National Retail: East Coast Series

Dan Shallit

Director of Store Development
Starbucks

Dan Shallit has been a retail development professional for over 25 years, starting his career with notable brands such as GNC & Macy’s prior to joining Starbucks in 1999. After ten years, Dan left Starbucks to see development from the landlord perspective. In 2009, he joined Acadia Realty Trust as the VP of leasing. While the experience was meaningful, his heart was still on the retail side of development. After a small stop at Sports Authority, Dan rejoined Starbucks global development group in 2012. He was hired for Manhattan, with responsibility for helping to expand emerging brands and concepts including the company’s first Teavana Café, Express store, delivery store, and Reserve bar location, while also helping to open, expand, & relocate dozens of traditional Starbucks locations. Dan earned his promotion in 2016. As the current director of development for NY metro, he holds accountability for real estate/development along with construction for New York City and Long Island. Dan has a long history of public speaking & teaching. He’s a long-time guest teacher/speaker for a NYU restaurant/real estate program and participates and leads multiple real estate panels and classes for great institutes and universities such as ICSC, Wharton Business School Alumni, Hunter College, NYU and his alma mater Johnson & Wales University. Dan lives in Rego Park, Queens with his wife, and has one son.

Jay Solomon

Chief Creative Officer
Sugar Hill Capital Partners

Jay Solomon is the Chief Creative Officer and Sustainability Director of Sugar Hill Capital Partners, a New York-based real estate investment, management and operations firm. In his role, Jay drives company growth and returns through creative initiatives that promote productive social and environmental changes throughout the firm’s residential and commercial portfolios. He also oversees the firm’s marketing, digital communications, public relations, branding and sustainability initiatives. Additionally, Jay co-founded New Amsterdam Design Associates, Sugar Hill’s vertically integrated design and development firm, which provides low-cost architectural design and interior solutions to residential and retail establishments. Prior to joining Sugar Hill Capital Partners, Jay was an architectural designer for Studios GO, where he curated residential, hospitality and sustainability projects for celebrity clientele. Jay is a graduate of Tufts University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies and Entrepreneurship.

Patrick Quinn

VP of Real Estate
iPic Theaters

Patrick Quinn is a Vice President with iPic managing the Real Estate division, and has been with the company since early 2010. Mr. Quinn is responsible for the company’s site selection and development process. He has helped to grow the company from one location to sixteen (as of 7/2016) with numerous locations in construction and pre-construction phases. Prior to iPic, Mr. Quinn was a financial analyst at PILOT Real Estate Group in Greenwich, CT, a privately-held real estate investment fund, where he produced financial models and facilitated acquisitions and loans. Mr. Quinn holds his BA with honors from Harvard University.

Corey Bialow

Founder & CEO
Bialow Real Estate

Corey Bialow is the founder and CEO of Bialow Real Estate and has been actively engaged in the real estate profession for over 30 years. Bialow Real Estate was founded in 2005 and has completed over 1,000 real estate transactions across 47 states and Canada with an aggregate value of over $1.5 Billion Dollars. Corey has established himself as one of the country’s leading experts in the field of retail tenant representation and has recently been recognized as one of the top 10 retail brokers in the country. Corey has worked as a consultant and broker for some of the nation’s premier retail and restaurant chains including Godiva, TB12, The Vitamin Shoppe, Mattress Firm, Kona Grill, Sephora, Talbots, Johnny Was, James Perse, Alexis Bittar, It’s Sugar, Brooklyn Boulders, Pet Supplies Plus, Pinkberry, Arby’s, Wendy’s, Smashburger, Bowlero, etc. Recently, Corey has been working with today’s leading omni-channel retailers that are crossing over to opening showrooms throughout the country including Indochino and Sleep Number as well as counseling emerging experiential and entertainment concepts that are establishing sites in formerly occupied “big box” spaces and non-traditional locations including Launch Entertainment and Belong Gaming. Corey has also worked closely with many private equity and venture capital firms that have relied on his expertise for evaluating existing real estate portfolios as well as establishing national strategic growth plans. Some of these firms include Irving Place Capital, North Castle Partners, Highland Consumer Partners, Bear Stearns Merchant Bank, Porchlight Equity, Breakaway, A&M Capital, Gordon Brothers, Staple Street Capital, FirePine Group, Atlantic Street Capital, Arctaris Capital and Sycamore Partners. Prior to starting his own company, Corey served as Vice President of Real Estate and Construction for several leading international retail chains including The Vitamin Shoppe and Blinds to Go. He worked extensively The Vitamin Shoppe on an outsourced basis and was responsible for taking the retailer from a local New York City chain with only 20 stores to a public company with over 750 stores nationally. Corey is also an avid investor and entrepreneur having been a partner and board member in multiple retail and restaurant concepts as well as the founding partner and co-creator of the "Be Styled" Blow Dry chain which he sold in 2016. He is also an active real estate developer and owner of several commercial and residential developments throughout the United States.

Kevin Keith

Head of Global Brand Strategy
Orangetheory Fitness

As head of global brand strategy and innovation for Orangetheory Fitness, Kevin is now preaching what he practices: He was an Orangetheory member for several years in Atlanta before joining the company. Kevin brings over 20 years of marketing and advertising experience to Orangetheory Fitness, and has served some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz and UPS. He most recently worked as chief strategy officer for advertising agency JWT Atlanta, focused on helping clients simplify business problems into actionable and seamlessly integrated marketing strategies. A graduate of Lee University with a bachelor’s degree in international business, Kevin has also studied international finance and English literature at the University of Cambridge.

Rich Zyne

CEO
Acustom.com

Jay Norris

Co-Founder & CEO
Guesst Software

Jay Norris, Co-founder, and CEO of Guesst®, has over 15 years in developing experiential marketing concepts. Jay started in the music industry developing multi-city tours and venues for top recording artists for Clive Davis’ Arista Record and others. In 1997, Jay started Tastemakers Media, which published a cutting-edge magazine throughout the US featuring the best retail & lifestyle offerings domestically and abroad. In 2005, Jay brought his expertise in lifestyle and experiential marketing to the commercial real estate tenant brokerage industry. Jay is a small to medium-size business growth executive at heart, continually looking to maximize resources, build relationships and identify growth opportunities. Jay has been effectuating Retail-Matchmaking in the analog space for a number of years, which has led to the founding of Guesst - A Retail-Sharing Community.

Rohan Mehra

Principal
The Prusik Group

Mr. Mehra is a co-founder and principal of The Prusik Group. Prior to founding The Prusik Group, Mr. Mehra spent four years as Vice President of Retail Development at Forest City Ratner Companies. While at Forest City Ratner Companies, Mr. Mehra most notably served as project executive of East River Plaza, a $400 million, 500,000 square-foot big-box retail center anchored by Manhattan’s first Target and Costco. Mr. Mehra has extensive experience with all aspects of development including property acquisition, design, leasing, and financing. Additionally, Mr. Mehra has successfully closed more than $350 million of various financing vehicles including traditional construction loans, low-interest public money loans, triple tax-exempt Empowerment Zone bonds, and New Markets Tax Credits. Prior to joining Forest City Ratner Companies, Mr. Mehra lead the design and construction of municipal infrastructure projects in Oregon and Washington, DC as a project manager at Black & Veatch. Mr. Mehra is a graduate of Cornell University, where he earned both Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees. Mr. Mehra also earned a Master of Business Administration degree with honors from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business. He is the president of his Chelsea co-op where he resides with his wife and son.

Robert Futterman

Chairman & CEO
RKF

Robert K. Futterman is the founder and Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of RKF. Headquartered in New York, with additional offices in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Northern New Jersey, San Francisco and Toronto, RKF has been responsible for $20 billion in aggregate real estate transactions since its inception in 1998. Robert has more than 25 years of retail real estate experience and has personally been involved in transactions totaling in excess of $10 billion. He has successfully created one of the leading retail real estate firms in the US and the dominant player in the New York metro area. With unparalleled expertise in landlord and tenant representation, new construction, leasing, sales and market analysis, he is unrivaled in the industry. Throughout his distinguished career, Robert has been a leader in revitalizing several of New York’s most significant retail markets, including the renaissance of New York’s Union Square South, Times Square, 34th Street/Herald Square, SoHo, Columbus Circle and the Meatpacking District. He has also served as an advisor to the Port Authority of NY & NJ for the World Trade Center redevelopment. Robert has also made an impact on retail markets outside of New York City. He has played an integral role in reshaping the retail landscape of Las Vegas’ Strip and also been involved in retail real estate in South Florida, specifically in and around Miami. Robert has worked on behalf of many of the nation’s premier retailers, including: Apple, Adidas, Barnes & Noble, Topshop, Gap, Guess, Fairway Market, FedEx Office, Forever 21, Tourneau, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, J.Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren, Bed Bath & Beyond, and 24 Hour Fitness. He has also completed transactions with an array of domestic and international retail brands deals such as Bottega Veneta, Brooks Brothers, Emilio Pucci, Nordstrom, Prada, Rebecca Taylor, Sandro, Vince and Whole Foods Market. Robert has also represented an impressive list of developers, landlords and institutions on their retail real estate, including Related Companies, Vornado Realty Trust, SJP Properties, The Howard Hughes Corporation, Milstein Properties, Hines, The Durst Organization Inc., Silverstein Properties, RFR Realty, Forest City Ratner Companies, Taconic Investment Partners, The Carlyle Group, Fisher Brothers, Glenwood Management, Apollo Real Estate Advisors, Extell Development Company, Morgan Stanley, Edward J. Minskoff Equities, Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, Jamestown Properties, SL Green Realty Corp., CIM Group and MetLife. Iconic retail and mixed-use projects in which Robert has been involved include The Shops at Columbus Circle at Time Warner Center, Grand Central Terminal, 270 Greenwich Street, 401 West 14th Street, The Times Square Building and the South Street Seaport in New York City, and Miracle Mile Shops in Las Vegas. Prior to founding RKF, Robert spent 15 years with Garrick-Aug Associates, where he was the top producer. While no longer in existence, Garrick-Aug Associates was formerly the leading retail leasing firm in New York. Robert is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and is a licensed Salesperson in the states of Connecticut and New York. He is a four-time winner of the REBNY Retail Deal of the Year (2001, 2005, 2009 and 2010) for creativity and contributions to Manhattan’s retail landscape. Robert is a frequent speaker and lecturer on retail real estate and has participated in programs on behalf of BloombergLINK, Urban Land Institute, ICSC, REBNY, NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association, Columbia Graduate School of Business and BISNOW.

Michael Goldban

SVP
Brookfield

Steven Cornwell

CMO
The Howard Hughes Corporation

Steven Cornwell is the Chief Marketing Officer of The Howard Hughes Corporation. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing marketing initiatives and working closely with the CEO in leading the creative strategy to bring HHC’s vision to life. Leveraging his two decades of global experience in brand and marketing strategy, product development and activation, Mr. Cornwell drives innovative thinking in how HHC’s brands engage with the tens of millions of consumers visiting, living or working in a property or community across the portfolio. He initially joined The Howard Hughes Corporation as Creative Director and was instrumental in building the Howard Hughes Studio, the company’s internal creative agency. Previously, Mr. Cornwell served as CEO and Head of Strategy of the award-winning Cornwell Brand and Communications agency, owned by WPP, in Melbourne, Australia. He holds a B.A. in Graphic Design from Monash University.

Fred Posniak

SVP
Empire State Realty Trust

Mr. Posniak, who has over thirty years’ experience in the repositioning of office, retail, and industrial properties, is involved in its office and retail operations, acquisitions, leasing, marketing, and public relations. He was instrumental in the creation of the hugely successful W&H Properties brand, a portfolio comprising nine Manhattan Pre-War trophy buildings totaling eight million square feet of office and retail space. The portfolio consists of the Empire State Building; One Grand Central Place (60 East 42nd Street); 112 West 34th Street; 501 Seventh Avenue; 250 West 57th Street; and 1333, 1350, 1359 and 1400 Broadway. Mr. Posniak currently serves on several committees of the Real Estate Board of New York, as well as the Grand Central Partnership, 34th Street Partnership, Fashion BID Partnership, and is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers. Building Owners and Managers Association. He also is former member of the Board of Governors of the Young Men’s/Women’s Real Estate Association.

Ken Bernstein

President
Acadia Realty Trust

Kenneth F. Bernstein is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Acadia Realty Trust, the retail real estate investment trust (REIT) that he co-founded in 1998. Acadia (NYSE:AKR) remains focused on delivering long-term, profitable growth for all of its stakeholders via its dual – core and fund – operating platforms and its disciplined, location-driven investment strategy. The company is accomplishing this goal by building a best-in-class core real estate portfolio with meaningful concentrations of assets in the nation’s most dynamic street-retail corridors and making profitable opportunistic and value-add investments through its series of discretionary, institutional funds. Mr. Bernstein previously served as Chief Operating Officer of RD Capital, Inc., a privately-held investment company that merged with publicly-traded REIT Mark Centers Trust in 1998, creating Acadia Realty Trust. Prior to that, Mr. Bernstein was an associate with New York-based law firm Battle Fowler LLP. Mr. Bernstein received his B.A. from the University of Vermont and his J.D. from the Boston University School of Law. Mr. Bernstein is a Trustee of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the past co-chair of the ICSC Open-Air Centers Committee. He is a member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) and formerly served on its Board of Governors. He is also a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the Real Estate Roundtable, and the World Presidents’ Organization (WPO), where he is a member of the Board of Advisors and was the founding chairman of the Real Estate Network. Mr. Bernstein is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Department of Real Estate at Baruch College and serves on the Boards of BRT Realty Trust (NYSE:BRT) and Golub Capital (NASDAQ:GBDC).

David Jamieson

COO
Kimco Realty Corporation

David Jamieson is Chief Operating Officer of Kimco Realty Corporation. Mr. Jamieson joined Kimco in 2007, and most recently served as Executive Vice President of Asset Management and Operations, where his role has been to develop and execute Kimco’s long-term asset management strategy at a national level. Working closely with regional leadership, he is responsible for day to day operations with a focus on identifying and implementing opportunistic value creation strategies that optimize the company’s portfolio performance, most notably by leading Kimco’s regional teams and their redevelopment and selective ground-up development efforts. Mr. Jamieson has also previously served as Vice President of Asset Management and Leasing for Kimco’s Western Region, and as Director of Real Estate for the Western Region. Prior to joining Kimco, Mr. Jamieson was a redevelopment specialist for an urban fund on the east coast. Mr. Jamieson received a B.S. degree from Boston College, and an M.B.A. from Babson College. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and an accredited LEED AP.

David Brainerd

Chief Investment Officer
Madison Marquette

David Brainerd is Chief Investment Officer, responsible for sourcing, negotiating, and closing property acquisitions and overseeing investment management and disposition of owned properties. Mr. Brainerd also manages relationships with existing equity partners; and has supervised investments representing over 2.5 million square feet of shopping centers, 1.4 million square feet of office space, and approximately 7,000 acres of land for Madison Marquette. He also serves as a Senior Vice President for Capital Guidance. Mr. Brainerd began his career with the mortgage-backed securities team of First Boston Corporation’s Real Estate Finance Group. There he was responsible for the underwriting of large portfolios of commercial and residential mortgage loans for purchase and securitization by the firm. Mr. Brainerd brings almost 25 years of industry experience, and has been involved in real estate investment transactions with an aggregate value of $1.5 billion. Mr. Brainerd holds a master’s degree in management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, where he serves as vice chair of the Commercial and Retail Development Council (Silver Flight), and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Robin McBride Zeigler

COO
Cedar Realty Trust

Ms. Zeigler joined Cedar Realty Trust in March 2016 after serving as executive vice president and head of operations at Penzance, a Washington, D.C.-based commercial real estate investment company since January 2015. From 2005 to 2015, Robin worked at Federal Realty Investment Trust, most recently serving as chief operating officer for the mid-atlantic region. In that capacity, she was responsible for the operations of a portfolio of over 40 shopping centers and five mixed-use projects representing approximately 7.3 million square feet. Additionally, Robin provided oversight and strategic direction on mixed-use development and redevelopment projects. Robin holds a B.S. in Accounting from Florida A&M University and an M.B.A. from Georgia State University.

Joe Coradino

CEO
Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment (PREIT)

Joseph F. Coradino is Chief Executive Officer of PREIT, a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE: PEI), since 2012 and Chairman of the Board since 2016. PREIT owns and manages a portfolio comprising over 20 million square feet of dynamic retail properties, primarily shopping malls, with a concentration in two top 10 markets, Philadelphia and Washington DC including flagship properties in the Philadelphia market – Fashion District and Cherry Hill Mal. Mr. Coradino is a visionary leader in retail real estate with an impressive track record of accomplishment. As CEO during a major transition in retail, he had the foresight to take swift action to improve PREIT’s portfolio well-ahead of its industry peers, making important business decisions that enabled the Company to capitalize on today’s retail evolution and continue to thrive. His vision for the Company was built on foundational precepts including strengthening its balance sheet, creating a quality portfolio, establishing operational excellence with a laser focus on internal growth. He has been with PREIT since 1998 and has been a member of PREIT’s Board of Trustees since 2006. Mr. Coradino serves on Temple University’s Board of Trustees, is a member of the Executive Committee and Chairman of their Facilities Committee. He is a Trustee of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and also serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Center City District and the Board of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. He is one of the founding members of PHL Cares, a business-led initiative investing in real solutions to street homelessness. Mr. Coradino has served on numerous charitable boards and was honored to receive the 2019 Leadership Award from Rutgers University and LEAP Academy University School, 2018 Breath of Life Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and 2016 Distinguished Citizen Award from the Boy Scouts of America Cradle of Liberty Council and to co-chair the Academy of Music 158th Anniversary Concert and Ball in 2015. In 2009 he was the recipient of the Heart of Philadelphia Award from the American Heart Association for his leadership and dedication to the community. Mr. Coradino has been profiled in numerous business publications and is a featured business leader in the book, “Wisdom at the Top” by Scott D. Rosen. He has appeared as a guest on national business shows on both CNBC and MSNBC. A Magna Cum Laude graduate from Temple University with a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies, Mr. Coradino also holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from the University of Arizona.