Baltimore Multifamily Boom!

Dick's real estate experience began as a child observing his father's company, Manekin LLC, as it played an integral part in the revitalization of downtown Baltimore and the growth of the Baltimore-Washington Corridor. Upon graduating from the University of Maryland, Dick spent the next twenty-one years with Manekin, LLC. Learning the Baltimore-Washington markets, he participated in the expansion of the firm from 10 employees to 150 employees becoming a managing partner and departing in 1990 to pursue non-real estate endeavors. In the mid 1990's, Dick became restless to get back into the business and joined CB Richard Ellis as a Senior Vice President. Over the next five years, Dick specialized in adding value to office buildings by representing Landlords. In 2000, Dick formed Corinthian Realty Partners to create value and provide superior returns to investor partners through the acquisition, development, repositioning and management of real estate assets. Following the "Great Recession", Dick joined forces with former CBRE associates Doug Schmidt and Neil Tucker at Chesapeake Real Estate Group. He continues today with Doug and Neil as part of WorkShop Development.

Jeff is responsible for expanding joint venture opportunities and overseeing a pipeline that exceeds $1 billion of mixed-use and multifamily developments throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. He has led the development of various communities, including Liberty Harbor East, Anthem House, Cathedral Commons, Union Wharf, The Fitzgerald, Flats170 at Academy Yard and Arbors at Arundel Preserve. Prior to joining Bozzuto in 2004, Jeff was Director of Development for Signature Properties in Baltimore City. Jeff is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, a board member of the inner-city youth UMAR Boxing Program: “No Hooks Before Books,” and the multifamily council chair for the Maryland Building Industry Association. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Maryland, College Park where he graduated magna cum laude and he co-founded the school’s Real Estate Development Club.

Gordon Godat is a founding partner and principal at JP2 Architects as well as a LEED Accredited Professional. He serves as lead designer for projects in mixed-use and multi- family developments, office, retail, hospitality and entertainment driven projects. His designs have won numerous design awards from not only the architectural community, but also from the development community. Gordon also serves as the firm’s director of design.

I have been in the construction industry for over 25 years. I have been working at Whiting-Turner for the past 18 years. Although I have completed many different types of construction I focused on Multifamily construction over the past 9 years.

Nakita Reed co-founded Encore Sustainable Design, LLC to focus on good design, preservation, and making buildings more sustainable. She is a licensed architect skilled in the design of restoration and adaptive reuse projects. Mrs. Reed has been the LEED Accredited Professional on many new and historic buildings and is well versed in ways to incorporate sustainable features into new and existing buildings. She has experience working with various governmental agencies - from counties to GSA, the Navy and Veteran Affairs Administration. She is trained in multiple sustainability platforms, including LEED and Green Globes. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia. She completed her graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania where she earned her Master’s of Architecture, Master’s of Science in Historic Preservation, and certificate in Ecological Architecture. She is Chair of the Maryland Green Building Council - a governor appointed position focused on advancing green building throughout the state of Maryland - and serves on numerous boards throughout the state of Maryland including Preservation Maryland and the Alice Ferguson Foundation.

Andrea "Dee" McClure, managing director, is responsible for all aspects of financing including structuring, origination, closing and deal management for Agency transactions. Ms. McClure has more than 25 years of experience and has originated over $2 billion in Agency financings throughout her career. A frequent panelist and speaker at many of the industry’s core conferences, she is actively involved in the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and serves a vice-chair of the Multifamily Blue Product Council. She is also a member of the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) and NMHC’s Government Investment Credit and Subsidy Subcommittee. Additional, Ms. McClure is active in the National Leased Housing Association (NHLA) and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the leading national trade association representing the lending community. Ms. McClure is the past chair of MBA’s Multifamily Committee, Steering Committee and the FHA Insurance Subcommittee, and continues to be involved in legislative, regulatory and policy issues affecting multifamily and healthcare finance. She holds the Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) designation. Prior to joining Walker & Dunlop, Ms. McClure served as senior vice president at CWCapital LLC where she played an integral role in the firm’s FHA lending strategy and multifamily and healthcare lending programs.

Mr Ernst Valery is a co-managing member of SAA | EVI and shares overall responsibility for the day-to-day operations and execution of SAA | EVI projects and relationships. Mr. Valery has successfully invested in and developed real estate in Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Pennsylvania; Virginia; California; and New York. For the past 16 years, he has been involved with development projects ranging from mixed-use, multi-tenant rental properties, single-family renovations and condominium conversions. Mr. Valery is the founder and president of SAA | EVI affiliate Ernst Valery Investments Corp. (EVI), a private, minority-owned real estate investment firm established in 2001. EVI invests in select underserved and undervalued key emerging domestic real estate markets, defined as urban transitional areas with high residential and retail demand. Mr. Valery has extensive experience in affordable and market rate housing development and investment, including providing due diligence capabilities and extensive skills in budget planning, design development, marketing, and the supervision and guidance of contractors, architects and engineers. He is responsible for the securing and structuring of financing, including expertise in securing Historic and New Markets tax credits. Mr. Valery is also active in social entrepreneurship and volunteer work, including a collaboration with a team of professionals and graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Community Innovators Lab (MIT CoLab) as well as efforts at incubating businesses around the world that help alleviate poverty and increase the earning potential of low income individuals, families, and communities. Mr. Valery graduated from Columbia University’s Master of Science program in Real Estate Development. He also obtained a Master’s Degree in Policy Analysis and Public Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban and Regional Planning with a concentration in International Relations, both from Cornell University. Ernst is also a Mel King Community Fellow at MITs CoLab.

Christine Espenshade joined JLL in 2010 and leads the Mid-Atlantic Multifamily team of nine professionals. She is responsible for business development, financial underwriting and representing owners in the sale of multifamily assets in the Mid- Atlantic region spanning Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. With more than 20 years of experience in the multifamily industry, Christine has held positions at JPI, Archon Group, and MuniMae. During her tenure with JLL, Christine has managed the sale or recapitalization of more than $5.5 billion in multifamily investments throughout the U.S. In addition to her portfolio management and disposition roles, Christine's experience includes the development of student, senior, and family housing, property management, construction management, accounting, valuation policy and underwriting. Christine earned her bachelor of arts degree in the Department of Politics at Princeton University and was named one of Baltimore Magazine’s “40 Under 40” and as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by The Daily Record in 2014 and 2017. Christine chairs the annual fund for The Calvert School and was recently honored as a Heroine of Washington by the March of Dimes for her philanthropic work. Christine also serves as a trustee at the Enoch Pratt Library and the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. More recently, Christine was recognized as a “Star to Watch” by Commercial Property Executive Magazine.

Derek Olszanowski, Vice President-Asset Management, has over 15 years of experience in multi-family operations and is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the residential portfolio for Chesapeake Realty Partners. At CRP, Mr. Olszanowski has been responsible for nearly $1B of assets, including disposition of over $500M of multi-family property. Prior to joining CRP, he served as the Corporate Trainer, among other roles for Bozzuto Management and was a Regional Property Manager with The Dolben Company. He earned a BS in Education from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Jason Schwartzberg is a leading energy entrepreneur who thrives on incubating ideas, cultivating collaborations and producing results. He’s a pioneer in energy cost reduction for residential and commercial property owners, and now he’s on the cusp of revolutionizing the green building industry across Maryland. For the past 13 years, Jason has played an integral role in making energy marketing, real estate development, and economic development endeavors successful. Having spent a decade in the banking and real estate industries, Jason identified the need for an energy company that could help the real estate community reduce energy spend to maximize profitability. He ended up co-founding two innovative companies and is the visionary behind MD Energy Advisors and PointClickSwitch.com. As president, he’s helped MD Energy Advisors become the outsourced energy department of choice for more than 100 million square feet of commercial real estate. For its clients, MD Energy implements solutions in areas including energy efficiency, renewables and electricity, and natural gas procurement. PointClickSwitch.com focuses on the residential customer and has helped consumers save more than $10 million in utility costs annually with its unique comparison shopping platform. Jason is also at the frontier of an emerging market of financing that is transforming real estate development for the commercial and industrial property owner. Jason is looking forward to helping clients use Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (CPACE) financing to significantly shrink their cost of capital for energy and water-related project improvements. Applications include new construction, repositions, energy and water-related capital projects, energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy installations. Prior to co-founding MD Energy Advisors and PointClickSwitch.com, Jason was a banker, a development manager at A&R Development, and an economic development officer for Baltimore Development Corporation, where one of his key projects was Baltimore’s first casino. A Baltimore native, Jason is active in his community. He serves on the Real Estate Committee for The Associated and is the vice president of the Alumni Council for McDonogh School. Jason earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Franklin and Marshall College and a Master of Business Administration from Loyola College. In 2018, Jason graduated from Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program.

Ira Zlotowitz, the youngest president of any top 10 mortgage brokerage, took the commercial real estate industry by storm at the age of 21. From then on he has continued to establish himself as an innovator who has defined the industry, earning numerous accolades such as Crain’s “Forty Under 40.” His story starts at Meridian Capital, where he integrated mastery of the cold call into the company’s business model, trained several large teams of callers and was responsible for the launch of new offices nationwide. This campaign, the success of which would repeat itself, accomplished unprecedented growth for the company. In the year prior to his first at Meridian, the company closed $300 million in loans. Just four years later, in his final year there, the firm had closed over $3 billion. In 2001, Mr. Zlotowitz formed Eastern Union Funding, together with Abraham Bergman, and continued to establish a track record for innovation, grit, and industry-wide disruption. He has aggressively integrated technology and market data into the company’s business model, sped up the loan submission process by a factor of 10, and developed relationships between the company and over 85 lenders. In the process, Eastern has grown from a four-person Brooklyn office into a 100-person firm closing roughly $4 billion in national loan volume this year.

Lucas is a partner with CohnReznick, who has 18 of experience providing audit, accounting, and advisory services to a variety of clients, including state and local government agencies, real estate developers and investors, mortgage companies (HUD non-supervised lenders), private real estate investment trusts, and health and human service organizations and has extensive experience performing audits under Government Auditing Standards, audits of compliance, and audits in accordance with OMB Uniform Guidance. Lucas has managed, developed, and executed audit plans, operational reviews, and special projects for public and private entities. His services include financial statement audits in accordance with GAAP, GAGAS, the Consolidated Audit Guide for Audits of HUD Programs, and OMB Uniform Guidance. He has significant involvement assisting local governmental entities with implementation of GASB Statements including, GASB 43, GASB 45, and GASB 54. He provides the review and evaluation of internal controls, supervision of the engagement teams, preparation of the management letter communications, and communication with clients regarding current required financial reporting standards. He provides GAAP technical training for his clients and CohnReznick professional staff and has been involved in providing numerous internal training seminars related to HUD housing programs, government auditing standards, and application of OMB Uniform Guidance. Governmental and A-133 clients Lucas has worked with include the City of Bowie, MD; City of Havre de Grace, MD; City of Takoma Park, MD; Town of La Plata, MD; City of Tybee Island, GA; County of Sutter, CA; Maryland Water Quality Financing Administration (Baltimore); and Atlantic Human Resources, Inc. Education  Mount Saint Mary’s University: Bachelor of Science, Accounting Professional Affiliations  American Institute of Certified Public Accountants  Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants  Maryland Government Finance Officers Association.