Speaker Faculty Bios

As editor-in-chief of Commercial Property News for 10 years, Suzann D. Silverman is responsible for the quality, content and appearance of Commercial Property News, CPN's daily enewsletter and biweekly specialty newsletters, plus related annual guides, special supplements and CPNOnline.com. Prior to joining Commercial Property News as a senior associate editor 13 years ago, Silverman was with International Business magazine, where she was managing editor and covered sourcing and production as well as U.S. opportunities in Asia; before that she was with Folio: and Folio:'s Publishing News, in addition to freelancing for a variety of publications. She holds an MSJ from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a concentration in magazine journalism and an undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College.

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Mr. Pelusi is an Executive Managing Director and the Managing Member of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.).  Mr. Pelusi has over 26 years of experience in commercial real estate, including investment sales, note sales, debt placement, equity, structured finance and loan servicing.  As one of the ten members of HFF’s Operating Committee and Managing Member of the firm, Mr. Pelusi is responsible for the overall direction of HFF’s 18 offices throughout the nation.  He is also the CEO and Vice Chairman of HFF, Inc. During his career, Mr. Pelusi has executed real estate transactions in excess of $15 billion.

Mr. Pelusi joined HFF in May 1998, and prior to that he was the Managing Partner of PNS Realty Advisors.  Mr. Pelusi is currently a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center as well as a member of the Board of Directors for the Holy Family Foundation and Bidwell Manchester Craftsman’s Guild.  He is also as a member of the Real Estate Roundtable, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the Mortgage Bankers Association. 

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Craig Butchenhart joined NorthMarq Capital in September 2003 when NorthMarq acquired the mortgage banking division of Legg Mason Real
Estate Services (LMRES) where he was employed since 1978. He is currently President of NorthMarq Capital with responsibilities for the direction of capital services operations as well as the coordination of national production efforts.

Craig is a member of the Urban Land Institute, National Real Estate  Forum and holds a Real Estate Broker¹s License in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. He has been a member of CIGNA's Correspondent Advisory Board for Mortgage and Real Estate Investment, Freddie Mac¹s Program Plus® Advisory Council and has acted as Chairman of the Income Property Committee for the Philadelphia Mortgage Bankers Association. He has served as a guest lecturer on real estate financing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and has given expert testimony in court on real estate financing matters for tax appeal and bankruptcy litigation. Craig has over 30 years experience in the commercial real estate finance business, and has received the commercial Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) designation from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
 
Craig holds a B.A. Degree in Economics from Ohio Wesleyan University, as well as a M.B.A. Degree in Marketing from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. 

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Daniel Walsh, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, KeyBank Real Estate Capital  

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W. Paul Farmer, FAICP, is Executive Director and Chief Executive Office of the American Planning Association (APA) and the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).  Prior to serving with the APA, Mr. Farmer was Executive Director of the Department of Planning and Development in Eugene, Oregon and, prior to that, was Director of the Minneapolis Department of City Planning, where he worked with the Minneapolis Planning Commission to rebuild the city’s planning department and make innovative changes.  Before working in Minneapolis, Mr. Farmer was Pittsburgh’s Deputy Planning Director.  During this time he worked on a broad spectrum of planning topics, including affordable housing, transportation, historic preservation, economic development, downtown revitalization, and zoning codes.  He has also taught planning at several universities.  Mr. Farmer has consulted in Asia, Europe, and North America, and has written and lectured extensively.

Mr. Farmer has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Rice University and a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Cornell.  Among his many honors and awards, Mr. Farmer received a Design Excellence Award from the National Endowment for the Arts and a research award from Progressive Architecture.  He also was a Hayden Fellow in Architecture and a Baker Distinguished Student Fellow at Rice University and a Richard King Mellon Fellow at Cornell.  

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Richard Kincaid, Chief Executive Officer, Equity Office Properties Trust (Former CEO and CFO for Sam Zell’s company when they sold to Blackstone)  

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Steve Felix, Senior Vice President, The Institutional Real Estate Letter, Inc.

Steve Felix is senior account executive for Institutional Real Estate, Inc. Steve also is co-executive producer of IREI's Dealmakers Summit and its Vision's, Insights and Perspectives (VIP) conference. Steve has had an extensive and diversified career in 'hands-on' real estate, development, leasing and workouts. He has written for numerous real estate publications and has moderated or been a panelist on a wide variety of subjects for trade associations and industry conferences. He has also spoken with student groups about careers in real estate at some of the leading universities in the United States. He is a member of the advisory board of Europe Real Estate Publishers and is also an adviser to Real Capital Analytics and R.E. Speed Networking. Steve is also a member of Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), The Counselors of Real Estate (CRE), INREV and a Fellow of The Homer Hoyt Institute. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. 

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Dennis is the National Director of Deloitte’s Real Estate Capital Markets Practice and is responsible for developing the Practice in the United States.  In addition, he develops and leads a real estate investment research function for the Practice.  Dennis joined Deloitte in 1995 as the head of the New York Office’s Real Estate Services Profit Center and was responsible for restructuring and developing the Practice into one of the leading Practices in this arena.  In 2000, he was promoted to Group Managing Partner of Deloitte’s Real Estate, Investment Management, Private Equity and Insurance based Practices in the New York Office, along with directing the Firm’s FSI, marketing and eminence building activities.

Throughout his career at Deloitte and prior to Deloitte as a Partner at Kenneth Leventhal & Company, Dennis has focused on providing consulting services to Wall Street, institutional investors (national and global), REITs, high net worth family offices and foreign direct investors.  His areas of expertise include financial advisory, merger and acquisition, investment research and strategy, workouts and bankruptcies along with complex evaluation and litigation issues.  In addition, he plays a key real estate leadership role for Deloitte’s National and Global Financial Services.  He has been extremely active in the European and Asian Practices, having both lived and worked extensively in these regions.  Dennis’ clients include many of the leading global real estate investors such as Apollo, The Blackstone Group, General Electric Real Estate, Goldman Sachs, ING/Clarion, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, O’Connor Capital Partners, Prudential, Starwood Capital, TIAA, and Travelers.  In addition, he has advised several governments, including the US, the UK and Japan.

Dennis received his MBA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business and BS and MS Engineering degrees from the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering where he was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007. After attaining his degrees, Dennis worked for several management consulting firms, initially in the U.S. and then in Europe and Japan, including A. T. Kearney, before joining the well known real estate consulting firm of Kenneth Leventhal in 1987. He is an active member of The Real Estate Roundtable, the Pension Real Estate Association, and the Urban Land Institute (Global Exchange Council).  He has developed, over the last 15 years, an investment research operation which has been responsible for numerous reports and thought leadership publications including his most recent January 2008 publication, 2008 Real Estate Capital Markets Industry Outlook Top Ten Issues, which is the 10th in this series.  Dennis actively represents the Firm with media appearances on programs such as CNBC Power Lunch, Fox Business News Network, TheStreet.com and PBS Nightly Business Report.  He is a frequent speaker and contributor at conferences both in the U.S. and Europe for the Information Management Network and RealShare, along with leading Deloitte’s Technical Update Series around the United States. 

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Shekar Narasimhan is Managing Partner at Beekman Advisors which provides strategic advisory and investment banking services to real estate and financial services companies and CEO of Beekman Helix India Partners, a real estate merchant bank focused on providing capital solutions to developers and promoters of commercial projects in India.

Shekar is formerly Managing Director of the Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, one of the nations leading providers of commercial mortgage financing. There he headed Prudential Real Estate Fixed Income Investors, a fund manager and oversaw the agency business consisting of Fannie Mae and FHA multifamily lending. Immediately prior to Shekar's time at Prudential, he was Chairman & CEO of the WMF Group, a publicly traded, commercial mortgage financial services company. WMF was one of the largest such firms in the country before being acquired by Prudential in 2000.

Shekar is Chair of the Audit Committee on the Executive Committee of the National Housing Conference and an independent director on the board of Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. He is on the boards of the Community Preservation Development Corp. and Low Income Investment Fund. He was appointed a Fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University and to the Advisory Board of Housing Development Reporter. Shekar has served several terms on the Mortgage Bankers Association of America MBA Board of Directors, was the first Chair of the MBA's Commercial/Multifamily Board of Governors and founding Chair of the Campaign for Affordable Housing.

Shekar is a frequent panel member and speaker on commercial real estate and multifamily issues, affordable housing, emerging markets and mortgage banking. He has received numerous awards and recognition in the real estate industry including the MBA's highest honor in 1999 and the Fannie Mae Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

Shekar is active in the Indian American community as Co-Chair of the Democratic National Committee's Indian American Leadership Council, Board member and former Chair of Upakar Foundation and former Treasurer of the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, Lanham, MD. His wife, Charu is a classical Indian dancer and teacher and his son, Sidarth is a graduate of the University of Virginia and active in politics.

He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India and an MBA from the Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has earned the designation of Certified Mortgage Banker CMB. 

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Kumar Gera, Chairman and Managing Director, Gera Developments & Chairman, CREDAI

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Mr. Nayar is the Head of Credit Suisse’s Real Estate Finance business for the Asia Pacific region. Until March 2007 he was the head of large loan structuring and pricing and hi-yield distribution for Credit Suisse in the United States. He has also been responsible for setting up Credit Suisse’s real estate equity and debt platform in India. Prior to joining Credit Suisse in 2001, Mr. Nayar was Senior Vice President at Moody’s Investors Service responsible for CMBS ratings and was a member of the Global Ratings consistency committee at Moody’s.

Mr. Nayar holds an MS in Real Estate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Masters in Building Engineering from the School of Planning and Architecture, India and is a graduate of the Manipal Institute of Technology, India

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Samit Chopra, National Director Corporate Solutions, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj

Samit has over 11 years of experience in providing strategic real estate advice to clients in India and the United States.

Samit has spent the last 9 years with Jones Lang LaSalle in various capacities and roles. In 2007, Samit was responsible for the Corporate Client Development and Corporate Account Management functions in India. In this role, Samit was responsible for development of new business relationships with multinational corporations as well service delivery for the firm’s corporate clients. During 2006, Samit managed the transactions business for Jones Lang LaSalle’s Western Region (Mumbai & Pune) in India.

Prior to returning to India in 2006, Samit worked as a Vice President at Jones Lang LaSalle’s New York office. While in New York Samit was primarily involved in devising and implementing occupancy strategies for corporations such as MetLife, Morgan Stanley, Microsoft Corporation, Cisco Systems and Deutsche Bank. In 2004, Samit received the ‘Jones Lang LaSalle Club Award’ for excellence in client service and success in developing global client relationships. 

Samit joined Jones Lang LaSalle in India in 1999 and was the relationship manager for key global clients such as Lucent Technologies, Deutsche Bank and Swissair. Samit also represented clients such as Coca Cola, Microsoft and Bank of New York in large, landmark transactions across the country.

Prior to joining Jones Lang LaSalle, Samit worked with Colliers Jardine for 2 years in India, during which he represented occupiers such as UBS, Alcoa, AEA International, Norsk Hydro, Shoppers Stop and Esso Petroleum. 

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Edward Burton, President & Managing Director, U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council (USSABC)  

Edward Burton was appointed President and Managing Director of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council in March 2006. In his position, he works with the public and private sectors to promote the interests of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian business relationship. The U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council was established in December 1993 to improve the mutual knowledge and understanding between the private sectors of the United States and Saudi Arabia, and to promote trade and investment between the two countries.  The Council’s activities include trade missions, conferences and seminars, and high level networking events. The Council also publishes updated documents including A Business Guide to Saudi Arabia, a bi-monthly newsletter, the U.S.-Saudi Business Brief, and specialized industrial sector reports. These activities are now focused on highlighting the more than $1 Trillion in Saudi earmarked projects and market opportunities in Saudi Arabia over the next 20 years.   

Prior to joining the Business Council, Mr. Burton served as the Commercial Attaché at the American Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He managed a staff of 27 officers, commercial specialists and other local direct hire personnel serving offices in the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran. He was responsible for all U.S. Foreign Commercial Service (USFCS) operations in Saudi Arabia and had oversight of all USFCS management, administrative and fiscal matters in the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in the Kingdom. He also supervised USFCS operations in Manama, Bahrain through a partnership arrangement with the U.S. Embassy in Manama. Mr. Burton was also appointed directly by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans to serve as the USFCS Regional Coordinator for the agency’s Iraq Reconstruction Regional Initiative.

Prior to being assigned to the Embassy in Riyadh, Mr. Burton was the Director of the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Philadelphia. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Commerce, Mr. Burton served former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman as the State of New Jersey’s International Trade Director.

Mr. Burton holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Charleston and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the Dickinson School of Law. He practiced law in the State of New Jersey. He also received certified international trade and management training at the Thunderbird School of International Business and the Harvard Business School of Publishing. 

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Stephen holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) degree and a Master of Business (Banking and Finance) degree from the University of Technology in Sydney.

Aside from being an associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, a senior associate of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and a member of the Institute of Company Directors in Australia, Stephen is also Director of Corporate, Investment Banking and Markets at HSBC Bank Middle East Limited.

Stephen has been involved in Chartered Accounting and Investment Banking for the past 27 years, with experience in everything from structured finance, financial institution consultancy and listed and unlisted equity, to property investment vehicles, investment banking and funds regarding acquisition, due diligence, placement and post-acquisition.

He has 15 years experience in the Middle East, having been a key factor in the establishment of the Merchant Banking business for The Saudi British Bank, a Director and Regional Head for ANZ Investment Bank; responsible for business origination and client relations in the GCC; and a Placement Principal with Investcorp Bank B.S.C.

Stephen has previously lived in Riyadh but now resides in Dubai and Bahrain. 

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Abu Chowdhury, Partner & COO, Emerging Markets Partnership Middle East  

Most recently, Mr. Chowdhury worked as a Senior Advisor with Credit Suisse Group, Australia, where his role, as a consultant, was instrumental in re-organizing its Equity Research (Listed Property Trusts) franchise in Australia. Prior to this, he was with Deutsche Bank Group, Australia, for four years and was responsible for analyzing and structuring infrastructure, real estate and asset backed investments across a range of products-listed securities, wholesale and private capital. Preceding that, Mr. Chowdhury was with Westpac Banking Corporation, Australia for six years in Corporate Banking, Structured Finance and Wholesale Investment Management.

Mr. Chowdhury is a graduate and associate member of the Financial Services Institute of Australia and holds post graduate degrees in Economics and Finance.

Mr. Chowdhury is on the Board of EMPME and is on Boards of various companies for the IDB Infrastructure Fund 

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Mr. Tung directs the Rockefeller Group’s activities in Asia Pacific as its Managing Director, undertaking branded mixed-use developments in China and the formation of a Rockefeller Group Sinolink Greater China Investment Fund.  As Chairman of the Rockefeller/Sinolink joint venture with its PRC partner, the New Huangpu Group, Mr. Tung heads the master development of the historic Rock Bund project, a 16-hectare mixed-use redevelopment at the origin of modern Shanghai on the banks of the Huangpu and Suzhou Rivers, destined to become a world class heritage centerpiece for the 2010 EXPO in Shanghai.

Before joining The Rockefeller Group, Mr. Tung was a Vice President with the global media conglomerate Bertelsmann, directing all of its corporate real estate activities and ownership interests.  He was a former Governor of the Real Estate Board of New York during 1995 -2002. Earlier in his career, Mr. Tung was an Executive Vice President and Partner with a major property development company in the New York region.  He also practiced with the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and managed projects worldwide.

Mr. Tung graduated from the Columbia Business School with an MBA in Finance as well as an Architectural degree from Princeton University.  He lives in Manhattan with his wife Ellen, a Senior Vice President with the Athena Group, and son William Christopher, an 11th grader at Horace Mann. 

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Mr Tay Eng Kiat is the Chief Executive Officer of Ascendas China, responsible for developing and managing the Ascendas property portfolio in China and formulating the overall China strategy. These include developing new products, opening new markets in cities across China and managing portfolio of Ascendas China Industrial & Business Parks Fund and Ascendas China Commercial Fund.

Previous to that, he is concurrently Head, North China, responsible for real estate investment and asset management of Ascendas’ North China operations.
 
Mr Tay has enjoyed a rewarding 24-year career in the property industry. Prior to joining Ascendas in 2004, Mr Tay was Project Director of Development Services with PSA Corporation (now Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd), which he joined in 2000. From 1997 to 2000, he was based in Suzhou, China as the General Manager of Xinsu Industrial Development (Suzhou) Co. Ltd, part of JTC International’s Business Parks & Facilities Group. 

Mr Tay also worked with Centrepoint Properties Ltd, the property business arm of the Fraser & Neave Group from 1990 to 1997. As the Senior Manager of Marketing, he was responsible for marketing the F&N Group’s residential, office and industrial properties. Prior to joining Centrepoint, Mr Tay worked in Trade & Industrial Development (Pte) Ltd, a joint venture between Mitsui Fudosan (Japan) and the Hong Leong Group (Singapore), from 1981 to 1990. He was with the Housing and Development Board (HDB) of Singapore from 1979 to 1981.

Mr Tay graduated from the University of Singapore with a degree in Estate Management in 1979. 

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Mohammed is a British National and qualified Solicitor and member of the Law Society of England and Wales. He graduated with an Honours Law Degree in 1998 and has worked with two of the largest commercial law firms in the UK before becoming a partner in a specialist property practice. He joined Al Tamimi & Company Dubai office in 2004.

Mohammed has been handling real estate property matters for over 9 years in private practice both in the UK and Dubai. He currently advises major developers, investors, landlords and tenants, governmental bodies and financial institutions on all aspects of real estate property in the UAE. He has particular expertise in real estate development and transactions, real estate structuring, property financing and Islamic finance. 

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George Stewart LaBrooy, a Malaysian, has been the Director of Axis REIT Managers Berhad since 25 October 2004 and was appointed by the Board of Directors of the Manager as Executive Director on 22 March 2005. On 18 September 2007, he was redesignated to Chief Operating Officer/Executive Director. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Studies from the University of Sheffield in 1973 and 1974, respectively. Currently, he is a member of the Institute of Engineers, Malaysia.

He has served in top management positions in the Malaysian industrial sector for over 20 years before joining Axis Equities Sdn Bhd [a major shareholder of Axis Development Sdn Bhd (”ADSB”)] in 1995. During this period he managed (2) two of the Group’s Build and Lease projects and set up the Property Management division in Axis Development Sdn Bhd. He was also actively involved in the successful tenanting of real estate owned by the group.

In November 2003, he spearheaded a project to identify suitable properties owned by common shareholders of Axis Development Sdn Bhd to be injected into Malaysia’s first REIT. This was successfully concluded on 3 August 2005 when Axis-REIT was listed on the main Board of Bursa Securities. He is a prominent speaker on the subject of REITs and has been invited to present papers at seminars in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. In addition to his duties of Executive Director, he also handles the Investor Relations, and is a Member of the Executive Committee. He is also a Member of the Technical Committee of the FMUTM and is also a Director of a number of private companies, which is involved in property development and property investment. 

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Aniruddha Joshi is Executive Director with the Hirco Group, the premier developer of integrated townships in India.

Mr. Joshi brings to Hirco over thirty years of senior international management experience. 

Prior to joining Hirco, Joshi served as Managing Director for Zenta, a leading business process outsourcing firm. Mr. Joshi has also held senior positions with Reuters, the world's leading news and Information Company.

During Mr. Joshi’s fifteen year tenure with Reuters, he held a number of positions such as Marketing Manager - Japan, Marketing Manager - Asia, Managing Director - South East Asia and Executive Vice President Marketing for the Client solutions Group. Mr. Joshi began his career spending ten years in the banking sector in India and Japan. In his distinguished career, Mr. Joshi has worked for extended periods in the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East and the Americas.  

Mr. Joshi is a graduate of the London School of Economics, and holds an MBA from The University of Auckland

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Mr. Soule has been a director with the American Planning Association since April 1996. In his current role as Director of Outreach and International Programs, he manages Government Affairs, Public Information and Policy for the APA’s 44,000 members. He has expanded partnerships with other organizations and improved legislative services to APA’s chapters. In 1997 he launched an initiative with the Chinese government to provide long-term technical assistance through exchanges and special projects. He produced an innovative urban design approach and plan for a large site in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area. Mr. Soule currently serves as special advisor to the City of Nanjing and is APA’s primary liaison with the Government of the People’s Republic of China.

Jeff Soule has held a number of planning and policy positions in government and the non-profit sector, with particular expertise in rural economic development:  Senior Planner for the Tug Hill Commission in Watertown, New York providing technical assistance to 39 towns and 14 villages in a rural four-county region, Policy Coordinator for the US Department of Agriculture, in Washington, DC, where he directed a three-year small town revitalization program in cooperation with the National Main Street Center of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Program Administrator/Director, National Endowment for the Arts Design Program, developing and implementing initiatives including the Mayor’s Institute on City Design and "Your Town: Designing its Future", Director of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, developing research and demonstration projects, providing technical assistance, and advising state and federal officials on policy matters. He pioneered series of community vision workshops, which led to a broad acceptance of locally-based approach to planning highlighted by citizen involvement and manageable implementation strategies. Both the Mayor’s Institute and the Center for Rural Pennsylvania involved partnerships with colleges and universities.  The Mayor’s Institute is always done with academic partners, including the University of Virginia, MIT, Harvard, Tulane, University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota. The Center for Rural Pennsylvania provided grants for applied research and other projects through the Pennsylvania State University and State System of Higher Education. Mr. Soule participated and hosted several professional exchanges including the Countryside Exchange, a program of the Gynwood Center in New York.

He has written and lectured extensively on urban design, rural development, historic preservation and heritage area planning. Mr. Soule is currently the Donlan Fellow at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science at Syracuse. Mr. Soule has initiated relationships with a variety of university-based centers for design and community planning assistance, including Florida Atlantic University, Tulane, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He also supervises a fellowship program that recruits promising Masters candidates for a three month fellowship in Washington DC.

Mr. Soule is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, FAICP. He served as President of the Baltimore Chapter of the International Land Economics Society, Lambda Alpha and a member of the Cosmos Club in Washington DC. Jeff received a B.A. degree, with honors, from Colgate University in Natural Science, and a Master's Degree in City and Regional Planning at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. 

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Professor Mouton directed the Mayor’s Institute on City Design, a forum of the National Endowment for the Arts (Washington D.C.) in partner with the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.  Mr. Mouton has developed ten Mayor’s Institutes that focus on the projects of over 40 Mayors in their cities in the Southern United States.  The Southern Mayor’s Institute received a Presidential Design Award in 1999 and has existed from 1990 to the present.

Recently Professor Mouton and the TRUDC worked in conjunction with The American Planning Association on the redevelopment of the Men Xi District in Nanjing, China.  The Men Xi District, part of the old city of Nanjing was selected as the target area when an Urban Design Plan and Design Guidelines could be tested and developed in response to a historical context.  This is the first time China has attempted to analyze the desirable historic condition and to request recommendations in the form of Guidelines for future growth and development.

He is also working on an expansion of the harbor and new town development for the city of Tianjin, China.  This includes establishing Design Guidelines for the future planning of the largest port in the world and its supporting activities.  Professor Mouton is also working with members of the Ministry of Land Resources in their Outreach Programs.

His drawings and artwork, formatted in environmental installations, have been exhibited at the Hirrishorn Museum, Washington D.C.; the Drawing Center, NYC; the New Orleans Museum of Art; The University Museum, Houston, TX; Tulane University, New Orleans, LA; Venice Biennale, Italy; Documenta, Kassel, Germany; and the Marlborough Gallery, NYC.

Grover Mouton is a member of the Boards of: the New Orleans Botanical Gardens; Shadows-on-the-Teche (honorary member), a historic property of the National Trust (former member); the Preservation Resource Center (former member); and the New Ogden Museum of Southern Art (former member).

Mr. Mouton received his Masters of Architecture from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University; Bachelors of Architecture from Tulane School of Architecture; Diploma and the Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome.  He also received a Fellowship in Architecture, National Endowment of the Arts and a Fellowship from MIT’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies. He was also awarded Student Scholarships to the Architectural Association, London and the Skowhegan School of Painting. 

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Mr. Wang is Director of Urban Design for the HOK Planning Group in Chicago.  Before joining HOK, he spent eight years with Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC (WRT), a design firm in Philadelphia.  Prior to immigrating to the U.S., he worked in Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo for more than ten years as architect, urban designer and consultant to developers and other clients.  Initially educated as an architect, his early work was oriented toward building design.  However, after earning his planning degree and focusing on cultivating his urban design skills, he gained valuable knowledge of environmental systems and landscape architecture from Ian McHarg, founder of WRT and an influential landscape planner.  Environmentalism and urbanism are two consistent pieces found throughout Mr. Wang’s work, including mixed-use real estate development, large and small scale master planning, community and resort design, and downtown revitalization plans in the U.S. and overseas.

For years, Mr. Wang has also actively supported the American Planning Association’s outreach program in China.  He is a guest lecturer and hosts the training sessions for delegates of mayors of Chinese cities that visit the U.S., and supports the U.S. – China scholar exchange program each year.  Mr. Wang has introduced and translated several urban design position papers in China, and is a contributing editor for New International Landscape, a professional and bilingual magazine based in Shanghai and Australia.  In addition to being a very talented urban designer, Mr. Wang is a also skilled illustrator with superb graphic communication skills in the creation of both in freehand sketching and computer-generated drawings. 

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Etienne Chovet, CEO & International Managing Director, Binswanger International  

Mr. Chovet is in charge of all cross-border real estate services for Binswanger, including developing and coordinating business with corporations worldwide. 

He has an in-depth understanding and knowledge of cross-border issues in Europe, along with a complete international perspective that includes the United States, Latin America and Asia.  He has provided international real estate assistance to U.S.-based clients such as Eastman Kodak, Motorola, Dana Corporation, Northrop Grumman, and 3M, and overseas clients such as Pirelli, Renault, BASF, Alcatel and Siemens.

In addition, Mr. Chovet has been specifically involved in assisting multinational companies on a worldwide basis such as Aventis, Hoffman-La Roche, Pharmacia Upjohn, Ares-Serono, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sanofi-Synthelabo, among others.

Utilizing the resources of Binswanger, his team is able to give global exposure to properties on several continents, and to advise clients on corporate real estate issues and strategies.

Mr. Chovet is fluent in seven languages and has excellent knowledge of the vast cultural and economic differences in various countries throughout Europe, Latin America, Asia and the rest of the world.

Before joining Binswanger, Mr. Chovet was the European Manager for Auguste-Thouard/Edward Erdman in charge of Pan-European, and Trans-Atlantic cross-border operations.  He also served Auguste-Thouard as Director in charge of major transactions related to overseas companies in the French territory and Europe. 

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Architect, graduated from the School of Architecture of the University of Buenos Aires, also took courses at Brandeis University, Mass. and Columbia University, NY, was founder and first president of the "Brazilian Association of Industrialized Construction", he is a Director of UNITAS CONSULTORES GROUP. 

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Mr Tamosius worked as an American international legal adviser since 1977 in Chicago and since 1985, in London where he has advised clients on the establishment and management of offshore funds, captive insurance companies and regulatory aspects of financial services.  Beginning 2002 Mr Tamosius engaged in extensive research and advising clients in real estate investment in Central and Eastern Europe.
 
From 1996 to January 2004 Mr Tamosius was a Director of nine collective investment fund companies investing in UK real estate with combined net assets in excess of One Billion Pounds (UK).   He was also a Director and Non-Executive Chairman of a Dublin based fund administration company regulated by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
 
From 1987 to 1999 Mr Tamosius was an Executive Director of Rotch Property Group Limited, a leading U.K private property company.  Between 1988 to 1999 he was also a Director of Securities and Commodities Investment Plc, a member of The Securities Association of Great Britain (now FSA). He is currently a Director of Guardian Land Asset Management Limited the Fund’s Property Asset Manager.  He is also a director of Guardian Fiduciary Management Limited, a Bahamian company which provides company secretarial and trust asset protection services, and Guardian Managers Limited, the BVI licensed Manager of the Fund.
 
From March 2005 to August 2006 Mr Tamosius served as a non-executive director of Sterling Assets (UK) Limited (www.sterlingassets.co.uk), a London based Manager of a property fund investing in Buy and Hold and Buy and Let residential property throughout the United Kingdom. 
 
Mr Tamosius has been a speaker at professional seminars including The International Tax Planning Association; The Offshore Institute; The Oxford Institute; European Study Conferences; Money Market Magazine; The Bombay Management Association; and the Global Real Estate Institute (GRI).
 
Mr Tamosius is a member of the Bar of The State of Illinois; an Associate Member of The Law Society, England and Wales and Member of the International Tax Planning Association.  He is a Graduate of Loyola University of Chicago (BA); The University of Illinois (MA); Valparaiso University, Indiana (J.D). Mr Tamosius is a former Chairman of the Ward of Cordwainer Club in the City of London (www.cordwainer.co.uk).
 
Mr Tamosius holds US and UK nationality and speaks fluent German. 

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Sanjay Sachdeva an MBA from FMS Delhi University has over 26 years of professional experience in the consumer goods industry out of which the last 6 are in organized retailing. Mr. Sachdeva is the President of Advance India Projects Limited, the company which is bringing the first branded malls concept in the country which is contextual and International at the same time.. Mr. Sachdeva is currently looking after corporate strategy, business development, joint ventures and investment planning. AIPL is developing multi use retail focused developments in tier 2 & 3 cities of India in Joint venture with Capitaland which is the largest listed Real Estate Company in Asia. Owning and managing over 54 million sq feet retail space spread over 110 malls.

Mr. Sachdeva has headed large organizations as Director marketing and in various senior level positions . He has handled large organizations as profit center head for multi product portfolios ranging from consumer goods to the fashion industry.

He has also contributed several articles to various international and national publications on the retail industry. Which have been published in The Times of India and other major publications in the likes of Images Retail, Franchise India, Hindustan Times, and The Economic Times etc.

In the last 4 years, he has addressed more than 43 international and national retail conferences and seminars in the area of retail and real estate on topics like The Boom of malls in India, The retailing real estate Bubble, Retailing 2020 a perspective, The investment hub in Indian real estate, Why India is happening, The Tourism malls concept and over 40 other topics pertaining real estate & retail, The future of retail in India. Some of these conferences where he has spoken are:

• The Shop Bangalore
•  India Investment Forum - New York
• The learning Group Seminar-Singapore,
• The IRF Mumbai 2006,
• The Franchise India Conference-Chandigarh - 2007,
• Franchise World 2007
• The Franchise India Conference-Delhi, FICCI, IFCI seminars,
• The Shop new Delhi -2006-2007,
• Indian Property Show Dubai 2006
• Indian Property Show Dubai 2007
• Cityscape Dubai 2007,
• Guest lectures Panel for Retail Management in various institutes
• Cityscape Asia  Suntec, Singapore 2008
• Retail City, Dubai, 1st – 3rd June, 2008
• Guest lectures  in Images knowledge Forum
• Indian institute of Fashion Technology, Gandhinagar expert panelist
• Visiting guest lecturer at Hierank Business School
 
He has also spoken on more than 4 TV talk shows in India. 

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Dr. Jane Murray, Head of Asia Pacific Research and International Director, Jones Lang LaSalle

Dr Jane Murray joined Jones Lang LaSalle in 1998. In 2005 she was appointed to the position of Asia Pacific Head of Research and in 2008 she was appointed as an International Director of the Firm. 

In her role, Jane leads a team of 140 professional researchers in the region, which forms part of a network of over 300 researchers in 60 countries around the globe.

The Asia Pacific research team produces a range of outputs to assist the clients with their decision making.  These outputs include:

• The Real Estate Intelligence Service (REIS) which provides comprehensive market monitoring, analysis and forecasts across major institutional-grade real estate markets throughout the Asia Pacific region.
• Consultancy projects for investors, developers and occupiers.
• Thought leading research papers on topical issues.
• Regular publications including the Asia Pacific Property Digest, Retailer and Investor Sentiment Surveys and Occupier Guides.

In addition to preparing in-country research, the research team participates in broader geographical projects for both regional and global clients including Global Capital Flows Research and The Global Transparency Index.

In 2007, Jones Lang LaSalle Research won the Euromoney Award for the top provider of real estate research in Asia and globally. 

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Kelvin Ng is the CEO and Founder of Synergistic Real Estate Management and Network, a development consultant and mall management company. Awarded by Mall China Special Award for Contributions to the Mall Industry (2006), Awarded by Mall China SASM (Senior Accredited Shopping Mall Manager), Global Retail Leadership awarded by Asia Retail Congress (2008).

Kelvin has more than 20 years experience in the business as developer, manager and consultant in Asia. He pioneered many retail projects in Asia. Past experience: Marina Square (Singapore) for 7 years from 1985 on a USD $1.5 billion retail mall and 3 five -star hotels. He introduced some of the earliest retail centers and shopping facilities in several Asia cities. They include China’s first refurnished and conservation retail project in Wuhan (1995); Tianjin first shopping center 1998); Hanoi first retail center in Hanoi Towers (1997); Taiwan’s  first mega mall-Taimall (1998) ; Gurney Plaza -Penang first megamall (2001).

He was Senior Vice President of Ascott Holdings, Capital land (South East Asia largest developer) and Oversees the   Capital Land Asia and China retail portfolio in 2001.

He and his team has done more than 4 million Sq m of retail and mixed used projects planning work and consultancy services: 30 malls, 20 high end serviced apartments, many mixed used projects, market surveys and feasibility work in over 50 cities in China and other Asian cities in the last 5 years. His experience includes retail and mixed used development planning, pre-opening, training, leasing and management in Asia. He and his team has consulted several  world class clients such as Simon Property Group , (USA  and world’s largest mall developer) ,GIC Singapore , Morgan Stanley , Asia Pacific Land ,( Japan) and many other  large funds/ developers and investors.

Kelvin has professional qualifications in Construction (Singapore), Marketing and Sales (UK) and an MBA (USA).

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Harvey E. Green, president and chief executive officer of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, directs the activities of the largest investment real estate brokerage firm in the nation, including more than 1,300 investment real estate specialists located in 70 offices. In 2007, Marcus & Millichap realized sales of $20.7 billion.

Prior to his appointment to president, Mr. Green served as chief operating officer since 1996. Mr. Green was previously senior vice president responsible for the firm's nine Southwest offices. He joined Marcus & Millichap in 1981 as regional manager, responsible for opening the firm's Encino office. By 1985, the office had become one of the most successful offices in the Marcus & Millichap network.

During his 37-year career, Mr. Green has initiated the close of real estate transactions valued at nearly $6.6 billion, including retail properties, office buildings and apartment complexes ranging in value from $1 million to $55 million. He has been involved in every aspect of the real estate industry, including development, commercial leasing, investment sales and firm acquisition. He also was responsible for the development and implementation of the firm's investment real estate training program.

Prior to his association with Marcus & Millichap, Mr. Green served as an executive with a top national commercial real estate firm for more than 11 years.

Mr. Green has been featured on Bloomberg's In Focus, CNBC's Power Lunch, Squawk Box, KABC Talk Radio and KNX Newsradio's Round

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Bryan has acquired, engaged in the asset-management, developed, repositioned and/or disposed of over $4 Billion USD in commercial real estate for major institutions, developers and his family.   These assignments have ranged throughout the world, including in the U.S., Guam, Japan, China and Europe.  He has been able to greatly enhance profits for both large institutional owners and small private investors.  He is a real estate investor, internationally-recognized speaker and entrepreneur. 
 
As Senior Managing Partner and Global CEO of the SLS Group of real estate companies, Bryan is responsible for all four of SLS's business platforms, including Global Investments, Specialty Brokerage, Global Distressed Assets, and Global Capital.  He is directly involved in the investment activities and services of the groups, and actively pursues international investments, fund and capital raising. 
He is also the founder and Chairman of IRETO (The International Real Estate Trade Organization) – a network of global owners, investors and lenders of real estate holdings and investments in excess of $3.4 Trillion USD.  IRETO began with a network of 1,400 of Mr. Shaffer's personal contacts with real estate professionals, and has now grown to over 112,000 top-level professionals, becoming the world's largest international investment network and think tank.
  
Over his 20-year real estate career Bryan has executed highly profitable investments, management revisions, turn-around strategies and sales for over 300 assets.  Bryan's past successes include repositioning and selling a portfolio of 85 properties valued at $1.5 Billion USD for Mitsui Real Estate, a subsidiary of Japan's largest real estate company.  He also had huge success in acquiring hundreds of properties, repositioning them for large California Developers' Arnel and Goldrich & Kest as well as served as a California Superior Court-approved Receiver and Administrator for over $200M of non-performing assets.
 
He frequently is called upon to serve as an expert panelist at international real estate conferences, speaking at over 50 high-level real estate conferences each year.  Bryan is the real estate expert for CNBC's World Business Review; hosts internet radio shows on Global Real Estate Radio; publishes two real estate magazines and was the instructor for the Learning Annex' class on global investing and forecast.  He is also an active member of ULI, NAREIT, NAIOP ICSC and FIABCI, and was the Hope Committee Chairman for the American Cancer Institute. Bryan graduated from the University of Arizona and is a licensed California Real Estate Broker and Approved Expert Witness and Receiver.

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Richard K. Green, Ph.D., is the Director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.  He holds the Lusk Chair in Real Estate and is Professor in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the Marshall School of Business.

Prior to joining the USC faculty, Dr. Green spent four years as the Oliver T. Carr, Jr., Chair of Real Estate Finance at The George Washington University School of Business. He was Director of the Center for Washington Area Studies and the Center for Real Estate and Urban Studies at that institution.  Dr. Green also taught real estate finance and economics courses for 12 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was Wangard Faculty Scholar and Chair of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics. He also has been principal economist and director of financial strategy and policy analysis at Freddie Mac. More recently, he was a visiting professor of real estate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and he continues to retain an affiliation with Wharton. He is or has been involved with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the Conference of Business Economists, the Center for Urban Land Economics Research, and the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. Dr. Green also is a Weimer Fellow at the Homer Hoyt Institute, and a member of the faculty of the Selden Institute for Advanced Studies in Real Estate.  He was recently President of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

Dr. Green earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned his A.B. in economics from Harvard University.

His research addresses housing markets, housing policy, tax policy, transportation, mortgage finance and urban growth. He is a member of two academic journal editorial boards, and a reviewer for several others. His work is published in a number of journals including the American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Journal of Urban Economics, Land Economics, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Real Estate Economics, Housing Policy Debate, Journal of Housing Economics, and Urban Studies. His book with Stephen Malpezzi, A Primer on U.S. Housing Markets and Housing Policy, is used at universities throughout the country. His work has been cited or he has been quoted in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek and the Economist, as well as other outlets.  He recently gave a presentation at the 31st annual Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Symposium, where his work was cited by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.  The National Association of REALTORS, the Ford Foundation, and the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy have funded grants to support some of Dr. Green’s research.  He consults for the World Bank.

In 1995, Dr. Green was honored as “Teacher of the Year” by the University of Wisconsin Graduate Business Association, and soon thereafter was inducted into that University’s Teaching Academy.

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Mr. Neibart has been a Partner of Apollo Real Estate Advisors since 1993. From 1989 to 1993, Mr. Neibart was with the Robert Martin Company, most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Robert Martin was a real estate development and management firm with a portfolio of approximately seven million square feet of commercial real estate. Mr. Neibart is a Director on various boards relating to Apollo's investment portfolio. Mr. Neibart also serves on the Advisory Boards of both The Enterprise Foundation and The Real Estate Institute of New York University. He is also a past President of the New York Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks. Mr. Neibart graduated with a BA from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from New York University.

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Geoffrey Dohrmann, President, CEO, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Institutional Real Estate, Inc. 

Geoffrey Dohrmann, CRE, is founder, president and chief executive officer of Institutional Real Estate, Inc. — a San Ramon, California-based publishing and consulting company focused on meeting the information needs of the commercial real estate investment community. In this capacity, he also serves as publisher and editor-in-chief of several leading industry publications, including: The Institutional Real Estate Letter, High Return Quarterly, Global Quarterly, the European Real Estate Quarterly, the Institutional Real Estate Newsline and Surreal Estate (Institutional Real Estate, Inc.’s weekly e-mail newsletter), as well as numerous special reports on the industry. Mr. Dohrmann also serves as the editor-in-chief of the company’s newest publication, The Institutional Real Estate Letter - Europe, launched in January of 2007.

In addition to these responsibilities, Dohrmann is a trustee of Lexington Corporate Properties Trust (NYSE: LXP), a New York-based real estate investment trust that invests in net-leased single-tenant properties, From  2002 through 2007, he was a director and chairman of the charter board of managers for the J. P. Morgan Real Estate Income & Growth Fund, a $2 billion open-ended diversified real estate investment fund. He continues to consult with many of the leading firms in the real estate investment management industry, and frequently speaks at industry events on market-related matters.

A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Dohrmann is a member of the editorial and/or advisory boards for the National Real Estate Index, The Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, and Real Estate Research Corporation. He also has lectured on institutional real estate market-related matters at the business schools of the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Harvard University, Northwestern University, the University of North Carolina and Yale University.

Dohrmann is a member of the board of directors for the American Real Estate Society and is on the board of advisors for Beezwax, an Oakland, California-based software development firm. He also is a Fellow of the Homer Hoyt Institute and the American Real Estate Society and is a member of the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE).

Professional memberships include American Real Estate Society, the Pension Real Estate Association, the Urban Land Institute (IOPC Red Council), the National Association of Real Estate Editors, the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association and the Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA).

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Paul McEvoy is Senior Managing Director of DRA responsible for portfolio management and investor services. He also serves as DRA's principal client contact. From 1988 through July 1994, Mr. McEvoy was a Senior Vice President of Dreyfus Realty Advisors. From 1984 to 1988, Mr. McEvoy was responsible for marketing and client service for Security Capital Real Estate and its successor company, Sentinel Real Estate. From 1980 to 1984, Mr. McEvoy was a Vice President in the Corporate Services Group at Smith Barney Upham, where he served the brokerage, trading and investment related needs of corporations and private investors. From 1975 to 1980, Mr. McEvoy worked at Manufacturers Hanover Trust as a domestic and international corporate lending officer. Mr. McEvoy received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Georgetown University and an MBA in Finance from New York University Graduate School of Business in 1979.

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Mrs. Joyce T. Shapiro is the Global Head of Client Relationship Management for Brookfield Asset Management.  Joyce oversees the private fund development activities for real assets and real estate on behalf of Brookfield.

Ms. Shapiro was previously International Director, Client Services at La Salle Investment Management, a global real estate services and money management firm, where she oversaw fund-raising activities with institutional clients, and managed the North American Client Services team. 

Prior to that, Ms. Shapiro had management roles at a number of multinational banks in their real estate groups.  As Senior Consultant for the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, she established a RE Asset restructuring group in Tokyo.  Previously she worked for Citibank to launch the bank’s OREO group in the early 1990’s.  In addition, she was an officer at J.P. Morgan Investment Management, managed part of RREEF’s pension fund portfolio, and managed the Chrysler Building for JKC Realty. 

Brookfield Asset Management Inc., focused on property, power and infrastructure assets, has approximately $80 billion of assets under management and is co-listed on the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges under the symbol BAM.

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Mr. Krauch is ING Clarion’s Director of Marketing and Client Relations and Head of Global Marketing for ING Real Estate.   He is a member of the ING Clarion Operating Committee, Private Market Investment Committee, and ING Real Estate Global Management Team.  He joined ING Clarion in 1999 and has over 35 years of real estate experience.

Prior Experience:Westmark Realty Advisors, Los Angeles, Vice Chairman (1983-1998), Hahn Development Corp., Los Angeles, Vice President (1978-1983), Coldwell Banker, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon (1969-1978)

Education:B.S., University of California, Los Angeles, 1966

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Steve Bardzik, Managing Director, Teachers Insurance and Annuity 

Steve Bardzik is Managing Director of Credit Risk Management (Commercial Mortgages and Real Estate) for TIAA-CREF, one of the nation’s largest pension funds serving the academic and research communities.  His activities focus on identifying, calculating and controlling the credit risks of portfolios of commercial mortgages, investment real estate and real estate securities.  He is also Adjunct Professor of Real Estate at the Real Estate Institute of New York University, where he teaches real estate finance, risk analysis and portfolio management.   His Ph.D. is in real estate finance from the University of Georgia. 

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Dan Biederman is the co-founder of Grand Central Partnership, 34th Street Partnership, and Bryant Park Corporation, three of NYC’s most successful Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). He currently serves as the President of the latter two. In 1980, he co-founded BPC and began the restoration of Bryant Park. Under Biederman’s guidance, BPC instituted a program of security, sanitation, capital repair and public event planning that transformed the park from a symbol of urban neglect into a gorgeous, impeccably maintained and crime-free gathering place dubbed by the NY Times as “Manhattan’s Town Square”. In 1989, Biederman co-founded the 34th Street Partnership, a Business Improvement District covering 31 key commercial blocks in midtown Manhattan.  

Instituting methods and skills honed at Bryant Park, 34SP was instrumental in the dramatic revival that has made 34th Street one of NYC’s most vibrant neighborhoods. Crime is down 90%, the streets are free of litter, the physical plant is excellent and pedestrian counts are consistently among the city’s highest. In 2002, 34SP transformed the downtrodden Herald and Greeley Squares into jewel-like parks that provide places for pedestrians to rest and are popular locations for events and product launches. In honor of his vital role in cleaning up, beautifying and making safe some of the most important real estate in the world, Biederman was recently the recipient of the Manhattan Institute’s first Lifetime Achievement Award for Social Entrepreneurship. The award is presented annually to a non-profit leader who has found innovative, private solutions for America’s most pressing social problems.

Biederman is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University, with an A.B. in Public Affairs in 1975. He also earned an M.B.A. with Distinction from Harvard Business School in 1977. 

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Mark Costello, Partner, Ernst & Young

Mark Costello recently rejoined Ernst & Young from Grubb & Ellis, resuming his role as a partner in the firm’s corporate real estate advisory practice.  Mark’s corporate-client expertise includes strategic planning for real estate, mobility and locational issues, and portfolio rationalization. He has counseled corporations globally and aided clients in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Mark has 22 years of hands-on experience in all phases of commercial real estate.

While at Grubb & Ellis, Mark served as Chief Operating Officer. Management found him qualified to help lead the Company’s transformation because of his unusual combination of skills as a transaction professional, consultant and attorney.

Previously, Mark was an Executive Managing Director at CB Richard Ellis, where he was one of three executives charged with running all phases of that firm’s substantial New York Tri-State Region. That process familiarized him intimately with the needs and vision of a successful commercial brokerage.

On the property side, prior to CB Richard Ellis Mark was recruited by developer/owner Louis Dreyfus Property Group as a Regional Vice President, and ultimately placed in charge of a three million square foot portfolio. He handled leasing and operations, conducted national consulting projects for the Group’s parent company and, during his nine year tenure, helped the company accomplish its goal of profitably disposing of one-million square feet of space. 

Louis Dreyfus became interested in Mark while he was owner of a commercial real estate brokerage he and a partner had founded to represent tenants in Westchester and Fairfield Counties. Mark had the knowledge to accomplish that from his prior involvement with family-owned Shulsky Properties, for whom he ran a portfolio of shopping centers and office buildings.

Mark has a Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School, a graduate degree in Economics from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from The State University of New York.  He has served as president of the New York Chapter of NAIOP and is active in numerous civic and real estate organizations, including the Real Estate Board of New York. Mark is a real estate broker licensed in New York and Connecticut, and a real estate attorney accredited with the New York and Connecticut bar

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Sean H. Porter is a partner in the finance and real estate group in Dechert's New York office. He focuses his practice on commercial real estate investment activities, including joint venture representation (including common equity and preferred equity investments), acquisitions and dispositions, and real estate mergers and acquisitions, as well as the leasing, subleasing, and licensing of commercial real estate.

Mr. Porter has represented investment banks, insurance companies, institutional investors, real estate funds, retail operators, hedge funds, investment managers, and other corporate clients in transactions involving all types of commercial real estate assets, including offices, hotels, retail stores, multi-family properties, warehouses, industrial, and mixed-use properties located in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia. He has represented parties involved in various public-to-private REIT transactions, condominium-coversion projects, ground-up mixed-use developments, real estate fund formation, corporate mergers and acquisitions (including transition service arrangements), corporate spin-offs and reorganizations, and retail leasing (stand-alone and mall locations). In addition, Mr. Porter has represented U.S.-based real estate advisors with respect to investments made in U.S. commercial real estate on behalf of non-U.S. investors.

Mr. Porter is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (B.A., cum laude, 1991) and Villanova University (J.D., magna cum laude, 1996) where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and was Associate Editor of the Villanova Law Review.

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David Reiner, Managing Director Capital Markets, Grosvenor Investment Management

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Mario Seneviratne, Director, Green Technologies Company & Board Member, World Green Building Council, USA

Mario has been working in Dubai, United Arab Emirates since 1977. He has been actively involved in the design and construction of many industrial and commercial buildings, which have energy conservation and / or sustainable features. A post graduate from the university of Alabama, Birmingham USA, Mario has specialized in HVAC design and construction and has been recognized as a Member of ASHRAE, IEEE, and as a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. This has lead to his active participation in the United States Green Building Council LEED program. He was a committee member of the LEED Version 1 development committee and participated in the LEED Version 1 pilot program. Mario was responsible for having the award winning Kandalama Hotel certified as a LEED Bronze project, the first LEED building outside continental USA. He has served on many technical committees addressing Green Design and Practice, and has been the Co-chair for the USGBC Program Committee, Green Build 2002 and 2003.

Mario is one of the Founders of the Emirates Green Building Council and holds the office of Secretary to the Board. He is also the current Chairman of the Tools and Projects Committee of the World Green Building Council.

Mario is actively involved in the development of Green Buildings and has developed The First LEED Green Building in the Middle East, The WAFI CITY District Cooling Chiller Plant. He is now The Director of Engineering, Green Technologies UAE, a company of mechanical and electrical engineers committed to Sustainable Development.

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Jim Costello, Principal, CBRE Torto Wheaton Research

Jim Costello joined Torto Wheaton Research (TWR) in 1996 with economic and real estate research experience developed through work with government agencies and TWR’s parent firm, CB Richard Ellis Inc. Jim Costello became a Principal of TWR in January of 2008 and serves as Director of the Investment Strategy Group, which delivers investment opinions and insights to an expanding base of advisory clients.

With over 12 years of experience at TWR, Jim has effectively managed the office and industrial models and broadened TWR’s modeling capability of integrating the results into more direct applications related to the services provided within the TWR Investment Strategy Services platform.

Torto Wheaton Research has earned international recognition for its highly rigorous and reliable forecasting models, a proven record of accomplishment, and sophisticated analytical expertise. TWR provides unrivaled, insightful analysis and opinions based on its highly academic approach, many years of experience and its access to deal specific information from its parent company CB Richard Ellis. Currently, nineteen out of the top twenty Investment Managers as ranked by assets under management are clients of Torto Wheaton Research.

Mr. Costello has authored many opinion and technical pieces for TWR, articles for academic journals and publications and has been quoted widely in the press. Mr. Costello holds a BA in Political Science and a MA in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Tim Weale is an international businessman, presently based in London, UK.  Tim specialises in Commercial Real Estate specifically investment in direct property associated financial issues and related consultancy and advisory services. Tim’s long career spanning 40 years has covered the entire range of the commercial real estate sector as well as direct residential experience. Geographically his principle areas of expertise are UK and the Middle East (the Gulf States). He has also been involved in transactional work on mainland Europe. 

Tim is a Partner with Cushman & Wakefield and currently is the Chief Operating Officer of C&W’s UK Capital Markets Group which transacts about  £6.0 bn worth of Real Estate having recently returned from the Middle East where he headed up the firms business in the Gulf Region.

Tim holds the Territorial Decoration and is a Chartered Surveyor originally qualifying as a valuer and auctioneer. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Institute of Rating and Revenue Valuers.

Tim has a wide and varied client list which has included many European and US corporates, UK Government Departments, The Crown, Gulf Ruling Families, International Institutions, High net worth individuals, Private companies both large and small, Trusts and private individuals.

In UK he holds a number of charitable positions and trusteeships and is a Freeman of the City of London.

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Howard L. Michaels is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Carlton Group, Ltd. and Carlton Advisory Services.

He is a graduate of American University with a B.S. in Business Administration. Mr. Michaels has been exclusively in the real estate industry throughout his career and has extensive real estate experience. Until 1980, he was a Vice President at Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. From 1980 on, he was involved as a principal in the acquisition, development, and syndication of over $1 billion of real estate located throughout the country.

Since 1990, Mr. Michaels has been instrumental in the marketing, sale and financing of over $30 billion dollars of commercial and residential assets through the development of The Carlton Group and its related entities. The Carlton Group has thrived on his ability to develop and implement the creative and successful strategies necessary to flourish in this changing real estate environment.

In addition to his responsibilities as Chairman, Mr. Michaels directs Carlton's Investment Finance Division. In this capacity, he has personally closed over $30 billion of debt and equity transactions since January of 1998. Mr. Michaels has significant relationships with such firms as Wachovia, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse First Boston, Union Bank of Switzerland, Travelers and many others. 

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Henry Cisneros, Executive Chairman, CityView and Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

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As the Executive Managing Director, South Asia, Sanjay holds the responsibility of managing operations in South Asia, including New Zealand and Australia. As part of the senior Asian leadership team, he plays an important role in increasing the company's market share within the region and is responsible for assessing expansion opportunities in other emerging markets; thereby enabling integrated service reach and widened delivery to clients.

Sanjay continues to focus on the expansion of the highly successful India operations by way of both organic and acquisitions led growth and evaluate several opportunities enhancing service delivery capabilities and reach.

Employment History: Sanjay previously worked with Colliers Jardine India as the Head of the Project Management Consulting Division. He was instrumental in setting up the operations of this division in India while being responsible for business development and delivery of consulting services to its clients.

Prior to this Sanjay has worked with Voltas Ltd., which is one of largest diversified corporates in India and belongs to the prestigious Tata group of companies. Sanjay’s primary responsibility included working as a team leader for execution of engineering projects.

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David Clapp, Managing Director Global Portfolio Manager, GDP Global Fund Managers 

David W. Clapp is Managing Director of GDP Global Fund Managers, an affiliate of the Boymelgreen Group.  GDP invests in residential and resort development projects in emerging economies.  Mr. Clapp is primarily responsible for portfolio management and structuring joint ventures with GDP's development partners.  Prior to joining GDP, Mr. Clapp was portfolio manager of the HSBC Amanah Global Properties Income Fund, a Shariah compliant investment vehicle active in US and European real estate.  Prior experience includes Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of TrizecHahn Office Properties and Senior Vice President of The John Buck Company.  Mr. Clapp graduated from Williams College with a B.A. and received his MBA from Harvard University.

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Siavash Barmand has over twenty years of real estate development experience that is ideally complimented by 10+ years of government background holding key senior positions with Land Development and Capital Improvement Agencies, as well as holding the position of City Engineer/Public Works Director for the city of Tiburon, California. He has provided consulting and investment advisory services to investors, developers, builder, engineers, and contractors in both commercial and residential real estate sectors as well as acting as the government's expert witness in real estate development litigations.

He is responsible for corporate business development, ownership structuring, acquisitions and reposition project oversight and redevelopment, asset management, maintaining key investor relationships, sourcing and evaluating prospective general partners, construction management and identifying real estate investment opportunities. Earlier experience included being the senior partner and founder of Mian Group and Vertex Investments, both real estate investment and development companies headquarter in Northern California.

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Robert M. White, Jr., CRE, is the founder and president of Real Capital Analytics Inc., a national research firm that publishes the Capital Trends Monthly. Real Capital Analytics provides real time data concerning the capital markets for commercial real estate and the values of commercial properties. The firm maintains offices in New York City and San Jose, California and has about 500 clients, including the industry’s leading brokerage firms, institutional advisors, REITs, developers, foreign investors and banks.

Previously, Mr. White spent 14 years in the real estate investment banking and brokerage industry and has orchestrated billions of commercial sales, acquisitions and recapitalizations. He was formerly a managing director and principal of Granite Partners LLC and spent nine years with Eastdil Realty in New York and London. Mr. White is a noted authority on the real estate capital markets with credits in the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, The Economist, Forbes, New York Times, Financial Times, among others. In addition, he was named one of National Real Estate Investor Magazine’s “Ten to Watch” in 2005, Institutional Investor’s “20 Rising Stars of Real Estate” in 2006, and Real Estate Forum’s “10 CEOs to Watch” in 2007.

Mr. White is a Counselor of Real Estate, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Fellow of the Homer Hoyt Institute. He is also a member of numerous industry organizations and a supporter of academic studies. Mr. White is a graduate of the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

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Meredith  Despins, Vice President - Investment Affairs & Investor Education, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT)

Meredith A. Despins is vice president, Investment Affairs & Investor Education for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts® (NAREIT), the national, not-for-profit trade association of the real estate investment trust (REIT) and publicly traded real estate industry.   NAREIT’s members are REITs and other businesses that own, operate and finance income-producing real estate, as well as those firms and individuals who advise, study and service these businesses.

The objectives of NAREIT’s Investment Affairs & Investor Education Program are to communicate effectively the proposition of real estate investment through REITs to institutional and individual investors worldwide.   Ms. Despins is responsible for leading NAREIT’s educational efforts for institutional investors.  Educational outreach efforts are targeted to the pension and retirement markets, as well as endowments, foundations, and the investment advisory community.
 
From 2005 to 2007 Ms. Despins was a Senior Director with Investors Bank & Trust Company.  Prior to joining Investors Bank & Trust, Ms. Despins was a vice president of State Street Corporation, serving in executive relationship management and business development roles within the Bank’s Institutional Investor Services and Wealth Management Services divisions.  In addition to her positions with State Street Bank, Ms. Despins was a Principal with State Street Global Advisors, responsible for delivering integrated fiduciary, investment and administrative solutions to sponsors of pension and retirement plans, endowments, and foundations. 

A graduate of Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, with honors, Ms. Despins is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

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Simon Ziff serves as president of Ackman-Ziff, a position he assumed in 1995.  Since joining the firm as Larry Ackman’s analyst in 1989, Simon has lead the firm in its efforts to arrange over $20 billion of debt, mezzanine and equity financings for some of the nation’s foremost real estate developers and owners while solidifying the firm’s relationships with key capital sources.  Simon has engineered the firm’s collaborative culture, which functions as a magnet for financial talent and has supported its evolution as an industry thought-leader with over 40 professionals on the team.

Simon received a B.S. in finance from Pennsylvania State University, and an M.S. in real estate finance from New York University. In May 2002, New York University awarded Simon its second ever distinguished Real Estate Alumni Recognition Award. He has also been recognized on multiple occasions by the Real Estate Board of New York, including as the first recipient of its “Most Promising Commercial Salesperson of the Year Award” and six times as the recipient of its “Most Ingenuous Deal of the Year” award.  Simon has also been active in leadership of many not-for-profit organizations. 

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Gareth Williams is a Director in the Real Estate Group at Barclays Capital.  Based in Dubai, he is tasked with expanding the banks client coverage of both real estate developers and investors in the MENA region including Sovereign Wealth Funds.  Gareth also acts as the conduit for investment into the regional real estate market for Barclays Capital clients.  

Gareth joined the Barclays Group in 2003 working in the Barclays Bank property finance team for 2 years focusing on development financing and large loan transactions.  Subsequently he moved to Barclays Capital’s corporate securitization team providing acquisition financing to financial sponsors purchasing companies with significant real estate assets.  Recent transactions include the acquisition and subsequent property financing of the General Healthcare Group and Somerfield Plc

Mr. Williams holds a MSc. in Finance from the London School of Economics and a BSc in Economics from the University of York.

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Chad Oppenheim, Director of Marketing, Oppenheim Architecture + Design LLP

The architecture of Chad Oppenheim is simultaneously daring and sensible, romantic and reductive; evocative and essential.  An alchemist of atmosphere, Oppenheim transforms the prosaic into the poetic-- eliciting a site’s inherent power through minimal gesture and sincere means.  Spaces and structures, optimized for pleasure and performance, establish aesthetic delight with passioned sensitivity towards man and nature. 
 
Born in New York in 1971 and raised in the suburbs of New Jersey, Chad Oppenheim, NCARB, AIA, received a bachelor of architecture from Cornell University in 1994, and founded OPPENHEIM architecture + design in 1999.   An adjunct professor of architecture at Florida International University, he has lectured globally, and is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions.  Oppenheim lives and works with his wife and muse, Ilona in Miami.

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Mr. Michonski is the founder of RealShare International, Inc., CEO and Chairman of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy and Coldwell Banker Commercial Properties Unlimited. He has served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 1996.  From 1993 to 1996 he worked for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. He has been doing market analysis since 1984 not only in the United States but all over the world.

In 2003 he was appointed Liaison for all International Operations for the National Association of Realtors, the largest trade organization in the world and serves on the 2004 Enlarged Leadership Team of NAR. He is the Director of the International Real Property Foundation and is past Chairman of the International Operations Committee of the National Association of Realtors. He served as the Founding President of the Manhattan Association of Realtors and Founding President of the Manhattan Multiple Listing Service.
Mr. Michonski’s comments on the national real estate market are frequently found in the New York and national press and he is often seen on CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, ABC News.com and  PBS and he has made several appearances on “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “Today” show.

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Scott Li is the president and CFO of Shibo Real Estate Inc, a private company based in Shenyang, China. He has oversight for financing and strategic planning of the firm.  Mr. Li has over 15 years of experience in real estate financing, valuation, merger and acquisition. Prior to joining Shibo, Mr. Li was a real estate fund manager in China. He managed $200 million real estate fund and achieved average annual return of over 40%. He was an associate of merger and acquisition at Arthur Andersen and responsible for valuation, deal structure and financing, and due diligent.
 
Mr. Li holds a B.S. in economics and MS in finance from Fudan University, China, and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School, USA.

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Aashish Kalra, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Trikona Capital 

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David Gilbert, Managing Director, ING Clarion

David Gilbert is Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of ING Real Estate’s new global opportunity platform. David will oversee the development of the global opportunity business from New York, leading a team that will operate in ING Real Estate offices around the world.  He joined ING Clarion in 2007 and has over 26 years of real estate finance and investment management experience.

Prior Experience: J.P. Morgan Investment Management, New York, NY, Managing Director (1998-2007), CalPERS, (Sacramento, CA), Senior Investment Officer (1996-1998), J.P. Morgan Real Estate Investment Banking, New York, NY, Vice President (1994-1998), Prudential Real Estate Investors, New York, NY, Portfolio Manager (1989-1994)

Education: M.B.A., Wharton School University of Pennsylvania (1987), B.B.A., University of Massachusetts (1979)

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Yvonne Nelson is the Executive Director for Real Estate and Economically Targeted Investments (ETIs) and directs such investment activities on behalf of the NYC Retirement Systems.  She is responsible for the design, implementation and oversight of these investment programs. The allocation to real estate averages 5.4% among the Systems and is uniformly 2% for the ETI program. Together, these investment initiatives represent a potential capitalization of $8 billion.

Ms. Nelson joined the NYC Comptroller in 2005. Prior to the Comptroller’s Office, Ms. Nelson worked many years with the NYS Common Retirement Fund as a Real Estate Investment Officer. She holds a B.A. from New York University and a M.B.A. from Rutgers University.

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Sourav Goswami, Managing Director, Walton Street Capital India Private

Sourav Goswami is a 13-year real estate executive, and joined Walton Street Capital as a principal in early 2006. He is currently Managing Director of Walton Street Capital India, where he is responsible for evaluating opportunities for acquisitions and development in Indian markets. Prior to Walton Street Capital, Sourav was in the Global Real Estate Group at Merrill Lynch, where he was involved in the firm's first  real estate investment in India. Sourav's previous real estate experiences include Reckson Strategic Venture Partners and Goldman Sachs & Co.

Sourav has an MBA from Columbia University and completed his bachelors in economics from Harvard University, both with honors

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Robert Lee, Executive Director, Investment Projects, Nakheel

Robert Lee joined Nakheel in 2004 as Director of Development and was appointed Executive Director, Investment Projects in March 2007.

Robert is responsible for Nakheel’s strategic long term assets, with a particular focus on large scale mixed-use developments. Robert manages a portfolio of Nakheel’s investment projects including The Palm Monorail, Gateway Towers, Dubai Promenade, and the Village Centre, as well as Nakheel’s partnership with Cirque du Soleil to develop a permanent show unique to The Palm Jumeirah. Robert is also playing a key role in Nakheel’s international drive, following the formation of Nakheel International in June 2007.

Robert comes from Canada, where he graduated in Business with a focus on Marketing and Economics. Over the past 20 years, Robert has worked in various fields of real estate investment in the United States and Canada including consulting, investment brokerage, asset management, and development of large-scale projects in residential, commercial, and leisure & hospitality products.

Since arriving in Dubai in early 2000, Robert has worked in a senior management capacity with the leading property development companies in Dubai, where he was instrumental in the development of several notable projects including Dubai’s first freehold waterfront development, Dubai Marina.

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Leslie P. Norton, Asia Editor and Feature Writer, Barron's Magazine

Leslie P. Norton is Asia Editor at Barron's Magazine, and also a feature writer. She oversees the magazine's Asia coverage, and writes cover stories and features about the U.S. as well. Ms. Norton has been Asia Editor at Barron's since 2000. Previously, she was Barron's mutual funds editor. Before joining Barron's in late 1993, Ms. Norton worked for a private investor, and before that, for Bloomberg News, where she was instrumental in establishing Bloomberg's London bureau. Ms. Norton is on the board of the Asian American Writers Workshop. She graduated from Yale College, earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, and has a certificate in the history of Chinese art from Sotheby's and the University of London.

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Nicole Pavisic, President – International Division, American Invsco

Nicole Pavisic is President of the International Division at American Invsco, a Chicago-based developer founded in 1969 selling over 45,000 condos and sales in excess of $4.5 billion. American Invsco has converted and/or developed over 100 residential buildings in 40 different markets across the United States.  Leading a multicultural sales division, she is responsible for strategic management & market entry, guiding team efforts to penetrate 15+ markets worldwide. Nicole works directly with a diverse client base worldwide which includes large international brokers and investors, with  expertise in servicing Irish, UK investors, Asian and Latin American investors.
 
Prior to American Invsco, Nicole was Executive Vice President of Sales for a Chicago-based software company. She was promoted to the Head of Banking and Finance Division in Europe and Scandinavia, while based in the Netherlands where the US company set up it's European base. As a corporate executive living in Europe, Ms. Pavisic worked with some of the largest European Banks and Insurance Companies putting together complex, cross border software deals. During her tenure within the Information Technology industry she managed business in 18 countries on several different continents.
 
Ms. Pavisic holds an MBA with top honors from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in Chicago. She has a Bachelors Degree in Economics and International Business from Benedictine University.  Ms. Pavisic is a member of the MBA Alumni Association of DePaul University in Chicago, CIREC, REIA and FIABCI.

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Peter Syrett, AIA, LEED AP, Associate Principal, Busby, Perkins & Will

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Fehmy Saddy, Ph.D., President, FS International Partners

Fehmy Saddy is Founder and President of FS International Partners SA, an investment consulting firm based in Geneva (www.fspartners.net), and its predecessor, FS International Inc. in Washington DC.

Since 1982, Mr. Saddy has been involved in structuring transactions in the United States, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East in diverse areas, including banking and finance, real estate, manufacturing, technology, water, electricity and environmental projects. He has served as advisor to governments, corporations and international development institutions, including the World Bank Group and Islamic Development Bank, on legal and financial reform and privatization in the MENA region.

In 1990 FS International Inc. sponsored the organization of the first International private development bank in Washington DC focused on investment and trade in the MENA region. Currently, FS International Partners is the sponsor of Tayssir Bank, the first Shari’a compliant retail bank in France and, indeed, in Continental Europe.        

After a career in diplomacy in the Syrian Foreign Service, which included serving in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Mr. Saddy pursued a career in academia. He taught International Politics, International Development, and International Law and Organizations at American University in Washington, American University of Beirut, and Kuwait University. He maintained academic affiliations with Washington-based academic and research institutions, including School of International Service of American University, Center of International Development and conflict management of University of Maryland, and International Law Institute, formerly of Georgetown University.

From 1983 to 1985, Mr. Saddy practiced law at the Washington office of Chadbourne, Parke, Whiteside and Wolfe, a Wall Street law firm, where he specialized in structuring international transactions and international arbitration.

In 1982 Mr. Saddy joined the Olayan Group of Saudi Arabia as a member of its senior management team. After leaving the Group in 1983, he continued to serve until 1990, as advisor to the US-Saudi Arabian Businessmen Dialogue Group, part of the US-Saudi Arabian Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation. 

Mr. Saddy holds LLB degree from Damascus University, LLM in International Law from Washington College of Law, and M.A and Ph.D. in International Studies from School of International Service, American University. He is fluent in several foreign languages, including Arabic, English, French, and Portuguese. 

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Quintin E. Primo III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Capri Capital Partners LLC

Mr. Primo serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Capri Capital Partners, LLC, a real estate investment management firm headquartered in Chicago that he co-founded in 1992.  The firm has approximately $4.8 billion in total real estate assets under management and is an active investor in all major property sectors and markets throughout the United States.  Capri is currently expanding overseas, with major real estate development projects in India and the Middle East.

Mr. Primo has nearly 30 years of experience in real estate investment and capital markets.  Prior to the formation of Capri Capital Partners, he was Managing Director of Q. Primo & Company, Inc., a real estate investment banking firm established in 1988 specializing in foreign and domestic private placements.  Prior to forming Q. Primo & Company, he was employed with Citicorp Real Estate, Inc., where he was Vice President in the commercial lending and real estate investment banking divisions.  

Mr. Primo received a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance, with honors and high distinction, from Indiana University.  Within the real estate industry, he is a member of the Urban Land Institute, a board member of the Pension Real Estate Association and Real Estate Roundtable, Chairman of the Real Estate Executive Council, and a former trustee of AMLI Residential, a NYSE-listed company taken private by Morgan Stanley.

Mr. Primo is active in civic and charitable organizations.  He is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago and a former member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Seventh District Advisory Council.  He serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Chicago Community Trust, as a trustee of the (Episcopal) Church Pension Group, and is a former trustee of the University of Chicago Hospitals and Ravinia Festival.  He is currently Chairman of the Primo Center for Women and Children, a transitional shelter serving the homeless. 

Mr. Primo has been featured in national publications, such as The Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, The New York Times and Black Enterprise Magazine, and has made frequent guest appearances on network television and cable news and radio programs, including CNN, CNBC and National Public Radio.  He has received numerous awards and has been highly recognized for his professional, civic and philanthropic contributions.

Mr. Primo and his family reside in the Chicago area.

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Jeffrey M. Finn, President & CEO, NAI Global

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Hendrik H. C. Gienow, Managing Director Head of Asia-Pacific, EUROHYPO AG

Hendrik Gienow has been working for EUROHYPO AG since 1992:

1998 – 2002 Head of Real Estate Finance Northern & Central Europe
2002 – 2006 Head of Strategy and Group Coordination
since 2006 Managing Director, Head of Corporate and Investment Banking Asia-Pacific

Hendrik Gienow has a degree in Laws from Bonn University, Germany.

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Ajoy Kapoor, Founder & MD, Saffron Advisors

Ajoy Kapoor is an entrepreneur and banker in a career spanning over 25 years, with global exposure to real estate investment, development and management.

Ajoy's last assignment was Global Head, Strategy & Implementation Corporate Real Estate at HSBC, UK where he was responsible for strategic management and project implementation of 75 million square feet across 79 countries.

Prior to that, he was a Managing Committee Member and Regional Head in India, Corporate Real Estate & Strategic Sourcing at Standard Chartered Bank, managing a mixed portfolio of over 11 million square feet.

Ajoy has also been involved in development management of several million square feet of real estate during his various assignments. Between 1980–1995, he built and sold Lamco, a chain of convenience stores. Ajoy is one of the leading real estate professionals in India and is an active member of this community. Within India, Ajoy is well known for creating and delivering value in a complex environment.

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With over 22 years of professional services experience, Mr. Hess is highly regarded as an expert in the field of supply chain strategies, global location strategies, and corporate site selection. Mr. Hess has successfully completed over 200 significant projects for Fortune 1000 & Middle Market companies primarily in the manufacturing and distribution sectors, including several large capital investment deployment assignments in
Asia, the Americas’ and EMEA.

Prior to joining NKF Consulting, Mr. Hess was a Leading Partner in Cushman & Wakefield’s Global Business Consulting Group based in Chicago and Founder of the firm’s Global Supply Chain Solutions/Industrial consulting practice.

Other past experience includes his role as a Lead Partner with Deloitte & Touche for 18 years in their Fantus Locations Strategies service line, a specialty consulting practice known for industry leading strategic facility planning, location strategy, site selection, and corporate real estate advisory services. Aside from his supply chain planning and facility location strategy core competencies, other strategy and operations experience includes distribution network optimization, manufacturing rationalization and consolidation, relocation feasibility, strategic cost reduction, large capital investment program management, commercial and industrial site evaluation and due diligence methods, detailed labor market/workforce analysis, and complex financial incentive negotiations.

Select occupier clients include A.K. Steel, American Tool, Andersen Windows, AMWAY/ABG, Best Buy, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Circuit City, City of Toronto, Copperweld/LTV, Disney, Entergy, Gander Mountain, Gap Inc., Georgia Power, Johns Manville, Kikkoman Foods, Kmart/Sears, Leedsworld, 3M, McDonnell Douglas, Nestle Nutrition, Nestle Prepared Foods, Novartis Biotech, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Office Depot, Pechiney, Radio Flyer, Sherwin Williams, ThyssenKrupp Budd, ThyssenKrupp Steel, TIMET, Wausau Insurance and Wrigley. 

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Mr. Fox is a Senior Vice President and Portfolio Analyst overseeing the ING Clarion Real Estate Securities Absolute Return Strategies Group. He has 14 years experience in financial services and Mr. Fox has worked for such companies as Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Refco.

Prior to joining ING Clarion, Mr. Fox functioned as an Analyst and Trader at Westwood Capital Corporation, a boutique alternative investment manager in California. Previously, Mr. Fox spent several years as a Sales Trader in New York covering hedge funds across equity, fixed income and derivative markets.

Mr. Fox holds a BA from the University of Virginia and participated in post-graduate studies through the Curry School at the University of Virginia. He is a registered and licensed member of NASD, Series 7 and Series 63 as well as the Mid-Atlantic Hedge Fund Association (MAHFA) and the Managed Funds Association (MFA). 

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Jack Manning co-founded Boston Capital in 1974 and has served since then as President and Chief Executive  Officer.  Boston Capital is a diversified, real estate and investment banking company, serving clients nationwide and internationally.  Through its various investment funds, Boston Capital controls over $11.8 billion in real estate assets. 

Boston Capital’s operating divisions include an equity investment division, a real estate acquisition division, a mortgage company  an asset management division, and a NASD licensed broker-dealer.  Boston Capital is the third largest investor/ owner of apartment properties in the United States and the eleventh largest owner of real estate overall.  Boston Capital’s portfolio consists of over 2,800 properties that are located in 48 states and the District of Columbia.

Mr. Manning has been a leader in numerous industry associations, government commissions and charitable organizations.

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As Vice President of Development for Equity Residential, Meg is responsible for all development activities in the NY Metro area. Prior to joining Equity Residential in 2006, Meg was a Senior Director for Tishman Speyer in NY where she worked in the Global Portfolio Management group overseeing Tishman Speyer’s private equity real estate funds with over $15 billion in assets.  In addition, Meg managed the various development opportunities for Tishman Speyer primarily in New York City.  Prior to Tishman Speyer, Meg was with J.P Morgan in New York as well as with Wellington Management Company in Boston, MA.

Meg graduated cum laude from Duke University with an A.B. in Economics and German Literature, and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

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Michael Shvo is a recognized leader in the real estate industry and a visionary in the field of global luxury marketing. Since founding SHVO, Michael has garnered the attention and admiration of key players in the luxury residential condominium market by creating exceptional projects distinguished by trend-setting sales initiatives and swift, competitive sales results.

Drawing from his brokerage experience and his background in finance, Michael analyzes each project’s target market and helps create a product that not only meets the needs of the customer but surpasses their expectations before, during and after the sale is closed.

It is the richness of his experience, visionary thinking, and innovative approach to marketing a project that makes Michael and SHVO standouts in the industry. With his vast knowledge of the marketplace and the intricacies of the development process, he has become the leading design, marketing and sales strategist for developers and their properties across the globe. 

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Neil B. Bane is a Director of Carlton Advisory Services, Inc. Neil has over 20 years of combined real estate, structured finance, and private and institutional equity raising and placement experience. Mr. Bane has completed over $3.5 Billion of debt, equity and advisory transactions for many of the real estate, hospitality and development industry’s leading companies and investors. These transactions have included properties and companies located in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.

Neil Bane has spearheaded Carlton’s expansion into Europe, Asia and the Middle East, having initiated and/or completed many of Carlton’s notable European transactions including Strategic Joint Ventures, debt and equity financings in Germany, United Kingdom, Cyprus, Poland, Latvia, Romania, Russia, China and Ukraine. Mr. Bane is currently working on over $1 Billion in exclusive debt and equity transactions in Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, Ireland, China, US, Canada, Poland, and Latvia.

Mr. Bane’s responsibilities at Carlton include: i) originating, structuring and closing of complex debt and equity transactions; ii) structuring and raising of private and institutional equity for opportunity funds, international and domestic institutional investors and private investors and developers for specific portfolio and property specific transactions; iii) domestic and international investment sale advisory; as well as, iv) originating and placement of financing for performing and non-performing loan sale transactions. Neil is focused on expanding Carlton’s office, retail, condominium, hotel, industrial and multifamily finance and advisory business nationwide and into international markets with a strong focus on Canada, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Europe.

Prior to joining Carlton, Neil was involved in over $1 Billion of Conduit and Agency financing transactions through his various senior origination and underwriting positions while at ARCS Commercial Mortgage, LLC, and PW Funding, Inc. two leading Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Mortgage Banking firms, as well as, Citicorp Securities and Lehman Brothers, two leading conduit lenders.
 
Neil has extensive experience in all facets of real estate including: business origination and client development, complex loan and equity structuring, underwriting, due diligence, investment and property analytics and document and loan negotiations.
Mr. Bane holds an MBA from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management, a M.S. degree in Real Estate Valuation from New York University (Graduated with Distinction) and a Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy. Neil is a licensed real estate broker in New York and Massachusetts. Neil is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), and the Cornell Real Estate Council.   

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Oscar currently is one of the most sought after speakers in the real estate business; his style and techniques have inspired numerous real estate agents to build a successful career while having a life as well. His signature program Heavy Hitters is based on changing attitudes and teaches agents how to develop successful habits; graduates from this program are able to see results in the first seven days and on average increase their productivity by more than 80% over the next 12 months.

Oscar has trained over 6,000 real estate professionals in the US and Mexico and have had the honor to keynote many real estate conventions in both countries; recently he was invited to speak at two of the most influential international real estate conventions “Cityscape USA” and TRADEX, both being held in Sept. 2008 in New York and Mexico City.

With over 18 years experience and still practicing real estate, Oscar experiences the same situations today’s sales agents face.

Originally for Mexico, he has faced many challenges in order to build a successful career. These challenges now inspire agents all over the country to achieve higher levels of success and to remove self-imposed limitations.

Once you meet Oscar Marquez, you’re not likely to forget him. This dedicated father, passionate community volunteer and accomplished professional is sure to leave A Lasting Impression with his refreshingly optimistic attitude and warm, personable demeanor. But that’s just Oscar. He is determined to leave his mark on the world one person at a time. This personal goal, in fact, is the driving force behind Oscar’s real estate seminars. He finds his work to be so fulfilling because it gives him the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of real estate agents. If you’re in the real estate industry and are truly committed to succeed, call Oscar today. 

Contact Details:
180 Emily Ln.
Staten Island, Y 10312
Toll free in the US (888) 306-7248
Direct umber (917) 770-8336
www.OMSre.com
Oscar@OMSre.com

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Murad is a real estate entrepreneur and author of the acclaimed Manhattanizing Las Vegas series which has become a reference guide on Las Vegas development. Murad has been frequently quoted by national and international media. He speaks regularly at industry seminars and conferences across the nation and internationally.
 
Murad is the President of METROPLEX Group, a real estate brokerage, investment, and development group of companies.  Also, he instructs real estate professionals in his continuing education course, High-Rise 101: Becoming an Expert, accredited by the Real Estate Division of the State of Nevada.  Murad has studied in the US, Spain, and China and holds a degree in Finance and International Business from the University of Tulsa. He has lived and worked across the globe, and is fluent in English, Russian, and Spanish. 

He was recognized as one of the top 30 young real estate professionals in the nation and one of the “40 Under 40” leading business people by In Business Las Vegas. Murad is a strong advocate of environmental initiatives, smart growth, and sustainable development.

Mr. Murad assists sovereign funds, institutional and individual investors to invest in the US real estate market. 

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David Goswick is the Executive Director for Houston, Texas based Historic Real Estate Inc. Historic Real Estate is a private real estate investment and development company committed to creating the best places for people to live, work, play, stay, learn and be entertained. Historic Real Estate Inc. invests and partners with major private and public institutions to establish legacy developments that out perform the marketplace by leveraging more than 100 years of experience in placemaking around the world.  Historic Real Estate Inc.’s principals have been responsible for the establishment of innovative developments in seven countries, creating value of over 29 billion USD and superior livable environments for over one million people.

Prior to establishing Historic Real Estate Inc,  Mr. Goswick has ben recognized with over 300 real estate marketing awards representing top developments and companies in 35 U.S. markets.

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Kenneth J. Bacon is Fannie Mae’s executive vice president – Housing and Community Development (HCD). Reporting to the chief business officer (CBO), Bacon is responsible for the company's Multifamily guaranty book of business, which totals $163 billion as of June 30th, 2008.  He is also responsible for Community Lending, Community Investment, and the company’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit business.  Bacon began serving in this role on an interim basis in December 2004 and was named by the board of directors to the executive vice president’s position in July 2005. 

From 2000 to 2005, Bacon was Fannie Mae's senior vice president - Multifamily Lending & Investment, responsible for the management and marketing of Fannie Mae's portfolio of multifamily loans and investments, including the Delegated Underwriting and Servicing Lender franchise.

Before joining Fannie Mae in 1993, Bacon was director of the Office of Securitization of the Resolution Trust Corporation. He also spent eight years on Wall Street with Kidder Peabody & Co. and Morgan Stanley & Co., serving as an officer at each firm.

Bacon is on the board of directors for Comcast Corporation and Corporation for Supportive Housing. He is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and Urban Land Institute. Bacon was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition for his contributions to the Marshall Scholars program.

He has a master of business administration from the Harvard Business School, a master of science in international relations from the London School of Economics where he studied as a Marshall Scholar, and a bachelor of arts from Stanford University.

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