Austin's Hottest Projects: Construction & Development

As the president of the newest addition to the MFG consortium, Manchester Texas Financial Group, Douglas W. Manchester represents Manchester Financial Group and all Texas holdings in the capital city of Austin, Texas. Manchester earned his BA in Political Science with a minor in Business from Wake Forest University. Following graduation, he has applied his business knowledge in all aspects of the hotel, insurance and real estate industries. This career path has led him to Austin to engage the firm in commercial real estate ventures and hotel development.

Alan Holt has devoted his career as an architect to promote well planned communities through urban design. After obtaining his Master of Architecture from Columbia University, Alan spent his early career working for architectural offices in NYC. From there he went on to practice in Massachusetts, and became the City Architect for the City of New Bedford. He moved to Maine, where he was the City of Portland’s Urban Design Officer, and later established and ran his own planning and design firm for eight years. In 2010 he left New England for Austin, Texas, to become a Principal Planner for the Urban Design Division of the City of Austin. In his current job, Alan led the creation of the South Central Waterfront Plan, which was adopted by the City Council in 2016, and he now oversees the plan’s implementation. This plan provides a path to harness the coming tidal wave of redevelopment in this area to expand parks, trails, and great public spaces, and to promote the creation of hundreds of units of affordable housing. The American Planning Association awarded the South Central Waterfront Plan the Sustainable Urban Design Plan for 2017. Alan is active in the American Institute of Architects, and he has served as the chair of the Urban Design Committees for both the AIA Austin chapter, and for the Texas Society of Architects. Currently he serves on the national AIA Regional and Urban Design Committee Leadership Group. In 2015, AIA Austin awarded him the Community Service Award for his leadership with the South Central Waterfront Initiative.

Blair Nelson has spent the last decade of her career as a commercial office landlord representative. After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin, Blair spent 7 years working for Transwestern, a full service third party commercial real estate firm, splitting her time between Austin and Dallas. In 2015, Blair delightedly moved back to Austin to join her current company, Brandywine Realty Trust. Brandywine is a publically traded REIT headquartered in Philadelphia with Austin being one of its three focus markets. Brandywine is one of the largest landlords in Austin owning 2.7 M existing SF with 6.8 M either under development or under construction. Blair is active with The Junior League of Austin, Andy Roddick Foundation Leadership Council, Urban Land Institute, Real Estate Council of Austin and the Commercial Brokers Association. In 2016, she earned the designation of the Austin Business Journal’s #1 commercial landlord leasing representative and is currently nominated for the 2018 Austin Under 40 awards in the real estate category. Blair’s favorite hobbies are traveling, exercising and movie going with her husband, Will, and loving on her zoo consisting of a golden retriever, Labrador, two dachshunds and a ragdoll cat.

Jesse Weber joined Newmark Knight Frank in 2012 and oversees the firm’s Central Texas business out of Austin TX. Mr. Weber's expertise is in the representation of tenants and owners worldwide in office leasing and sale transactions. In addition to traditional real estate functions, Mr. Weber advises several private equity and venture capital firms on portfolio real estate due diligence. Mr. Weber's most significant assignments at NKF include:  Exclusive leasing agency for Building and Land Technology's 4.0 million SF Harbor Point mixed-use development  Representation of several international business units ranging in size from 15,000 - 300,000 SF in sophisticated, state incentive-driven transactions  Successful investment sales of retail shopping centers, office buildings and land developments with a total transaction volume valued in excess of $100.0 million  Real estate advisory for Ascension Health, one of the nation's largest healthcare systems Prior to joining Newmark Knight Frank, Mr. Weber worked for a global real estate platform where he formed a thorough knowledge of all facets of commercial real estate. His unique skill-set allows him to provide advisory on projects ranging from the re-adaptive use of former industrial properties to national incentive-driven corporate relocations. He has been the proud recipient of NKF's Rising Star Award, CoStar's Power Broker Award and 914Inc's Westchester's Top Real Estate Broker award. Mr. Weber is currently a licensed real estate broker in the states of Texas, Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. Most recently, he led NKF to become a lead investor in Opportunity Austin, an economic development initiative aimed at recruiting the best and brightest companies to Central Texas. Mr. Weber is also an active member of the University of Texas REFIC Advisory Council, UCONN Alumni Association, Austin Technology Council and TeXchange.. Through his affiliation with CTAN, he also spends time advising and investing in startups. Prior to his career in real estate, Mr. Weber held corporate sales positions at Nike and ADP. He enjoys life in the Austin Hill Country with his wife and children. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:  University of Texas REFIC Advisory Council  UCONN Alumni Association  Austin Technology Council and TeXchange

Brian Rosen joined Accesso Partners, LLC in August, 2013 as Managing Director, Acquisitions. He is responsible for identifying and executing new investment opportunities for the company, and is tasked with overseeing its acquisitions process. He works closely with senior management in developing the company’s acquisition strategy. Previously, Brian was a Principal at Investcorp in New York City and a member of its Real Estate Group where he had senior level responsibility for acquisitions and asset management across all major property classes. Earlier, he was an associate specializing in acquisitions for Lend Lease Real Estate Investment. Brian earned a BA in History from the University of Pennsylvania.

John C. Rosato applies his 30 years of commercial real estate experience to all of Southwest Strategies' four service areas of planning and development, investments, brokerage, and public agency consulting. He has been a general partner in over 30 real estate partnerships responsible for the management of all activities of the partnerships including acquisition, development, financing and investor relations. He was a general partner and planning consultant for the 230,000-square-foot Penn Field, named the Best Mixed-Use Development of 2004 by the Austin Business Journal. He manages real estate acquisitions and leasing for Austin Travis County MHMR, a public agency with more than 60 commercial and residential buildings. Mr. Rosato recently coordinated project management for a $9 million joint public works project for the City of Austin and Travis County, and has provided relocation consulting for those displaced by construction of State Highway 130. He is currently the Managing Partner for Seaholm, a $150M mixed use development in downtown Austin. Mr. Rosato earned a Master of Science in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas School of Architecture. A licensed real estate broker, he has furthered his education with courses in the psychology of marketing, real estate contracts and appraisal. He serves as President of the Heritage Society of Austin and was the Chair of the Downtown Austin Alliance board of directors. Previously he served on the Citizens Planning Committee, the Robert Mueller Redevelopment Task Force, and the Capital Metro develop enhancement guidelines for South Congress Avenue, and he has provided consulting services to Victoria Bank and the University Catholic Center at UT. His memberships include ULI, International Right of Way Association, Commercial-Investment Division of the Austin Board of Realtors and the Commercial Leasing Brokers Association.

Jason has extensive experience in the development, leasing, and financing of retail, mixed-use, and multifamily projects, as well as the creation of master-planned residential communities. Currently, he is leading the development of a 900,000-square-foot urban mixed-use project in East Austin that will include 110,000 square feet of retail, 140,000 square feet of office, and 800 multi-family units. Jason has previously worked on numerous acquisitions, developed Class A office projects totaling 440,000 square feet, completed a 39-acre infill retail/residential project, and launched multiple retail/entertainment centers on military bases throughout the country for a government client. In addition to his development work, Jason co-leads Endeavor Real Estate Group’s partnership with Prophet Capital Management on a $600-million fund focused on real estate finance securities. Prior to joining Endeavor in 2007, Jason was Director of Retail Development at Billingsley Company. Education and Credentials The University of Texas at Austin, Bachelor of Business Administration, Finance, 2002 Professional and Community Involvement Commercial Leasing Brokers Association Real Estate Council of Austin.

Michael Hsu, FAIA, IIDA is the founder and principal of Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, a fully integrated architecture and interior design firm. MHOA was founded in 2005 and employs 90 team members across studios in Austin and Houston, with additional staff members in Dallas and Denver. MHOA is a nationally award-winning firm, including AIA Austin’s Firm of the Year in 2016. Hsu graduated from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture and has practiced in Austin since 1998. Hsu is the Texas Society of Architects Austin Chapter Director, and a member of the UT School of Architecture’s Advisory Council. He is a Past President of AIA Austin and was elevated to AIA’s College of Fellows in 2021.