Peter Cole is Managing Director and Head of Development for Madison Marquette’s Eastern Region. He is responsible for ground up, mixed-use and urban waterfront development activities. Mr. Cole joined Madison Marquette in 2015 as an accomplished senior executive with more than 20 years of experience in commercial real estate. He is responsible for some of Madison Marquette’s most prestigious assets including District Wharf in Washington, DC. Prior to joining Madison Marquette, Mr. Cole was Regional Managing Director with Fisher Brothers in Washington, DC where he successfully negotiated the entitlement, design and delivery of Station House. As Senior Managing Director with The Clarett Group, Mr. Cole handed all residential, office and mixed-use projects throughout the Mid-Atlantic. He came to the region in 2001 when he opened Tishman Speyer’s Washington, DC office. Mr. Cole holds a Bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College and a Master of Science in real estate investment from New York University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for DCBIA, is a mentor at the Economic Club of Washington, DC, is a member of ULI serving on the Urban Development and Mixed-Use Council (UDMUC) national Product Council, and is actively involved with the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington.

Michael is Principal and Managing Executive Director overseeing all aspects of AREP’s leasing operations. He is responsible for curating, managing, and maintaining relationships with numerous stakeholders including leasing brokers, tenants, and Capital Partners and has been instrumental in increasing AREP’s scale of leasing activity. Michael began his career in 1984 at Cushman and Wakefield (C&W) where he specialized in agency representation in the Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia markets. After a nine-year career with C&W, Michael joined CarrAmerica where he served as a senior leasing professional during the time that Carr transitioned from a private DC based developer to a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). After his tenure at Carr, he served as the senior leasing professional for Equity Office Properties (“EOP”) where he was responsible for overseeing all leasing functions for EOP’s 7 million SF portfolio in the Washington Metropolitan area. Immediately prior to joining AREP, he was the Chief Operating Officer for WP Commercial, an operating partner of Goldman Sachs’ Whitehall Real Estate Funds where he oversaw the performance of the Washington, D.C. office and focused primarily on leasing and acquisitions in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area.

Chris Beach is Administrative Vice President and Group Manager for M&T’s Baltimore and Chesapeake region commercial real estate group. He is responsible for a team of relationship managers and their customer’s commercial banking activities. Mr. Beach joined M&T in 2004. He has held a variety of roles in the M&T’s commercial real estate group. Prior to joining M&T, Mr. Beach worked for McCormick and Company, Inc. and Deloitte & Touche, LLP. Mr. Beach holds a Bachelor’s degree from Washington & Lee University and a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for St. Vincent De Paul Baltimore.

Jon M. Laria is a member of Ballard Spahr's Expanded Board, Managing Partner of the firm's Baltimore office, and a member of the firm's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council. He represents owners, developers, investors, and lenders in all types of commercial real estate transactions, including development, finance, acquisition, and leasing. Jon also has a leading land use and zoning practice and has provided counsel for some of Baltimore's most prominent development projects. Before becoming an attorney, he was employed by a major Baltimore-based developer, where he engaged in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions. Jon served on the Transition Teams for Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Comptroller Bill Henry. He chairs the Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Commission, charged by the mayor with promoting bicycling and other forms of micromobility as a safe and convenient form of transportation and recreation, and coordinating City agency implementation of the City's Bicycle Master Plan. He previously served as a mayoral appointee on Baltimore's Tax Policy Task Force and on the group that developed a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for the City. Jon also co-chaired the Mayor's Safe Art Space Task Force, charged with recommending to the mayor ways to develop and sustain spaces that protect the safety of artists and patrons while meeting the logistical and technical needs of artists and audiences. Jon was appointed by the Baltimore City Health Commissioner to the Task Force on Drug Treatment Access and Neighborhood Relations, whose purpose was to facilitate the siting of necessary treatment facilities without causing undue burdens on local communities. In Baltimore County, Jon serves on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Ethics and Accountability, charged with reviewing county ethics laws and regulations. Jon was the founding Chair of the Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission, the successor to the State's Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development, which he also chaired. Created and enacted by the Maryland General Assembly, the Commission was charged with assessing and advising on the progress of state, regional, and local planning in achieving Maryland's economic growth, resource protection, and planning policy. Jon also served as a member of the Maryland Economic Development and Business Climate Commission, a joint commission appointed by the Maryland House Speaker and Senate President to examine the State's economic development structure and incentive programs, and to make recommendations to keep Maryland competitive in economic and private sector growth and prosperity. Jon co-chaired the Housing and Community Development Transition Team for former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and served on the governor's Transition Steering Committee. Nationally, Jon serves on the Futures Council for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a panel of thought leaders who advise the Conservancy on its efforts to develop hiking and biking trails across the country, including the planned Greenway Trail Network in Baltimore. Jon is the Chair of the Baltimore City Chapter of the Maryland Building Industry Association (MBIA), a trade organization with more than 1,300 member firms. He is a founder of the Baltimore Development Workgroup, an affinity group of development professionals who work on real estate development issues and business climate in the City of Baltimore, and co-chaired the Partnership for Building Reuse, a joint project of the Urban Land Institute and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to maximize the productive re-use of existing buildings. Jon serves as an officer or member of many civic boards and organizations, including the Greater Baltimore Committee, a pre-eminent regional business organization, where he chairs the Transportation and Mobility Committee. He is vice-chair of Healthy Neighborhoods, Inc. and previously served as president of Live Baltimore, a nonprofit whose principal mission is the attraction of residents to Baltimore.

Tim is responsible for Beatty Development’s various community projects. Tim oversaw the development and construction of the recently completed Nine East 33rd student apartment building in Charles Village. Currently, Tim is guiding the development of Old Town Mall and pursuing additional development opportunities for Beatty Development throughout Baltimore.

Bill Struever is a visionary real estate pioneer who has spent his entire career finding creative ways to re-imagine urban properties. He has extensive experience in developing and evaluating economics of real estate transactions and ROI, preparing and evaluating financial proforma, public private partnerships, and funding and investment strategies. At Cross Street Partners, Mr. Struever is responsible for the company’s new business pipeline for real estate development and tax credit consulting services, sustainable construction practices, and strengthening public/ private relationships. In 1974 Mr. Struever founded a company that would become Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse (SBER). The nationally-acclaimed development, construction and property management company’s legacy was to adapt and reuse economically obsolete industrial buildings and reclaim under-productive urban brownfields. Struever has played a key role in sustainable development through his passion, creativity and commitment to rebuilding cities. In 2010 Mr. Struever wound down the operations of SBER and formed a new partnership with former executives, Cross Street Partners. Cross Street Partners has built on the legacy of SBER with a fresh focus on revitalizing urban neighborhoods around centers of innovation and entrepreneurship. Bill Struever was the driving force behind community revitalization efforts that bolstered entire neighborhoods and extended beyond individual projects. Struever played a key role in sustainable development through his passion, creativity and commitment to rebuilding cities. His vision is to lead the country in Green urban revitalization, setting new LEED certified standards for all new projects. Mr. Struever has received numerous awards for his business leadership and devotion to urban communities, education, the environment, and arts. Recently, he accepted the prestigious Urban Land Institutes’s Award of Excellence for the preservation and redevelopment of Clipper Mill in Baltimore, Maryland.

Daniel Bythewood, Jr., President and Co-Founder, is also Managing Partner of La Cité Development, LLC, a privately held real estate development firm specializing in residential and mixed-use multi-family development as well as mixed use residential/commercial properties. Mr. Bythewood is responsible for all aspects of development and finance inclusive of raising private capital for his development projects which span from ground-up new construction to acquisition rehab properties, Mr. Bythewood is global and seasoned entrepreneur in the United States, Montenegro, Ghana, and other territories within Europe, and Africa. He has extensive experience in the real estate development and investments within numerous markets. Over the past 15 years he has developed, financed, constructed, structured debt and awarded grants, negotiated partnerships, public/private partnerships, and closed senior loans for his real estate development projects. Mr. Bythewood has also overseen the master planning of entire urban communities, that legislated structured TIF and Pilot agreements for his developments. Mr. Bythewood has overseen developments from initial concept through construction completion, renovation and lease-up of properties ranging from Harlem, through Baltimore and Long Island. Prior to founding La Cité Development, Mr. Bythewood Jr. was an Acquisitions Manager at New York Equity Fund(NYEF), a division of the National Equity Fund, the largest syndicator of tax credits in the 1990s in New York City. While at the NYEF, Mr. Bythewood managed the financing and administration of large development and disposition programs within the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development for its main disposition programs: Neighborhood Redevelopment Program (NRP), Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Program (NEP), and Neighborhood Homes Program (NHP). Many of the projects developed by NYEF involved the rehabilitation of both vacant and occupied buildings, with several projects requiring substantial relocation of building residents. These projects, located within the Central Harlem and Brooklyn neighborhoods, that served as catalysts for the redevelopment of these neighborhoods. He was also in charge of the $1.5 billion dollar portfolio where he managed the investment in excess of $150 million in tax credit equity. The multi-faceted nature of managing NYEF’s tax credit portfolio allowed Mr. Bythewood to fully utilize the skills he gained from overseeing: joint venture partners, public-private partnerships, complex financing structures, institutional banking relationships, traditional and non-traditional lenders, tax credit allocating agencies, and city governments. He is also an advisory board member of Carver bank and was a member of the CGNY (NY citizens budget committee for 4 years).

Eric S. Kassoff specializes in real estate tax litigation, and has over 30 years of industry experience in all facets of commercial real estate. He regularly appears before such tribunals as the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation, the Maryland Property Tax Assessment Appeals Boards, and the Maryland Tax Court. As Maryland Department Chairman, Eric has litigated some of the most complex matters in Maryland real property tax law as well as several cases of first impression which have established landmark precedents. Since 1987, he has represented tens of thousands of tax cases, navigating them through the complicated triennial appeal process resulting in the creation of billions of dollars in value for his clients’ real estate holdings. Eric is also the proud recipient of the 2017 AJC Washington Civic Achievement Award for his philanthropic and pro bono work locally and internationally.