Fort Worth State of The Market

Betsy Price, a Fort Worth native, was elected in 2011 as the 44th mayor of the City of Fort Worth. In 2015, Price ran unopposed and was re-elected to a third two-year term. As the 16th largest city in the United States, Fort Worth remains one of the fastest growing large cities in the country. Along with her focus on promoting jobs, strengthening education, fighting crime and improving mobility, Price has made significant strides along the path toward her vision of a healthy, engaged and fiscally responsible city. A Healthy Community: Instead of sitting in cars, on the couch or in the office, Price believes in a community that naturally promotes physical activity throughout the day. During her first term, Price led a community effort to build a city that’s more fit, happy and productive. The result was FitWorth, a citywide initiative focused on promoting active lifestyles and healthy habits in both kids and adults. With an initial $250,000 grant from Oncor, FitWorth is working to stem the rising tide of obesity, especially in children. Thanks to FitWorth, employers, schools, hospitals, faith communities, non-profits and retailers are energized and actively promoting a more healthy and sustainable city. Building a healthy community is much more than promoting exercise and good nutrition. It’s also about designing a city that gives residents the opportunity to leave the car at home, opting for alternate modes of transportation. Under her leadership, Fort Worth has become a foremost cycling community, adding miles of new bike lanes and trails. Promoting pedestrian-friendly urban villages has also remained a staple of Price’s vision for rebuilding the city’s urban core. Moreover, she continues to push her long-term goal of linking neighborhoods and job centers with a comprehensive and convenient commuter rail system. An Engaged Public: As Price likes to say, “It’s Your Fort Worth.” She understands a city is nothing without an active and engaged citizenry. Shortly after being elected as mayor, Price made quick work of starting a movement to get young people more involved in driving local public policy. The response to her call to young adults was overwhelming. Within a matter of months, citizens under the age of 40 from across the city came together, set a charge and dubbed themselves SteerFW. The organization has grown to more than 300-strong, with various task forces tackling some of the cities toughest challenges. Thanks to today’s hectic and busy society, getting citizens—both young and old—involved in charting the course for their city requires more creative approaches to the typical town hall meeting. With that in mind, Price found several ways to promote grassroots government. Most notably, her Walking and Rolling Town Halls have broken the mold of that tired town hall meeting with a casual—and healthy—way for citizens to connect with city leaders. Price also understands the power of the Internet to bring communities together to seize opportunities and address challenges. In 2013, Price led the charge to launch YourFortWorth.org, the city’s first 24/7 online public forum allowing citizens to share and vote on new ideas to improve their city. A Fiscally Responsible City: A strong fiscal conservative, Price applied the skills she garnered as a business owner and from a decade of service as Tarrant County’s Tax Assessor to tightening the city’s belt. With a close eye on the bottom line, Price has been a consistent champion of using responsible and sustainable budget cuts to balance the city’s $1.2 billion budget. Additionally, Price and the City Council made bold changes to the city’s pension plan in 2012 to protect taxpayers and stabilize the fund for current and future retirees. Price also believes in the power of doing public good with private investment. Putting to good use her decades of experience building personal and professional bridges, Price matched generous benefactors with community needs to help the city with everything from health and fitness, to public engagement, to public pools, to animal adoptions and more. Price graduated from Arlington Heights High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Arlington. Since then, she has been an active mother and a leader in the Fort Worth community, serving on numerous boards, commissions and professional associations. After running her own successful business for 17 years, Price turned to public service, and was elected in 2000 to serve as Tarrant County’s Tax Assessor where she quickly made her department one of the most efficient in Texas, saving taxpayers millions of dollars. She has been married to Tom, an insurance agent, for more than 40 years and has three adult children, Kathryn, Phillip and Paul. In her spare time, Price is an avid cyclist and enjoys spending quality time with her three grandsons.

Bill Burton serves as Executive Vice President, Marketing & Development for Hillwood, developer of AllianceTexas. As EVP, Bill is responsible for leading the vision and strategy of AllianceTexas by overseeing the development of office, industrial and retail as well as leasing and sales. Bill continues to play an active role with key stakeholders and clients—maintaining relationships that support the forward-thinking and innovative mission that drives the growth of AllianceTexas. Bill joined Hillwood in January 1989 and has been directly involved with developing AllianceTexas from raw ranch land to a 27,000-acre, master-planned development. Bill’s expertise is centered on developing customer relationships that nurture long- term success. He has directed build-to suit and lease transactions totaling more than 53 million square feet with companies such as Amazon, AT&T Nokia, Bridgestone-Firestone, General Mills, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and Volkswagen of America. In addition, he has managed portfolio sales in excess of 1 billion dollars and coordinated more than 1,800 acres of land sale transactions with companies such as Citigroup, Deloitte, Fidelity Investments, Intel, KRAFT Foods, and more. Bill remains involved with and supports numerous professional and community development organizations. Beyond his professional affiliations, Bill supports several non-profit organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Club, March for Babies, and the Christian Prayer Breakfast of Fort Worth and Tarrant County.

Scott Emmons is focused on innovation for the Neiman Marcus Group (NMG). He founded and built the innovation lab (iLab) in 2012. Scott is responsible for leading NMG in evaluating, designing, testing and piloting cutting-edge technologies and applications for luxury retail. Scott is also working on BYOD initiatives, Wi-Fi/LAN/WAN infrastructure, mobility and digital signage initiatives. Innovation projects include the Memomi Memory Mirror, 4K touch table look books, beacon enabled holiday passes, intelligent mobile phone charging stations and digital directories for Bergdorf Goodman.

Grant is a President of Brokerage Services with The Woodmont Company in their corporate office in Fort Worth, Texas. He is responsible for the management and operations of the Brokerage department, encompassing a retail portfolio active in 16 states exceeding 15 million square feet of GLA. In addition, Grant is focused on the development and implementation of the strategic growth initiatives for the department. Since joining The Woodmont Company in 2008, Grant has continually worked to bring added value to each client and customer in all phases of the commercial real estate transaction process.

David Walters is a Senior Vice President with CBRE’s Occupier Advisory and Transaction Services in the Fort Worth office. He has 22 years of real estate experience specializing in consulting, tenant representation, data centers, government services, healthcare, higher education, industrial and logistics, law firms and non-profits. His focus is providing real estate solutions for office, industrial and land users throughout Tarrant County and the Dallas/Fort Worth area. His expertise includes acquisitions (lease and sale), disposition (sublease and sale), site selection and strategic and financial consulting. Mr. Walters’ thorough knowledge of both sides of the real estate transaction, as well as construction build-out, gives him the ability to provide measurable cost, time and efficiency savings to his clients. During the last four years, he has negotiated over 120 transactions, comprising more than $300 million in transaction value.

Edward Manuel joined Trademark in 2005 and is currently Senior Vice President of Development. Previously he served as Director of Development as well as several other positions throughout the company. Edward is responsible for overseeing all redevelopment and development activities within the Trademark portfolio, including sourcing new opportunities around the United States. Throughout his tenure at Trademark, Edward has been instrumental in site acquisition, entitlements, debt and equity financing, project design, leasing, construction and disposition. Edward is a graduate of Texas Christian University, earning a bachelor of business administration in Finance with a real estate concentration. He is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and the Greater Fort Worth Real Estate Council.

Artemio De La Vega is the founder and CEO of De La Vega Development, a commercial real estate firm specializing in dynamic mixed-use developments. Mr. De La Vega has more than 25 years of experience in the entrepreneurial and real estate industry, with a focus on single-tenant, multi-tenant retail centers and mixed-use developments. He brings a versatile and deep knowledge of development, master planning, entitlements, construction and capital markets to every project. Mr. De La Vega has successfully invested, acquired, developed or redeveloped more than 100 commercial real estate projects throughout the world. Some of his more notable projects include the 900,000 square-foot Las Palmas Marketplace in El Paso, TX; the 900,000-square-foot Canyon West in Lubbock, TX; the 400,000-square-foot Kings Crossing in Shreveport, LA; as well as multiple industrial distribution and manufacturing facilities for clients such as Chrysler, General Motors, Alcoa, Yazaki, Bergamasca and more. As a recognized leader in the commercial real estate industry, Mr. De La Vega frequently serves as a panelist for many leadership and future vision summits. He is also a guest columnist for a variety of publications and active with several professional organizations, including the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and The Real Estate Council (TREC). In addition, he serves on the Executive Committee of the Chancellor’s Council of the University of Texas System, is a board member and donor to the FEMAP Foundation, and a proud donor and supporter of the Artemio De La Vega Scholarship Fund for the benefit of Hispanic students at the University of Texas, El Paso. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas, is a graduate of Culver Military Academy, Jr. Reserve Officers Training Corps and holds an FAA private aircraft license. Mr. De La Vega enjoys spending time with his wife and four children.

Peter is a Senior Vice President at The Woodmont Company, working with both the Development and Brokerage Teams, specializing in project leasing and marketing, as well as site selection, acquisition and project planning for existing and proposed retail and mixed-use properties. Since joining the company in 2008, Peter has worn many different hats across many a number of developments in North Texas. On any given project, his well-rounded knowledge and experience, covering all key aspects of retail development, is his core strength and best asset to all key stakeholders. Peter embraces challenge and owns a commitment to see each project through to a successful completion.

Walsh is the latest endeavor from Republic Property Group, in partnership with the Fort Worth- based Walsh family. Comparable in size to a small town, Walsh is located 12 minutes from downtown Fort Worth where Interstate 20 and I-30 merge. The development spans Parker and Tarrant Counties, and is the largest development underway in the U.S. within close proximity to a major city center. Construction at the 7,200-acre community will span decades, with plans for more than 15,000 homes, multiple elementary and middle schools, retail, corporate campuses, medical facilities, a Makerspace, coworking spaces and a host of amenities serving the community. At completion, Walsh will be home to more than 50,000 residents. Home construction is underway for the initial development phase at Walsh, with prices from the upper $200,000s. Future residents will enjoy a carefully planned balance of architectural styles, the preservation and celebration of a natural Texas landscape, and the fastest residential internet speeds in the nation. Homes at Walsh are zoned for the award-winning Aledo Independent School District, with a new AISD elementary school scheduled to open in the Walsh neighborhood for the 2017-2018 academic school year. Founded in 1967, Republic Property Group is a leading developer of master planned communities and real estate projects. The Dallas-Fort Worth based company has developed and managed more than $7 billion in award-winning residential and commercial use projects spanning eight states. RPG has a proven track record in all facets of development – from site selection and financial analysis to planning, construction, management and maintenance – and specializes in creating one-of- a-kind communities that enhance the lives of residents and the surrounding area. RPG’s hands-on approach to the community building has produced two of the top 25 best-selling master planned communities in the nation in Frisco’s Phillips Creek Ranch and Light Farms in Celina. In addition, RPG is currently developing the Villas at Legacy West and Walsh, a 7,200- acre neighborhood in west Fort Worth. Through five decades of building communities in North Texas, RPG has contributed to noteworthy projects including Stonebridge Ranch in McKinney, Lantana in Denton and Lake Forest in Dallas.

Chris is a serial entrepreneur with more than 20 years of real estate development and investment experience. He founded Fort and to date, the company has invested over $2B in Class B industrial, and land development projects throughout the state of Texas and the Sunbelt. Chris spends time focusing on Fort’s long-term strategy, fostering strategic relationships, and building capital relationships that will help complement the firm’s growth. He is also the host of The FORT Podcast, a Top 100 Business Podcast that has published 360+ episodes to date through a series of raw business conversations with business leaders and entrepreneurs. Chris graduated with a BBA in Finance & Marketing from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX. Chris is a member of the Fort Worth YPO Chapter and attends Christ Chapel Bible Church. He lives in Fort Worth, TX with his family.

Susan Gruppi started M2G Ventures in 2014. Susan is responsible for Development, Strategy and Value Creation at M2G. Prior to starting M2G, Susan was with Trademark Property Company for 7 years, where she served in many roles including Analyst, Manager, Director of Finance and Vice President. M2G strives to be the chosen visionary platform in innovative mixed-use and industrial assets through investing and select consulting. The company also has an integrated approach to social impact with their mental health initiative. Susan serves on the board for the Cultural District Alliance in Fort Worth. She is also a member of The Greater Fort Worth Real Estate Council and the International Council of Shopping Centers. She received her BBA in Finance with a Real Estate Concentration and a Minor in Spanish from Texas Christian University.

Mr. Sparks joined Greystar in 1998, and prior to joining the development team he has held various positions within Greystar. Mr. Sparks has been closely involved in all aspects of third party property management, development, renovation, acquisitions, refinance and dispositions, and asset management of approximately 9,000 apartment units. Mr. Sparks received a BBA in Finance and a BBA in Economics from Texas Tech University. He is a licensed salesperson of the Texas Real Estate Commission and a member of Urban Land Institute.

Paul served in the US Navy for over 26 years. Commanded a F-14 Tomcat Squadron, spent three years in the pentagon, and was the Commanding Officer of Naval Air Station Fort Worth, Carswell Field from 2002 to 2004. Paul joined Fort Worth South, Inc. (FWSI) as President in 2005. FWSI is a private non-profit organization responsible for leading the strategic plan and management of the policies, programs, and initiatives for the economic revitalization of the Near Southside of Fort Worth that includes the Fort Worth Medical District. Paul also administers the Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District #4 for the City of Fort Worth that is used for public improvements associated with new developments throughout the Near Southside. Paul has been married to his wife Carmel for 35 years. They have two children Emily and Robert.

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.