Dallas Platinum Corridor Event

Miller began his JPI career in 2013 and has been directly involved in the production of over $1 Billion in assets in the Central Region. Miller has more than 11 years of industry experience and is responsible for all aspects of new project development in the DFW area, including site selection, entitlement and pre-development, and capitalization, as well as regional coordination, property management, and management of construction services. Miller received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee.

Native Texan Jeff Cheney is the Mayor of Frisco, Texas. He also holds the distinction of being the youngest Mayor of Frisco. Previously, Cheney served on Frisco City Council 2007 - 2016. In the last ten years, he has served as the Chair of Frisco’s Budget and Audit Committee, as Member of the Mayor’s Youth Council Liaison, Frisco Technology Committee and Frisco Education Foundation. Cheney was chosen five times by his colleagues on Frisco City Council to be Mayor Pro Tem and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem. Mayor Cheney and his wife, Dana, are the co-founders of The Cheney Group, a Frisco-based residential realty firm. Professionally, Mayor Cheney has earned the distinction of Certified Public Accountant and a Registered Financial Advisor. Mayor Cheney attended University of Texas - Austin where he was recognized with Highest Honors for his Bachelors and Masters in Accounting. Mayor Cheney and wife, Dana, were married in 2001 and have been blessed with three children: Zachary, Mason, and Kaytlin

Serving as Executive Vice President of Hillwood, Russell Laughlin oversees the management, operation, land and infrastructure planning, and entitlements of AllianceTexas, an 26,000-acre mixed-use, master-planned community. His expertise includes long term planning initiatives, economic development and public-private partnerships. He has been instrumental in the development of AllianceTexas and DFW area in leading long-term regional planning initiatives. The AllianceTexas development is unparalleled in its vision of a dynamic and diversified community. The project’s foundation is the Alliance Global Logistics Hub - an international trade and logistics complex offering inland port transportation options via one of the nation’s largest intermodal yards, two Class I rail lines, the world’s first industrial airport and connecting state and interstate highways. Stemming from this strong commercial base are corporate campuses, office complexes, tech and data centers, destination retail and entertainment venues, residential housing, schools, churches and community shopping. In total, the development encompasses over 43.7 million square feet, more than 488 corporate residents and over 48,800 employees. In addition to his core Alliance responsibilities, Russell is actively involved in all development activities related to Frisco Station. Frisco Station is a 242-acre, high-density, mixed-use community located in Frisco Texas along the Dallas North Tollway. At build out, Frisco Station is anticipated to include over 5 million square feet of class A office and medical uses, 2,400 urban living units and over 300,000 square feet of destination food and beverage concepts. The Hillwood team is known for building successful public-private partnerships to accomplish major projects. Bringing relationships, core assets and enhanced services together, the team executes and delivers developable sites to market expediently. Speed-to-market combined with state-of-the-art infrastructure and business service is the competitive advantage. Hillwood provides a full range of skills, including site selection, land development, property management and construction services. In addition, the company provides extensive experience in building all types of product, from industrial to office to retail and residential. Finally, Hillwood has secured business advantages for the AllianceTexas community to assist corporate residents in daily operations, such as Foreign Trade Zone #196, Triple Freeport Inventory Tax Exemption, aircraft and pilot services at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, third-party logistics, educational resources, and employee placement services.

Don Lepard is the Frisco Site Lead at Drive.ai. Don has been instrumental in leading Drive.ai’s first deployment in Texas, including building out the Frisco operations team and setting up standard operating protocols. Don has over 12 years of progressive operations leadership experience for well-known companies such as Uber and Toyota. A veteran of the United States Navy, Don has proven experience building and motivating dynamic teams, remaining poised in high-pressure situations. From 2016 to 2018, Don held various positions at Uber Advanced Technology Group (ATG), the firm’s self-driving car division. As City Manager for Phoenix, Arizona, Mr. Lepard led an organization of hundreds of Flight Managers and Vehicle Operators with a fleet of over 120 autonomous vehicles, and implemented accountability and performance standards. Don has also held roles such as Head of Fleet Operations in Plano, Texas, and Manager for the Dealer Accounts group.

John McGee is the Director of Research at Whitebox Real Estate. He's building on his academic honors research project and MSRE course work to continue his study the relationship between investor sentiment, real estate cycle time and how they affect asset valuations both locally and nationally. John is building on academic background by leveraging 7 years of investment real estate consulting and brokerage to develop a state of the are underwriting model to reduce the inherent emotional bias when valuing investment real estate opportunities. Outside of work, John enjoys spending time with his wife and two children exploring the outdoors.

Harry Lake serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Koa Partners (Koa) and is responsible for the overall strategy of the privately-held firm. In this capacity, Mr. Lake leads a character-driven team focused on delivering real estate solutions to clients it is called to serve. Prior to founding Koa, Mr. Lake was the Chief Investment Officer for Neal Richards Group (NRG) and was responsible for the investment strategy of the firm as it organically grew its diversified portfolio beyond $1 Billion in asset value. Mr. Lake oversaw acquisition, asset management, disposition, and capital market activities as the firm interfaced with individual and institutional stakeholders. Prior to joining NRG, Mr. Lake served ten years with the Trammell Crow Company (TCC) and was the Principal responsible for the US acquisition strategy for the firm, a wholly owned development-and-investment subsidiary of CB Richard Ellis (CBRE). Mr. Lake led a central team to manage the investment of acquisition capital on behalf of TCC and its partners across 15 nationally distributed offices. Mr. Lake was also responsible for supporting the capital markets function within TCC in order to raise debt financing and deploy programmatic capital focused on commercial real estate development. Mr. Lake has worked in the real estate investment industry since 1998 and honorably served six years in the Hawaii Army National Guard. Mr. Lake is a triple-major graduate from the University of Hawaii (UH) and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS). Mr. Lake is active in the communities that he serves. He is active in the Urban Land Institute’s Redevelopment & Reuse Council (RRC), Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), The Real Estate Council (TREC), and the Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the American Red Cross Blood Services Board in Dallas as well as a graduate of the Associate Leadership Council (ALC), Leadership Dallas, and Leadership SoCal. Mr. Lake is a licensed broker in both California and Texas and is a LEED Accredited Professional focused on advancing sustainable real estate practices.

Samuel Dabney Ware, is the firm ’s deal generator and has been investing in Dallas area commercial real estate for over 38 years. He is the recipient of D Magazine's 2018 "Developer of the Year", a seven-time recipient of the Dallas Business Journal’s Real Estate Deal of the Year Awards and in 2016 received D CEO's Real Estate Deal of the Year Award for the acquisition of the JCPenney Campus. Mr. Ware's real estate projects have typically been value-added or re-purposed existing properties. Projects through his firm Lazarus Property Corporation, where he has served as President & CEO since 1992, have included over $650 million in real estate acquisitions across the office, retail, regional malls, and condo conversions. Notable projects have included purchasing the then failing 1.1 million SF Prestonwood Town Center Mall in Dallas, TX in 1999, developing plans to turn the enclosed mall into an open-air concept, and reselling the property to an affiliate of Goldman Sachs within 2 years for a 3X return on investment. Prior to Lazarus Property Corporation, Mr. Ware was the founder of Dabney Companies where he primarily focused on multi-family developments and shopping centers before the 1987 crash, acquiring over $350mm during this period. Since 2012, Mr. Ware has been focused on investments in the oil & gas industry through his firm Catalina Commodity Partners, LLC. Mr. Ware is enthusiastic about re-entering the commercial real estate market after taking a hiatus during the post-2008 downturn. Mr. Ware earned his B.S. in Business Administration from Abilene Christian University. Former adjunct real estate professor at Abilene Christian University. Mr. Ware lives in Dallas and is a long time resident of the area. His two grown daughters are married and also reside in Dallas.

Randy Heady, a Dallas native, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1970 with a B.B.A. in Finance. There he was privileged to become a member of the Texas Silver Spurs, an honorary service organization. Mr. Heady entered the commercial real estate field in 1971 as head of the office division of Hank Dickerson & Company Realtors. After an eminently successful tenure specializing in office leasing, land brokerage and development consultation, he organized Randy Heady & Company Realtors in 1977 for the purpose of continuing the tradition established upon excellent service for his clients. Annual commercial sales and leasing in a given year have exceeded $160,000,000 in volume. The types of properties and product upon which the firm has focused its activities include the following: - Office Buildings - Land - Shopping Centers/Retail Mr. Heady served on the board of Governors of the Commercial Investment Division (CID) of the Greater Board of Realtors from 1975 through 1977. He has served on the Professional Standards and Ethics Committee of the Greater Board of Realtors. He has also served on the Advisory Board of Prestonwood National Bank and as a former Director and Member of the Executive Loan Committee of RepublicBank Richardson. Mr. Heady has also been very active in the Dallas Chapter of Young Life, formerly serving as a member of the Executive Committee. He is currently Chairman of the Board for Crossfire Ministries, a local ministry responsive to the needs of at-risk Mexican-American gang youth in East Dallas.

Kim Butler leads the leasing efforts for HALL Group’s HALL Park, a 2.5 million-square-foot, 17-building office park in Frisco and previously KPMG Plaza at HALL Arts, a 500,000 square-foot Dallas Arts District office tower. Butler is also a member of the HALL Group development team. Butler has more than 35 years of commercial real estate experience in Dallas – 25 of which were at Transwestern, where she was consistently a top producer and held several executive roles for the company. Actively involved in the Dallas commercial real estate community, Butler has received numerous awards and accolades, including the Commercial Real Estate Women’s (CREW) Outstanding Achievement Award, Transwestern’s inaugural Founder’s Award and the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors’ (NTCAR) prestigious Stemmons Service Award, the highest honor from the industry group. Butler currently serves on the executive committee and board of directors of The Real Estate Council (TREC). She is also an active member of NAIOP, NTCAR, CREW, the Dallas Arts District and Downtown Dallas, Inc., and has previously held board positions with each. Butler serves on the advisory council of the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University, and previously served on the associate board of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. She actively mentors both students and young professionals. Butler’s civic and charitable activities revolve around her family and First United Methodist Church – Dallas. Butler holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Texas Tech University and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University.

As a third-generation builder, Greg Gordon has spent the last 25+ years continuing his family’s legacy in construction and real estate. The guiding passion through it all has been a passion for serving others. Whether it’s serving clients, subcontractors, employees, or his own family, Greg truly believes in the principle of servant leadership combined with the commitment to excellence. It’s with these in mind, that Greg founded Gordon Highlander in 2007. Under Greg’s leadership, Gordon Highlander has experienced tremendous growth becoming one of the top General Contractors in DFW. Recently the company was awarded the Dallas Business Journal’s Best Places to Work award, further reflecting Greg’s ongoing commitment to the people around him.