North Central Expressway Development Forum

Gary C. Thomas is president/executive director of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). He is responsible for a 13-city transit system covering 700-square mile service area with bus, light rail, commuter rail, and paratransit services. Under his leadership DART has doubled its light rail system - twice - to become the nation's longest at 93 miles. The agency has been recognized for innovation in developing a progressive clean fuels program for its bus fleet, advancing new models for local bus and paratransit service and customer-facing communication technology and service. DART is also a recognized leader in the global advancement of the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) movement with its use of targeted demand-response transit service matched with new customer tools for fare payment and trip planning. Thomas administers the goals and policies of the DART Board of Directors and directs the agency's top managers and approximately 3,700 employees, emphasizing a strong customer focus. He works closely with service area city governments and the public in developing short- and long-term transportation and mobility goals. Thomas joined DART in November 1998. He was a consulting engineer for 19 years prior to that. He has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Bachelor of Architecture from Texas Tech University. He serves on the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Subcommittee on Planning and Policy Review for the TRB. He is a past chair of the American Public Transportation Association, RailVolution and the South West Transit Association.

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.

Cornell Holmes is Senior Asset Director for Trademark Property Company and is responsible for asset transitions from pre-planning through developing stabilized teams. In addition, he oversees the operation and continued development of two mixed-use projects, developing and serving as a primary responder for the company’s crisis management team, and dispositions. Cornell joined Trademark in 2010 and has over 15 years of experience in the shopping center industry. Prior to Trademark, Cornell worked for General Growth Properties in various management roles. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley, holds the ICSC CSM designation, and is a member of the Urban Land Institute.

Matthew Benbassat is an Executive Vice President at Regent Properties. Matthew manages the acquisitions and development arms of Regent Properties. While at Regent, Matthew has been involved with the acquisition, financing, development and management of over 6 million square feet of office, retail and mixed use properties. Prior to joining Regent, Matthew began his career as a strategy consultant at L.E.K. Consulting. He then worked as an attorney specializing in real estate transactions in the Los Angeles offices of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and O’Melveny & Myers LLP. While at O’Melveny, Matthew also practiced in the fund formation group. Matthew currently serves as trustee and board member of VBS Harold M. Schulweis Day School, and previously served as a board member and treasurer of Birmingham Community Charter High School. Matthew graduated magna cum laude with a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and he received his JD from UCLA.

Duane Henley is in the office agency leasing group with responsibilities that include both representing owners of Class A office buildings and clients. Duane began his career with the Xerox Corporation in Houston, Texas in 1980. In 1985 Duane was hired by The Horne Company in Austin, Texas, leasing office buildings in the CBD including One America Center, Norwood Tower and The Colorado Building. In 1986, he was hired by The Southland Financial Corporation to lease office buildings located in the Austin CBD and suburbs, the most notable being San Jacinto Centre a class A office tower and Four Seasons Hotel located in a mixed-use development on Town Lake. Southland relocated Duane to the corporate headquarters in Las Colinas leasing office buildings including The Towers at Williams Square. In 1989, Duane was hired by Prentiss Properties in Dallas as the Director of Marketing, responsible for leasing CBD and suburban office buildings. Duane was the top producer in the nation fifteen times during his tenure at Prentiss Properties. In 2008, after the acquisition of Prentiss Properties Trust by Brandywine Realty Trust, Duane was hired by PM Realty Group as the Vice President of leasing in Dallas responsible for CBD and suburban third party leasing assignments, along with pursuing new business assignments. Duane joined Transwestern in 2010 and has been the top producer three of the last four years. Duane has been responsible for marketing six developments over one million square feet while negotiating 1,002,000 leases totaling 14,745,650 square feet. A few of his notable transactions include: 7-Eleven 462,256 rsf; Con Agra 411,000 rsf; 7-Eleven 330,000 rsf, IBM 320,332 rsf; IBM 271,242 rsf; GTE 250,966 rsf; 7-Eleven 240,003 rsf; IBM 237,613 rsf; Michael’s Stores 216,772 rsf; Celanese 214,851 rsf; Richards Group 181,144 rsf, US Sprint 177,152 rsf; Akin Gump 165,562 rsf; GMAC 142,011 rsf; US Sprint 124,969 rsf; Capstead Mortgage 112,131 rsf; PierOne 110,000 rsf; Liberty Mutual 108,080 rsf; Fidelity Investments 106,00 rsf; Display Product Technology 104,000 rsf; IBM 104,015 rsf; Americredit 102,560 rsf; HUD 99,656 rsf; Centex 85,453 rsf; US Bank 79,419 rsf; Coca Cola 78,567 rsf, Voyager Insurance 73,944 rsf; Miller Freeman 72,112 rsf; Kodak 69,549 rsf; Phytel 66,018; PricewaterhouseCoopers 65,010 rsf; MHBT 64,352 rsf; Greystar 61,863 rsf, Net Com 61,827 rsf; VHA 60,300 rsf; Cantey Hanger 59,651 rsf ; Hudson Advisors 58,548 rsf; Dain Rauscher 57,962 rsf; Alexander & Alexander 57,371 rsf; Levi Strauss 55,663 rsf; Silber Pearlman 54,312 rsf and Metro PCS 50,558 rsf. EDUCATION / SOCIAL AFFILIATIONS: Duane received a BBA majoring in marketing from The University of Texas at Austin, Texas. Highland Park High school Booster Club; Highland Park Dad’s Club.

Brad is a Vice President with fifteen years of experience in serving land development clients. He offers a wide-ranging experience in civil design and land development for multifamily, mixed-use, corporate office, medical, and institutional facilities. Brad’s demonstrated talents and enthusiasm have made him a leader within the firm. His drive to expand his horizons, as well as those of Kimley-Horn, led him to develop an ever-growing client base. He has a reputation among his clients and peers for providing exceptional quality in his work product, superior communication, and team coordination, all of which keep projects on schedule and within budget constraints in order to achieve the project’s objectives. Brad has extensive experience in taking projects from initial site feasibility and due diligence through preliminary and final design to construction and final punch lists. This experience can be seen in his recent work with the CityLine mixed-use infrastructure and multifamily projects in Richardson, Texas, as well as Legacy West in Plano. His thorough understanding of land development makes him an invaluable asset to clients and team members.

R. Marshall Mills is President and Chief Executive Officer of Cencor Realty Services and The Weitzman Group, a corporate alliance that forms one of the largest commercial real estate management, development and brokerage services firms in Texas. Mills is responsible for overseeing the companies, with particular emphasis on market share growth and overall performance. As president of the statewide The Weitzman Group, Mills enhances his leadership role in directing the company's operations and brokerage activity in Dallas/Fort Worth and throughout Texas. The company, in addition to Dallas/Fort Worth, operates offices in Austin, Houston and San Antonio.

Greg Nelson and Irving (Dusty) Wolf announce the formation of Sentinel Capital, LLC (“Sentinel”). The Mission Statement of Sentinel is to provide “Hands-on Partnerships for Measured Results” the move will provide Clients of both companies with direct access to skilled managers, leasing specialists, analytical tools, capital sources and specific market knowledge. Sentinel’s formation is the result of the ever changing world economy, debt markets being in a constant state of flux and Investor’s aversion to risk. A need to provide Client’s with direct access to real estate specialists in multiply disciplines under one entity be came abundantly clear need. The agreement to merge the two entities under one holding company, where Centra, one of only 700 Accredited Management Organizations in the United States, will provided management services, while Triad will provide brokerage and investment analysis seems all to logical and marks a strategic move in Business development. Sentinel will be the joint responsibility of Dusty and Greg and will provide the governess to Centra and Triad. Sentinel will provide oversight to investments including; market identification, demographics, product type, yield and internal rates of return, acquisition review and client relations. Greg will also Chair the Investment Committee.

At RagingWire, Mr. Leach is the overall marketing leader responsible for a data center portfolio of 1.5 million square feet and 113 megawatts of critical power in the United States and a global data center platform of 140 locations in 20 countries and regions as part of the Nexcenter brand of NTT Communications. Over his 30-year career, James Leach has been part of the core teams developing internet, telecommunications, and infrastructure solutions, including: DNS security, global web domains, performance monitoring, industry vertical solutions, content delivery networks (CDN), virtual private networks (VPN), cloud computing, and data center colocation. Mr. Leach spent the first 15 years of his career at IBM, starting out as an engineer and then moving into sales, business development, and marketing. For the last 15 years, James has been a top marketing executive at Savvis, Internap, Neustar, Harris Corporation, and now RagingWire.

Daniel Bowman is a native of Allen, Texas and was named Executive Director/CEO of the Allen Economic Development Corporation in 2014 after 10 years with the organization. He was recognized in the Top 40 under 40 by the Dallas Business Journal (2021) and the International Economic Development Council (2013) and has been instrumental in recruiting corporate projects including NetSCOUT Systems, Credit Union of Texas, WatchGuard Video and KONE Elevators. Bowman was also instrumental in structuring the public-private partnership for the Watters Creek and The Farm in Allen mixed-use developments. His background and focus on community collaboration led him to several community leadership roles with the Kiwanis Club, Leadership Allen and other civic organizations. He is a graduate of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) CFL Leadership Class and recently earned his CCIM pin. Bowman is a graduate of Trinity University and the University of Texas at Dallas, where he earned his MBA.