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Speakers and Panels

W. Allen Morris

W. Allen Morris

Chairman & CEO

The Allen Morris Company

Aaron Kurlansky
Moderator

Aaron Kurlansky

Co-Founder and Principal

FM Capital

Victor Ballestas

Victor Ballestas

Principal

Integra

Erin Knight

Erin Knight

President

Monumental Capital Management

W. Allen Morris

Chairman & CEO

The Allen Morris Company

W. Allen Morris is Chairman and C.E.O. of The Allen Morris Company. He is a licensed Real Estate Broker,

Mortgage Broker, and holds the professional designations of CPM (Certified Property Manager of the Institute

of Real Estate Management) and SIOR (Society of Industrial and Office Realtors). He is a past President of the

Florida CCIM Chapter (Certified Commercial Investment Member of the Realtors National Marketing

Institute) as well as holding the prestigious CRE designation (Counselor of Real Estate) and FRICS, as a Fellow

of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

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The Allen Morris Company, in its 58 th year, is one of the largest developers and managers of office buildings in

the State of Florida, completing 80 office, industrial, multi-family, mixed-use, and retail projects around

Florida and Georgia. Their headquarter office project , a Mediterranean-Revival style office building in the

center of Downtown Coral Gables called Alhambra Towers, has won nine awards including "The Best of South

Florida -Platinum Award's", “NAIOP 2003 Project of the Year - all categories" and the “2006 Community

Advancement Award for Commercial Project of the Year” in Florida from the Developers & Builders Alliance.

In 2013 the company launched Allen Morris Residential, and currently has five projects under construction: the

1.3 million square foot, 58-story luxury hotel and condominium - SLS LUX Brickell - a joint venture with Related

Group; the 348-unit residential multi-family, $70 million Hermitage Apartment Homes in St. Petersburg, Florida;

the $68 million Maitland City Centre, creating a new mixed-use downtown for the City of Maitland, Florida,

combining the new City Hall, Central Park and Festival Street with residential apartments, live-work- office suites,

and a Festival Marketplace with shops and restaurants; and Star Metals, Atlanta, a $250 million mixed use project

with a 409 unit luxury, multi-family residential, a 12-story, Class “A”, 185,000 square foot office building and

46,000 square feet of retail and restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia.

Mr. Morris has appeared as a leading authority on real estate topics as a frequent guest on the Fox Business News

show CAVUTO with Neil Cavuto, on the Fox Business Morning Break with Charles Payne and in the Strategy

Room with Eric Bolling.

In addition to being an Officer and Director of more than thirty-five different real estate-related companies

and President of a charitable Foundation and art museum, Mr. Morris was also Past-Chairman and Advisory

Board member of Wachovia Bank of Miami. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and the Georgia

Institute of Technology, where he received the top student in Marketing and Management studies.

Mr. Morris is also very civic minded and having lived his whole life in Coral Gables feels very strongly about his

City Beautiful. He is the former Chairman of the Florida Chapter YPO (Young Presidents' Organization), and

currently a member of WPO (World Presidents' Organization), Executive Committee and Board member of The

Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Miami-Dade County (chairman of their

VeritageMiami Wine and Food Festival) and a lifetime senior member of the Orange Bowl Committee. He has

served on many national and local real estate boards and many local philanthropic boards.

Mr. Morris has traveled extensively working with international clients, and served Florida on Economic Missions

to Europe and Asia. He is also a licensed Commercial Pilot, flying himself on most of his business travel. For fun

he spends time diving reefs as a certified scuba diver and is a Tae Kwon Do Master (fourth degree black belt).

He has received numerous professional distinctions including the 2009 South Florida Business Leader of the

Year Award in Real Estate, the 2011 REAL Trend Setter Award from the Greater Miami Chamber of

Commerce, the 2014 Business Leader of the Year from the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, the 2016

Miami -Dade County Chairman of the Year Apogee Award from South Florida Business and Wealth

magazine. He is a recipient of the Institute of Human Relations Award given by the American Jewish Committee

and the prestigious Hickok Award from the Young Presidents’ Organization.

His favorite saying sits on the edge of his desk facing visitors “How CAN it be done?”

Aaron Kurlansky

Moderator

FM Capital

Co-Founder, and Principal of FM Capital, since FM Capital’s inception in 2007. Currently, responsible for portfolio decision making; overseeing the sourcing acquisition, management of portfolio assets; and managing FM Capital’s commercial loan origination division. FM Capital manages over $1 billion in assets. We have handled the acquisition of more than $1 billion in assets, and have originated well over $3 billion dollars in commercial loans. Began my real estate career as a Property Manager at Crescent Heights of America in 2000. Licensed mortgage loan originator in Florida and New York.

Victor Ballestas

Principal

Integra

Victor Ballestas is a Principal of Integra Investments. Ballestas is focused on managing and enhancing the company’s business development structure and spearheads the individualized development and marketing campaigns for Integra’s numerous projects.

Immersed in the real estate industry for most of his life, Ballestas began his career at WCI Communities, a publicly traded residential development company, rising from Development Assistant to Division President of the east coast. While at WCI Communities, Ballestas administered more than 15 ultra-luxury high-rises in less than ten years. Following WCI Communities, Ballestas managed the south east division of Wheelock Street Capital, a private equity investment fund supported by Baupost, actively investing in numerous real estate opportunities during the most recent distressed real estate cycle. In 2009, Ballestas served as Regional Director for ST Residential, a subsidiary of Starwood Capital, leading the divestiture of its Corus portfolio including more than 2,200 boom-era condominiums within 13 projects in South Florida, including Paramount Bay, Jade Ocean, Mint, and Infinity. For his efforts, Ballestas was named a Power Leader by The South Florida Business Journal.

Erin Knight

President

Monumental Capital Management

Erin Knight serves as President of Monument Capital Management (MCM), overseeing the

strategic growth of the firm with over 20 years of diversified experience in multiple facets of the

financial services arena. She previously served as Executive Vice President in the firm’s

Investor Relations division, leading client and community relations for its real estate investment

funds and joint ventures. The firm has invested close to $800 million in multifamily real estate

assets across 14 states.

Prior to joining Monument in 2018, Erin served as Miami Market President at Stonegate Bank

(now Centennial Bank), from 2010-2017 where she opened the bank’s two de novo offices in

Miami-Dade County leading a team that consistently exceeded year over year and profitability

goals. As Miami Market President, Knight expanded the Bank’s Miami loan, deposit portfolio

and investment portfolios, and was a part of the Banks’ senior management team.

Before joining Stonegate, Erin served as Private Banking Manager and then Senior Vice

President Wealth Management from 2003-2010 at Regions Bank (previously Union Planters

Bank), where she and her team advised clients on investment management, estate planning,

credit management and traditional banking services.

Previous to her tenure at Regions, she was part of a team that opened a Private Banking office

for SouthTrust Bank (now Wells Fargo) in Miami-Dade, utilizing her cumulative experience in

finance after coming from SunTrust Bank as a Private Banker and obtaining her investment and

insurance licenses to become a Certified Financial Planner™, currently holding a Series 7

license.

A respected leader in the industry, Erin is also active in the local community and sits on the

Boards of the Baptist Health Foundation, the March of Dimes and the Miami Foundation. Her

exemplary record of professional and community service has earned her numerous

recognitions, including The Miami Herald’s “20 Under 40 Rising Young Leaders,” and Miami

Today’s “The Achiever” for her philanthropic leadership. She has also been recognized as a

United Way Young Leader and is an honoree in the South Florida Business Journal’s “40 Under

40” and “Influential Business Women” selections.

Knight earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Business from Florida

State University and has one son.

Summary

  1. How are landlords reopening amenities such as pools, gyms, and roof decks while keeping everyone safe? 

  2. How can owners work with their tenants and lenders to help provide rent relief while honoring debt obligations? 

  3. If work from home becomes a more common part of the professional world, will we see demand for larger apartments?

  4. Considering retail is having such a tough time, what does the future of mixed-use buildings look like? 

  5. What are you doing to protect on-site staff and security? 

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