State of Life Sciences in Worcester

• 

  Jon Weaver

  President & CEO

  Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives

• 

  Raphael Nir

  Co-Founder

  ABI LAB

• 

  Craig Blais

  President

  Worcester Business Development Corporation

• 

  Jennifer Schultz

  Jennifer Schultz is a partner at the law firm Nixon Peabody, LLP, and the Leader of the Nationwide Real Estate Development Team. Jenn specializes personally on large-scale complex mixed-use development in and around the Boston area, Worcester, and Providence, RI. She and her team have successfully permitted over 10 million square feet of development over the last 6 years, including over 4 million square feet of lab/R&D space. Nixon’s national development team includes more than 26 lawyers and professional staff across seven offices.

  Nixon Peabody

  Partner

  Moderator

  Jennifer Schultz

  Partner

  Nixon Peabody

Building Communities: Multifamily & Mixed-Use Development

• 

  Michael Lozano

  Michael Lozano, Vice President of Development, joined Trinity in 2016 and oversees development projects in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He manages the development team of professionals and consultants through the site acquisition, design, financing, construction, and marketing phases of each project. Mr. Lozano has extensive experience with complex financial transactions, particularly those utilizing Low Income Housing Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits. Recently completed projects include the redevelopment of the Washington Village public housing site in Norwalk, CT into a new 273-unit mixed-income transit-oriented development renamed Soundview Landing and the redevelopment of the former Worcester County Courthouse into 118-units of new mixed-income apartments. He is currently leading the redevelopment of the Curtis Apartments public housing site in Worcester into a vibrant new mixed-income community, 150 Centre Street at Shawmut Station, a transit-oriented mixed-income project in Dorchester, MA, and Merrimack/Decatur, a new affordable housing development in downtown Lowell, MA. Prior to Trinity, Mr. Lozano was the team-lead on over half a dozen award-winning affordable housing developments for a prominent national non-profit development company and several local community development groups, and before that was an architect at a Boston-based firm. Mr. Lozano has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University and a Master of Arts degree in Urban Planning from Tufts University.

  Trinity Financial

  VP Development

  Michael Lozano

  VP Development

  Trinity Financial

• 

  Peter Dunn

  Chief Development Officer

  City of Worcester

• 

  Jim Lambert

  Managing Director

  Wood Partners

• 

  Vinod Kalikiri

  Vinod Kalikiri is a Principal with VHB, and is based out of their Worcester office. He handles transportation planning and permitting for a wide range of private and public sector projects in southern New England. Supported by VHB’s deep bench of planners, engineers and designers, he delivers on complex projects in key areas of multi-modal mobility and land use and access planning. He enjoys working on projects that leverage public funding to address development and infrastructure needs while fostering environmental stewardship.

  VHB

  Principal

  Vinod Kalikiri

  Principal

  VHB

• 

  Fernando Domenech

  Fernando Domenech, President of Boston-based DHK Architects, Inc., is a highly regarded leader in the field of affordable housing. His projects have been broadly recognized with awards for their numerous contributions to the revitalization of inner-city neighborhoods as well as their creative planning, imaginative urban design and excellence in architecture. The extensive range of public and private housing developments he has designed over the past decades are located throughout the Northeast and Puerto Rico. Actively involved in the Boston community, Fernando has served on numerous boards and commissions -- most recently including the Steering Committee comprised of real estate and civic leaders appointed by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, advising on reforms to Article 80 of the Boston Zoning Code.

  DHK Architects

  President

  Fernando Domenech

  President

  DHK Architects

• 

  Joshua Lee Smith

  Joshua Lee Smith is a land use and real estate lawyer at Bowditch, focusing on complex commercial real estate matters involving permitting, acquisitions, leasing, environmental compliance and financing. His clients primarily consist of developers, public and private corporations, public utility companies, colleges and universities and lending institutions. He works on a variety of matters involving urban and suburban developments and retail, office, public utility, industrial, education and hotel projects.

  Bowditch

  Partner

  Moderator

  Joshua Lee Smith

  Partner

  Bowditch

Opening Remarks From The Podium

• 

  Darnell Dunn

  Director of Business Recruitment

  Worcester Chamber of Commerce