Greater DC 2020 Forecast

Spencer Levy is Global Client Strategist and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE, the largest commercial real estate services firm in the world. In this role, he focuses on client engagement and public-facing activities, including thought leadership work performed in conjunction with CBRE Research. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Real Estate Roundtable’s Research Committee. Spencer is frequently quoted in major business publications and appears on business television, including CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, PBS and Fox Business. Spencer is the host of CBRE’s podcast “The Weekly Take.” He is considered one of the most insightful commentators on issues of importance to commercial real estate. Spencer has 27 years of experience in commercial real estate, including the past 15 at CBRE. In this time, he has served as a lawyer, investment banker, capital markets and senior research leader. He leverages that varied background to formulate advice and create presentations that go deep and touch on all aspects of commercial real estate. His thoughtful analysis, coupled with a highly engaging presenting style, has made him one of the most sought-after commentators and advisors in the industry. Spencer regularly speaks at major events of the country’s leading commercial real estate organizations, including CORENET, NAIOP, ULI, ICSC, NAREIM and CREW. He also has guest lectured at his alma maters Harvard and Cornell, as well as Columbia, NYU, Johns Hopkins, Indiana, Georgetown, Pitt, UCLA, USC, Ohio State and many others. Spencer is a recipient of multiple industry awards, including a two-time winner of the CORENET Luminary Award for Excellence in Public Speaking, the CBRE Trammell Crow Master Builder Award, the CBRE Gary J. Beban Teamwork Award, the CBRE Capital Markets “MVP”, and was named a State of Maryland Influencer in Real Estate and was recently given the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Commercial Real Estate by the Daily Record. While a New Yorker for most of his life, Spencer currently resides in Baltimore with his wife of 23 years and their three children. Spencer serves on the board of the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women.

Mr. Mundy oversees Oxford's Washington DC office with a primary focus on new business and is a member of the US executive committee. Mr. Mundy has over 25 years of real estate acquisitions, development, and operations experience. His previous leadership roles include being EVP at Equity Office Properties (the largest US REIT - $39 billion market value), CIO of Washington Real Estate Investment Trust and a Managing Principal at Rubenstein Partners. Mr. Mundy received his undergraduate degree at Boston University and his MBA at The Wharton School.

Omer Granit holds a Masters of Law from the New York University School of Law (Valedictorian), and a Joint Degree, LL.B. in Law and B.A. in Business Administration from the Interdisciplinary Center, Israel. Mr. Granit is admitted to the New York Bar and Israel Bar. Mr. Granit also cofounded and managed West 4 Capital Advisors, a leading hedge fund in the real estate space. Mr. Granit’s previous positions include serving as the Managing Director at London-based investment company, Managing Director at Migdal Capital Markets (the asset management arm of Israel’s largest insurance/finance group) where he was responsible for alternative investments and innovative products. Furthermore, Mr. Granit served as an Associate Attorney at the New York office of White & Case LLP’s M&A group. Today, Mr. Granit serves as the CEO and Founder of MIXER, a leading luxury coworking and event space providing beautiful, up-close-and-personal experiences that create communities where companies can flourish. MIXER is financially backed by prominent global investors. Mr. Granit will bring the first US location, MIXER RowHouse, to D.C. opening in Spring 2020.

Jennifer Kasman represents clients across the country in all areas of business and real estate. Drawing on her top-tier law firm experience from both international corporate and boutique real estate firms, she represents real estate portfolio owners, institutions and entrepreneurs on real estate, finance, creditors’ rights and corporate transactions. Prior to founding JR KASMAN, PLLC, Jennifer worked as a partner at a DC-based law firm. She has routinely represented Fortune ranked institutions and a wide array of regional and local businesses.

Jeff DeBoer is the founding President and CEO of The Real Estate Roundtable. The Real Estate Roundtable represents the leadership of the nation’s top 150 privately owned and publicly-held real estate ownership development, lending and management firms, as well as the elected leaders of the 17 major national real estate industry trade associations. Collectively, Roundtable members’ portfolios contain over 5 billion square feet of office, retail and industrial properties valued at more than $1 trillion; over 1.5 million apartment units; and nearly 2 million hotel rooms. Mr. DeBoer has served as President and CEO of The Real Estate Roundtable since 1997, and through a variety of positions, he has been at the forefront of legislation affecting the real estate industry during the last thirty years. In addition to his position at the Roundtable, Mr. DeBoer serves as Chairman of the Real Estate Industry Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RE-ISAC), an organization dedicated to enhancing communication between the industry and federal policymakers on matters relating to building security, terrorist threats, and incident reporting. He also serves as chairman of the National Real Estate Organizations, a coalition of real estate trade associations working to enhance the industry’s overall Washington advocacy efforts. Previously he served as co-chairman of the Advisory Board of the RAND Corporation’s Center for Terrorism Risk Management Policy, and was a founding member of the steering committee of the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT). Mr. DeBoer also serves on the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC. Mr. DeBoer has discussed real estate and economic policy issues on FOX News, Bloomberg Television and CNBC; and his editorials have been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. In 2010, Mr. DeBoer was named a “top 10 Industry Newsmaker of the Decade” by GlobeSt.com and in 2013 he was selected by Commercial Property Executive as one of the "30 most influential people in real estate". He is a member of the Virginia Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Mr. DeBoer holds degrees from Washington and Lee University School of Law and from Yankton College.

Prior to his affiliation with Finmarc Inc, Mr. Markus was Chief Operating Officer, Structured Finance Business at CapitalSource Finance LLC where he managed a $2.2 billion debt and equity portfolio of real estate, asset backed and cash flow facilities. Prior to CapitalSource, Mr. Markus was a Director of Costar Group, Inc., the leading provider of information services to commercial real estate professionals in the United States and the United Kingdom. Mr. Markus has also held real estate-related positions with Teligent Inc., Cushman and Wakefield, Diamond Property Company, Transwestern Commercial Services and Julien J. Studley. Mr. Markus holds an MBA with concentrations in International Business from The McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and a BSBA with majors in Finance and Real Estate from The Kogod School of Business at The American University.

Angelique Brunner is the Founder and President of EB5 Capital, a leader in the EB-5 investor industry, raising foreign capital for investment in job-creating real estate projects across the United States under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which is overseen by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. EB5 Capital owns and operates a number of USCIS-authorized Regional Centers across the country, most notably in Washington, D.C., California, and New York, and has a portfolio of 13 current and completed projects, with six more in the pre-development phase. EB5 Capital has raised funds from immigrant investors in nearly 50 countries, maintaining a 100% project approval rate from the USCIS. Ms. Brunner was one of the first authorized Regional Center operators; among the first 15 of the approximately 800 that exist today. As President, she provides strategic direction and oversight to EB5 Capital’s real estate, marketing, and legal teams. Ms. Brunner is considered an industry expert, a seasoned and highly respected Regional Center operator, and a strong advocate for the EB-5 Program as a tool for economic development. She serves on the Board of Directors for Invest in the USA (IIUSA), the national EB-5 industry trade association, and was the Inaugural Chair of the IIUSA Policy Committee, which guides the industry’s communications with USCIS and other governmental agencies. In 2011, at the request of Senator Leahy’s (D-VT) office, Ms. Brunner submitted official congressional testimony in support of the EB-5 Program. She works closely with Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide in their efforts to make the EB-5 Program more effective. Ms. Brunner has also had the opportunity to speak at numerous conferences for industry organizations, including the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Urban Land Institute (ULI), IIUSA, SelectUSA, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), and the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA), among others. Before founding EB5 Capital, Ms. Brunner spent more than a decade working in finance and investments for both public and private organizations focused on real estate and venture capital. Her past employers include: Fannie Mae, Neighborhood Development Company, National Capital Revitalization Corporation, CORE Capital Partners, and Public Financial Management. Ms. Brunner is a graduate of Brown University and holds a Master’s Degree in Policy and Economics from Princeton University, where she studied under Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve. She also earned a Certificate in Urban Planning from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.

Ari Firoozabadi has a simple philosophy: clients are best served by a tightly integrated, collaborative, and conflict-free platform. This philosophy defines Greysteel and ensures that all interests are aligned so the full resources and relations of the firm and its professionals are leveraged on each engagement. He is recognized as an authority on middle market and institutionally owned real estate and finance. As Chief Executive Officer, Ari is responsible for defining and implementing Greysteel’s strategic vision as well as overseeing the company’s service lines, practice groups, and operations. Some of Ari’s recent industry acknowledgements include: Real Estate Forum’s 50 under 40, Washington Business Journal 40 under 40, ALM’s Best Bosses, NAIOP’s Developing Leaders Award, SmartCEO’s Future 50 Award, and GMU’s Prominent Patriot in Business. Ari graduated from George Mason University where he earned his B.S in Finance and Marketing. He is a Finance Committee Member at the National Multifamily Housing Council (MNHC), an International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) member, and a Young President’s Organization (YPO) member. Ari is actively philanthropic, supporting numerous charities across the United States and driving the firm and its professionals to do the same in the communities the company serves.

Mr. Mendelson founded Metropolis Capital Advisors in 2009 to help his clients find the scarce capital available as a result of the Wall Street meltdown when traditional sources of financing dried up and powerhouses such as Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns folded. Since starting Metropolis, Mr. Mendelson has executed on more than $150mm of equity and several billion dollars of mezzanine and senior debt. Mr. Mendelson brings more than 30 years of real estate finance and sales experience to the Metropolis team. From 2002 to mid-2009, Mr. Mendelson led the Structured Finance Group at Transwestern, one of the largest privately held commercial real estate and development firms in the U.S. During this time, Cliff completed more than $3 billion of transactions, including the $550 million Solaris Residences development in Vail, Colorado, the $500 million recapitalization of 237 Park Avenue, a $155 million movie theater portfolio, the $110 million acquisition financing of an eight-property retail portfolio sold by Regency Centers to Spectrum Realty, and the sale of a $20 million rake bond on a luxury hotel in Los Angeles, CA. From 1996 to 2001, Mr. Mendelson was with CB Richard Ellis, where he headed the east coast hotel brokerage group and simultaneously ran the Mid-Atlantic and New York City real estate finance division of CB’s subsidiary, LJ Melody & Company. During this time, he completed the financing of several high profile structured deals, generally providing clients with equity or mezzanine portions of their capital structure. From 1993 to 1996, Mr. Mendelson was with Transwestern’s predecessor, The Carey Winston Company, where he started the hotel brokerage division of the firm. During his tenure with Carey Winston, in that period, he closed more than 20 transactions, comprised of various deal structures including sales, debt, equity and mezzanine, as well as the restructuring of bankrupt or distressed entities. Education/Licenses 1988 – Syracuse University Instructor – Structured Finance course for the Masters in Real Estate Program at Georgetown University Licensed Real Estate Agent in the District of Columbia, the State of Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Virginia

Julie Wolfington currently serves as the Energy & Sustainability Leader for Boland, and leads the Applied Building Insights (ABI) team responsible for using data and analytics to provide insights for continuous improvement and constant visibility into buildings. Julie is responsible for developing Boland’s digital services offering and positioning Boland as an Energy, Sustainability, & Smart Buildings leader, promoting HVAC best practices & innovative design, educating the local market, and moving the industry forward in reducing CO2e emissions in buildings. Prior to her current role, Julie served as Business Transformation Leader. Julie led the development, design and implementation of new sales & fulfillment processes, and conducted cross functional brainstorming sessions & innovation exercises across the company to inspire creative thinking and collaborative ideas around Boland’s new vision. Before serving as Business Transformation Leader, Julie was an Energy Solutions Specialist and Account Executive for Boland. She was responsible for business and project development of large energy solutions projects, working with clients such as the US Department of State, International Monetary Fund, Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority, FDIC, agencies within the Intelligence Community, as well as commercial real estate, schools, healthcare and other markets. Julie holds a BS degree in Industrial Engineering and minor in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Prior to joining Boland in 2005, Julie worked as a Sales Engineer with Johnson Controls in Nashville, TN. During this time, Julie co-founded the Middle TN USGBC (US Green Building Council) Chapter and served as Chairperson for two years.