San Diego Construction & Development Summit

With over 30 years of industry experience, Chris has a deep understanding of the Southern California commercial real estate landscape and insight into what creates a property of enduring value. As President of Ryan’s West Region, Chris provides leadership and direction of the development, design, construction and real estate management teams in our San Diego office. A widely respected leader, he is responsible for expanding Ryan’s presence in the West Region and developing strong, productive relationships with partners and market players across the spectrum. Chris specializes in multi- tenant distribution/manufacturing projects and high-tech research and development facilities with an emphasis on defense, electronics, telecommunications and biotech.

Mr. Dealy has over 44 years of real estate experience in the public and private development arena with over $5 billion of projects entitled of which over $3 billion are completed. With hands-on experience in all aspects of real estate development including being a licensed architect, general contractor, and fiduciary representative, Mr. Dealy brings a broad set of skills that have been crucial to his success in strategic planning, acquisitions and development. Since founding Dealy Development, Inc. in 1992, Mr. Dealy has been primarily responsible for project pre-development, master planning, entitlement phase, and overall project implementation and completion. Recently completed projects include the expansion of the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego; the development of The Grand Del Mar resort, Clubhouse and Villas; the entitlements and pre-development acquisition of the Columbia Tower Hotel Downtown San Diego; the entitlement and pre-development for Phase III San Diego Convention Center Expansion; and the master plan and entitlement for the San Diego Union-Tribune redevelopment. In addition, he continues the development management of Manchester Pacific Gateway on San Diego's downtown waterfront. Mr. Dealy is a former Marine/Vietnam veteran and holds a Master Degree in Urban Design/Planning in Architecture from NC State University/UNC Chapel Hill with a thesis focused on Architect as Developer. Mr. Dealy is active in the community with membership with Lambda Alpha International, the Downtown San Diego Partnership Executive Committee, Urban Land Institute, Lincoln Club, Mission Valley Community Planning Group Board member, as well as the San Diego River Park Foundation Board member. Mr. Dealy resides in Point Loma and is married with a son. He enjoys golf, hiking, travel, good friends and wine.

Mike leads Lowe’s Western region commercial property development, investment and management activities. He is responsible for $1.9 billion of current development projects and 1.5 million square feet of commercial properties managed. Mike is a past-President and current executive committee member of the San Diego Chapter of NAIOP, and a member of the Urban Land Institute and the International Council of Shopping Centers. Mike and his wife Tami enjoy hiking, camping and skiing in the Sierra Mountains. Education: United States Air Force Academy, BS; Chapman University, MBA

Mr. Grossman is a Senior Managing Director at Meridian Capital Group. He opened the firm’s San Diego office in May 2011 charged with expanding the company’s presence throughout the western and southwestern states. In his 10+ years leading the west coast for Meridian, Mr. Grossman has built a team that has originated and closed more than $12 billion of debt and equity transactions spanning more than 600 loans across primary and esoteric asset types. Prior to opening Meridian’s San Diego office, Mr. Grossman was a Structured Finance Analyst Fitch Ratings, a Principal at Mission Peak Capital, and worked in Meridian’s New York City office where he closed in excess of $3 billion. Mr. Grossman attended NYU, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Management. Industry Recognition: 2013: Named to Commercial Observer’s national list of “Top 20 Commercial Mortgage Brokers under 35” 2015: Named to Commercial Property Executive’s list of 17 national “Stars to Watch” in the real estate industry 2015: Named by Real Estate Forum as one of 20 “Tomorrow’s leaders of Southern California”

Brent leads the Commercial and Hospitality Core Market groups in Southern California for DPR Construction, one of the country’s top technical builders. With over 20 years of construction experience, managing projects and pursuits in commercial and hospitality, residential, retail and mixed-use projects, Brent works with project teams in Southern California to enhance overall project delivery and quality of service for the DPR’s customers. His project leadership includes setting up projects and teams for success, strategic planning, establishing and maintaining relationships, and delivering numerous LEED® certified and sustainable projects. Brent has delivered high-profile projects for industry leaders such as Lucasfilm, the University of California San Diego, the United States Navy, Greenland USA, EVA Airways, Gatehouse Capital, Bentall Kennedy, Menlo Equities, Wilson Meany and S.D. Malkin Properties. He received his B.S. in Construction Management from California State University, Chico and is certified by the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA).

Laura is the Deputy Director for the Community Planning & Implementation (CPI) Division of the Planning Department within the City of San Diego. Laura has been with the City for over 17 years in various departments. Laura oversees the City’s long-range planning efforts consisting of Community Plan Updates and Land Development Code updates. She has been recently involved in getting the Affordable Housing Regulations, the 11 th code update (55 items), the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan Update, the Old Town Community Plan Update approved by City Council. She’s currently working on a new base zoning package for Mixed Use (residential and commercial), a Middle Income Density Bonus Program, the 12 th code update (56 items) and the Mission Valley Community Plan update that are all anticipated to be presented at City Council this year.

Melisa Gonzalez is Senior Director of Lodging Development for Marriott International’s Select Brands in the Western United States. She is responsible for franchise and managed growth of AC Hotels, Aloft by W, Element by Westin, Fairfield Inn, Courtyard, Four Points by Sheraton, Moxy, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, and TownePlace Suites within Arizona, New Mexico, Northern Nevada and North and South Dakota. Mrs. Gonzalez began her career with Marriott International in 2001, joining the Development team in 2014. Her professional career includes over 18 years in the hospitality industry including property and market-level positions in Operations, Sales, Revenue Management and Development. Having opened two hotels, she can speak to the critical partnership between construction and Operations. In her Development role, she has helped to increase the participation in Marriott’s Modular Initiative. Mrs. Gonzalez earned her bachelor’s degree in Management from W.P. Carey’s School of Business at Arizona State University. A native of Arizona, Melisa lives in Phoenix with her husband and daughter.

Josh Katzin is Chief Investment Officer of AECOM Capital, where he is focused on sourcing, structuring, and negotiating complex development and value-add projects. Previously Mr. Katzin was a Managing Director at ACORE Capital, a leading commercial real estate finance company, where he was responsible for the origination of transitional and construction debt in the Western U.S. Prior to joining ACORE, Mr. Katzin was Vice President of Acquisitions at Starwood Capital Group, where he sourced and executed direct commercial real estate acquisitions and joint ventures across asset types. Mr. Katzin holds an A.B. in economics from Harvard College, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School. He is a member of the California Bar and the Urban Land Institute.

David Kersh is the Executive Director of the Carpenters/Contractors Cooperation Committee (C/CCC), a non-profit organization comprised of signatory contractors and the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters. For over 19 years, Mr. Kersh has been at the forefront of regional efforts to promote the creation of good paying jobs, fair competition and high quality construction industry standards. He is actively engaged in the areas of land use entitlement, labor compliance, economic development, transportation and contracting policies, where he has focused on ensuring that construction projects are built by top-quality contractors who generate good paying middle class jobs and rewarding training opportunities. Mr. Kersh graduated with a degree in History from UC Santa Barbara and completed additional studies in Madrid, Spain. Born in Lima, Peru, he lives in Culver City with his wife Pilar and his teenage children.

A graduate of Cal Poly University, San Luis Obispo, David formed McCullough Landscape Architecture as a sole proprietorship in 1999 while consulting for another firm. After wife and partner, Catherine joined the business in 2001 and became Chief Executive Officer and President in 2002; the firm became a woman-owned corporation and a certified Small Business by the State of California. With offices in San Diego and the Bay Area, McCullough creates spaces for hospitality, retail, mixed-use and institutional properties around the world. As principal landscape architect, David oversees all aspects of the design and production of firm projects at McCullough. He serves as head designer on all projects and maintains quality control on all work completed. Previous projects have earned awards and recognition in several national publications. David finds time in his schedule to take leadership in creative organizations such as the the San Diego Architecture Foundation (SDAF) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) local Urban Design Committee. He currently serves as Chair of the Pecha Kucha Night program, which is on its sixth successful year. He finds it inspiring to take part in such a diverse mix of creative minds while bringing them together to share with the public their wild ideas. In addition, recently David was appointed by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer to serve on the Historical Resources Board as Chair, which governs the identification, protection, retention and preservation of historical sites in San Diego. Concurrently, he has been invited to serve on the city’s Code Monitoring Team (CMT). David’s design philosophy is centered around merging context and creative passion with grit, soul, and style. The firm takes every project with a uniquely creative approach that centers around diversity, discovery and conservation. David feels it’s important to engage the human spirit with nature, while expressing empathy. Recent projects include a large waterfront development in Shanghai, China, Seaport San Diego redevelopment, several multifamily projects in Calgary and Vancouver, along with other notable hospitality, entertainment, and mixed-use collaborations in the Western US and Canada.