Capitol Riverfront and The Yards

Deborah Ratner Salzberg manages Uplands’ investor relations and capital-raising activities. She previously was the Washington, DC Region Chairman for Brookfield Properties, a global real estate development and operating company with 300 million square feet of prime commercial space and 59,000 apartments under management, as well as 9 million square feet of commercial space in development. Prior to joining Brookfield, Debby worked for over 30 years at Forest City Realty Trust. Most recently, she served as President of Forest City Washington, a subsidiary of Forest City Realty Trust, overseeing the company’s activities in the DC, Philadelphia, Boston, and New Jersey markets. During her career with Forest City, Debby’s responsibilities spanned development, leasing, construction, financing, and management, beginning with individual projects and progressing to executive supervision of multiple high-profile, large-scale developments in the DC Region, including The Yards in the Capitol Riverfront district, Waterfront Station in Southwest DC, and the redevelopment of Ballston Quarter in Arlington, Virginia. Debby began her career as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. She earned a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco, and is a member of the California Bar Association. Debby is active with numerous community and professional organizations, including the Federal City Council, District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA), the Washington Housing Conservancy, the Urban Land Institute, Kenyon College, CubeSmart (CUBE), and the NY Common Real Estate Advisory Committe

Michael is the president of the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District (BID) in the southeast riverfront area of Washington, DC – the city’s fastest growing, mixed-use urban neighborhood. The Capitol Riverfront is one of the largest riverfront redevelopment projects in the country and will contain over 37 million square feet of development at build-out. For the past 13 years he has worked to achieve the vision of a vibrant waterfront community in the Capitol Riverfront. His efforts led to the establishment of the BID in the summer of 2007 and it is currently in its third 5-year operating cycle. Michael is responsible for overseeing a staff of 8 full time professionals, a 21-member board of directors, all external relations, development of work programs, and budget oversight. He helped coordinate the Center City Action Agenda of 2007 & 2010 – a new strategic plan and framework to guide development and public investment in the center city neighborhoods of Washington, DC. From 2000-2006 he served as the President & CEO of the Washington, DC Economic Partnership and built that organization from a start-up to a full partner in the District’s economic development initiatives. Prior to coming to Washington, Michael was the VP of Development for the Memphis Center City Commission, a combination of BID and economic development authority. He oversaw the planning and economic development section that administered financial incentives for downtown development projects such as the Memphis Redbird’s new Triple A baseball stadium, hundreds of units of new housing, the South Main Arts District, and a new downtown public elementary school. Michael has been involved in the economic development, urban planning, and downtown/neighborhood development fields for the majority of his 41-year career. He has worked for public planning agencies, private planning firms, BIDs, and economic development entities. He has participated in numerous downtown redevelopment efforts for cities such as Wichita, KS; Lubbock, TX; Dallas, TX; Nashville, TN; Memphis, TN; Jackson, MS; Washington, DC; and San Antonio, TX. He holds a Master’s degree in Urban Planning/Urban Design from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, and a BA in Urban Sociology from Millsaps College in Jackson, MS. He serves in a volunteer capacity in the District by participating on boards such as Barracks Row Main Street; the Leadership Council for a Cleaner Anacostia; DC Sustainable Transit; DC Building Industry Association; the DC BID Council; and Friends of the National Arboretum. He has participated in numerous Technical Advisory Panels for ULI, IDA, and APA. Michael is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s College of Continuing Studies where he teaches a class on economic development in the Masters in Urban Planning program.

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.

Ms. Davis serves as Senior Vice President of Leasing of the Metro D.C. region of Brandywine Realty Trust, with primary responsibilities for new business development in the region. She previously served as Senior Vice President of Prentiss Properties with leasing responsibilities for the Mid-Atlantic region since 1985. Ms. Davis began her career in 1981 as a Leasing Agent with the Washington, D.C. office of Trammell Crow Company. She is a Past Chairman of the Northern Virginia chapter of NAIOP, a Past Chairman of The Franklin Square Association, a Past President of Commercial Real Estate Women, Inc. of Washington, D.C. (CREW), a member of the Economic Club of Washington, and past Board Member of Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance (NVTA), Leadership Washington, Jubilee Housing and Goodwill Industries of Washington, D.C., and is a Co-Chair of the Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Breast Cancer Research Fund. Ms. Davis earned her B.A. degree from George Mason University.

Founded almost fifty years ago, Ruben Companies and its affiliates are leaders in the development and management of prime real estate, and in the development and marketing of internet business applications. In New York, Washington DC and Boston, Ruben Companies has developed, and continues to own and manage, over five million square feet of prestigious office space and over 1,000 luxury residential apartments. Madison Avenue in New York, Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC and Washington Street in Boston are just a few of the prized addresses represented in its portfolio. Ruben Companies’ tenants include major domestic and international corporations, leading financial institutions, prominent service firms and prestigious retailers. Its latest development plans include two million square feet of residential and commercial projects in the emerging Capitol Riverfront area of Washington DC. Ruben Companies has also been at the forefront in the development and implementation of internet business applications. In 2000, Ruben Companies created Workspeed, whose web-based workflow applications are used in over 500 million square feet of commercial real estate throughout the country. In 2011, Ruben Companies launched skedge.me, an internet-based scheduling application that enables online scheduling for businesses of all sizes. Ruben Companies’ team of talented professionals has expertise in finance, development, land use, leasing, construction, building operations and law. The company has partnered with industry leaders such as Goldman Sachs, Vornado Realty Trust and Related Companies, and has performed consulting services for major hedge funds and other investment companies. Through its various investment vehicles, Ruben Companies also makes selective investments in real estate-related debt and equity, technology and other areas.

Mark is vice president for CDUS in the Washington metro area. His responsibilities include the pursuit, acquisition and execution of development projects. He oversees project development teams and supports the executive vice president/area manager in growing Skanska’s development business throughout the region. Mark has more than 20 years of industry experience and has worked with site acquisition, site planning, design, development, construction management and the disposition of income-producing properties. He previously served as regional director of development for JPI, a national development firm. Mark’s development experience includes land, office, retail, multifamily and hotel development projects, primarily in the Washington and Baltimore markets. Mark holds a Masters of Architecture degree from The Catholic University of America and a Masters of Engineering Management degree from The University of California at Berkeley.

Responsible for financing, project feasibility, deal structuring and management. 25 years with SDC. Developed Willard Hotel in Washington, DC; commercial, solar energized buildings in CO and AZ; residential, new urbanist community in NM; boat yards and shopping centers in Massachusetts and Florida.

Andy VanHorn has over 24 years of experience in all aspects of real estate investment, development, and innovation—and oversees all aspects of the company’s strategy and its growth, alongside the Dweck family. This includes highly innovative financing and capitalization efforts and creation of strategic partnerships that drive growth opportunities. Dweck Properties owns 7,000 multifamily residences plus mixed-use retail in key submarkets in the Washington Metro area. They are one of the largest apartment owners in National Landing, home to Amazon’s HQ2. Since joining Dweck, Andy has established a 1,500 unit development pipeline on existing Dweck properties and a Construction Management company which has completed $100MM in work in its initial three year of operations. Andy also recently co-founded Two Rivers Investments and raised Confluence Fund I, a general partners investment fund established to purchase value-add multi-family properties in the larger DC metro region. Prior to joining Dweck Properties, Andy was an Executive Vice President responsible for entitlement, community and governmental activities associated with JBG SMITH’s portfolio in National Landing, including the pursuit and ultimate planning efforts related to Amazon’s HQ and the associated infrastructure improvements. He led coordination of Virginia state investments and priorities in National Landing, and oversaw formation of the Virginia Tech partnership and the Innovation District around the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. He also led a development team that worked on over 11MM square feet of multifamily, retail and office projects in Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, Washington, DC and Bethesda, MD. The project activities included land acquisition, entitlement efforts, design, permitting, negotiating construction contracts, leasing, financing and joint venturing. He is very active on public and private committees and boards, and serves as Executive Committee Member of the National Landing BID Board, and is a Board Member of the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing. He also serves on the GMU Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship Board, the Virginia and National Board for NAIOP and is a member of the Investments Management Forum with NAIOP. Prior to his role with JBG SMITH, Andy was a Principal with The JBG Companies. The JBG Companies merged with Vornado DC, and formed JBG Smith, the largest publicly traded REIT in the Washington Metro region. Andy also worked in real estate private equity with Buvermo Properties, and for Charles E. Smith and Clark Construction. B.S. in Civil Engineering, Lehigh University; M.B.A., McDonough School of Business - Georgetown University.

Andrew has fifteen years of experience in the retail real estate industry, focusing for the last decade on the retail evolution of Downtown D.C. Over the past five years, Andrew has been involved in over 400,000 square feet of retail transactions in the District. In addition, Andrew plays an active role in helping local retailers like Baked and Wired, Red Hen, Fainting Goat, and Immortal Beloved expand their presence, as well as fostering relationships and promoting D.C. with exciting out-of-market retailers, including The Smith (NYC), HipCityVeg (Philly), Roka Akor (Chicago), and Maison Kayser (NYC). Andrew’s developer clients include local groups such as Kettler, Donohoe, Perseus, Douglas Development, and Quadrangle, and institutional entities including MetLife, Brookfield, Hines, and JP Morgan. As a Director of Retail Strategy, Andrew is dedicated to the continued growth & transformation of DC’s retail landscape, helping the most dynamic areas grow new, engaging, and value-add stores and restaurants. Poncher has a Bachelor’s degree in International Business Management from The London School of Economics.