Future of Aerotropolis Atlanta

A native of Albany, GA, Shannon W. James Sr. received a full Men’s Basketball scholarship to Valdosta State University. While in undergrad, he became Polemarch of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc and active member in Students In Free Enterprise. He would obtain his Bachelor of Business Administration in both Management & Marketing in 2004. Immediately post undergrad, he would begin his 15yr career in banking starting as a part-time teller and customer service representative. He would soon become the first African-American accepted into the Park Avenue Bank Management Trainee Program in 2005. Upon MTP graduation, James would be promoted to Jr. Commercial Lender in the Gwinnett County market and later Special Assets & OREO, Banking Officer during the great recession (2008-2011). In 2011, Mr. James accepted a position with SunTrust Bank as VP, Commercial Banking. He would be recognized in both 2012 and 2013 as a Platinum Performance Award Winner for the Diversified Commercial Division for both new commercial loan and deposit portfolio growth. He entered a new challenge in 2017, by accepting a role with Branch Banking & Trust as Vice President of Commercial Banking serving Middle Markets. During this time, James would serve as Chairman of Investor/Finance Committee for Aerotropolis Atlanta Alliance (AeroATL) and Chief Financial Officer for South Fulton Chamber Of Commerce, where he received Board Member of the Year. In 2018, AeroATL leadership would unanimously elect him as Chairman of the Board of Directors and later to his current role as President and CEO. He currently leads the non-profit mission to serve as a catalyst for regional economic competitiveness in the Aerotropolis region and vision of creating a world- class destination for all those who live, learn, work and play in the Aerotropolis. Under James leadership, the organization has created a 501(c)(3), received numerous awards and considered a change agent for the region. In 2021 and 2022, Mr. James was honored by Atlanta Magazine as a Top 500 Most Powerful Leader in Metro Atlanta. He currently serves as Secretary for ATL Airport Community Improvement Districts, Advisory Board Member for LISC Atlanta, Clayton State University College of Business, Bisnow, Clayton County Public Schools and Head Basketball Coach for his son’s 14U AAU Team. A committed husband and father of three, James attributes much of his foundation to the skills and knowledge he received while attending the Boys and Girls Clubs of America in Albany, GA. A former Youth of the Year, James credits the program for providing much needed community resources like mentors, structure, and hope.

Ryan Millsap is the Chairman and CEO of Blackhall Studios and the Founder and CEO of Irinda Capital Management, LLC. In his role as Chairman and CEO at Blackhall, Ryan oversees the long and short term strategy of the studios, staying involved on a daily basis to provide leadership and direction for the company and its assets. Ryan lead the original capitalization of Wild Hair Media in Los Angeles and remains a significant shareholder in that organization today and he was an Executive Producer on the 2014 film “Shake the Dust”. He is also a member of the Adjunct Faculty at the University of Southern California (USC). Ryan has played a principal level role in the capitalization, acquisition, and management of more than $1.2B in real estate assets, including more than 12,000 apartments in cities across the nation from Savannah to Los Angeles. Since 2008, his companies have acquired $800MM in real estate assets, primarily via arranging joint venture arrangements with several prominent pension fund advisors, University Endowments and a publicly traded REIT.

Kevin has 20 years of experience in the development, leasing, management and sales of industrial and office properties and during that time has worked with many real estate companies in Atlanta, Georgia. Kevin founded Grove Street Partners in April 2004 with a single premise – focus on the quality and success of your partners. As President of Grove Street Partners, Kevin is responsible for all aspects of strategic planning, raising equity, development, leasing and management of institutional quality office and industrial properties. From 1996 through 2003 Kevin served as Senior Vice President of Carter, a full service real estate company based in Atlanta. His responsibilities included the oversight of all leasing within Carter’s property management and project leasing portfolio. Prior to this role, Kevin served with the investment advisor group, targeting strategic acquisitions and dispositions for clients and coordinating Carter’s regional effort to expand its third-party leasing and management portfolio. During his career, Kevin has leased in excess of 5 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space. He joined Carter & Associates in 1996 as director of marketing after successful four-year tenure with Koll Management Services. While at Koll, Kevin was director of leasing with responsibility for a 1 million square-foot portfolio of office and business park space located in Atlanta and Raleigh, North Carolina. He was also active in developing industrial space for various investors. From 1984 to 1993, Kevin served as vice president with Kern & Company, a local real estate development, leasing and management company where he was part of the team responsible for the development and leasing of the firm’s office and industrial portfolio totaling 3 million square feet.

Brett Duke joined Atlantic | Pacific Real Estate Group in 2012 and has over 15 years of real estate experience in acquisitions, asset management, development, and investment sales. His primary role within the organization is to manage the investment portfolio and assist with new acquisitions. Prior to joining A|P, Mr. Duke was an Asset Manager with Rialto Capital Management, where he managed a portfolio of non-performing debt valued at over $60 million and participated in the acquisition of more than $500 million of commercial real estate loans and REO. Prior to Rialto, Mr. Duke was the Development Manager for Perennial Properties, a boutique multi-family investment and development firm primarily focused on developing mixed-use projects in the city of Atlanta. In this role, Mr. Duke participated in site-selection, underwriting, due diligence, zoning, financing, project execution, and economic stabilization. Mr. Duke began his career working in financial analysis and modeling in both consulting and investment sales/investment banking roles. In this capacity he worked at several high profile firms to include LNR Property Corporation and Grubb & Ellis, among others. Mr. Duke is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a B.B.A. in finance.

Monte Wilson is a Division Vice President and the Director of Jacobs’ Advance Planning Group – a specialized team focused on Business & Real Estate Strategies, Portfolio & Facilities Planning, Master Planning, Urban Design, Landscape Architecture and Visual Media. Monte is also the global Practice Leader for Cities and Places. In addition to his leadership role in defining the strategic direction for the practice, Monte serves as a Project Principal and strategist on key assignments such as the Stitch, the original vision for the Park over 400, the South Fulton Parkway Corridor Plan and the Atlanta Aerotropolis Blueprint. Monte is passionate about city-scale sustainability and the effective integration of infrastructure and the public realm. He is focused on applying systems thinking to address the range of issues facing communities and cities and his strategic planning, community building and urban redevelopment work spans more than a dozen countries on aerotropolis, airport city, mixed-use, transit-oriented development, university, research and corporate projects. Monte is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and a former Chair of the Atlanta District Council. He is a charter member of the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) and currently sits on the board of the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF). Monte graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture and speaks globally on urban design and planning issues. Monte lives in Atlanta with his wife and three children and sits on the board of a local nonprofit (L.E.A.D.) focused on empowering at risk inner city youth.

As Project Director at McCarthy Building Companies, Justis Brogan has spent the majority of his 15-year construction career working on large, complex projects in urban settings. Prior to 2016, Justis completed over $330 million worth of construction work with clients such as Emory University Hospital, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Georgia State University. He is currently working on the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Central Passenger Terminal Complex Landside Modernization project. Justis serves as the onsite team lead on this $266 million job, which notably includes the construction of canopies over the North and South Terminal roadways at the world’s busiest and most efficient airport. Justis, a mechanical engineering graduate from Georgia Institute of Technology, is LEED AP BD+C certified and lives with his wife and two kids in Marietta where he is an active member of First Presbyterian Church.

Beginning his career in the Atlanta real estate market in 1983, Tom Parker provides the experience of four complete business cycles and the challenges faced in both up and down markets. His responsibilities include the management of team efforts involving marketing and leasing for all properties contained within the company portfolio whether owned or managed on a third party basis throughout the Southeastern United States.Tom has a proven 35 year track record of successful project marketing based upon a concise tactical plan created from in-depth strategic analysis of a particular submarket in which a property is located. His approach is centered on the creation of value in real assets. In addition, he is responsible for the development of new client relations and the creation of new development and investment opportunities through the interaction of the team with private, corporate and institutional clients combining a variety of disciplines including property management, construction management, project engineering services and project accounting including lease administration services.Tom is a former Director of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors and a Life Member of the Million Dollar Club. He is married with two children.

Steve Berman developed his first office building in 1988 and founded OA Development in 1993. Steve has since led OA to develop and acquire more than three million square feet of industrial and office space, becoming a market leader in the commercial real estate industry; working with tenants such as: Coca Cola, General Dynamics, ADP, Bank of America, Porsche, Lonza, Sumitomo and Toys R Us. OA Development has been active in Georgia, Ohio, Florida and North Carolina. Steve engages a wide range of issues in publications including The Atlanta Business Chronicle, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Forward and The Atlanta Jewish Times. He is a graduate of the Wexner Heritage Program and is an active community leader. Steve has served as President of the Greenfield Hebrew Academy, The Jewish Vocational Service (now Jewish Family and Career Service), and he is a co-founder and Past President of The Weber School. He serves on the Founding National Board of Young Judaea. Steve earned his BA in Political Science from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. He resides in Atlanta with his wife. Steve enjoys biking and running.

Michael Hightower is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Collaborative Firm, LLC which provides urban planning, architectural support, program management and development services to governmental entities, private sector clients and nonprofits. Founded in 2001, The Collaborative Firm provides a wealth of experience in public policy, with an emphasis on planning, economic development and local governance issues. The Firm’s value is particularly evident through his proven track record of forging public-private partnerships in different communities throughout metropolitan Atlanta. Prior to establishing The Collaborative Firm, Michael served for more than fourteen years as Fulton County Commissioner. Additionally, he served more than seven years on the College Park City Council. During much of his tenure on the Board of Commissioners, Michael served as Vice-Chairman, and was a member of several boards and committees. He also served as President of the National Association of Counties (NACo), which includes over 3,000 counties nationwide, and focused on welfare reform, affordable housing and sustainable communities. In 2003, Michael through The Collaborative Firm, established South Metro Development Outlook, an annual forum for the purpose of convening planning, development, finance, real estate and local government professionals with an interest in fostering smart growth in the south metro area, including Clayton, Coweta, Douglas, Fayette, Henry, Spalding, and South Fulton Counties, as well as the City of Atlanta. Since its inception, the forum has attracted over 600 attendees annually. Some of Michael’s current affiliations include the Aerotroplois Alliance, Urban Land Institute, Airport Area, Clayton County, Douglas County and South Fulton Chambers of Commerce. Just a few of his past affiliations include his service as a member of the Woodruff Arts Center Board, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority Policy Committee, Americans for the Arts, 100 Black Men and the Atlanta Urban League Board. He has served as the Chair of the Fulton County Retirement Board, as well as Chairman of the South Fulton Community Resource Alliance, Inc. Michael has received nearly 300 awards and recognitions from entities such as The White House, National Association of Counties, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Ebony Magazine, the South Fulton Chamber of Commerce, Clark Atlanta University, Georgia State University, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and numerous churches, colleges, schools and organizations. Michael graduated from Clark Atlanta University with honors and completed additional management studies at Georgia State University. He and his wife Sandra have one daughter, Evie and live in southwest Atlanta.