The Future of Real Estate

Dan has been an product innovator and trendsetter since the late 1980's. He gained attention in the early 1990's from the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and National Geographic among others in by launching a green company that offered not only electric/solar sports cars but dozens of items for everyday green living. This led to collaborations with Coca-Cola and Hoechst-Celanese, work for Disney, ESPN, TED Talks, Nissan, Lenzing and many others. He’s co-developed various unique green fibers and products, including a luxury recycled denim made in USA. His work with engineers and developers of all types led to a partnership with D-Shape Mega-Scale 3D Printing, which is now disrupting real estate and construction with its technology to print houses and other large projects on-site with concrete.

Jeff has earned a reputation for finding the sweet spot where design excellence, constructability, budget, and schedule meet. From concept to closeout, he leads the development of creative solutions that meet the highest standards of aesthetics as well as the expectations of clients. The architecture and interior design commissions Jeff oversees encompass new construction, renovations, and adaptive re-use for technology companies, Fortune 100 firms, law firms, academic institutions, venture capital accelerators / incubators, and sports teams. His focus is on projects that present strategic or technological challenges, requiring innovative approaches that diverge from tradition yet maintain the certainty of outcomes. Jeff’s role in the Boston and New York City offices extends beyond conceptual design and project direction. He is also responsible for fiduciary oversight of SGA, business development, strategic planning, and departmental supervision. His success in these areas has strongly contributed to SGA’s significant growth over the past decades. Jeff received a Bachelor of Fine Arts, cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is a member of the International Interior Design Association, CoreNet, and NAIOP. Outside of the office, he enjoys cycling, and is five-time participant in the Pan Mass Challenge and a four-time participant in the Best Buddies century ride. His other pursuits include golf, fly-fishing and crafting his own hand-tied flies.

Bill McQuillan is the founding principal of Boylston Properties, with over 30 years experience in real estate development of retail, office, laboratory, hospitality and mixed use projects. He oversaw Boylston's first project in the 1980s with the State Transportation Building in Park Plaza, the retail component of CityPlace. Since then, Bill has gone on to develop many projects throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts. His most recent completed projects have included Trilogy, a 581 unit residential/retail complex in Fenway with Samuels & Associates in 2006, and the new Residence Inn on Brookline Ave in Fenway in 2013. Boylston is currently working on The Arsenal Project acquired in 2013, the new Residence Inn on Arsenal Street in Watertown and LINX, a new office development off Arsenal Street in Watertown.

As Partner and Director of Virtual Design and Construction (VDC), Michael brings together design and construction teams to proactively solve the unique challenges facing large developments. Michael has led the VDC process for 50+60 Binney Street in Kendall Square, Autodesk’s BUILD Space and Two Drydock Avenue in Boston. Prior to SGA, Michael was a strategic consultant to well-known international clients such as The Royal Commission of Saudi Arabia and Skanska USA. With a background in architecture and software engineering, his skills blend the boundary between architectural design processes, computer programming and building construction. He was also a lecturer at Harvard University, where he explored topics in parametric design and taught courses on Building Information Modeling.

John Hynes IV joined the BGI team in 2014. Prior to his role as Project Executive of the 10 World Trade commercial development, John oversaw numerous Seaport Square projects, totaling over $150M of development in 3-years. He has also helped lead BGI’s new business efforts, and serves as the primary point of contact for project approvals with City and State agencies. Before BGI, John spent 4 years working in the finance and construction industries in Boston, North Carolina, and Miami. John holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and lives in South Boston.

As President, Stephen oversees the management of all aspects of Davis’ Investments, Development and Asset Management, playing a leading role in setting firm-wide investment and execution strategy and serving as the President of Davis Investment Ventures, LLC. Stephen chairs the firm’s Executive Committee and is a member of its Investment Committee for each of the active funds. Prior to his current role, Stephen was a member of Davis’ development group, most recently serving as a Managing Director, where he was involved with the acquisition, concept and design development, permitting, financing, construction and marketing of a broad array of Davis’ ground-up development and redevelopment projects. In addition, Stephen led much of the team’s activities in sourcing new development opportunities, with a particular focus on off-market transactions, assemblage opportunities and creative joint venture structuring. Stephen began his career as an attorney, including a four-year engagement as Associate Counsel in Davis’ legal department. Stephen also has been active in an array of real estate industry organizations and is a current member of PREA, ULI and NAIOP for which he previously chaired the Developing Leaders committee and served as an Executive Committee member. He has also been actively involved with a number of Boston area nonprofit organizations including Year Up, for which he previously co-chaired the local Leadership Council, and Heading Home where he is currently serving as the Chair of the Board of Directors. Stephen received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University, a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development (MSRED) degree from the MIT Center for Real Estate.

Arie Barendrecht is the CEO and Founder of WiredScore, the pioneer behind the international Wired Certification standard that evaluates and distinguishes best-in-class Internet connectivity in commercial buildings. Holding degrees from The Wharton MBA Program and University of California, Berkeley, Arie worked with the Boston Consulting Group prior to founding WiredScore, where he focused on the technology and media industries as a consultant.

As far as Anna Mackay can tell, real estate development is up there as one of the most effective ways to proliferate social change. Her chosen city of Portland has supported her notion for fifteen years in various roles in architecture, construction, and development. She’s been involved in dozens of catalytic real estate projects, including as the Director of Development at Guerrilla Development. Her buildings achieve affordability and community buy-in through the utilization of crowdinvesting, internally-subsidized financial models, and bold public art. Anna founded Sister City in 2020. Every Sister City project reevaluates standard development practice to emphasize a just balance of equity - social, environmental, and financial. Her current projects include construction on the Annex, Portland’s first affordable housing project to utilize cross-laminated timber and the development of Shortstack alongside Jessy Ledesma of HomeWork Development. Shortstack is a housing solution that delivers 100 responsive, replicable, “missing middle” units over four sites in Portland.

Neil Golub joined Honest Buildings in 2016 and is focused on business development throughout the northeast. He began his career in real estate working for CoStar and then transitioned into investment sales brokerage where he spent over 5 years working on shopping center transactions. In 2010, he joined PEI, the information group behind PERE, the brand covering the private equity real estate industry. Neil graduated with a BS in Finance and Marketing from the University of Maryland and remains an active alumnus. He is a licensed salesperson in the State of New York and is an active participant with ICSC's Next Generation Committee. He is married and lives in Union Square, New York City.