Pittsburgh State of the Market

Eve Picker is the founder and CEO of Small Change, a real estate equity crowdfunding platform. We raise funds for meaningful real estate projects building better cities everywhere. Through Small Change, Eve has created a fluid and compliant platform that brings impact investment opportunities to everyone who cares about cities and wants to make change. Eve’s past led her directly to Small Change. Her background as an architect, city planner, urban designer, real estate developer, community development strategist, publisher, and all-around instigator gives her a rich understanding of how cities work, how urban neighborhoods can be revitalized, what policies are needed to do it, and the unique marketing that creates the buzz needed for regeneration. Amongst her many urban (ad)ventures, she’s developed a dozen buildings in blighted neighborhoods, founded a non-profit, cityLAB, built Pittsburgh’s first tiny house and first downtown lofts, organized a speaker series, launched a Pittsburgh e-zine called Pop City, and established downtown Pittsburgh’s first co-working space. I also co-founded Pittsburgh’s wildly successful Open Streets program and now host a weekly podcast series about real estate impact investing. Some honors I’m proud of include Small Change ranking as one of 7 top Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms of 2020 by US News, nabbing Top Innovator in the “Capital” category by HIVE, my tenure as a Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center Residency Program and our recent participation in Village Capital’s FinHealth US 2021, an accelerator program for early-stage startups. Most recently Connect CRE made me one of their National 2022 Women in Real Estate Awards winners. All of these experiences have led me to become one of the foremost thinkers on urban change.

Mr. Walsh is Chief Operating Office and Principal with Rugby Realty Co., Inc. He manages all aspects of the day-to-day operations of the Pittsburgh Portfolio. He joined Rugby in 2003 after a successful career developing CVS/pharmacy drug stores across the country for Armstrong Development, headquartered in Pittsburgh. Born and raised in Pittsburgh he has a Masters in Public Policy and Management with a concentration in Urban and Regional Economic Development from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dusty concentrates her practice on all aspects of real estate development, acquisitions and economic incentives, with an emphasis on real estate litigation, including real estate tax-assessment appeals, land-use and zoning appeals, and eminent domain proceedings. Dusty counsels her clients on an array of sustainability issues that impact development projects and facilities, including advice on sustainable development matters such as the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, and regulatory compliance matters such as greenhouse gas emission regulations, obtaining other regulatory approvals, negotiating complex contractual arrangements, resolving disputes, and managing risk avoidance.

Emeka Onwugbenu is the Founder and CEO of E Properties and Development, a private held real estate development and management company, with specific focus in the development of mixed use, multifamily, office and educational facilities. Under Emeka’s leadership, the company has completed over $80+ Million of real estate development, owns and manages over 300K square feet of commercial real estate. Emeka is responsible for the ultimate performance of the company’s residential, commercial, mixed-use and educational activities, leading all real estate development efforts, property acquisition, financing, construction and corporate operations. Since founding the company in 2012, Emeka has grown the company to over $50+ million in assets, including ownership and management of 300K square feet of commercial real estate, and 100+ apartments. In addition, Emeka founded and owns The School Builder, a boutique real estate development company that focuses on the development and management of educational facilities. Emeka serves as a Board of Directors of Jubilee Association – a non-profit focused on feeding the pour, 365 days a year - and as a Board of Director of Union of African Communities – a non-profit focused on fostering unity and empowerment of Africans in Southwester Pennsylvania. Emeka earned a Bachelors’ Degree from Penn State University, with a major in Industrial Engineering, and holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business.

Autumn R. Harris has over 15 years of commercial real estate finance experience with both institutional banks and arranging finance for a private commercial real estate owner and developer. Autumn has served as Director of Finance for a private commercial real estate owner and developer since 2015. As such she was responsible for managing the debt portfolio inclusive of construction project loans, property acquisition loans, refinance and oversight of the existing loan 70 plus property portfolio. Prior to joining this private owner/developer Autumn spent 10 years with institutional banks including PNC Bank and RBS Citizens within the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia markets. She served most recently as a Relationship Manager for PNC Bank's Institutional Commercial Real Estate Lending department. As a banker, Autumn has been responsible for financing office, retail, apartment, warehouse/industrial and hospitality projects. During her time in institutional banking she completed the RBS Citizens Credit training program, managed a portfolio with loan sizes ranging from $5MM-$150MM, has prepared credit approval packages for loan approval and managed a portfolio of loans to private developers and Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITS”), including involvement with the syndication department. Autumn’s experience in institutional banking combined with financing for a private owner/developer has provided her an intense knowledge of collateral evaluation, loan structure, regulatory compliance, cash flow projections, exit scenarios, market analysis and organizational structure. Autumn is very active in the commercial real estate industry and has established long term relationships with capital providers through her active involvement. Autumn currently serves as the immediate Past President on the board of Commercial Real Estate Women (“CREW”) Pittsburgh. She has been involved with both the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Chapters of CREW since 2003, serving board seats inclusive of President, President Elect, Program Director, Public Relations Committee Co-Chair, Delegate for CREW Network (an international organization with over 10,000 members), and Nominating Committee for CREW Network. Autumn is also an active member of NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association since 2011 and has been active with the Urban Land Institute (“ULI”) and International Council of Shopping Centers (“ICSC”). She also has her Real Estate Salesperson license which she obtained in 2007. Autumn Harris started her career with a boutique commercial real estate investment bank out of Philadelphia in 2003 and is a graduate of Temple University’s Fox School of Business.

John Watt’s appraisal, valuation and consulting assignments include: residential and commercial/industrial subdivisions, market rate and affordable apartment buildings, industrial properties, retail facilities, office buildings and vacant land. His specific concentration is in residential land development in the Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Eastern Kentucky and Western Maryland areas. Other areas of concentration include market analysis of market rate and affordable multifamily housing. Prior to employment with Valbridge Property Advisors, Mr. Watt worked for more than ten years in residential construction.

Dean Welch leads operations for McCaffery in Pittsburgh, acting as the regional office’s senior development, construction and investment officer. Mr. Welch joined McCaffery in 2014 as Project Manager of Development and Construction and has managed several of McCaffery’s developments including The Terminal, 1600 Smallman, Chicago Lakeside Development and McCaffery’s Chicago West Loop portfolio, Twelve01West and 1115 W Fulton. Dean has also led several tenant coordination and project management assignments for both owned and third-party assets, including properties for the University of Chicago and Stockbridge Real Estate. Prior to joining McCaffery, Dean was a Retail Broker at Mid-America Real Estate Group. Mr. Welch holds a Pennsylvania Managing Broker's license, sits on the Community Development Review Committee for Strip District Neighbors, and is an active member of Pittsburgh's NAIOP chapter. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business from DePaul University with a concentration in Real Estate and Finance.