Boston 2017 Forecast

John Rosenthal is the President of Meredith Management. He is a successful real estate developer and manager in Massachusetts who has distinguished himself in his ability to balance corporate and individual responsibility. In addition to owning a large portfolio of residential and commercial properties, he is also developing the Fenway Center mixed-use project on land and air rights over the MassTurnpike next to Fenway Park. Construction of Fenway Center will commence in late 2015 and will include 1,300,000 sf of housing, retail, office, parking and a new State funded Yawkey Commuter Rail Station. This smart-growth transit and renewable energy oriented development will also incorporate a large solar photo voltaic power plant to power Yawkey Station, making it the first”zero net energy” commuter rail station in the Commonwealth. The full service Yawkey Station improvement project was completed in March 2014. Meredith Management developed the first mixed income apartment complex financed by the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency in 1969 and has developed and managed over 5,000 residential units and 5 million square of commercial property. Meredith currently employs 125 real estate professionals and manages property throughout Massachusetts. In 2009 Meredith created an an affiliate, Here Comes the Sun, LLC which has developed 9 commercial solar photovoltaic power plants in Massachusetts using Federal and State Renewable Energy Tax Credits, and more solar plants are being planned. John is also very active in community based environmental and renewable energy issues as well as social and economic justice. He has organized and advocated extensively in support of safe and renewable energy and against nuclear power. He has also founded founded several effective nonprofit organizations. In 1987 John started the Friends of Boston’s Homeless (www.fobh.org). The Friends is a partnership with the City of Boston, has raised over $20,000,000, serves 800 people every night and helps transition more than 400 formerly homeless men and women in Boston beyond shelter with housing and full-time jobs each year. In June 2015, John co-founded the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative ( www.paariusa.org ) to support the innovative Gloucester Police Angel program and help other police departments around the Commonwealth and Nation address the deadly epidemic and desease of opioid addiction. Within seven months of it’s founding the Gloucester Angel Program placed over 450 people into treat, over 300 treatment centers have partnered offering scholarship beds and over 110 police departments across the Country have replicated all or parts of the Angel program, placing another 1,000 into treatment.

Since joining Samuels & Associates in 2000, Peter has used his expertise in the real estate development industry to oversee the development of major urban mixed-use projects in the Boston area. A Bostonian born and bred, Peter Sougarides has made a legacy of his lifelong passion for bringing positive growth to neighborhoods, particularly the ones in which he grew up. Since joining Samuels & Associates in 2000, Peter has used his considerable expertise to oversee the development of major urban mixed-use projects in the vibrant and ideally located Fenway area. He has successfully overseen multiple projects including Fenway Triangle Trilogy, 1330 Boylston, a state-of–art medical facility for Fenway Health, along with the development of the Van Ness, Landmark and other significant Fenway projects. Peter also oversees the retail and office leasing teams for Samuels. Prior to joining Samuels & Associates, he was a Vice President at Cabot, Cabot & Forbes. Peter is on the board of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, A Better City (ABC), the Boston District Council of Urban Land Institute and a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Prior to founding KIG Real Estate Advisors (“KIG”), Mr. Krebs has over 25-years of real estate investment and development experience ranging from institutional investment management at UBS and JP Morgan to opening and leading the vertically integrated private equity firm Normandy Real Estate Partners Boston office. KIG operates under two ventures, Strategic Land Ventures (www.strategiclandventures.com) and Washington Square Ventures (www.wsvllc.com), platforms that focus on residential development from land acquisition and permitting through vertical development. KIG has a strong track record of the successful re-zoning and permitting of its sites under special permit and Chapter 40b, creating significant land value prior to the vertical development of its projects. KIG currently has 580 units in 5 apartment projects under development throughout the Boston Metro, totaling over $225 million in total development cost. Prior to founding KIG, Mr. Krebs was a Partner at Normandy Real Estate Partners, responsible for opening and overseeing Normandy's Boston office. During his 10 years at Normandy, Krebs built a $2 billion dollar office and residential portfolio with notable projects including the foreclosure, repositioning, and sale of the John Hancock Building (now 200 Clarendon), the acquisition and repositioning 99 Summer Street in downtown Boston, assembling and permitting Center 128 in Needham, a 2 million square foot mixed project which included the development of Trip Advisors Global HQ, and the permitting, design and development of Troy Boston, a 378-unit residential project in Boston’s South End, co-developed with Gerding Edlen. Mr. Krebs began his career in New York holding positions with global investment management firms UBS and JP Morgan. While at JP Morgan, Mr. Krebs held the title of Senior Vice President and team leader, responsible for more than $4 billion in real estate investment and development on the East Coast. At UBS, Krebs was an Assistant Vice President, investing more than $500 million in equity into real estate for pension funds and foreign investors. Mr. Krebs is a graduate from Providence College and has a MBA in Finance from Fordham University.

Shane brings over a decade of title and real estate experience to his role as a senior business development officer in the Boston area. He joined Stewart’s commercial team in 2014 after serving as a sales and marketing representative for Kensington Vanguard Title Agency in New York City. Prior to that, Shane worked in Tampa as a commercial mortgage banker for Approved Financial Services, a commercial real estate specialist for Holly Real Estate, and a title agent and business development officer for Westshore Title Agency. He holds a degree in finance from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida.

As a nationally recognized expert in workplace design with over 30 years of experience, Lisa is a Principal and the Director of Workplace Strategy for Perkins+Will. She leverages her real estate planning and workplace strategies expertise to develop transformational workspaces for corporate clients such as IBM, Adobe and Fidelity. Lisa also consults with academic clients including Yale, MIT, Northeastern, Cornell and the University of Miami to craft planning solutions that advance organizational and institutional goals. With a holistic approach, Lisa provides her clients with critical thinking about optimizing real estate and planning for the future. Passionate about what’s next in workplace strategy and design, she is actively involved with organizations looking to enhance the workplace experience. Lisa currently sits on the Board of CoreNet New England and participates on both the Program Committee and the University Initiative.

Jonathan Greeley is the Director of Development Review for the Boston Redevelopment Authority. In this role, he oversees all real estate and development projects within the City of Boston. Jonathan has significant experience with public engagement and neighborhood revitalization activities in complex urban environments. Since first joining the BRA as an intern in 2005, his work has included the implementation of the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan, the reinvigoration of Downtown Crossing, conceptualization of air rights development along the Massachusetts Turnpike, and long-term planning for the Fenway neighborhood. Most recently, he has helped to launch Imagine Boston 2030. Jonathan, who resides in the Back Bay, holds a B.A. from St. Anselm College and an M.A in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University. He received his AICP certification from the American Planning Association in 2014.

Mr. Bigby joined Trinity Financial in 2001 and is the Managing Director of Development for the company. He has a wealth of experience in multi-family housing development. During Mr. Bigby’s tenure at Trinity he has overseen the development of more than 1,500 units of housing. He enjoys an excellent rapport with public and federal agencies and with the communities in which he has worked. He has an aptitude for creating successful public / private partnerships and exhibits a strong ability to manage the complex financial structures needed to complete large scale development projects. Prior to joining Trinity, Mr. Bigby worked in the field of affordable housing development and management. He worked in various capacities for Boston area non-profit organizations where his responsibilities included the management of several supported housing programs as well as property oversight ensuring compliance with state and federal housing quality standards. Mr. Bigby holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Bob is a partner in RSM’s assurance practice. He has over 30 years of accounting and business consulting experience, with a particular specialty in real estate, construction and not-for-profit entities. Bob has long-standing expertise in servicing property managers, construction companies, developers, investors and owners of commercial, industrial and multi-family properties and real estate funds investing in commercial and multi-family properties. Bob is broadly knowledgeable about tax-advantaged real estate financing, including use of the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), Historic Tax Credit and various programs offered by local, state and federal government agencies. Bob has expertise in performing cost certifications for LIHTC and Chapter 40B properties.