Bisnow Presents: Major Projects

Pete K. Rahn was appointed Secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) by Governor Larry Hogan on January 21, 2015. He is the first person to have led transportation departments in three states. As Transportation Secretary, Mr. Rahn oversees a $5.1 billion annual budget (FY 2018) and leads more than 10,000 employees. MDOT has direct supervision of all aspects of transportation, including the state’s highway, transit and rail networks; toll facilities; motor vehicles; Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport; and the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Rahn was chairman of the New Mexico State Transportation Commission from 2011 to 2015. He served as Director of the Missouri Department of Transportation from 2004 to 2010, when he joined the Kansas City, Mo.-based HNTB construction engineering firm. He was Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department from 1995 to 2002. As a transportation leader in New Mexico and Missouri, Mr. Rahn managed billions of dollars in multi-modal transportation investments -- from highways and transit to airports and freight rail -- to create jobs and expand economic development, while focusing on innovation, teamwork, accountability and enhanced communication. At the national level, Mr. Rahn was President of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) from 2007 to 2008. In 2017, he was appointed to a two-year term as Chair of AASHTO’s Committee on Funding and Finance. He also has served as a member of AASHTO’s Board of Directors, Chairman of its Standing Committee on Performance Management and Chairman of its Standing Committee on Highway Traffic Safety. From 2006 to 2010, he served on the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board. From 2015 to July 2018, he was vice president of the Northeast Association of State Transportation Officials (NASTO). In July 2018, he was named president of NASTO. And in September 2018, he was appointed to serve as the Chair of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Aviation Consumer Protection Advisory Committee (ACPAC), as well as the State Government Representative on ACPAC for a 1-year term. Mr. Rahn received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and a Bachelor of Science degree in Planning from New Mexico State University. Mr. Rahn is married to Sue Rahn.

Vicki Davis is responsible for managing the acquisition, planning, design, and implementation of all Urban Atlantic projects, and asset management of properties that the company owns and its Mid-City Community CDE investment portfolio. With over 28 years of experience in real estate development, she formerly served as Deputy Director of the Maryland Housing Fund and Maryland DHCD -Division of Credit Assurance. Her experience also includes portfolio management for MNC Financial-South Charles Realty and multifamily development for Trammell Crow Residential. As President of Urban Atlantic Development, Ms. Davis has managed development of over $2 billion in real estate projects and asset managed over $4 billion in real estate investments. She has developed over 6,000 multifamily residential units and 600,000 commercial square feet for Urban Atlantic, including eight HOPE VI mixed-finance public housing redevelopment projects, as well as transit-oriented mixed-use projects.  Ms. Davis holds a MBA in Finance from American University, an MS in Engineering & Construction Management from University of Texas, and a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland. She taught for 12 years in the Johns Hopkins Real Estate MBA program and is a LEED AP.

AJ Jackson serves as the Executive Vice President, Social Impact Investing, of JBG SMITH where he leads the Washington Housing Initiative and manages the Impact Pool, an investment vehicle that provides secondary financing for affordable workforce housing. Prior to joining JBG SMITH, Mr. Jackson was a partner with EYA, a Washington, DC-based urban infill development company. At EYA, he led EYA’s participation in more than $1B of double and triple bottom line social impact projects. Mr. Jackson has extensive experience in the creation of programs and policies supporting mixed- income housing. He played a key role in the creation of a nationally recognized workforce housing program and was called upon to advise local governments, public institutions, and the National Association of Homebuilders on mixed-income housing policy. Mr. Jackson is an active member of ULI, serving as a Global Governing Trustee, and formerly as Chairman of the Public Private Partnership Council. He holds a LEED Green Associate credential from the US Green Building Council and is a member of the African-American Real Estate Professionals Association. Mr. Jackson received a B.A. with honors from the University of Alabama and an M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard Business School.

Jamie manages development activity at MidCity, including overseeing the development of RIA, a 20-acre mixed-income, mixed-use redevelopment. Prior to joining MidCity, Jamie served as COO of Ditto Residential, where he led all development and construction-related activities as well as long-term strategic growth initiatives. Before joining Ditto, Jamie managed large-scale, mixed-use residential and retail projects at The JBG Companies. He also previously worked in the public sector as the former Director of the DC Office of Zoning, and on behalf of the DC Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. Jamie holds a J.D. from the George Washington University School of Law and a B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Aakash Thakkar joined EYA in 2004 as a Development Executive and now is a Executive Vice President for Acquisition and Development with EYA. His responsibilities include overall project stewardship, new deal sourcing and acquisition, site selection, and project development through the design and governmental and community approval process. Mr. Thakkar is a member of and guest speaker for the Urban Land Institute and the District of Columbia Building Industry Association. He is a member of the Smart Growth Recognition Award Jury, the Riverdale Park Mixed-Use Town Center Committee, and of the Hyattsville CDC Board. He was a member of the Obama for American Mid-Atlantic Finance Committee and a co-founder (along with his wife) of the Thakkar/Giallourakis Scholarship Fund for St. John's College High School. Mr. Thakkar has a BS in Accounting and Political Science from LaSalle University and holds both an MBA and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University. Mr. Thakkar is a native Washingtonian.

Joseph LeMense is the managing director of community development & nonprofit banking at United Bank, the largest headquartered community bank in Greater Washington. With over 40 years of experience, LeMense guides the Bank’s nonprofit business development and lending initiatives throughout the Bank’s markets in eight states and the District. He focuses on providing personalized financial solutions to mission-based organizations involved in community development, affordable housing, education, social services and trade associations. LeMense joined United Bank in 2004, most recently serving as a senior vice president of commercial banking. In this role, he developed and managed long-term lending relationships, primarily in the nonprofit, biotech and government contracting industries. LeMense’s areas of expertise include tax exempt bond finance, tax increment finance, Property Assessed Clean Energy (“PACE”) financing and Low Income Housing Tax Credit (“LIHTC”) and New Market Tax Credit (“NMTC”) financing. A fifth-generation Washingtonian and fourth-generation graduate of Georgetown University, LeMense is a board member of the Jubilee Housing Advisory Board and a former mayoral appointee to the D.C. Public Charter School Credit Enhancement Fund Committee. He is an active volunteer and advisor with the Georgetown University Alumni Club of Washington, D.C. as well as a guest lecturer at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. A 2015 graduate of Leadership Montgomery, Joe was also a charter member and past president of the Metro Bethesda Rotary Club.

​E​ffective January 2018, Scott Anderson began serving as the Regional Administrator for GSA’s National Capital Region. As Regional Administrator, Scott Anderson will lead a workforce of over 1,100 Public Building Service and 66 Federal Acquisition Service associates in the National Capital Region, which comprises about 30 percent of the GSA’s national real estate portfolio. Scott Anderson received a Master's of Education from the University of South Carolina, as well as his Bachelor’s of Arts from North Adams State College. Mr Anderson went on to spend a decade at the University of Georgia as the Assistant Director of the Housing Department. There, he lead the construction and management of all student housing. From 2005-2008, he served as the Special Assistant and later became Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Management at the Department of Education. He worked closely with GSA in managing procurement, as well as upgrades to the HQ and regional offices. His most recent role was Director of Service Delivery and Property Management, where he was instrumental in the sustained development of George Washington University's Mount Vernon and Virginia campuses. Under his tenure, all Mount Vernon buildings were LEED certified. He provided key oversight in all key external contracts and with vendors, including construction, housing, food service, and campus retail.

In early 2004, Mr. Cohen founded and became President / CEO of Perseus TDC. He has an active role in every project Perseus TDC undertakes from acquisition financing, development, marketing and leasing. Mr. Cohen has been an active participant in the Washington area real estate business since 1971. He began his career as a broker with Barnes Morris & Pardoe. In 1982, he became President of Barnes Morris and oversaw the growth of the firm into a leading and successful brokerage company. In 1991 Mr. Cohen and P. Wesley Foster Jr. became partners and merged Long & Foster Commercial with Barnes Morris and Mr. Cohen became Chairman and CEO of the combined company and soon thereafter acquired the Kaempfer management Company and grew that to manage more than 13 million square feet of office. In 1998 the company was sold to Insignia Financial Group and Mr. Cohen remained as the regional executive manager. A demonstrated real estate professional, Mr. Cohen has been involved in the acquisition and disposition of numerous real estate projects. He has acquired, on behalf of various partnerships, land for development and buildings for investment. He has invested in multiple projects such as a 150,000 square foot building at 2121 Virginia Avenue and is the developer of a partnership that owns land to develop over 700,000 square feet in the NOMA submarket of Washington, DC known as Storey Park. Some of the notable projects Mr. Cohen has been involved with include Redland Corporate Center, a 350,000 square foot office development; 1110 Vermont Avenue, a 308,000 square foot office redevelopment; 2440 M Street, a medical office building; 2101 M Street NW Hilton Hotel; 14W, a 250,000 square foot mixed use residential project; 1577 Spring Hill Road, McLean, VA. Mr. Cohen is a member of the Economic Club of Washington and the World Presidents Organization. He is a former member of the Young Presidents Organization and he has served on the Board of Visitors at Duke University, the boards of WETA, Norwood School, DC National Bank, Sovran DC National, George Washington University Cancer Center and Global Relief Technologies, a disaster relief technology company. member of Global Relief Technologies, a disaster relief technology company.

Jane Galbraith Mahaffie is one of the Washington metropolitan area’s leading real estate development executives, with diverse experience directing multi-faceted mixed-use developments and public/private initiatives with a combined value of more than $1 billion. As a Principal with Stonebridge, she oversees complex development projects, including properties requiring extensive entitlement processes and community outreach. Ms. Mahaffie has led the firm’s efforts on several award-winning public/private partnerships in Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland. Prior to joining Stonebridge, Ms. Mahaffie developed and directed all strategic facility planning and owner’s representation development projects at ORS Associates. She received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Catholic University of America and a Master in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University. Ms. Mahaffie is a member of CREW and Women in Construction. She is also a past board member and treasurer of the Bethesda Urban Partnership and Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District. She is the founder and co-chair of Jubilee to College, which provides college gap scholarships to aspiring young adults from Jubilee Housing. Ms. Mahaffie is a frequent speaker on such issues as public/private partnerships, redevelopment, and women in real estate and construction.

John Begert has 22 years of experience in the multi-family industry and pursues multi-family residential and mixed-use acquisition and development opportunities for MRP Realty. Prior to joining the firm in early 2011, Mr. Begert worked for JPI Mid Atlantic for over ten years and oversaw the acquisition, entitlement, development and construction of over 2,000 residential units valued at over $450 million in the Mid Atlantic region. Mr. Begert has multi-family acquisition and development experience across a variety of product types and jurisdictions in the Mid Atlantic region. Mr. Begert has developed high-rise, mid- rise, and urban-wrap rental products as well as mixed-use urban condominium product in Washington, DC.

Anthony Wolf Greenberg (Tony) is Executive Vice President in Development at JBG SMITH, where he specializes in multifamily and mixed-use development at transit-oriented sites. JBG SMITH is an S&P 400 company that owns, operates, develops, and invests in a portfolio of over 20 million square feet—with another 17.2 million square feet in the development pipeline—all concentrated in attractive submarkets in the Washington, DC region. Prior to joining JBG in 2007, Mr. Greenberg was a developer at Clark Realty Capital, L.L.C. where he was involved in multifamily, mixed-use, hotel and military family housing projects. Mr. Greenberg is a Trustee of the National Building Museum and of the Mary Sachs Charitable Trust in Harrisburg, PA. He is also an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), serving on both the national and regional Transit-Oriented Development Product Councils. He is a frequent guest speaker, both locally and nationally, on sustainable neighborhood development and suburban retro-fitting. Tony was named one of Urban Land Magazine’s 40 Under 40 for 2016. Mr. Greenberg received his Bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University, and holds advanced degrees from the University of Virginia and Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Austen Holderness serves as Carr Properties’ Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer and oversees all ground-up development activity at Carr Properties, from deal acquisition through the stabilization of each asset, including oversight of all matters related to design, development, construction management, and joint ventures. His responsibilities include sourcing and evaluating new development opportunities. Prior to joining Carr Properties, Austen distinguished himself as a Senior Development Associate at CarrAmerica Realty Corporation. During his career he has managed $2.75 billion (five million square feet) in commercial real estate development. Austen received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina and his Master of Business Administration from the Darden School of Business at The University of Virginia.

Todd Stokes, managing partner of the Tysons, Virginia office, has been with Baker Tilly since 2001. He provides oversight and leadership to the professionals serving the greater Washington, D.C. area and is a member of the firm’s management committee. Todd believes in the teaching culture of Baker Tilly and helps develop client service leaders and Valued Business Advisors. He works across multiple disciplines and teams to provide opportunities to the future leaders of the firm. Experience > Provides leadership, management and strategic direction for the Tysons office including providing insight and advice to client engagement teams, fostering employee development and recruiting and driving growth > Works primarily with owners and financial officers of construction and real estate companies providing business consulting and accounting services > Serves as a Valued Business Advisor to his clients, providing guidance on organizational structure, incentive compensation, estate and succession planning > Engages with his clients to generate specific tax and business planning opportunities, as well as deliver strategic expertise on more complex accounting and advisory matters, based on his extensive construction and real estate experience <p>Click HERE for <a href=" https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddastokes/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></p>