Fort Point & the Future of the Seaport

Yanni Tsipis is Senior Vice President - Seaport at WS Development in Boston and oversees the company's Seaport project, a 7.7 million square foot mixed-use development currently underway in Boston's Seaport District. Prior to his tenure at WS, Yanni spent nearly 15 years at Colliers International after completing undergraduate and graduate studies at MIT in civil engineering and planning. At Colliers, Yanni focused his work on managing large-scale urban development and historic rehabilitation projects. His project experience at Colliers included multiple commercial, multifamily residential, hotel, and other project types, and spanned over $2 billion of development projects, all in the City of Boston. Yanni lives in Westwood and has written four books about the history of the city's transportation infrastructure. He serves on numerous non-profit boards and is a past member of the Boston Landmarks Commission.

Chuck maintains over 25 years of experience within the science and technology sector being immediately involved in global real estate, large scale capital projects, facilities engineering and management, global environment, health and safety, corporate security and related technical and operational support functions. He possesses extensive knowledge in developing science and technology facilities from the ground up having been involved in all stages of the process: developing and managing successful project teams in the planning, construction, delivery and validation of multiple large scale facilities worldwide. Chuck’s current responsibilities at Vertex include oversight over the company’s facility global assets including Planning, Construction, Operations, Security, EHS, Business Continuity and Real Estate. Chuck is a member in the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE) as well as the Association of Facilities Engineers (AFE), International Facilities Managers Association (IFMA), CORNET and CEB – Real Estate Chuck is a graduate of both Norwich University and UMass Lowell obtaining both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Engineering Technology and Environmental Science.

John C. Cannistraro, Jr. is president of J.C. Cannistraro, LLC, a family-owned mechanical contractor specializing in plumbing, fire protection, HVAC piping and sheet metal services for commercial and institutional projects in the Greater Boston area. John is responsible for establishing the long-term vision for this 700-person business, now in its second generation of family leadership, and emphasizing a culture of community outreach and collaboration. Cannistraro was recently named a top contractor in the Boston Business Journal Book of Lists and a Top Place to Work according to the Boston Globe. John is a past president of the Massachusetts Building Congress and the Greater Boston Plumbing Contractors Association. John has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University, holds a Master Plumber’s License in Massachusetts, and is a graduate of the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School.

A founding member of Redgate, Lisa provides strategic real estate services for institutional and investor clients. Her focus is on large, complex urban development projects with specific areas of expertise in pre-development strategy, financial feasibility, infrastructure, and government relations/approvals. Lisa has successfully worked with developers and government agencies to structure public/private partnerships and mechanisms for alternative financing to enable investment and development in projects that have a substantial public component. Lisa has over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry and her clients include major institutions such as MITIMCo, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Massachusetts Port Authority, as well as private landowners. Prior to co-founding Redgate, Lisa was a National Director and Senior Vice President of Development at Jones Lang LaSalle where she was responsible for major project development as well as for evaluating potential real estate investments for the firm’s direct investment funds. Education Columbia University| Master of Science, Urban Planning and Economic Development Syracuse University | Bachelor of Science, Public Policy and Economics.

Tal Peri is Head of U.S East Coast & Latin America for Union Investment Real Estate. He joined Germany’s largest open-ended real estate fund in 2010 in the New York office and has since closed $3.7 billion in acquisition & disposition transactions. Prior to this role, Tal was an Associate Director at WestLB, New York, where he was responsible for $1.3 billion in real estate acquisition & development finance transactions.

Rebecca is a preeminent commercial real estate lawyer who skillfully steers developers, lenders, companies, and nonprofit organizations through a wide array of real estate transactions and matters. She has particular expertise in land use law and development permitting in the Greater Boston area, and she frequently draws on her earlier experience as chief of staff / special counsel to the director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority — now known as the Boston Planning & Development Agency. Her practice encompasses a broad range of acquisitions / dispositions, condominium creation, and financing, as well as development permitting. Rebecca is Chair of the firm’s Real Estate Development Practice. She represents corporations, developers, lenders and nonprofit organizations in a range of real estate matters, including financing, leasing, the procurement of entitlements, property dispositions, condominium creation, site acquisitions and assemblages, and related tax incentive transactions. Rebecca has extensive experience relating to land use and development permitting in the Greater Boston area. She previously served as Chief of Staff/Special Counsel to the Director at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, where she was responsible for policy development, overseeing development reviews, negotiating acquisitions and dispositions, and representing the agency in financing transactions. Rebecca is an avid baseball fan and regularly participates as a pianist in the Chamber Music Conference of the East.

Jon Martin serves as a managing director in Newmark Knight Frank’s Boston office, where he specializes in urban retail agency leasing and tenant representation, particularly site selection strategy, repositioning and curation of downtown mixed-use properties. Jon has 15 years of retail and restaurant leasing experience. He is currently spearheading the leasing of more than 30 assets in downtown Boston, on behalf of landlords that include Boston Properties, Clarion, EQ Office, Gazit Horizons, Gerding Edlen, ICONIQ, Invesco, Lincoln Property Co., McWhinney, Nuveen, Oxford Properties, Pembroke, Related Beal, Rockwood, Synergy Investments and UDR. Jon’s clients also include prominent retail brands. Most recently, he successfully represented Patagonia in a lease for their Harvard Square flagship location, which opened in January 2020. Other retail clients include digitally native brands such as Serena & Lily, Brideside and Rudsak, which opened their first Boston-area stores in 2019. Jon also represents well-known restaurant brands Barcelona Wine Bar, Bartaco, Cameron Mitchell Restaurant Group, Dig Inn, Intelligentsia, Peet’s Coffee and Quality Branded. Over the past five years, Jon has completed some of the largest flagship retail and restaurant transactions in the Boston area, including Patina Restaurant Group’s 21,000-square-foot food hall and 14,000- square-foot Banner’s Kitchen & Tap restaurant at the Hub on Causeway; the restructuring of Niketown’s 30,000-square-foot lease at 200 Newbury Street; Capital Grille’s 13,000-square-foot restaurant at the Hynes Convention Center; Ocean Prime’s 12,000-square-foot restaurant in the Seaport District; AT&T’s 10,000-square-foot Back Bay location on Boylston Street; TD Ameritrade’s downtown flagship at 50 Post Office Square; and E*Trade’s flagship branch in Downtown Crossing. Currently, Jon is finishing up the leasing of more than 25,000 square feet of retail space to By Chloe, Coldwell Banker, Core Power Yoga and Tatte Bakery on three levels at 399 Boylston Street in the Back Bay. In the Seaport, Jon is responsible for the lease-up of Thomson Place’s retail, a 60,000-square-foot brick-and-beam historic rehab project, highlighted by the recent opening of New England’s first One King’s Lane location and the district’s first supermarket, Trader Joe’s. In the Ink Block neighborhood of the South End, Jon represents UDR’s 600-unit luxury apartment project, where he has leased more than 35,000 square feet of retail to CVS, JPMorgan Chase, Loyal Companion, Shore Leave, and Tatte Bakery. Jon is also responsible for the Boston office’s restaurant leasing platform. In this capacity, he currently represents some of the premier local restaurant groups in the region, highlighted by COJE Management Group, owners of Yvonne’s (Downtown Crossing); Mariel (Post Office Square); Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar (Back Bay, Seaport, Washington DC); and Ruka (Downtown Crossing). Recently, he secured Seaport production and tap room space for two of New England’s leading craft beer brands, Trillium Brewing Company (16,000 square feet) and Lord Hobo Brewing Co. (10,000 square feet). With respect to entertainment, he secured the Bowery Group’s first Boston-area location, a 15,000- square-foot, 500-plus-person capacity music venue in Harvard Square called The Sinclair and last year, he secured more than 21,000 square feet for Six String Grill & Stage, a venue with 1,000-person capacity and is located at the entrance of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Gregory Janey is the President & CEO of Janey Construction Management. As a professional he has been actively working in the industry for over 30 years overseeing a variety of complex construction and institutional programs. His mission has stayed consistent throughout his career—to use his education, advocacy, and deep professional industry experience to provide opportunities for residents in and around the neighborhoods where he grew up. His professional activities include: Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Wentworth Institute of Technology, Industrial Advisory Boards for Northeastern University College of Engineering, and Madison Park High School. Board of Directors; Boston Chamber of Commerce, Year Up Greater Boston, Trustee Boys & Girls Club of Boston, National Vice-Chairman Construction Management Association of America, and founding officer of the Massachusetts Minority Contractors Association. Greg is also a program evaluator for ABET, which accredits college and university programs in STEM. Mr. Janey holds a B.S in Construction Management from Wentworth Institute of Technology, an M.S in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University, and an Honorary Doctor of Engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology.

As Sasaki’s lead Civil Engineer, Zach Chrisco works with built design leaders and interdisciplinary teams to execute, strengthen, and innovate resilient engineering solutions. His portfolio includes some of Sasaki’s most complex site work—all of which closely integrate architecture, landscape, and civil engineering. Zach’s greatest motivation is creating built work that is both durable and well-loved by the client and users. He progresses Sasaki's collaborative built work practice to better integrate sustainable strategy and ecology whenever possible. Currently, Zach is leading teams working on Fort Point's 100 Acre Open Space Plan, and Boston Children's Museum Waterfront Master Plan where he is engaged in the neighborhood's increased efforts toward the public realm and a vibrant community for all.

Ryan W. Hanofee has a wide-ranging practice that encompasses all aspects of commercial real estate. Ryan represents local and national developers, investors, REITs, institutional lenders, landlords, tenants and other owners and operators of real estate. He focuses on a variety of transactions, including, acquisitions, dispositions, leasing and development of mixed-use, office, retail and industrial properties. Ryan also advises clients on joint ventures, debt and equity financings and corporate structuring related matters. SELECT REPRESENTATIONS Represented private equity borrower in recapitalization of $500+ million real estate portfolio across thirty properties in six states. Represented lead lender in $1.6 billion financing of gas station portfolio located across twelve states. Represented private equity borrower in $270 million portfolio refinancing of sixty-nine commercial properties (both office and industrial). Represented private equity firm in $105 million disposition of seventeen property office portfolio located in southern Texas. Represented NFL franchise in $1.8+ billion acquisition, development and financing of 65,000 seat professional sports stadium and related infrastructure. Represented joint venture in acquisition and financing of $57.5 million mixed-use portfolio in Greenwich, CT. Represented real estate investment trust in $22.5 million acquisition and financing of mixed use building located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Represented private equity firm in acquisition, development and financing of $78 million mixed use development in Malden, MA. Represented joint venture in development of $45 million senior living facility in Reno, NV. Represented private equity firm in $44 million acquisition and financing of three office parks located in Southern Florida. Represented investment management company in buyout of partner’s interest in $100+ million multifamily development AFFILIATIONS Member, Real Estate Finance Association Member, NAIOP, The Commercial Real Estate Development Association PUBLICATIONS 2/13/2019 - Letters of Intent: Setting the Stage for Negotiations and Creating an Effective Agreement 5/3/2018 - Retail Is Not Dead Yet: Adapting to the Changing Landscape of Retail Leasing EDUCATION: Suffolk University Law School, 2012, J.D., Cum Laude Tufts University, 2007, B.A., Political Science