South Florida Construction & Development Boom

Melissa is a Managing Director in the Miami office of JLL Capital Markets, Americas. She has over 15 years of experience in the real estate industry, securing debt and joint venture equity financing for a broad range of property types with a focus on Office and Industrial. Over the course of her career, she has closed more than $3 billion in capital through first mortgages, mezzanine loans, bridge loans, acquisitions, and joint venture equity for a variety of asset types throughout the U.S. Prior to joining JLL, Melissa spent three years as a Managing Director at Ackman-Ziff. Before that, she held acquisitions and in-house capital markets roles at Maxwelle Real Estate Group in Aventura, Florida, and Eretz Group in New York City. Melissa also serves as Director of Programming for the CREW Network Miami Chapter, and has a seat on the Real Property Development Advisory Board at the University of Miami School of Law. She earned a B.S. from University of Miami.

Mr. Kornberg serves as Managing Director and Head of Acquisitions for Mast Capital. In this capacity, he is responsible for identifying and evaluating investment transactions and collaborating with Mast’s functional groups on asset management, development, and disposition decisions. Mr. Kornberg is a seasoned real estate professional with over $2 billion of single asset and portfolio transaction experience. Prior to joining Mast, Mr. Kornberg was a Managing Director at Northwood Investors, a privately-held global real estate investment firm, where he was responsible for evaluating real estate equity and debt investment opportunities. During his approximately 10 years at Northwood, he executed acquisitions, obtained financing, oversaw capital projects, and improved operating performance across the firm’s hospitality portfolio. Prior to Northwood, Mr. Kornberg worked in the Real Estate, Gaming, Lodging and Leisure Investment Banking group at Deutsche Bank and focused on corporate advisory assignments, capital markets transactions, and mergers and acquisitions primarily within the hospitality and gaming sectors. Mr. Kornberg is an active member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) Investment Roundtable. Mr. Kornberg received his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, Magna Cum Laude, from Duke University.

Shahrokh Shah is Managing Director of the Engineering & Construction group at BMO Harris Bank. Based in Chicago, Shahrokh is responsible for leading a team that specializes in providing financing to companies involved in all segments of the Engineering and Construction Industry. His in-depth industry knowledge, developed from established relationships throughout all industry segments, has led to a solutions oriented approach. Shahrokh is well versed in the needs of the Industry and is extremely familiar with the intricacies required to facilitate both Corporate and Investment Banking solutions. Due to his knowledge and expertise on the Industry, Shahrokh is a frequent speaker for both industry and financial groups of national scope. Shahrokh is also on the Board of Directors of The Beavers, a California based Heavy Engineering Construction Association. Prior to his current role, Shahrokh was involved in the structuring and arranging of project finance transactions and mergers and acquisitions for BMO’s Global Project Finance Group. Those transactions involved companies across a variety of industries, including pipelines, oil & gas, mining and power. Prior to joining BMO Financial Group in 1986, Shahrokh spent four years with ExxonMobil in the project engineering and business analysis areas. Shahrokh has an MBA from Queen’s University and a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Toronto. He is a registered Professional Engineer.

Alexander G. Leon is a Partner in the firm's Construction Group. Board certified in Construction Law by the Florida Bar, Alex's practice focuses on representing local and international owners and developers in the design, construction and development of a wide array of projects, including apartments, luxury high-rise condominiums, hotels, industrial, commercial/retail and affordable housing. He assists clients with project administration to identify and achieve early resolution of potential disputes. He handles the negotiation and preparation of construction agreements, professional design agreements, and developer agreements. When disputes arise from design and construction agreements, including construction defect and delay claims, surety bonds, insurance coverage, construction liens and warranty claims, Alex represents clients in mediation, arbitration, and litigation of claims.

Dev Motwani serves as President of Merrimac Ventures, a Fort Lauderdale based real estate firm that focuses on value-add investment and development opportunities. Property types owned and operated include hotels, condos, retail, office and rental apartments primarily in South Florida but also throughout the United States. Dev is also Founder and Managing Partner of Ramesh Properties, a distressed real estate investment fund focused on opportunistic investments in residential and commercial development sites throughout South Florida. He currently oversees nearly $750 million in development projects. Current projects include the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences, The Gale Boutique Hotel and Residences, as well as Las Olas Riverfront, all in the Fort Lauderdale area. Dev is Founder and Managing Partner of Chieftain Residential, a yield-oriented distressed residential fund purchasing single-family homes and residential land, primarily in the Southeast US and Texas. The fund aims to balance current income opportunities through the rental markets for its single family home inventory, while also targeting capital appreciation in single family homes and land as the US Residential Market continues to rebound. Prior to his current role Dev worked at Credit Suisse in New York City, where he first structured OTC Equity Derivative trades for the firm's largest corporate clients and then for the firm's largest hedge fund clients. Before that he worked in the White House and on the 2000 Gore/Lieberman Presidential Campaign. Dev plays an active role in the South Florida Community, through his involvement with numerous charities and business organizations, currently serving on the board of the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Foundation, Fort Lauderdale's Economic Development Advisory Board, and the Downtown Council. He was recently appointed to the Orange Bowl Host Committee. He previously served on the boards of the Riverwalk Trust, Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, and Broward County's Small Business Advisory Board. Dev has served as Co-Chair for the Bonnet House's Annual Impressions Fundraiser, the Ghost Light Society's Annual Soiree, and the Jeb Bush Classic Beach Bash benefitting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. This year the Motwani family co-founded the Laughing Out Loud fundraiser benefitting the Scleroderma Foundation, which raised over $170,000 for the charity. Dev graduated from Duke University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Economics and Public Policy and from Columbia University's Masters of Science in Real Estate Development Program. He has also studied at the London School of Economics.

Lissette Calderon is founder and CEO of Neology Life Development Group, a lifestyle- driven residential and commercial real estate firm that specializes in the transformation of undervalued communities into sought-after neighborhoods. Calderon’s rapid rise in South Florida’s highly competitive real estate industry began with her ability to see the potential in overlooked waterfront land along the Miami River. In 2000, with the introduction of her pioneering and trend setting loft-style residential building NeoLofts, and her subsequent building concepts Neo Vertika and Wind by Neo, Calderon is credited with transforming the Miami River District into one of the city’s hippest, most sought-after neighborhoods. With her most recent flagship project on the Miami River, the 199-unit Pier 19 Residences & Marina, Calderon solidified her reputation as one of South Florida’s most visionary developers. Today, Calderon is spearheading the revival of another historic Miami neighborhood: Allapattah. Neology completed the 192-unit No. 17 Residences Allapattah in 2021 (nominated for a Structure Award by the South Florida Business Journal) and is breaking ground on two more residential projects nearby later this year. Neology’s portfolio consists of 1,200 apartments under ownership that have been recently built or under development in Miami’s urban core, with a pipeline of over 500 more units planned in South Florida and beyond, along with 1,500 condo units previously built and sold representing nearly $1 billion. A second-generation Cuban-American, Calderon was born and raised in Miami and earned a bachelor’s degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She launched her career in real estate at the Related Group, and later became the firm’s first female president, serving in that role from 2014 to 2016. She is involved in numerous community organizations including Amigos for Kids, a nonprofit organization serving the needs of South Florida’s abused, abandoned and neglected children. Most recently, Calderon was appointed to The University of Miami’s Master of Real Estate Development + Urbanism Advisory Board. She and her husband live in Coral Gables and have three daughters and three dogs.

Juan G. Fernandez is the Director of Real Estate Development at AHS Residential. In his role, Juan oversees the company’s development activities across the U.S. including land acquisition, due diligence, project entitlements, design coordination, and owner’s representation, leading finally to project close-out and turnover to the Property Management team at AHS Residential. A practicing attorney, Juan joined AHS Residential in 2016 as In-house Counsel, where his role was to negotiate with subcontractors, analyzing contracts and handling acquisitions. In 2018, he transitioned to Manager of Acquisitions, leading to Director of Acquisitions in 2020. His exceptional work in acquisitions and expansions in new markets led to his promotion to Director of Real Estate Development in 2021. Prior to joining AHS Residential, Juan spent much of his career at other construction and real estate companies, before starting his own private real estate law practice. Juan graduated from Florida International University (FIU) with a degree in Construction Management in 2010 and earned his law degree from the same university in 2014. Juan is a member of the Florida Bar, Associated Builders and Contractors South Florida Chapter and Latin Builders Association (LBA).

With over a decade of construction and insurance experience, Daniel has managed nearly $1 billion dollars worth of new construction, commercial and residential remodeling. In addition, Daniel has placed hundreds of insurance policies, serves as an expert witness in thousands of insurance disputes, and assisted community associations, business owners and homeowners recover from a wide variety of property and business income losses. He maintains a strong commitment to the community and serves on the BB&T Local Advisory Board and as Vice-Chairman of Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce.