Delaware State of the Market

Michael S. Purzycki, Wilmington’s 57th Mayor, is currently serving his second, four-year term as the City’s Chief Executive. The Mayor was initially elected to office in November of 2016. He was re-elected in November of 2020 to a second term. His time as Mayor is driven by his desire to see the City run at a high level of efficiency, to increase the level of shared prosperity among its citizens, and to confront the problems too many cities experience throughout the country. Mike Purzycki was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1945. He graduated Seton Hall Prep in 1963 and earned a football scholarship to the University of Delaware, where he played for four years and set every Blue Hen receiving record. After graduating with a degree in history, he signed a contract with the NewYork Giants football team for the 1967-1968 season when an injury sidelined his professional football career. The mayor worked with IBM in Data Processing sales, as a stockbroker, and then in real estate sales and development while attending Delaware Law School at night. He was admitted to the Delaware bar and served as attorney for the Delaware State Senate and then practiced law for over a decade. He first ran for public office in 1982 and was elected to New Castle County Council where he served for nine years as Chairman of the County’s Council’s Finance Committee and wrote the legislation that created the state’s first ethics law. In 1996, Mike Purzycki was tapped to head the Riverfront Development Corporation, and was tasked with the challenging job of resurrecting the blighted, industrial wasteland along the Christina River. He and his team did what many said would be impossible—they reinvented and reinvigorated the former World War ll shipyard into an economic, cultural, and social hub of the City which included over one billion dollars of public and private investment, including the Chase Center, The Peterson Wildlife Refuge, two miles of Riverwalk, hundreds of apartments, restaurants, hotels, and other amenities. Mike also served for ten years as Chairman of the Wilmington Hope Commission during which he oversaw the 2014 opening of the Achievement Center, a ten thousand-square-foot building housing a groundbreaking program that helps formerly incarcerated men successfully transition from prison back into the community. During his tenure as Mayor, the City has seen almost $1 billion of private investment injected into the local economy. Thousands of apartments, hotels, and new nightlife and dining destinations have breathed new life into the downtown and riverfront. Wilmington has invested $14 million in its neighborhood parks and public spaces. Twenty-six miles of City streets have been paved and repaired. There has been no tax increase for four years while the City’s cash position has been improved. During this same period, Moody’s removed a negative outlook from the City’s previous bond rating to improve the City’s borrowing power. Mike married the former Bette Richitelli in 1984. They live in the Highlands with their teenage son, Gage. Their adult children—Adriane, her husband Andrew and granddaughter Pascal live in Hockessin, while Mick, his wife Ally, and granddaughter Yoyo live in Maryland.

Leslie started her real estate career at the Goldenberg Group, a regional mid-sized real estate development firm located in Blue Bell, PA, as an Associate Development Director. During her 7-year tenure, she was promoted three times ultimately achieving the position of Senior Vice-President of Development. Leslie led the development of a $50 million, 342,000 square foot shopping center, the largest single development in West Philadelphia and the largest development in a Federal Empowerment zone located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In 2008, Leslie and her partner Gregory Reaves, established Mosaic Development Partners. Since its founding, Mosaic has developed over $54 million in real estate projects and has created over 200 construction jobs and 100 full-time jobs. Leslie is a graduate of Brown University and Villanova School of Law.

Jed Hatfield is responsible for Colonial’s operations in the Wilmington, Delaware and Lancaster and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania areas. Mr. Hatfield has hands-on experience in the parking industry, having grown up with the company. Experienced with design and construction review as well as initial implementation of parking control systems, he has been actively involved in the design, construction, and openings of several major garages. In addition to the opening of new facilities, he is responsible for the daily management of Colonial’s facilities. He is also responsible for the development and implementation of Colonial’s evolving policies and operations, rooted in the traditional standards of courtesy, fairness, and consideration while maintaining their relevance with the most up-to-date technology. Mr. Hatfield plays an active role in the parking industry. He is a past chairman of the National Parking Association (NPA), Member of International Parking & Mobility Institute (IPMI), and a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI). Locally, Mr. Hatfield serves on the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Recognizing the critical link between parking and real estate, Mr. Hatfield is also a past President of the Committee of 100, an economic development organization in Wilmington, Delaware. He is also an Executive Committee Member of the Wilmington Alliance; an Executive Committee Member of Downtown Visions, Wilmington’s Business Improvement District (BID), and a member of the Commercial-Industrial Realty Council in Wilmington, Delaware. Active in the community, Mr. Hatfield is the founding Co-Chair of the Crozer-Chester Foundation Professional Group, a Member of the Board of Directors of Artisans Bank, and a member of the Caesar Rodney Rotary Club.

Dominic Wiker is an experienced development professional with over 15-years of managing large-scale development projects. Dominic recently oversaw the development of The Fox Building, a $20 million adaptive mixed-use project in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore as well as the development of the two projects in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood: the $32 million redevelopment of the 250,000 square foot historic Hoschild Kohn warehouse into 171-market rate apartments with 18,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, known as 520 Park, and the $29 million new construction of 500 Park into 153 market rate apartments. Prior to working with The Time Group, he managed the development of McHenry Row, a $150 million mixed-use project in Baltimore’s Locust Point neighborhood and was a Senior Development Director with Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse overseeing such urban in-fill, mixed-use projects as 1209 North Charles, Charles Commons and the Village Lofts. Dominic received a Bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

Joy A. Barrist offers a full range of commercial real estate law services involving the finance, acquisition, sale, lease and development of complex multimillion-dollar real estate projects throughout Delaware, Pennsylvania, around the country and internationally. She regularly represents banks and lending institutions, private equity firms, non-profit organizations, investors, developers, owners, landlords, and tenants. Joy consistently represents both lenders and borrowers in various types of commercial real estate financing transactions, including acquisition, development and construction lending. Her experience also includes CMBS and mezzanine debt transactions, as well as municipal bond transactions. She handles finance and other real estate matters for all asset classes including multifamily, hospitality, office, retail, industrial, mixed-use, medical and education. Joy represents financial institutions as lead lenders and participants in syndicated loan transactions. Her practice also includes the representation of lenders in workouts, financial restructuring, loan sales and the purchase of loan pool portfolios. Joy’s practice also includes representations with respect to other real estate and general business matters such as easements, lot purchase agreements, sale and purchase of business assets and ownership interests in business entities, the formation of Delaware entities and the rendering of legal opinions in finance and other commercial transactions. In addition to real estate finance, her experience extends to asset-based finance (including equipment, inventory and receivables financing), working capital lines of credit and various other complex commercial loan facilities. She is a frequent speaker on topics of commercial real estate and in particular, real estate finance and construction lending. The current edition of Chambers USA includes her in the top tier of Delaware real estate practitioners, highlighting positive client feedback: "She's a very fine attorney — a good technician and a good drafter." "Joy is top notch and her work is second to none." Joy is actively involved in a number of community organizations in and around Wilmington, Delaware, including I Am My Sister’s Keeper, The Teen Warehouse, Inc., Jumpstart Wilmington, REACH Riverside and the Kingswood Community Center. Joy is the vice practice group leader of the firm's Transactions and Corporate Counseling Group as well as chair of the firm's Women's Initiative

Mr. Walters is the Vice President of Asset Management. He is responsible for overseeing the existing non-hotel portfolio, including six million square feet of office and retail space, 15 major residential communities and multiple entertainment venues, such as Talen Energy Stadium and the 76ers Fieldhouse. Chip will lead BPG’s continued efforts to be the best in class office and multi-family operator and investment manager. Before joining BPG, Chip was the Chief Investment Officer at Keystone Property Group. At Keystone, he oversaw the firm’s acquisitions, asset management, and portfolio management activities. Chip played a key role in sourcing, underwriting, and closing commercial real estate deals in major markets throughout the United States. Prior to Keystone, Chip served as the Chief Investment Officer and Head of Portfolio Management for the Americas branch of Grosvenor Fund Management. Chip was responsible for all real estate investment activities for the firm’s US clients, including transactions, portfolio and asset management. Chips earlier professional career includes 20 years of experience at Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI), where he was Head of Northeast Transactions and Head of PREI’s Single Client Group, among other asset and portfolio management activities. Chip holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University and a B.S. in Accounting and Finance from Drexel University.

Scott brings over 30 years of real estate planning, acquisition, development, financing, leasing and property management to the real estate industry. During that time, he has been actively engaged in driving economic development in Wilmington, in partnership with city and state government and community decision-makers. In his role as Partner at McConnell Johnson Real Estate, he has led property acquisition and financing for many transactions throughout the Mid-Atlantic, including 1201 Market and 1313 Market in Wilmington, Delaware. Overseeing all core asset management activities, Scott has worked successfully with commercial banks and CMBS lenders such as Starwood Capital and PNC, to secure initial financing and refinancing. He manages a team of over 20 engineers and administrative professionals with a focus on tenant service, resulting in a 95% renewal rate in key assets, with particular success in serving the unique needs of law firms, collectively occupying over 350,000 sf. Scott works closely with equity partners to strategically position key assets for continued success in the future Scott has completed more than 1,000,000 sf of tenant improvement projects, as well as leading efforts to secure sustainable utility grants and loans that have resulted in a 50% reduction in energy usage. He led efforts to secure robust fiber network access to 1201 Market, enabling powerful connectivity not only for tenants but for the entire Region. He holds a degree in Landscape Architecture from Utah State University, and attended the MBA program at Northeastern University and is a licensed broker in the state of Delaware. He serves on the boards of The Kalmar Nyckel Foundation and Exceptional Care for Children.

Phil started his banking career at WSFS Bank in 1986 in the commercial credit department. After moving on to commercial roles at Beneficial National Bank and later, Wilmington Trust, he returned to WSFS in 2010 as Vice President in the Commercial Real Estate Division. In early 2018, he was named Senior Vice President, Commercial Real Estate, and is currently the Delaware real estate Team Leader for WSFS, with a team of 12 people. Phil is a graduate of the University of Delaware and the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking and holds a Wharton Leadership Certificate. Phil is a former board member of the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware, Cinnaire (formerly DCIC), and New Castle County Head Start and a current Board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Delaware and The Committee of 100. He lives in Bear, Delaware with his wife, Karen.

Andy Lubin is president and founder of Delaware Financial Group, a real estate and investment consulting firm that provides real estate consulting services principally focused on economic development, job growth and retention. Delaware Financial Group was retained by or represented several public and private clients requiring expertise in land-use, zoning, environmental and regulatory issues, development and real estate acquisition and financing structuring. DFG’s clients included Brandywine Town Center, the Delaware Economic Development Office, Delaware Department of Transportation, DNREC (Parks and Recreation), The University of Delaware, and the Delaware Technology Park. Andy has assisted clients requiring work-out situations, loan modification, and real property disposition. He was also directly involved with acquisitions, leaseholds, purchase options, tax-free exchanges, and deal- structuring. Currently, he is assisting the Governor and his administration with mitigating the impact of the DuPont Company’s down-sizing and eventual merger with Dow and working on the development of the Brandywine campus for Wilmington University.  Andy is a Delaware Real Estate Broker. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors and an officer of the Delaware Technology Park and a member of the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC), the DelDOT Corridor Preservation Program, Delaware Business Roundtable, Inc., the Delaware Economic Development Office, Easter Seals Board and Real Estate Trust and the Red Clay Education Foundation. In addition to being Chairman of the Council of Development Finance for DEDO and the Lottery Commission, Andy is a director of Artisan’s Bank, Resource America, Inc. the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, and The Grand Opera House. Andy is also a Christiana Health Care System Trustee and a member of the Nominating Committee.

Jamie Vari is an Executive Vice President and serves as the Agency Representation lead for JLL’s Wilmington, Delaware office. Jamie specializes in landlord and tenant representation services throughout Delaware and the Greater Philadelphia region. He plans and implements complex acquisitions, consolidations, dispositions, alternative-use and re-development strategies for corporate and institutional clients. During his tenure at JLL, Jamie has been an integral member in securing over $500 Million in tenant representation transactions and obtaining over 4,000,000+ square feet of agency assignments for his team’s clients. Additionally, Jamie works closely with his clients to develop strategy and innovative solutions for projects that include large mixed-use re-development sites, office & industrial acquisitions, repositioning assets, and medical office acquisitions. Other transactions include high end multi-family acquisitions, big box industrial leasing, land development consulting, and market moving long term office leases. Long standing local clients include: Delle Donne & Associates, The Commonwealth Group, & Harvey Hanna & Associates. Prior to Joining JLL, Jamie was a commercial real estate broker at Patterson-Woods & Associates LLC in Greenville, Delaware. Education Jamie received his bachelor of science in business administration concentrating in marketing from Goldey-Beacom College. He is a licensed salesperson in both Delaware and Pennsylvania. Mr. Vari is a member of the Commercial Industrial Realty Council (CIRC), Urban Land Institute (ULI), and The Committee of 100.