class construction experience through operational excellence. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Construction Management from Brigham Young University. Rusty is a member of NAIOP Arizona, Arizona Manufacturing Council, spent 20 years as a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America and is currently serving as a youth leader with his church. Rusty is a native Arizonan from Thatcher, Arizona and currently resides in Gilbert, Arizona.

  Graycor

  General Manager, Southwest Division

  Rusty Martin

  General Manager, Southwest Division

  Graycor

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  Ashley Marsh

  Ashley Z. Marsh is a Partner at Gammage & Burnham and concentrates her practice in Land Use and Zoning. She represents property owners, developers, and homebuilders throughout the Valley in each step of the zoning and land use entitlement process on a wide variety of sites and asset classes, ranging from small infill properties to large industrial sites and master planned communities. Ashley’s practice includes initial due diligence, rezoning, plan amendments, variances, use permits, development agreements, site planning and post-entitlement development matters such as permitting. Ashley also has experience litigating and arbitrating cases to hearing. Her prior practice experience forms her strong advocacy skills and equips her to navigate complex matters with multiple stakeholders. An Arizona native, Ashley has been recognized by Business Insider as a 30 Under 35 Rising Star in Real Estate, by AZ Big Media as one of its 20 Young Commercial Real Estate Leaders to Watch in 2021, and also as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for Land Use & Zoning since 2020. Ashley is also an active participant in ULI and has served on NAIOP’s Developing Leaders Steering Committee since 2019. Ashley earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southern California and her Juris Doctor from the University of Arizona. Ashley enjoys spending as much time as she can with her husband, Michael, and their daughter Emilia.

  Gammage & Burnham

  Partner

  Moderator

  Ashley Marsh

  Partner

  Gammage & Burnham

Construction and Development Activity

Keeping up with a Booming Industrial Market

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  Larry Pobuda

  Larry is responsible for the leadership and overall management of the western markets, including Phoenix, Denver and Austin. His primary responsibilities are the pursuit of real estate development opportunities in various sectors, including office, industrial and multifamily, as well as defining the office’s daily strategies and future growth plans. Larry brings 30 years of real estate experience to Opus. His experience includes development, investment, tenant representation and serving as a landlord on various commercial properties. Larry holds a Master of Business Administration in marketing and finance from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University. He is on the board of directors for Downtown Tempe Authority and is a member of Greater Phoenix Leadership (GPL). Additionally, Larry is a member of NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association, and the NAIOP Research Foundation.

  The Opus Group

  Executive Vice President & General Manager

  Larry Pobuda

  Executive Vice President & General Manager

  The Opus Group

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  Courtney Schneider

  Courtney is responsible for the industrial development and acquisitions for Hines in Colorado and Arizona. In these two markets she is charged with the sourcing, development, financing, leasing and disposition of developments and acquisitions of industrial and logistics projects. Since joining Hines in 2019, Courtney has grown the industrial presence in Colorado from zero to 1.5M square feet of industrial space across 8 buildings with future phases of land totaling more than 170 acres either owned or under exclusivity. Courtney is also responsible for signing the firms largest single-building industrial development in Arizona totaling more than 1.25M square feet. Prior to joining Hines, Courtney was a Development Manager at United Properties in their Denver office. Courtney facilitated projects of all product types in her time at United Properties – industrial, office, retail, and senior housing – concluding with ground up development of more than 2.5M sq. ft. of office and industrial product, acquisitions and dispositions exceeding $150M, and assisting the financing team in closing on loans totaling nearly $220M. Courtney is an active member of NAIOP Colorado, currently serving on its Board of Directors. She graduated from the University of Colorado with a BS in Business Administration; Marketing Emphasis and Real Estate Certificate.

  Hines

  Director

  Courtney Schneider

  Director

  Hines

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  Scott Denham

  Scott Denham is a Senior Vice President at Mack Real Estate Development LLC, leading industrial development including the due diligence, environmental remediation, entitlement, design, permitting and construction of new ground-up and value-add projects. Mr. Denham has over 20 years of experience in industrial, office, and mixed-use development, including full transaction life cycle management from origination through stabilization, with emphasis on analyzing and executing all aspects of the business plan to maximize returns and minimize risk. Previously, Mr. Denham worked at Bridge Industrial, Rexford Industrial, Atlas Capital Group and CIM Group, where he led development and construction in various California markets. Mr. Denham received a B.A. in Engineering and Studio Art from Dartmouth College, a Master of Architecture from Columbia University and an Advanced Professional Certificate in Real Estate from NYU. He is a member of Real Estate Alumni of Dartmouth, and past member of NAIOP SoCal and ULI.

  Mack Real Estate Development

  Senior Vice President

  Scott Denham

  Senior Vice President

  Mack Real Estate Development

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  Jeff Dalton

  Jeff joined FCL Builders in 2021 with over 30 years of experience in the industry. His responsibilities include Business Development as well as Pre-Construction, where he establishes relationships for FCL Builders in Arizona and the Southwest and procures new business for the region.

  FCL Builders

  VP

  Jeff Dalton

  VP

  FCL Builders

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  Korey Wilkes

  Korey assumes many roles at BDG, including leading teams through all levels of the project development, company operations, and business development. He represents the first of the next generation at BDG and was named one of the first Associates and ultimately the first new Principal at BDG. He currently serves as the Principal in Charge of Operations, directing day to day operations, schedules, and management of the firm in addition to his project workload. Korey is the go-to person for many of BDG’s most complicated projects. With over 24 years of experience in the industry, 22+ of which at BDG, Korey has an acute knowledge of design and development of office, medical office, industrial, specialty, and retail projects. In his CRE career he has managed various teams on over 170 projects totaling over 20 million square feet with over a $1.5 billion collective valuation. His detailed approach to integrating the design and constructability into cost effective solutions is invaluable to the team, to the project, and to our clients. Korey directed/managed/oversaw the design, documentation, and construction phase service efforts on large developments all over the valley including Rivulon (Isagenix, Deloitte, etc.) in Gilbert, SkySong III, IV, V and VI in Scottsdale, PV 303 (DSG, REI, Ball, etc.) in Goodyear, Woolf Logistics (Rauch, Red Bull, Mark Anthony Brewing, and Ball) in Glendale and Rio 2100 in Tempe as well as multiple medical office buildings and infill retail developments around the valley.

  Butler Design Group

  Principal

  Moderator

  Korey Wilkes

  Principal

  Butler Design Group

Opening Remarks from the City of Phoenix

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  Christine Mackay

  Phoenix Community and Economic Development director, Christine Mackay, has served the people of Phoenix since August 2014. She is responsible for leading and fostering an environment where businesses can create and retain jobs, make capital investment and reinvestment in the community, and connect our workforce to employers and training opportunities. During Mackay’s tenure with the City of Phoenix, the department has facilitated the creation of over 100,000 high-value jobs, seen the average wage of those jobs increase from over $30,000 in 2014 to more than $80,000 in 2023, and closed deals with more than $75 billion in capital investment. Christine leads a department of over 55 full time staff that encompasses the full spectrum of economic development areas including: business attraction, business retention and expansion, community development, international relations, Sister Cities, the Phoenix Business and Workforce Development Board, administration, research, marketing, the City-owned Footprint Center and Phoenix Bioscience Core. In 2021, Christine was named as one of the Top 50 Economic Developers in the Country by Consultant Connect. She is a three-time honoree as "Economic Developer of the Year, Large Community" by the Arizona Association for Economic Development. Mackay was recognized as "Leader of the Year in Economic Development–Public Policy" by the Arizona Capitol Times, and "Industry Leader of the Year – Economic Development" by Arizona Commercial Real Estate Magazine. She has also been on the list of the Arizona Business magazine’s "50 Most Influential Women in Arizona." She is a member of the Economic Development Director's Team for Greater Phoenix, Maricopa Association of Government's Building a Quality Regional Community committee, Flinn Foundation Biosciences Roadmap committee, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), Commercial Office Real Estate Executives (CoreNet), the Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED), and the Arizona Business Incubator Association. Christine has more than 26 years’ experience in economic development overlapping 30 years of commercial real estate experience. Christine Mackay has spent both her personal and professional life here in the Valley.

  City of Phoenix

  Director

  Christine Mackay

  Director

  City of Phoenix

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  Mario Paniagua

  Mario Paniagua began his career with the City of Phoenix in 1998 and serves as a Deputy City Manager over the Aviation, Street Transportation, and Public Transit/Light Rail Departments. He also oversees the City’s multi-departmental implementation of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and directs the implementation of Transportation 2050, the 35-year, voter-adopted $31.5 Billion plan to improve Phoenix’s multi-modal transportation infrastructure and services. He works with the Mayor and City Council, City Management and Community on a variety of initiatives and issues. Prior to serving as Deputy City Manager, Mario was the Budget and Research Director for nearly five years, achieving annual balanced budgets and ensuring continued delivery of City services despite severe financial constraints. Before serving as Budget and Research Director, Mario was the Phoenix City Clerk for five years, where he managed City elections, Council meeting support, regulatory licenses, and official records. He also previously worked in the City Council Office providing management support to all Council members in coordination with the City Manager’s Office. Prior to that, Mario worked as a Management Assistant in the Family Advocacy Center, and served as a Human Resources Analyst in the Human Resources and Aviation Departments. Mario has a Bachelor’s degree in Global Business, summa cum laude, from Arizona State University and served in the US Air Force for seven years prior to joining the City of Phoenix.

  City of Phoenix

  Deputy City Manager

  Mario Paniagua

  Deputy City Manager

  City of Phoenix