Charlotte State of Office

Mark is a Deal Principal and Managing Director on the Development and Investments team. In that role, he leads underwriting, capitalization, and sourcing efforts for industrial, multifamily, retail, and office transactions in North and South Carolina. Previous to Foundry, Mark was the Senior Vice President & Managing Director for Cousins Properties’ Charlotte portfolio, acting as market leader for six years. Prior to that, he was a Senior Vice President and Partner at Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, leading up to and including that firm’s acquisition by Foundry in 2015. He also spent nine years within Bank of America’s corporate real estate department, where he was a Senior Vice President and Transaction Director for a 20-million square foot portfolio in the Southeastern US. Mark holds a Doctorate and Masters in Business Administration, a Six Sigma Black Belt, and is currently a Board Director for Charlotte Center City Partners.

Brian Leary joined Crescent Communities as president of its commercial / mixed use business unit in 2014. In this role, he directs the company’s office, industrial and retail developments and property management across the country. With 17 years of experience in commercial real estate and development, he specializes in large and small-scale, mixed use holdings. Prior to joining Crescent, Brian held senior management and executive positions with Jacoby Development, Inc., Atlanta Beltline, Inc., AIG Global Real Estate, Atlantic Station, LLC and Central Atlanta Progress. While at Jacoby Development, a national developer of corporate, mixed-use and retail projects, he was the driving force behind ONE Daytona, a 4.5-million square foot joint venture with International Speedway Corp. As vice president of AIG Global Real Estate, he oversaw the design and development of Atlantic Station, a 13.5-million square foot joint venture that, at the time, represented the largest urban brownfield redevelopment in the United States. Previously Brian served as president and CEO of Atlanta Beltline, Inc., the organization planning and executing the implements of the BeltLine, one of the country’s largest, most wide-ranging urban redevelopment projects. Active in the industry and his community, Brian served on the Board of Trustees of Leadership Atlanta and the Urban Land Institute’s Livable Communities Coalition Council as well as the Governing Board of Atlanta Medical Center. He is a national author and speaker on topics including real estate trends, sustainability and transportation for the Urban Land Institute, United States Congress, Harvard University and others. Brian graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a bachelor of science in architecture and a master’s degree in city and regional planning.

Brendan Pierce is the Office Development Partner at The Keith Corporation (TKC) with over 15 years of commercial real estate brokerage and development experience. He is responsible for sourcing development and acquisition ventures throughout the United States and abroad. In addition, Brendan manages all of the leasing responsibilities for TKC’s multi-tenant office portfolio, and represents third-party clients. For each development project, Brendan is responsible for overseeing every aspect of the development process including lease negotiations, budgeting, directing efforts of the design and construction team, securing all regulatory approvals, and being the main point of contact for his clients. In his career, Brendan has developed and acquired over 1.2 million square feet of commercial real estate valued at $550 Million. He has a wide variety of experience developing corporate headquarters, adaptive reuse, suburban office, and urban fill projects located in the United State and the United Kingdom. His clients include Movement Mortgage, Quintiles Transnational Corporation, Capitol Broadcasting Corporation, CompuCom Systems and Barloworld Handling. Brendan earned a Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a Masters of Business Administration Degree from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He is the President of the Charlotte Chapter NAIOP and is a licensed broker in North Carolina. He is an active member of the community and is involved with a number of charities. He is the Founder and Chairman of F3 Foundation and is on the board YMCA Camp Harrison. Brendan is also an avid athlete, a coach for his children and an amateur mountain climber.

Roger began his real estate career in 1998 and has brokered office, medical office, industrial, retail, land and investment transactions. While he primarily focuses on owners and tenants in the greater Midtown submarket, he has significant experience representing office tenants and landlords throughout the Charlotte area. In addition, Roger has also brokered deals in Florida, Texas and California for specific clients. Roger grew up in Charlotte and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1988. He spent ten years with First Union National Bank before joining NAI Southern Real Estate. During his fourteen years at NAI, Roger brokered hundreds of transactions and spent five years as broker-in-charge managing brokerage operations. Roger is a past president of the Charlotte Region Commercial Board of Realtors® and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker in North Carolina and South Carolina. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Right Moves For Youth, and he serves on the Emeritus Board of both the YWCA of the Central Carolinas and the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte. Over the 20 years, Roger has served on several committees at Christ Episcopal Church. Roger enjoys spending time coaching youth soccer and basketball teams.

Kristy is responsible for leasing Beacon Partners' office portfolio, which includes over 1 million square feet of infill urban space in Midtown and the South End of Charlotte. She assists in pre-leasing new developments in addition to acquisitions and existing product. A deep involvement in the commercial real estate community, Kristy serves on the board of the Charlotte Region Commercial Board of Realtors (CRCBR), and chairs a Leadership Committee for Developing Leaders for the Charlotte Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP). Active in the community, Kristy volunteers at Brookstone Schools, where she serves as a lunch mentor and has been active in creating a junior board. She is also active in her church. Kristy graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.A. and received her M.A. degree in real estate finance and development from the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, as a recipient of the Crosland Scholarship. She is a licensed real estate broker in North Carolina and South Carolina. PROJECT EXPERIENCE • Has executed more than 200 lease transactions while at Beacon Partners. Many transactions have been with large corporate tenants, including Allstate Insurance, CB&I, Lennar, BB&T, South State Bank, WeWork, Ernst & Young, Guggenheim, J.E. Dunn and Dell. • 1616 Center: Leased approximately 60,000 SF of new office space, which was 100% leased within 15 months of beginning constructed in Charlotte, NC • The Grinnell Building & Historic Coca-Cola Building: Represented the owners in fully leasing a 30,000 SF office redevelopment by securing a long term lease at the Grinnell Building and brought the 40,000 SF Historic Coca-Cola Building to full occupancy with two headquarter re-locations on West Morehead, in Charlotte, NC. • 500 E. Morehead: Pre-leasing a 180,000 SF Class A office and retail development in Charlotte, NC. The project was approximately 90 percent leased at delivery. • The RailYard Southend: Pre-leasing a creative, 320,000 office and retail mixed use project in the South End of Charlotte, NC

Rob is a seasoned ‘connector’ serving middle market corporate and investment clients. He began his commercial real estate career in 1990 with a private, Mid-Atlantic based retail developer. Following this, he gained meaningful experience as a landlord representative for Highwood’s Properties (NYSE:HIW) and later gained tenant representation experience with NAI and CRESA. He has experience selling investment and occupier properties throughout the Carolinas. In addition to retail and office properties, he has extensive experience with MOB’s. A CCIM Candidate, he has earned an image as a creative deal maker in the Carolinas region. A native of Tennessee, Rob has a B.A. in Finance & Economics from North Carolina State University.