Fort Worth's Mega Multifamily Event

Carlos Vaz is the Founder and CEO of CONTI Capital, a real estate investment company which offers capital solutions to acquire, manage and sponsor multifamily properties throughout the U.S. He has been involved in over $1.25B of real estate transactions and is passionate about building a solid vertically integrated company with strong core values, proven systems, and an adept team. Carlos has been recognized with numerous honors. He was named a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, to the Dallas Business Journal’s 40 under 40 list and highlighted as a Most Admired CEO. He has helped CONTI earn a place on the Inc. 5000 list seven times, the Dallas 100 list seven times and the Middle Market 50 list four times. As a recognized thought leader in the multifamily industry, he is a regular guest speaker at many events such as MFE (Multifamily Executive), Crittenden Multifamily, Marcus & Millichap, IMN Conferences, among others. Carlos is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), the Real Estate Council of Dallas and a board member of the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC). He is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management (OPM) program, a board member of the Harvard Club of Dallas, and an International Advisory Council Member for Fundação Dom Cabral, one of the world’s leading business schools. Born in Brazil, Carlos came to the United States with $300 in his pocket, a penchant for hard work, the desire to learn, and an unrelenting drive to “Make It Happen”. As a dedicated family man, Carlos enjoys health, faith, family, and country. His passions include spending time with his family and friends, as well as reading, traveling, and anything outdoors. As a family, he, his wife and three children are actively involved in several charitable organizations and enjoy time learning together, traveling, and exploring the outdoors.

John joined Embrey in 2012 and has 15 years of experience in the real estate industry. John’s primary focus is managing and securing development opportunities in the San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth, Nashville and Central Florida markets, where he oversees every aspect of the development process. He started his career with Houston based The Hanover Company after graduating from Texas A&M University. While at Hanover, John led the predevelopment group, covering many US cities and Poland and became a partner where he focused on development opportunities in the Mid-Atlantic region and Texas markets. John also worked at Skanska Commercial Development, a publicly traded international real estate and construction company. Skanska, who is active in the European markets came to the US to grow a commercial and multifamily development platform in Washington DC, Boston, Seattle and Houston. John was part of this startup where he contributed to the Houston market initial pipeline of approximately two million square feet of office development. John earned a B.S. in Construction Science and a Master in Land Economics and Real Estate from the Mays Business School. While at Texas A&M, John was a scholarship athlete, earning four letters as an offensive lineman on the football team. John is active in ULI and a member of the San Antonio Real Estate Council. In addition, John is a member at St. Andrews United Methodist Church where he teaches a marrieds bible study class and is the Chairman of the Construction Stewards. John is involved with The Ethiopian Aid Ministry (TEAM) and Hope Springs Waters where he has participated in mission trips to Ethiopia for clean water initiatives and outreach. John is on the executive board of Still Water Christian Ministries, a ministry serving youth through sports and is a commissioner for the local youth NFL flag football league. John enjoys hanging out with his wife of nearly 15 years and his three children, coaching youth sports, attending Texas A&M Football games, guest lecturing at Texas A&M and the outdoors.

As president, Courtney Gaines leads the CLEAR Property Management business, which includes the operation of the company’s managed portfolios. She also oversees new business development and the CLEAR marketing, training and human resource departments and the complete operations of CLEAR; including supporting all corporate, regional and district staff who are focused on maximizing operating performance, achieving revenue goals through calculated rent position. As a member of the company’s executive committee, Courtney plays a prominent role in establishing our long-term strategic direction, and is helping position the company as a premier real estate services firm and a leader in the multi-family housing industry. Courtney joined CLEAR Property Management in 2016, and is well-versed in the supervision of new construction, asset renovation and repositioning. Courtney has successfully managed the lease up of more than 20 new properties over her career and has garden, mid-rise and high-rise experience. Courtney brings exemplary organization and communication skills, as well as her outstanding leadership skills to the table. She understands the importance of developing rapport with employees and promotes a sense of teamwork and unity through strong leadership and mentoring skills. Courtney began her career in 1997 at Westwood Residential, where she worked her way from Leasing Consultant to Director of Management, overseeing 14,000 units in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Washington. Courtney was a Regional Manager and Senior Development Analyst for over 3,500 units in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas for Riverstone Residential Group. Additionally, she held the responsibility for new business development and market analyses for the South Central Region, which was comprised of more than 28,000 units. Prior to joining CLEAR Property Management, Courtney worked for the Laramar Group, where she opened a new region and managed over 2,500 apartment homes in Oklahoma City and Tulsa in her role as Senior Regional Manager. Courtney carries double Bachelors of Arts degrees in Government and History from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. She is affiliated with the Texas Apartment Association and local chapters in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston.

Christopher Slijk is an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. As a member of the Research Department’s regional group, Slijk’s work focuses on economic growth in Texas and the Eleventh Federal Reserve District. He coordinates the production and written releases of the Dallas Fed’s Texas Service Sector and Retail Outlook Surveys and the Eleventh District Agricultural Survey. He also produces articles for various bank publications and academic journals. His background includes work in time-series forecasting, real-time data analysis, and regional economic development. Slijk is a Certified Business Economist by the National Association of Business Economics. He has a B.A. in economics from Cornell University.

Pretlow Riddick, President and Principal for Criterion, manages the company’s overall operations from the Dallas office. Before helping to found Criterion Development Partners, Pretlow spent more than 14 years with JPI Partners Inc., managing the development of more than 50 apartment communities and 16,000 units in 14 states. Pretlow brings over 20 years of development experience to Criterion, having served in various positions at JPI. In 1992, Pretlow opened the company’s Houston, Texas regional office and three years later relocated to the Washington, D.C. area where he grew JPI’s regional operations to approximately $100 million in new annual production. In 1996, Pretlow was named the divisional president for JPI’s Eastern Division and hired Andrew S. Kaye to open the New England regional office. Pretlow managed the development, construction, management and market research activity for the New England and Washington, D.C. areas, and in 1999, he took over responsibility for JPI’s Atlanta and South Florida offices. In 2001, Pretlow returned to the JPI home office in Irving, Texas, and assumed the role of Chief Investment/Development Officer. Pretlow earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University. In 1999, he established A Better Neighborhood Foundation to invest in faith-based community developments in the inner city, which he continues to support today.

Drew Kile is a Senior Director at Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a multifamily brokerage division of Marcus & Millichap serving the needs of institutional and major private investors. Mr. Kile is primarily responsible for the Dallas/Fort Worth markets for IPA Texas. Over the course of his thirteen years with the firm, Mr. Kile has facilitated and overseen the closing of transactions valued at more than $3 Billion. Mr. Kile joined Marcus & Millichap in 2004 and was recognized as the Rookie of the Year in the Dallas Office in his first year. In 2006, he joined the company’s management team and was responsible for opening the firm’s Fort Worth office in 2007. Through his leadership as Regional Manager of the Fort Worth office, the operations grew from five agents to more than twenty over its first two years, and in 2009, the Fort Worth office achieved the highest revenue growth of all 75 Marcus & Millichap offices in the United States. Prior to joining Marcus & Millichap, Mr. Kile held an internal finance position at Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, where he was responsible for projects in the firm’s North American Chemicals, Energy and Natural Resource businesses. Mr. Kile holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, and he is active in the Greater Fort Worth Real Estate Council, the Dallas Real Estate Council, the Urban Land Institute, and the National Multi Housing Council. Mr. Kile, his wife Lynnette, and their two daughters, Eleanor and Lillian, reside in Fort Worth.