Community Development and the Coronavirus

Ms. Rivers is a Partner with Lexicon Strategies, focusing her practice on public and government affairs, commercial real estate, infrastructure, public finance, community development and organizational management. Clients include commercial real estate owners and developers, governments, community improvement districts (CIDs) and civic organizations in pursuit of successful public-private partnerships. Her attention to technical, political and financial strategies leverages resources and drives value. Through these partnerships, complex initiatives are successfully – and cooperatively – delivered. Throughout her career, Ms. Rivers played instrumental roles in public-private partnerships such as Truist Park, the Atlanta Braves’ $1.3B stadium and mixed-use development; the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes, an $875M segment of Georgia’s managed lanes system; and numerous roads, bridges, parks, trails, and other community improvements. Ms. Rivers easily migrates between the disparate interests of business, politics and planning to keep collective efforts moving forward. A leading expert on CIDs, Ms. Rivers is deeply familiar with both the policy and practice of these uniquely powerful public-private mechanisms. She guides commercial real estate owners of all sizes – from institutional REITs to small property owners – along with local, state and federal governments through the complicated process of jointly managing infrastructure needs. Ms. Rivers oversaw the formation of the Chamblee Doraville CID and continues as its Executive Director. She advises local governments on CID feasibility and oversees their engagement with the private sector. She also spent more than two decades at the helm of the Cumberland CID, developing it into one of the most successful in the country. Under her leadership, Cumberland successfully leveraged $140M in commercial real estate value into more than $2B in capital improvements, allowing the submarket to grow an additional 6M square feet, or $3B worth of commercial and multifamily real estate value. A four-time ‘Notable Georgian, by Georgia Trend Magazine, Ms. Rivers also was honored with a ‘100 Influential Women to Know’ distinction by the American Council of Engineering Companies, a ‘25 Power Women to Watch’ by Atlanta Woman magazine, a ‘40 Under 40’ by both Georgia Trend Magazine and Atlanta Business Chronicle, and a ‘Woman of Achievement’ by the YWCA. Ms. Rivers completed a series of executive leadership programs at Harvard Business School and will receive her Certificate of Management Excellence in Fall 2020. She has been an appointee of the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives as well as held various board seats with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Council for Quality Growth and the Urban Land Institute Atlanta. She’s a member of Lambda Alpha International, a land economics society, as well as a graduate of the Regional Leadership Institute. In earlier capacities, Ms. Rivers was with regional planning agencies and boutique consulting firms in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. She holds a B.S. from Virginia Tech and is an avid hiker, an enthusiastic world traveler, and a volunteer helping to feed, clothe and house those in need. She lives in Atlanta with her two children.

Emory Morsberger took the helm as Executive Director of Gateway85 CID on April 15, 2019. Emory comes with a long history of involvement in the development, management and growth of community improvement districts in Georgia, including his involvement with the Tucker Summit CID and Lilburn CID, as president. He was instrumental in forming the Gateway85 CID (formerly Gwinnett Village CID) in 2005, where he also has served on the board of directors. He has a strong vision for the area and will continue to gain momentum with his plan for the future of the largest CID in Georgia.