The Future of Houston’s Master-Planned Communities

Brandi Coatsworth is Senior Director, MPC Land Sales for the Houston Region of Howard Hughes. She leads the Residential Land Sales Team, producing over $100 million in annual lot revenue for Bridgeland, The Woodlands, and The Woodlands Hills. In this role, she is involved in many aspects of master planned community development, including revenue projection, lot deliveries, land planning, product segmentation, builder selection, builder lot sales, architectural guidelines and approvals, and HOA management. In her prior role with Newland Communities, she managed builder lot sales for Newland’s Houston communities, including Cinco Ranch, Telfair, and Elyson, and closed out lot sales in Seven Meadows, Eagle Springs, and Summerwood, with a total of nearly 10,000 lot sales in her twelve years there. Brandi got her start in the homebuilding business in 1998 and spent eight years in the land departments of Perry Homes and KB Home, with experience in market strategy, market research, competition analysis, land search, and corporate land committee approvals. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Houston Builders Association and for HomeAid Houston.

As the President and Chief Development Officer, Peter Barnhart brings more than 30 years of expertise in the acquisition, development, and sales. His extensive financial, construction, and marketing skills, coupled with a unique combination of experience in both commercial and community development, helps the team create environments that are appealing to live, work, and play. Within Caldwell Companies, Barnhart plays a lead role in identifying, acquiring, and developing properties across the company’s entire platform. He is highly involved in the acquisition process for all projects. Peter's broad real estate background includes a six-year tenure with RealtiCorp Commercial Investment Fund in Greenville, SC. Starting as the Director of Sales and Marketing and progressing to Regional Partner, he was part of a team that managed many land development transactions across seven different cities, involving thousands of acres of land. Peter also gained experience with Byzance, Inc. and Plantation Homes. A Houston native, Peter earned his bachelor's degree in Construction Science and his master's degree in Land and Real Estate Development, both from Texas A&M University. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, Texas A&M Real Estate Development Association Professional Advisory Board, and Texas A&M University’s Century Club. Beyond his professional life, Peter enjoys golfing, fishing, hunting, flying, and various outdoor activities. Residing in Brenham, TX, he and his wife Debra enjoy spending quality time with their daughters, Jordan and Grace

Ting Qiao has played a key role in transforming the face of real estate across the state of Texas, disrupting residential community development and redefining what the term “home” means. Founded by Ting in 2016, Wan Bridge is now a leading operator of build-to-rent communities in Texas, with offices and projects throughout the Houston, DFW, and surrounding Austin areas. Ting believes in a leadership style that focuses on treating people with respect and giving them the support to “work hard, have fun and make a lot of money” while emphasizing the importance of innovation, technology, and team culture. Ting has been recognized as an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist for the past three years and several Houston Business Journal awards including 2022 Most Admired CEO. Under Ting’s guidance, Wan Bridge has been extended the recognition of many awards including the 2022 TAB Star Award, the 2022 Landmark Award, the 2022 The Fire Award, the 2021 Innovation Award, and Best Places to Work.

Simmi is a Senior Vice President in JLL’s Retail Brokerage Services Division. She leads the Retail Land Practice for JLL in Houston and is building a world class team to service our growing land clients. She assists clients with the acquisition and disposition of land with a consultative, strategic approach to ensure they are maximizing their value. She also represents Buyers across all business lines with their land acquisitions needs and is an expert in site and trade area analysis. Prior to joining JLL in 2014, Simmi was with CBRE for 21 years. While at CBRE, Simmi had successfully closed more than $650 million in sales throughout the greater Houston area. She analyzes each real estate transaction, formulating ideal use strategies for the property and proactively manages her clients needs. Simmi is well know throughout the real estate community and recognized as a top performer who brings a wealth of knowledge to each transaction. Simmi earned a degree from The University of Houston – Clear Lake, a licensed real estate sales person in the state of Texas and is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Additionally, she was named a 2017 Houston Business Journal Heavy Hitter and a Top Gun in JLL for 2016.

Nathaliah Naipaul is the driving force behind XAG Group, a diversified real estate development organiza

Mark Grobmyer is a Shareholder in Winstead's Real Estate Development & Investments Practice Group. Mark’s practice is focused on real estate development, with an emphasis on structuring and administering residential, mixed-use and office condominiums, and residential and mixed-use communities. Mark also has experience in a wide variety of commercial real estate transactions including drafting acquisition and disposition contracts, easements and license agreements. In addition to representation of homebuilders, Mark specializes in representing build-for-rent and single-family rental owners and operators on a variety of matters, including acquisition, disposition, land-banking, governance, exit-strategy planning, and regulatory requirement compliance. Mark also represents master planned community developers on the challenges in planning for accommodating build-for-rent and single-family rental projects within and adjacent to new and mature master planned communities, and serves as the Chair of Winstead’s Build-for-Rent and Single Family Rentals Practice Group. Prior to joining Winstead, Mark worked in Washington, D.C. as a legislative aide for United States Senator Blanche L. Lincoln of Arkansas. While attending the University of Arkansas School of Law, Mark worked as a summer clerk in the Office of the Attorney General for the Republic of Palau.

Uri Man is Executive VP of Land Tejas responsible for mixed-use projects and commercial land. Land Tejas is the top developer of master-planned communities in the Houston market based on number of lots developed and sold. (source: John Burns/RCLCo 2019 & 2020 annual rankings) Mr. Man is jointly responsible for managing overall resources in optimizing project profitability. He oversees amenity design and construction and is the Land Tejas spokesperson for matters pertaining to investor proposals, government officials, builders and the media. Mr. Man is also the founder and CEO of The Lagoon Development Company which develops large crystal clear lagoons with beach life and watersports for Land Tejas master-planned communities and as stand-alone public access attractions. The company’s mission is to make luxury beach life accessible to Land Tejas communities and the general public. Mr. Man previously led the technology company Crystal Lagoons US Corp’s entrance into the US market. When first introduced, the crystal clear lagoon concept was pitched to land developers as a way to improve the quality of life for home owners who would value walking to turquoise blue water and white sandy beaches moments from their new homes. With tremendous demand from the general public, the idea of opening the lagoon as a ticketed attraction was born. The Lagoon Development Company is making this dream a reality with the first lagoon in the US to be open to the general public at Lago Mar in Texas City. The Lago Mar lagoon has beaches reserved for residents of the top selling community and the opposite end of this lagoon has been open to the general public this year for limited time, limited capacity events such as #SummerLagoonfest and the recently announced #OktoberLagoonfest. The company is now raising capital to build a world class beach club for the general public. The Lago Mar lagoon is the largest in the United States by perimeter and length and anchors a future 100-acre mixed-use entertainment district which when complete will be surrounded by new waterfront hotels, restaurants and bars. As CEO of Lagoon Development, Mr. Man leads a talented team of design, development, construction and marketing professionals. The company has a 3 rd lagoon under development and expects to break ground on 4 additional lagoons in the next 24 months. Mr. Man has been entrenched in the real estate development scene since 2002 having sourced and overseen developments including more than 4,000 apartments and homes as an executive of The Related Group, Gables Residential and Ram Development. Over the past 15 years, Mr. Man’s ground-up development projects ranged from single-family master-planned communities, to market rate apartment and condominium projects, to a 300,000 square foot retail lifestyle center. Mr. Man was also an executive of the Florida Panthers NHL Hockey Team where he led the development of the team’s new training facility. Mr. Man holds a General Contractor license and Real Estate Broker’s license and has taught real estate and business courses at Florida Atlantic University and University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Man serves on the executive committee of Land Tejas, Houston’s top ranked residential development company (by number of lots developed and sold). Mr. Man has served on the Urban Land Institute (ULI) National Community Development Council. Mr. Man was awarded the Florida ‘Young Leader of the Year’ award by the ULI for his ability to bring stakeholders together for the greater good of the local community and his personal contributions to the real estate development industry. Mr. Man has served on the boards of several charities and has been active in raising funds for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, Friends of the Israeli Defense Fund (FIDF), and the Miami Dolphins NFL Cancer Challenge. Mr. Man received a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Man has been a regular contributor to national news shows on Fox Business, CNN, CNBC and others providing his opinion regarding real estate markets and the US economy.

Tom Woliver strives to take placemaking to a whole new level. With nearly 30 years’ experience in the real estate industry, Woliver works passionately to unlock potential value, growth, and impact in community development. In 2019, Woliver founded Oxland Advisors as a real estate development and consulting company. Oxland Advisors eventually evolved into Oxland Group, a full-service capital investment and real estate development firm with principal-level expertise in land acquisition, entitlements, development, land transaction, and value creation. Through Oxland Group, Woliver spearheaded a variety of projects across the country, offering a unique approach to capital investment and community building focusing on creating the highest and best use of the land. Under his leadership, Oxland Group delivered the largest phase one in Dallas-Fort Worth history of 1,100 homesites at Painted Tree, its first development in McKinney, Texas. Prior to the community’s grand opening, Painted Tree debuted on RCLCO’s list as the 47th top-selling master-planned community in the US. Most recently, Oxland announced the acquisition of 1,860 acres in the Houston market to be developed as a master-planned community of 4,000 homes. Prior to Oxland, Woliver served as Vice President and Director of Planning and Development at Hillwood, where he developed over 10,000 lots in various markets in Texas and across the US. Woliver was the driving force behind Hillwood’s “Live Smart” vision, a fresh holistic approach on developing the next generation of Master Planned Communities. At Hillwood, Woliver launched top-selling master-planned communities including Harvest, Union Park and Pecan Square in North Texas, Pomona in Houston, and Wolf Ranch in Georgetown. Woliver is known by developers, homebuilders, and landowners alike as a pioneer in implementing various technological strategies, startups and partnerships in the real estate industry. He has built a vast network of best- in-class consultants, vendors and relationships throughout the industry to be able to thoughtfully assemble the right team for the right project. Woliver began his career as a Land Planner and Landscape Architect at TBG Partners in Austin, Texas. His role at TBG Partners shaped his ability to look at real estate solutions in a more unique, forward-thinking manner, including helping build and grow the Dallas office of TBG Partners. Woliver is an active member on the National level of Urban Land Institute (ULI) and currently serves as the Chair for one of ULI’s Community Development Councils. He is an invited speaker for industry events and is often featured in articles on topics such as community development, technology, healthy living, and the food and real estate movement. Woliver graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Landscape Architecture.

Clayton is a founding partner of Meristem Communities, a Houston-based real estate development firm committed to creating Places for PeopleTM with mindful, small batch developments. Meristem is a resiliency-focused developer with guiding principles to create human-centric design by thoughtfully, sustainably, and holistically connecting the land and its natural resources with people. After years of working, dreaming, and remaining curious, Clayton envisioned a community that could be built amongst agriculture where people would thrive within a self-producing and sustained neighborhood. This vision is being brought to life with Indigo, one of Meristem’s first development projects, which was guided by Clayton’s own personal experiences of trying to maintain modern, healthy living while raising children, commuting to work, and running endless errands, all the while staying present and making meaningful and fulfilling connections to his neighbors and community. This experience has been a catalyst for creating neighborhood designs that solve the challenges of living in a contemporary society by creating a more equitable system that supports actual people-to-people interactions. The Meristem belief is that it's the sum of a thousand small decisions that creates more engaging, more interesting, and more livable neighborhoods. Clayton is an entrepreneur, lawyer, and farmer at the intersection of plants + people + place. Before co-founding Meristem, Clayton worked alongside developers, landscape architects, residential architects, and engineers to create unique and exceptional agricultural amenities (agrihoods) within master-planned communities through Agmenity. Prior to that, he spent several years serving as an attorney in Texas. He also started, grew, and led multiple businesses, and continues to lead a small group of companies operating in the direct-to-consumer and service business models. Clayton is a member of several community organizations including the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and most recently contributed to their 2018 ULI Agrihood Report. Clayton has a doctorate in law from St. Mary!s University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Texas at Austin.

Jim Traxinger leverages more than four decades of experience in various fields including land acquisition, disposition, and development, home building operations, and environmental regulation and permitting, with a primary focus on high-speed fiber-optic broadband infrastructure and services. Having held executive positions with renowned companies including publicly traded Builder 100 and Fortune 500 firms, as well as one of North America’s largest privately held commercial and retail developers, Jim’s wealth of experience enables him to drive Hotwire Communications’ initiatives to deliver innovative high-speed fiber-optic broadband technology and services. His leadership ensures tailored solutions and personalized customer experience for Hotwire’s builder and developer clients across the country. Additionally, Jim holds licenses as a Florida State Certified General Contractor, Real Estate Broker, and Community Association Manager.

Bryan started his career with Quiddity in Houston over 20 years ago. In his role as Chief Land Development Officer and Chairman, Bryan oversees operations, client relations, and business development for our teams that serve private sector clients. Bryan’s experience includes the management of street and underground utility design, sanitary sewer rehabilitation, hydraulics and hydrology projects, water and wastewater projects, park and recreational facilities projects, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) activities. He has also served as District and City Engineer for several municipal utility districts and cities. Bryan’s varied experience as an engineer helps our teams develop the best solutions for clients across all of the markets we serve.

Mike Moser is CEO of Starwood Land, a real estate investment firm that specializes in residential land development. In this role, Mike is responsible for managing the consolidated operations of Starwood Land, which is funded by Starwood Capital. Under his leadership, Starwood Land has sold over 44,000 residential lots and generated more than $2.5 Billion in gross revenues. In addition to Starwood Land, Mike created a successful joint venture with Artemis Real Estate Partners to provide off balance sheet financing to large builders. Prior to joining Starwood Land in 2007, Mr. Moser spent nearly 13 years at Taylor Woodrow, a U.K.-based public homebuilder, where he served as Division President of the U.S. Tower Division and Southeast homebuilding operations. Mike received a B.S. degree in business administration from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX. He holds Florida Broker’s and Community Association Manager’s licenses and is a Member of the PGA of America.

Aimee Bertrand is a proven leader and team builder who thrives in challenging, high- stakes environments. She has worked for more than 18 years as a government affairs, communications and association professional. Aimee seeks out opportunities to engage key government and community stakeholders to solve problems. At heart, she is a connecter for individuals and issues that matter to her community. She was born and raised in Kingwood, Texas. Aimee serves as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President for the Greater Houston Builders Association - the largest Home Builders Association in Texas and third largest in the United States. She participates in organizations including: as a Board Member for HomeAid Houston, as a Vice President for the Executive Officers Council of the Texas Association of Builders, Texas Society of Association Executives, Houston Society of Association Executives, The League of Women Voters Houston, Women Professionals in Government, The University of Mississippi Alumni Association and Parent Teacher Associations for her children’s schools. In 2022, Aimee was named New Executive Officer of the Year by the National Association of Home Builders’ Executive Officer Council. Aimee is the mother of three children. She and her husband, Colin Butler, enjoy traveling. They recently added a puppy to the family named Rufus T. Wiggleton. Rufus enjoys long walks and many treats.

Jimmie Jenkins is Vice President, Master Planned Communities for Toll Brothers. His duties include strategic planning and development oversight for Toll Brothers master planned communities. Prior to joining Toll Brothers, Jimmie served as Senior Vice President of Huffines Communities. Prior to joining Huffines, Jimmie served as Vice President of Acquisitions for Shea Homes Active Lifestyle Communities Previously, Jimmie co-founded Newland Communities and served as President of both its Texas and Arizona divisions, and later as corporate Senior Vice President of Strategic Acquisitions. Jimmie holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Houston Law Center, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. He is licensed by the State Bar of Texas. Jimmie is also a past president of the Greater Houston Builders Association.

Harry Dinham serves the company as Chief Financial Officer. In this role, he oversees accounting and finance for the dynamic, multi-faceted development company. With nearly 30 years of combined experience as a senior financial executive and CFO, Dinham has overseen more than $2 billion in real estate transactions and has extensive experience in leading the accounting and finance functions for homebuilding operations, land acquisition, build to rent and property management. Prior to joining The Signorelli Company, Dinham was vice president of finance at Taylor Morrison Homes, one of the top five single-family homebuilders in the U.S. Previous experience includes serving as vice president of finance at McKinley Homes, chief financial officer of Traton Homes, and as chief consultant at HMBO Consulting, where he led risk management, cash flow, and IOP analyses for privately held companies, equity firms, real estate hedge funds and ultra-high net worth individuals.

Chris Nichols has a very versed background in the business of real estate and land use law, which stems from his prior background representing municipal and other local government entities. As the prior founder and managing principal of his own firm, The Nichols Firm, PLLC., he carries a unique skill set of interpreting the law while understanding the fundamentals of business. Both trades pair very nicely as he aligns himself and his practice with the goals outlined in some of the biggest real estate transactions and economic development projects in the city and state. Chris assists Wilson Cribbs + Goren clients with matters relating to municipal and administrative law, economic development, property and homeowner associations, real estate development, and land use law.

Angie negotiates with various local government officials and developers regarding land development and infrastructure projects. Angie focuses on working with cities and counties in the beginning of a development to ensure that mutually beneficial agreements are negotiated and implemented. She serves as general counsel to numerous political subdivision and acts as bond counsel for local government tax-exempt financings. She has negotiated the Development Agreement with the City of Fulshear for the Johnson Development master planned community, Cross Creek West. She currently represents Cross Creek Ranch MUDs, which are located inside the city limits of Fulshear. She represents the Del Webb community, Sweetgrass, in Richmond; Sienna Management District; numerous levee improvement districts in Fort Bend County; tax increment zones in Missouri City; and MUDs in Conroe. Angie’s extensive knowledge of the special purpose district life cycle helps cities and developers work toward the best outcome for raw development in their communities.