Detroit State of the Market

Dietrich A. Knoer is a principal of the Platform, a development company dedicated to the rebuilding of Detroit. He is responsible for developing new business, setting strategic direction, and running the day-to-day business of the Platform. Dietrich has 20 years of domestic and international development and investment experience. He is passionate about the resurgence of Detroit and the opportunities that are derived from the urbanization of American cities. He is the formerchief investment officer for Redico LLC, Southfield, a real estate development and investment company in Detroit. He earned an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, and a bachelor’s in economics from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany. He is involved in several non-profit organizations that are making a difference in the life of inner city Detroit residents, and is a communicant at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

RJ Wolney is Bedrock’s Vice President of Finance managing investment and finance aspects of Bedrock's current and prospective real estate projects. Wolney leads evaluation of real estate investment opportunities including; market and strategic analysis, project underwriting, new development pursuit, financial due diligence and financing capital structure execution. Wolney has more than 15 years of experience working with publicly and privately-held businesses in various areas of finance including mergers and acquisitions, equity capital raising, and debt financing. Previously, Wolney worked in the corporate finance department of William Blair & Company, a global investment banking and asset management firm based in Chicago, working with consumer and retail businesses primarily offering mergers and acquisitions as well as capital raising advisory services. Wolney moved back to the Detroit area with his wife and son in 2012 to join the exciting efforts underway at Rock Ventures and to help revitalize his hometown. Wolney is a member of the Board of Directors for Hatch Detroit, Jefferson East Inc., and the Grosse Pointe War Memorial. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.

Fernando Palazuelo was born in Madrid in 1955. The CEO of Arte Express, he has over thirty-five years of experience as an international developer for historic renovations around the globe. Most recently converting a large potion of the historic downtown core of Lima Peru, (21 buildings) and previously spurring historic development in Palma de Mallorca (36 buildings), Bhaktapur in Nepal, Barcelona (62 buildings) and Madrid, converting in total over one hundred and twenty buildings. In Lima, Arte Express has converted over 1.5 million square feet and brought over 15,000 jobs to the area through the process. Arte Express Detroit, LLC purchased the Packard Plant property in the Wayne County Auction in 2013 and is working with his team to develop a master plan to historically restore this site. Mr. Palazuelo has a vision to bring back opportunity, jobs and commerce to the east side of Detroit through the Packard redevelopment.

As Managing Director of Gensler Detroit, John oversees office initiatives related to design, client development and strategic growth. With expertise in the “business of design thinking,” he is driven by a passion for helping clients align their most valuable assets – people and place – through the creation of award-winning spaces that support organizational mission and position them to grow and embrace future opportunities. Leveraging design as a tool, John leads diverse teams to attain clients’ larger organizational goals and has earned the respect of colleagues and clients as a trusted guide and strategist. He holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Kansas and a Bachelor of General Studies and a certification in Environmental Studies from the University of Missouri.

Jason Raznick is the founder of Benzinga, a media and data technology startup empowering a new generation of investors. Raznick launched Benzinga.com in 2010, and it has since grown to become a hub for actionable information on the capital markets with approximately 2 million readers a month. Benzinga.com is supported by a high-speed newswire, Benzinga Pro, which is home to exclusive market-moving news. Raznick is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he started multiple companies. He has been quoted in a variety of financial news publications, such as CNBC, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post. Raznick has been named to the Crain's Detroit Business 40 Under 40 list as well as the DBusiness 30 in Their 30s list. Benzinga is based in Detroit, and Raznick is dedicated to helping rebuild Detroit as a hub of technology and finance.

Randall Book joined Colliers International’s Occupier Services Group in 2011 as part of the national steering committee. Throughout his 25-year career he has concentrated his practice on Tenant and Owner representation around the world. As Executive Vice President he has completed transactions that included office space, building sales, land leasing, purchases and build to suit projects. Notable completed deals by Randall include Masco Corporation; Eberspaecher, Allstate, ITC International, A123, TSC of Michigan, St. John Hospital, Oakland County Development, Kennametal, UBS, New York Life Insurance, Hewlett Packard, DTE Energy, Siemen’s Automotive, and Giarmarco Mullins & Horton, to name a few. Randy’s focus over the last several years has been to bring new businesses to the state of Michigan and has traveled to Europe, Korea, Dubai, Indonesia and China to procure and develop these relationships.

Wright L. Lassiter III is the President and CEO of Henry Ford Health System, overseeing the $5.5 billion health system comprised of six hospitals, a health plan and a wide range of ambulatory and retail health services consisting of more than 60 clinical locations and 28,000 employees. Lassiter joined Henry Ford in December 2014 as president. In his first year, he led the Board and senior management team through a comprehensive strategic planning effort to position Henry Ford for the future. In addition, he oversaw two successful mergers, one with Allegiance Health in Jackson, Michigan, and the other with HealthPlus of Michigan, a health plan based in Flint, expanding the geographic footprint of the System and generating an additional $1 billion in revenue. A seasoned health care executive, Lassiter has more than 25 years of experience working in large, complex health systems, including Methodist Health System in Dallas and JPS Health Network in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to joining Henry Ford, Lassiter was CEO of Alameda Health System in Oakland, California, where he was credited with leading the expansion and turnaround of the $865 million public health system, achieving eight years of positive financial performance, The Joint Commission Top Performer status, significant increases in patient engagement and reductions in patient harm. Lassiter’s work has received many national accolades, most notably “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare in 2016” by Modern Healthcare; 2016/2012 “Top 25 Minority Healthcare Executives in U.S. Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare; 2014 “Top Blacks in U.S. Healthcare” by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions; and 2011 “20 People Who Make Healthcare Better” in the U.S by HealthLeaders. Fast Company prominently featured Lassiter’s work to rebuild Alameda. An avid community leader, Lassiter has held volunteer positions at the United Way, Salvation Army and YMCA. Currently, he serves on the boards of the American Hospital Association, America’s Essential Hospitals, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago – Detroit Branch, Detroit Regional Chamber, LeMoyne College, City Year Detroit, and YMCA-USA National Board of Directors. Lassiter received his master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Indiana University where he graduated number one in his class, and completed his bachelor’s degree with honors in Chemistry from LeMoyne College in Syracuse.

Aaron Seybert is a social investment officer at The Kresge Foundation. He supports the Social Investment Practice and the Detroit Program at Kresge. He joined the foundation in 2016. Previously, he served as executive director at JPMorgan Chase Bank, where he was involved with community development banking focused on New Markets Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credit investing. He started his career in impact investing at Cinnaire (formerly the Great Lakes Capital Fund) addressing affordable housing, and previously worked with Legal Aid of Central Michigan. He has served on the board of directors for the Michigan Magnet Fund, Lake Trust Credit Union and the Core Cities Strategic Fund advisory board. A native of Michigan, Aaron earned a bachelor in business administration in corporate finance and accounting from Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., and a juris doctorate from the Michigan State University College of Law.

Jared Friedman is the Manager of Acquisitions & Opportunities for Friedman. Prior to joining Friedman, Jared served as Senior Associate at Origin Investments in Chicago where he was responsible for underwriting, due diligence and closing of commercial real estate investments located in Denver, Dallas, Charlotte and Chicago. Prior to joining Origin, Jared worked as a Financial Analyst at Equity Office Properties where he prepared property valuation models for over six million square feet of office space and maintained investment-level performance models relating to $21B in office investments made by Blackstone. Prior to Equity Office, Jared served as a summer analyst at BMO Capital Markets in their Real Estate Investment Banking Group.

Andrew is responsible for all aspects of property management accounting, corporate accounting, construction accounting, financial services, asset management, information technologies, and human resources. Mr. Gutman's focus is on internal and external client services and the provision of timely and accurate client-required information and maximizing asset value. He has been responsible for direct oversight of over $100,000,000 in debt and equity vehicles for the organization and for clients.

Stacy advances and oversees the day-to-day management operations for General Development Company,LLC’s real estate holdings. Stacy also administers marketing and public relations relative to Tenants, Real Estate Brokers and new business development. Stacy is the lead leasing coordinator for General Development Company, LLC and the development of strategic partnerships throughout the industry. Prior to joining the General Development team, Stacy served as an Industrial Real Estate Broker for eleven years. Stacy has over 20 years experience in Commercial Real Estate and property management. Stacy received a B.B.A in Finance and Merchandising. Stacy also holds a Real Estate Brokers License.

David has been with VG for 12 years. He started with the company as a Manager in Training and now leads all of the regional and corporate teams responsible for apartment management and related services. He directs all practices and initiatives geared toward property management operating systems, new technologies and services. David is also the Executive Mentor for Village Green’s Manager in Training program and in 2015 was named to Real Estate Forums Top 50 under 40. “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” - Michael Jordan