Greater Richmond Multifamily Summit

Whitson Huffman is responsible for the oversight of investment activity at Capital Square, which includes leadership of the firm’s real estate investments related to its Delaware statutory trust/Section 1031 exchanges, qualified opportunity zone funds and other private placement investment offerings. Since joining the firm in 2018, he has overseen approximately $6 billion in real estate transactions, grown total assets under management by more than $5 billion and established a successful development division that has initiated nine development projects totaling 1,700 apartment units and in excess of $600 million in development cost. Prior to joining Capital Square, Huffman was an associate with JBG SMITH Properties, a real estate investment trust and fund manager listed on the New York Stock Exchange. While at JBG SMITH, Huffman participated in the development of 1,300 residential units and over 210,000 square feet of retail space with a total capitalized value of more than $650 million. He also sought entitlements for over 1,500 residential units and 350,000 square feet of retail, with a projected capitalized value in excess of $400 million. Huffman was previously employed as a consultant in the financial services group of Ernst & Young, working on multifaceted banking and capital markets projects for systemically important financial institutions. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Miami University Farmer School of Business and a Master of Real Estate, finance from Georgetown University. He is active in a number of programs, including the National Multifamily Housing Council, the National Capital Chapter of Ducks Unlimited and the Institute of Portfolio Alternatives (IPA) inaugural Rising Leaders Council. The IPA Rising Leaders Council focuses on introducing professionals to the portfolio diversifying investments industry and helping to create dynamic and engaging conference and educational programming for the IPA.

Madi Ford serves as the co-founder and managing partner of Audeo Partners, a certified small and woman owned business operating in Virginia. In this capacity, she manages acquisitions, deal structuring, development, joint venture negotiation, and equity and debt finance from a legal perspective for Audeo Partners and the firm’s consulting clients. Madi has a decade of transactional legal experience in commercial real estate, in addition to extensive experience in corporate governance. She advises on risk mitigation and complex cross-functional matters relevant to the ownership, asset management, and development of multi-family rental housing for Audeo Partners and several local firms and landowners in a consulting capacity. Madi has executed over $250M in debt financing including HUD, agency, and conventional market loans as well as structuring 1031 and opportunity zone equity for development deals. Madi has secured multiple successful PUD and BZA approvals for development projects totaling over $1B in development potential. She has also successfully managed complex litigation related to a class-action suit designed to prevent a $700M development from proceeding. Most recently, Madi transitioned distressed bank notes into a redevelopment project supporting retail, 200 multifamily units and 60 for sale units. Prior to founding Audeo Partners, Madi served as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel at MidCity Development where she oversaw all legal matters for the asset management and repositioning and development of a 9,000-unit portfolio of affordable and market rate apartment communities across the Mid-Atlantic. Ford has also served as Director of Legal Affairs at Vantage Management and as a Corporate Associate at Bingham McCutchen L.P. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics, Public Policy and the Law from Trinity College and a Juris Doctor from American University’s Washington College of Law. Madi currently serves on the Emerging Leaders Committee of the National Multi-Family Housing Council (NMHC) as well as serving on the NMHC Working Group for the Women in Multifamily Networking Series. Madi serves on the Board of Directors for The Academy of Hope Adult Public Charter School, Habitat for Humanity, D.C.-NOVA, and The Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation. She is a member of the Leadership Council for the District of Columbia and the Greater Washington Community Foundation: Partnership to End Homelessness. She has previously served on the boards of directors for two private companies, the Community Services Foundation, and the Holton-Arms School Alumnae Board. Madi is a passionate participant and supporter of initiatives focused on affordable housing, economic empowerment, and access to education. She was a Steering Committee Member for Habitat for Humanity D.C.’s 2017 Women Build, the Event Chair for the 30th Anniversary Gala for Habitat for Humanity D.C. in 2019, and the Event Chair for Habitat for Humanity D.C.’s 2021 Women Build campaign and the Co-Chair for Habitat for Humanity D.C.-NOVA’s 2022 merger launch. Additionally, Madi served as the Event Chair for the Academy of Hope’s 35th Anniversary Gala. Madi is very proud to have led fundraising campaigns generating several million dollars in donations for local organizations and was recognize in Fall 2022 as the March of Dimes “Heroine of Washington” for the Real Estate Sector.

Harsh Thakker is the founding and managing principal of Dorado Capital, a residential development firm focused on the mid-Atlantic region. Since its inception in 2019, Dorado Capital has amassed a development pipeline of over $50 Million USD spread across the Richmond and DC metro areas. Harsh currently oversees all of Dorado's operations, and has been the driving force behind its push to vertically integrate all construction management and general contracting functions in the past few years. Currently, Dorado anticipates delivering over 200 units of for-sale single and multifamily housing over the next two years, with the majority of expected deliveries located in the Richmond metro area.