Future of Downtown Dallas

When it came time for Colin Fitzgibbons to choose a career, he followed in his parents’ footsteps. His mother was a journalist, and his father owned a commercial real estate firm, and Colin tried out both professions before realizing that commercial real estate was his passion. As a senior vice president of development with KDC, Colin is primarily responsible for new business development. He has been with the company since 2010. “If I won the lottery, I’d be right back here the next morning. I can’t picture myself doing anything else. I love being in an industry where people are rewarded if they’re willing to hustle.” Colin got his feet wet in the real estate business with an internship at The Staubach Company while he attended Washington & Lee University in Virginia. He interned in Staubach’s New York City office for two summers. He also spent a summer interning with D Magazine in Dallas. After graduating from Washington & Lee, Colin headed to Washington D.C. to cover high school and college sports as a reporter for The Washington Post. When he was offered the opportunity to join The Staubach Company as a tenant rep broker in New York City, he jumped at the opportunity. He spent roughly five years with the company, doing business around the nation. Colin moved back to Dallas for graduate school at Southern Methodist University, and after graduating with his MBA, he joined KDC. He’s been involved in a variety of projects including: development and leasing of 125,000 square feet of retail opportunities at CityLine, KDC’s mixed-use development in Richardson, Texas; development of NBC’s North Texas Regional HQ; development of State Farm’s 2 million-square-foot regional hub; and development of 1920 McKinney Avenue, a 150,000-square-foot, class A building. Of all the projects Colin has worked on, he’s most proud of his work with Liberty Mutual’s new regional office. “I’ve been involved with that project since the beginning.” Colin lives in Dallas with his wife and three young sons. He’s a fan of barbecues and loves using The Big Green Egg he received for his birthday. Professionally, he’s heavily involved with The Real Estate Council and is also a member of the Developing Leaders Forum through NAIOP and serves on the board of the Moorland Family YMCA in Southern Dallas.

Jennifer Sanders is Cofounder and Executive Director of the Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA) a public-private partnership dedicated to supporting the design and execution of a smart cities plan for Dallas. She brings expertise across a broad array of industries including energy, technology, economic development, nonprofit and finance, serving in functions including communications, stakeholder and community relations, strategic counsel, change management and operations. DIA’s goal is to elevate Dallas as a city that is not only prepared for – but a driving force in shaping – the future of cities, and provide opportunities for prosperity for its citizens. While at the DIA, she has collated a network of three dozen member organizations, and works with over 20 departments within the City of Dallas to accomplish an aligned smart city strategy, which began with the implementation of the Smart Cities Living Lab [phase I], in the West End District in downtown Dallas. This Living Lab incorporates nine smart city projects into a compressed corridor, and the resulting platform will pull in startups, entrepreneurs and university researchers to develop and test additional products and solutions. The Living Lab is the fastest-to-market smart cities initiative in the country. The DIA is now focused on its Phase II projects in Southern Dallas focused on challenges to underserved residents around mobility, public safety and the digital divide. She is actively involved with numerous civic organizations in Dallas, serving as Past President of the Mayor’s Star Council, President of the Board of the Suicide & Crisis Center of North Texas, Board Member of Better Block, an Ambassador for the Dallas Entrepreneur Center (DEC) and the Advisory Board for Dallas-based retail and lifestyle startup, Edition Collective, among others. She has been named to the Dallas Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and Top Women in Technology, State Scoop’s Top Women in Technology, the Tech Week 100, and the Dallas 500. She has been honored to speak to groups at conferences around the globe including South by Southwest, Smart Cities Week and the Smart City Global Congress and Expo in Barcelona. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Psychology with a minor concentration in Economics.

Elizabeth Herman joined CBRE’s Urban Group in 2016 as an Associate working with Jack Gosnell. She assists in site selection and tenant representation, focusing on the revitalization of downtown Dallas. Prior to CBRE, Elizabeth interned under Susan Arledge with E Smith Realty, facilitating commercial and industrial market research for both Dallas/Fort Worth and national markets. There, she was able to refine her research and communication skills to improve efficiency throughout the real estate transaction process. In addition, Elizabeth held several marketing internships. Her marketing and real estate experience combined give Elizabeth a valuable perspective of the overall sales lifecycle, from initial client interaction to marketing company services to the final close of a deal.

Mehul B. “Mike” Patel was born in Valsad, Gujarat, India, and immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 14 years old. After graduating from high school in Garland, Texas, he earned an associate's degree in Business from Richland College, Dallas, in 1998. Two years later, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from the University of Texas at Arlington. Mehul is a second-generation hotelier who learned the lodging business from his father. Mehul and his brother acquired their first hotel, an independent property, in 1994 when Mehul was only 17 years old. He quickly mastered the deal-making skills that have been critical for purchasing and developing 26 hotels during his career as an hotelier. As many hotel owners in the Southwest have discovered, Mehul is also very willing to share his hard-earned knowledge. Mehul began a three-year term on the AAHOA Board of Directors in March 2005 as the North Texas Regional Director. He is the chairman and CEO of Sagestar Hotels, Ltd., Dallas, a company that owns, manages, builds and sells lodging properties. In addition to his membership in AAHOA, Mehul is active in the American Hotel & Motel Association and the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders. He is multi-lingual in English, Gujarati, and Hindi.

Jerry Tonn serves as Drever Capital Management’s Development Director for the mixed-use redevelopment of THE DREVER in downtown Dallas. He is responsible for coordinating all operating components of the project, financial modeling, construction administration, acting as liaison with vendors and the City of Dallas, and all capital stack components. Jerry is a long time commercial real estate specialist with 30+ years of diverse experience working within both corporate and private real estate companies. Throughout his 16-year career with GE Real Estate, as Program Manager within the joint venture equity platform, Jerry coordinated strategies for $1.4B of GE equity invested in 225 multi-family properties across the U.S. He led a team of 14 asset managers responsible for implementing GE’s joint venture equity strategies. He has formed institutional JV’s and sourced clients for managing REO portfolios. Areas of expertise include financing, underwriting acquisitions, dispositions, restructures, value-add repositioning, and ground up construction.

Courtney Johnston is the Regional Leader for the Interior Design practice of Perkins+Will in Texas. As the Director of Design for Interiors in the Dallas office, Courtney is a key figure in supporting the integrated design approach bringing creative solutions to projects from conception to completion. She is a talented designer with experience in many project types and sizes. Most recently she has been responsible for the growth of Perkins+Will’s Corporate Interiors practice in the Dallas market. Courtney’s innovative approach to mentoring and teaching have also helped develop interior design programs at national universities. Courtney is currently leading the project for Perkins+Will’s Dallas office relocation downtown, in the old Dallas High School, to be completed in the third quarter of next year.

Gordon Ip is the Principal and Founder of Genesis Real Estate Group, and brings more than 30 years of national development experience to the Company. Gordon is well versed in all aspects of development, including acquisition, zoning and entitlement, planning, architectural design, general contracting, construction management, financing, property management, and sales and marketing. Prior to forming Genesis Real Estate, Gordon gained experience working for Pacific Realty Corporation, where he developed successful projects in Tulsa, Phoenix, Altamonte Springs, Dallas, and Albuquerque, and participated in over $250 million in transactions with the Balcor Company, a division of American Express. In 1986, Gordon launched Genesis Real Estate Group, and has since completed entitlements and developments totaling several thousands of units, including high rise rentals, luxury condominiums, high density urban apartments, and garden apartments across the nation.

As part of the tenant representation group, Brad leads some of the most complex assignments of our clients, including Headquarter relocation evaluation, HR cost alignment strategies, multi-site real estate strategic planning and workplace design implementation. Brad was awarded NAIOP’s Office Broker of the Year for his role in leading the relocation of Toyota’s N.A. Headquarters to Plano, Texas, Mercedes Benz’s N.A. Headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia, Hilti’s N.A. Headquarters to Plano, TX, and Raytheon’s IIS Headquarters to Richardson, Texas. Experience: Brad brings strategic thought, experience, strong analytical skills and market knowledge to the corporate facilities planning, relocation, and renegotiation process. On average, Brad and his team have been able to reduce his customers' occupancy cost by 20% to 30%, while greatly increasing efficiency and work flow. Brad earned a bachelor of business administration degree in finance from The University of Texas in Austin. Brad has received many awards during his real estate career. Some to note are DCEO Most Powerful Business Leaders in DFW 2016, the Dallas Business Journal’s Deal of the Year for Toyota. Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors’ Alvin B. Cates Award for Mercedes-Benz. Dallas Business Journal’s Best Suburban Office Finalist for Raytheon, Dallas Business Journal’s Best Renovation or Reuse for Children’s Medical Center, and Dallas Business Journal’s Best Headquarter Lease Renewal for Neiman Marcus. 2014 NAIOP Office Broker of the Year and Raytheon’s 2008 Supplier Excellence 3 Star Award (only service firm ever to receive). Brad is actively involved in the following organizations: Downtown Dallas Inc. (Board Member); High Ground Advisors (Board Member), Salesmanship Club of Dallas (Member).

Prior to joining Pacific Elm Properties, Ms. Terry was an Executive Vice President at Colliers’ Dallas-Fort Worth where she led the Office Agency Leasing group. During her tenure at Colliers, she grew the firms’ Dallas footprint by more than 8.5 million square feet in less than three years, and she served as an advisor on Colliers’ National Office Agency Advisory Council. From 2014 to 2020, Sara was a Senior Vice President of Leasing at Stream Realty, where she provided leasing services for several institutionally owned Class A office buildings, including leading the leasing and repositioning efforts during the renovation of one of Dallas’ most iconic office towers, Trammell Crow Center. In 2018 and 2019, Sara was named a Stream Top Producer ranking her in the top 5 of producers nationwide. Prior to 2014, Sara spent most of her early career in Atlanta, where she worked for Charlotte-based developer, Crescent Resources. At Crescent, she was responsible for leasing their 2.5 million square foot Atlanta office portfolio, and she completed several corporate relocations on behalf of the owner.

Matt McDonald serves as an Associate Principal at Corgan, a global architecture and design firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. With nearly two decades of architectural experience, Matt has managed a variety of complex and awarded projects. A graduate of the College of Architecture at Texas Tech University, Matt is active in community and professional organizations as a graduate of Leadership Dallas and member of the Real Estate Council (TREC). Matt has been integral in the management and design of many significant projects including Kubota’s LEED Gold Headquarters, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, a LEED Platinum facility, the State Farm Hub at CityLine, 7-Eleven’s Headquarters, the new NBC Universal studio in Fort Worth, Forty Five Ten, and is currently leading the design of Charles Schwab’s new Westlake campus.