What's Driving Atlanta CRE?

Dr. Eloisa Klementich is President and CEO of Invest Atlanta. Previously, Eloisa served as managing director of business development at Invest Atlanta. In this position, she worked to attract new businesses and create initiatives that promoted job growth in Atlanta. Before coming to Invest Atlanta, Eloisa served as special assistant for economic development at the U.S. Economic Development Administration in the Office of the Secretary. She served as California’s assistant deputy secretary for economic development and commerce and has held various roles with city governments, including the consultant for Mexico’s President Vicente Fox, working on best practices for addressing constituent issues and requests. Eloisa holds a bachelor’s degree from Pitzer College and a master’s degree in business administration from el Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey. She holds two master’s degrees in urban planning and Latin American affairs from the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her doctorate degree in public administration from the University of LaVerne. Eloisa is also active in various business and civic organizations. She serves as a board member for the Latin American Civic Association, Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, Atlanta Technical College, Atlanta Workforce Development Agency, LaunchPad 2x, Startup Atlanta, and Atlanta Emerging Markets, Inc. A graduate of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2017, she is also involved with the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, Georgia Economic Development Association, and International Economic Development Council.

Michael leads the RPS North America Legacy Site Services group in RPS’s Atlanta office. He has over 26 years of experience in the management of a wide variety of environmental projects from due diligence assessments to full- scale remediation of various environmental media. Michael’s team assists clients in navigating and quantifying the complexities of environmental risk related to properties with legacy impact issues in the context of potential acquisitions of impacted properties to management of owned assets. Areas of expertise include experience and knowledge in: site investigations; corrective action planning; remedial design and implementation; regulatory agency interaction and negotiation; environmental litigation support; Brownfields property redevelopment; and remedial “cost to cure” evaluations.

Taylor joined Rubenstein Partners in 2015. As Regional Director of the Southeast, he is responsible for the firm’s investment and asset management activities in the region with a focus on Atlanta and Florida. Prior to Rubenstein Partners, Taylor worked at Tishman Speyer, HFF and Deutsche Bank Securities. He graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in History. Taylor is a member of PREA, ULI and Real Estate Group of Georgia.

Steve Langford specializes in investment sales transactions, serving as a strategic advisor to his clients in evaluating their property to determine the highest and best use to maximize value. He represents clients across the industrial, office, multifamily and retail sectors with a focus on the Atlanta Airport Aerotropolis, South Fulton County and Fulton Industrial submarkets of metro Atlanta. Steve works closely with his clients to understand their investment and business goals, guiding them at every step of the transaction process. This hands-on approach has enabled him to facilitate commercial real estate transactions valued at more than half a billion dollars – including many high-profile deals – and garnered him numerous accolades from clients nationwide. As an advisor to developers, he provides expertise in site selection, financial analysis, market feasibility and acquisitions/dispositions. He is currently working with the City of College Park, Ga., as the exclusive broker marketing land parcels for development at ATL Airport City, a planned $1-billion mixed-use development.

Kennedy Hicks is the Executive Vice President of Investments for Cousins. In this role, she is responsible for acquisitions, dispositions, investments in development and portfolio strategy. In July 2020, Kennedy was also named Managing Director of the Atlanta market, overseeing the operations and business development for the Company’s seven million square feet within the city. Prior to joining Cousins in 2018, Kennedy was a Managing Director with Eastdil Secured, a global real estate investment banking company. In this role, she was primarily responsible for advising and representing clients on equity sales or ventures for institutional office properties throughout the Sun Belt. During her tenure at Eastdil Secured, she was instrumental in securing and executing over $22 billion in office sale or joint venture assignments. Before joining Eastdil Secured, Kennedy was a Director of Finance with CBRE’s Southeast Office Investment Team. Education: B.B.A., University of Georgia Honors Program Memberships and Civic Involvement: Kennedy is a member of The Westminster Schools Alumni Board as well as the Atlanta Children’s Shelter Board.

A Tax Partner with Cherry Bekaert’s Real Estate & Construction industry group, Catherine advises clients on a variety of tax matters related to real estate operations and entity transactions. Her guidance extends to structuring tax-deferred transactions, partnership mergers and acquisitions, compensatory partnership interest issues, complex partnership allocation calculations, and inbound/ outbound foreign investments. Based in the Firm’s Atlanta practice, Catherine focuses on guiding commercial real estate clients. Starting her accounting career in 1995, she is experienced in tax planning and preparation for real estate owners, developers, investors, and high-net-worth individuals. Catherine also has familiarity working with multinational real estate investors and multistate partnerships, providing both tax minimization and optimization strategies. Catherine was a real estate tax director at a local CPA practice before joining Cherry Bekaert. She also served as a senior tax manager with an Atlanta-based CPA firm.

Alex Valente is the Executive Vice President for the Southeast Region at Piedmont Office Realty Trust, an Atlanta based Office REIT. He is responsible for overseeing Piedmont's Southeast Region, with assets in excess of $1.2 billion and comprised of approximately five million square feet located in Atlanta and Orlando, including all transactional activity, development, leasing and asset management. During his 15-year tenure at Piedmont, he has worked on many complex transactions including directly negotiating leases totaling more than 4 million square feet with some of Piedmont’s largest tenants. In addition to the Southeast, Alex has served several of Piedmont's other markets including the Midwest and Northeast Regions. Prior to his current role in the Southeast, he served as Senior Vice President for Piedmont’s Midwest Region and was based in Chicago.

Adam Schwegman is a seasoned leasing strategist with significant experience in the culinary, entertainment and hospitality industries. Adam joined NAP in 2019 as partner and senior vice president of retail leasing. In this role, he is leading NAP’s leasing team focusing on an experiential merchandise mix at each of NAP Atlanta’s projects, including Avalon in Alpharetta, Ga.; Colony Square in Midtown Atlanta, Ga.; High Street in Dunwoody, Ga.; Revel in Gwinnett County, Ga.; and Riverton in Sayreville, NJ. Throughout his career, Adam has worked with some of the country’s premier mixed-use and open-air destinations. Prior to joining NAP, Schwegman served as senior vice president for Brookfield Properties (formerly GGP), where he launched Eat/Drink, a national team responsible for all food and beverage deals across the country. Under his leadership, he expanded Brookfield’s food and beverage within the portfolio from 6% to 13% with over $2 billion in annual sales. He also conceptualized several food halls, including Flagship Commons and District at Oakbrook. Adam has lived in Atlanta for 18 years. He was first introduced to the hospitality industry through work at several upscale restaurants in high school and college. After college, he worked as a real estate associate for Bank of America, a senior associate at Robert Charles Lesser & Co., LLC and as a senior leasing representative at Cousins Properties, where he was responsible for leasing Emory Point, Terminus and The Avenues, among others. Adam holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration, finance and real estate from the University of Tennessee. In addition to his career, Adam is involved in several professional development organizations. He is a graduate from Urban Land Institute’s Center for Leadership Inaugural class and Buckhead Business Association’s Leadership Buckhead. Adam is very active within the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), including Co-Chairing the 2018 ICSC Food for Thought Conference. Outside of the office, Adam enjoys traveling, woodworking and reading.

Windsor Stevens Managing Partner Rod Mullice is an experienced developer who believes deeply in the crucial role the built environment plays in creating healthy communities. His vision is not just about creating spaces where people live, work and play. His approach to development focuses on crafting a built environment that encourages social interaction, technological innovation, environmental sustainability, and transportation options, facilitating the Connected Lifestyle. Rod has closed on over $150 million in transactions of urban development, financing and acquisitions since 2009. He led the team that renewed the leases of a 217,000 square foot office building in Historic Downtown College Park for the Federal Aviation Administration Southern Regional headquarters. Rod successfully conceived, planned, financed and managed the construction of the $20.9 million apartment community, The Pad on Harvard, next to the College Park, GA, MARTA Station as the Managing Partner of Air Realty, LLC. The Pad opened for residents in December 2017 and is now at 96% occupancy. He has recently completed construction on Phase I of Temple Square, a $5 million townhouse community in College Park Rod has engaged actively with the College Park community by initiating the Rose Stevens Mullice Academic Achievement Awards at College Park Elementary School, named for his mother. He serves on the City of Atlanta’s Office of Buildings Technical Advisory Committee; the Aerotropolis Atlanta Alliance Board of Directors; the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors Board of Directors, who’s Mentoring Committee he chairs, and a member of its Million Dollar Club, the Urban Land Institute Committee. He Born in Liberty County, GA, where his multigenerational family ties continue, Rod is a graduate of Savannah State University with a BA in Political Science and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design Advanced Management Development Program. Since the success of The Pad on Harvard and the launch of College Park’s special TOD District, which he actively supported, Rod has been invited to speak to a number of professional organizations. His presentation offers insight about the benefits of TOD and how to leverage transit for thriving communities.

Jeffrey Graham entered the Property Tax Consulting industry with The Stallings Group in 2008 as a Consultant. He aided in the growth of The Stallings Group’s residential property tax appeal portfolio, and worked closely with the Stallings Group team to build his knowledge base in the commercial property side of the industry. Commercial property tax appeals became the focus, and Jeffrey Graham managed accounts for reputable clients such as Hines, Cbre, and Colliers. In 2012 The Stallings Group was sold to Paradigm Tax Group, at which point Jeffrey Graham was offered a position specializing in Commercial property tax appeals around the Southeast. After two years received a promotion to the level of Managing Consultant, which focused on the larger accounts with national portfolios of property. In that position he was involved with client management, new client sales, team building, strategic planning for the Southeast office. Jeffrey Graham consistently led the Southeast office in new clients sales, and learned a great deal about the marketing side of the industry. In 2016 Jeffrey Graham along with Bill Graham formed The Graham Group, which is a southeastern based property tax consulting firm. Jeffrey Graham has taken the roll of managing partner; along with managing client’s partners with Bill in the Growth of the client base, team, and reputation of The Graham Group. Jeffrey Graham and The Graham Group represent clients with Office, retail, Multi-family, Hotel, and Industrial portfolios. Jeffrey Represents clients with portfolios ranging from a single property to well over a hundred. Jeffrey specializes in property valuation thru multiple valuation methods such as Income analysis, comparable property analysis, Sales analysis, and cost of development analysis. Jeffrey has achieved many property value reductions over the years, and worked to partner with property owners and managers to ensure their property tax burdens reduced to favorable levels. One specific property reduction success story involves a Midtown Atlanta trophy office tower; the Fair Market Value of the property was lowered nearly 60 million dollars, which resulted in a tax savings of roughly 1.1 Million dollars. Jeffrey Graham is driven to see The Graham Group grow and build long lasting client relationships. He strives to be an active partner with taxing jurisdictions around the southeast, and continue to build his knowledge base of local legislation and tax laws.

Charles Pinkham III is Senior Vice President of Development for Portman Holdings. With nearly two decades of commercial real estate experience, Charles is responsible for sourcing, structuring, and executing developments across the United States. He manages program conceptualization, entitlement, design, construction, and transition to operations for a multitude of developments, including office, hotel, life science, retail, and mixed-use projects. Charles has worked for Portman Holdings for more than 15 years, previously leading development finance in Portman’s Shanghai office. Prior to joining Portman Holdings, he worked for WestWind Capital Partners on the asset management team overseeing a trophy office and class-A retail portfolio valued at $2.5 billion. Before WestWind, he worked in private equity for Eads & Heald Investment Counsel. Charles currently serves on the NAIOP Mixed-Use Development National Forum and is a member of the Real Estate Group of Atlanta. He is active in his community, serving on the stewardship board and volunteering for East Cobb Church, as well as serving on the board for O’Kelley Servant Leadership, an affiliate of the Atlanta Children’s Foundation. Charles earned a BBA degree in Finance from The University of Georgia.

Ken Kraft is the founder of the Parker Hudson Real Estate practice group. Over the course of his 40+ year career he has worked on billions of dollars’ worth of real estate transactions and more than 25,000,000 square feet of leases, in deals at all levels of complexity. His experience, judgment and reputation ensure that his clients are in the optimum position to achieve their objectives. A former senior executive for Atlanta developer Taylor & Mathis and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Ken truly understands and is oriented to the business of commercial real estate. He represents owners, lenders, and developers in the purchase, sale, financing, and development of office, industrial, residential, and hotel real estate. In addition, Ken regularly represents clients in large national headquarters leases and leasing of retail locations throughout the United States. Ken is steadfastly committed to seeing his clients’ deals through to a successful conclusion. The breadth of his experience over the commercial real estate landscape enables Ken innately to understand not only the needs of his clients, but also those of his clients’ counterparties, and thereby devise solutions that work without compromising client goals. One client described Ken’s leadership and creativity succinctly: "He cuts through the clutter" – Chambers USA 2017.

Fain Hicks, partner at S.J. Collins Enterprises, has more than 22 years of commercial real estate experience. His expertise lies with deal and capital structuring and is focused on sourcing new development opportunities and expanding the firm’s capital relationships. Prior to joining S.J. Collins Enterprises, Hicks was the managing director of Cushman & Wakefield. He also spent 10 years in the commercial real estate finance arena in New York City and Atlanta with JP Morgan and Wachovia Securities. He has been directly involved with more than $4 billion of investment property transactions and traditional and structured financings. Hicks is a Georgia native and received his bachelor’s degree in finance and real estate from the University of Georgia. He is a licensed real estate broker in Georgia and Alabama and is a member of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors, International Council of Shopping Centers, ACBR Million Dollar Club and a Certified Commercial Investment Member. Fain has a long-term perspective and a people and relationship’s first philosophy. He is involved with several nonprofit organizations and is a member of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church where he has served in numerous roles including Board of Trustees Chair. He lives in Buckhead with his wife, Kereth, and two daughters.

Jaren Abedania is Vice President of Real Estate at Westside Future Fund, overseeing housing development that addresses the crisis of affordability and honors the neighborhoods’ unique character. Prior to joining WFF, he led capital projects at DeKalb County that enhanced the safety and functionality of public facilities. Before moving to Atlanta, Jaren worked at 3CDC, a private nonprofit real estate developer preserving the historic buildings of Over-the-Rhine and Downtown Cincinnati. He received his Master of Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati, his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Georgia Tech, and is a member of LEAD Atlanta Class of 2020. He also serves on the Board of We Love Buford Highway, a nonprofit preserving the multicultural identity of Atlanta's Buford Highway. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Jaren, his wife Moira, and son Elijah, live in Reynoldstown with their bird dog.