Alexandria State of the Market

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.

Austin Flajser is in charge of day-to-day operations of The Carr Companies with over 40 executive suite, hotel, commercial and retail assets under management in 8 markets across the country. These assets account for over $180M in annual operating revenue and over $200M of new projects currently in the development pipeline. Austin received his Bachelor of Science from Vanderbilt University, his Masters in Real Estate from Georgetown University and his Certificate in Hotel Real Estate Investments and Asset Management from Cornell University.

Sean is the Senior Managing Director, Mid-Atlantic, where he manages the company's development activity for the Mid-Atlantic region. Prior to this position, Sean served as a Managing Director. During his career, Sean has been involved in the entitlement, development and construction of over 3,000 multifamily units. Prior to joining Mill Creek, Sean was a Managing Director for Trammell Crow Residential where he was responsible for all phases of the development process for both rental and for-sale multifamily communities. Prior to joining Trammell Crow, Sean was a Senior Project Manager with the civil engineering firm of VIKA, Inc. In this role, Sean’s responsibilities included the design, coordination, management, and approval of multiple development projects throughout the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area. Projects varied from 500 unit multifamily development projects to 200,000 sf commercial redevelopment projects. Sean received his Bachelor of Science Degree from George Mason University in Civil Engineering and his MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He is a member of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association (NVBIA), the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). He also has served in various capacities with the Northern Virginia Chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

Mr. Ginivan has over 10 years of experience in real estate finance and development. Prior to joining The JBG Companies in 2011, Mr. Ginivan was as an Associate at FBR Capital Markets in their Real Estate Investment Banking group. Mr. Ginivan is a board member of the Rosslyn Business Improvement District and is a member of NAIOP and ULI. Mr. Ginivan’s favorite JBG Cares organization to work with is A-SPAN. B.A. Political Economy, Cum Laude, Princeton University

David Kitchens serves as Principal-in-Charge of Cooper Carry's Alexandria, Virginia office. In 30+ years of service with Cooper Carry, David has led mixed-use design efforts on a variety of award-winning projects including Mizner Park in Boca Raton, Florida. This mixed-use development has been recognized by a variety of organizations including the AIA, which bestowed upon it the Excellence of Design Award. David's work includes Bethesda Row in Bethesda, Maryland, which was awarded the Best Block in America 2002 by The Congress for New Urbanism, the Excellence Award from the Urban Land Institute and the DC/MD NAIOP Award of Excellence for Best Smart Growth Master Plan. David grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, receiving Bachelors and Masters degrees in Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His graduate studies concentrated on urban design and pedestrian urban spaces. He participates on AIA and ULI-sponsored Urban Design Assistance teams, making recommendations to cities for downtown redevelopment and transit-oriented development. Recent work includes regional and national projects in Dublin, OH; Bridgeport, CT; and Nashville, TN. Notable projects in the Washington, DC area include redevelopment planning and design at Landmark Mall and Oakville Triangle in Alexandria, VA; and the redevelopment of Ballston Mall and Crystal City in Arlington, VA. He has also recently completed the design of the Woodley in Washington, DC and Halstead Tower, in Alexandria, VA. David is active in the Urban Land Institute and serves on the national Public/Private Partnership Council, is an active participant on regional Technical Assistance Panels (TAPs) and is the Chair of the Baltimore/DC regional Transit Oriented Development Council. He is active the DC/MD Chapter of NAIOP and serves as chair of the Annual Awards for Excellence Committee. In his professional career, David’s central goal is to create great buildings and environments in connecting communities where people develop relationships as they live, work, play and learn.

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.

Mindy Lyle has spent 29 years in the development, design, and construction industry in increasingly senior positions spanning business development, marketing, and communications. In her current role as Director of Business Development at Leo A. Daly, she is responsible for a range of markets including public and institutional, corporate/commercial, K-12 education, and healthcare. Prior to this, she was Vice President of Business Development at Haley & Aldrich, Director of Business Development at Clark Construction, and Director of Marketing for William H. Gordon Associates. She also led Connections Marketing Associates for 12 years, acting as a business development and marketing consultant for development, design, and construction firms nationwide. Ms. Lyle is an active member of the City of Alexandria Planning Commission, where she was chair of the Eisenhower West Small Area Plan Advisory Group. Currently, she chairs the Eisenhower West/Landmark Van Dorn Implementation Work Group. She is a member of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Board of Directors, the Society of College and University Planners (SCUP), Lambda Alpha, an honorary professional society for the advancement of land economics, and the Eisenhower Partnership.

Stephen is a Founding Principal of Urban Alfandre and brings over 16 years of real estate acquisition, development, finance, and operational experience to the company. Recently he led the acquisition and development efforts for the Toll Brothers City Living office in Washington DC where he sourced all types of urban residential deals in multiple submarkets. Prior to Toll Brothers, Stephen worked with the Bozzuto Group where he managed multiple infill residential developments. He also spent time working in various real estate consulting and development roles in Salt Lake City prior to moving back east. Stephen received an MBA in real estate and entrepreneurship from Georgetown University and a bachelors degree in Urban Planning from Brigham Young University. He has served as a panelist on multiple DC-area real estate expert panels - including three times with Bisnow - and has also been featured in real estate articles in the Washington Post, Washington Business Journal, and Wall Street Journal. Stephen grew up in the Washington DC area and now lives in the greater Salt Lake City area with his wife and five children.

Evan Pritchard is a member of Venable's Real Estate practice, where he focuses on securing zoning and land use approvals for developers and landowners in jurisdictions throughout Northern Virginia, including Arlington, Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, and the City of Falls Church, among others. He advises clients on state and federal legislation and regulations affecting real estate development and important changes to local jurisdictions' comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances. His clients include mixed-use project developers, large corporate clients as well as some work for nonprofits and churches. Prior to joining Venable, Mr. Pritchard spent nearly a decade at a Northern Virginia land use and development firm. An experienced litigator, he worked with the Environment & Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, serving as lead counsel on 25 civil cases in federal court. SIGNIFICANT MATTERS Secured unanimous approval for Rosslyn Plaza Phased Development Site Plan in Arlington. Secured three site plan amendments for Ballston Quarter in Arlington. Secured multiple special exceptions in Fairfax. Secured multiple mixed-use, transit-oriented site plan approvals in Arlington. Represented landowners in multiple rezonings to the Planned Tysons Corner (PTC) Urban District. Represented multiple landowners and applicants before the Fairfax City Council and Board of Architectural Review (BAR) on various projects.

Whether cheering on Washington’s warriors on the ice and the gridiron or rebranding a website for the federal government, Joseph Ney infuses passion and creativity into everything he does. Joseph leads Reingold’s award-winning team of graphic designers, artists, video producers, and digital design specialists, providing guidance and insight from concept to completion. His comprehensive approach to developing advertising campaigns, video and print collateral, and promotional materials applies proven best practices to advance communications goals in memorable, high-impact products. Before sporting Reingold (and Capitals) red here in the DMV, Joseph worked as an art director for industry powerhouse Foote, Cone & Belding in New York, then the largest U.S. advertising agency. Before starting as a creative on Madison Avenue, he studied at two of the finest commercial art schools in the country, The Creative Circus and Portfolio Center, both in Atlanta, and also received formal artistic training at Atelier Lucio Loubet in Paris and in the Washington studios of Ned Bittinger. Joseph blends his creative background with analytic rigor. He earned an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business with a concentration in marketing and communications. He has a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, with course work at Paris-Sorbonne University. Joseph teaches creativity in Georgetown University’s Integrated Marketing Communications graduate program and is on the board of Fishing Cures and the Military Family Advisory Network. Born in D.C. and raised in Maryland, Joseph currently lives in Fairfax County with his wife, Michele; son, Jainen; and daughter, Tara.

​​​​Danielle Romanetti is the founder and CEO of fibre space™, which specializes in unique yarns from independent and local sources. Danielle’s emphasis on experience and collaboration with local businesses has created a brand that is widely recognized. fibre space™ has been awarded Business of the Year by the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and Best New Retail Store and Best Craft Supply Store by the Washington City Paper. Danielle serves on the board of the Boutique District and was key to the creation of Alexandria Black Friday. She is a member of the Chamber’s Government Relations Committee. She served on the Old Town Area Parking Study Workgroup and the Ad-hoc Group for Signs. She is also a member of the exploratory committee for the creation of a business improvement district on King Street.

Melissa Webb is Executive Director of Brokerage of Rappaport, where she provides both tenant representation and landlord leasing services throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. With over 20 years of experience, she is an expert in leasing a variety of retail formats, including shopping centers, mixed-use residential projects and ground-floor retail in urban locations. Melissa works closely with landlords to enhance their tenant mix and to increase the overall cash flow and value of the property. She has represented many of the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area’s most prominent real estate companies and developers, including Clarion Partners, Equity Residential, Carr Properties, Penzance, Boston Properties and PN Hoffman. As a tenant representative, Melissa works with businesses to target sites that offer the precise demographics, location, traffic counts and other specifications necessary for a successful retail location. Some of her notable transactions include leases with H&M, TJ Maxx, Office Depot and Nordstrom Rack. Her clients within the Washington, D.C. market include Subway Real Estate Corporation, Buffalo Wild Wings and Darden Restaurants. Completing more than 300 banking transactions throughout her career, Melissa also has extensive expertise with banking clients, including acquisitions, dispositions, lease renewals, terminations and subleases. She has worked with NationsBank, Bank of America, Riggs Bank and PNC Bank. Before joining Rappaport, Melissa was an assistant vice president of retail leasing for VornadoCharles E. Smith. She has worked for CB Commercial and Federal Realty Investment Trust as well. Melissa is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, Women in Retail Real Estate and serves on the Board of Directors for Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP).

Robin W. Hilliard is the Managing Director – Merchandising & Leasing at Asana Partners. Hilliard has 35 years of retail real estate experience in merchandising, leasing, site selection, asset management, and demographic analysis. Hilliard has worked in each of the top 75 MSAs in the United States. Prior to Asana Partners, Hilliard was the Vice President of Real Estate for Pure Barre, an L Catterton portfolio company and one of the nation’s leading fitness brands with over 450 locations. While at Pure Barre, Hilliard directed the national roll out of more than 260 stores with overall responsibility for expansion planning, GIS analysis, site selection, and lease negotiation. Store openings were concentrated in urban locations including street retail and infill neighborhood centers. Representative urban neighborhoods targeted in the Pure Barre site selection process include Financial District (New York), Williamsburg (Brooklyn), Cathedral Heights (Washington, DC), Inman Park (Atlanta), The Gulch (Nashville), Uptown (Dallas), and Santa Monica (Los Angeles). Additional portfolio companies of L Catterton include, or have included, Restoration Hardware, Fly Wheel, Caribou Coffee, Chopt, Corepower Yoga, and Pirch. Prior to Pure Barre, Hilliard was a Vice President and Regional Director of Leasing of Weingarten Realty, a $6.5 billion publicly traded retail REIT based in Houston, Texas, where she opened and expanded a major regional office. She oversaw a four million square foot portfolio of retail properties, with responsibilities including leasing activity, asset management, property management, development, and construction. Prior to Weingarten, Hilliard worked at Blockbuster Video where she was directly responsible for the site selection, lease negotiations, and store openings for nearly 200 stores over a six-year period. Hilliard is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Stephanie is President & CEO of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP). Appointed by the Board of Directors in April 2015, Stephanie has held leadership roles in the organization since 2005. In her position, Stephanie provides strategic and financial oversight to two hosted organizations: SBDC and Capitol Post. She also offers advice and information to the Alexandria City Council, Planning Commission and City Departments. Stephanie serves in various capacities on Boards, Commissions and Committees related to economic development, marketing and business throughout the Washington, DC region. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Science in City & Regional Planning from the University of Virginia, and an MBA from the UVA's Darden School of Business. As an Alexandrian, Stephanie’s favorite thing about the city is the diversity of new boutique fitness studios and restaurants opening up all around

Nina M. Albert serves as the Commissioner of the Public Buildings Service (PBS) at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). As PBS Commissioner, she manages the nationwide asset management, design, construction, leasing, building management and disposal of approximately 371 million square feet of government-owned and leased space across the United States and six territories. Albert brings 20 years of experience in public real estate disposition, public-private partnership negotiations, economic revitalization, and sustainable development to GSA. Albert most recently served as Vice President of Real Estate and Parking at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), where she managed a multi-billion dollar real estate portfolio. While working at the District Department of Environment, Albert led the design and development of a first-of-its-kind $250 million energy efficiency financing program targeting commercial and multi-family property owners. As the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative Manager, she oversaw a $1.3 billion redevelopment project in Washington D.C., including a 2,800-acre waterfront revitalization program. A military veteran, Albert served as a first lieutenant and Company Executive Officer of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Albert holds a Master of Business Administration and Master of City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University.

A lifelong resident of Arlington, Va. Bob has spent his 45-year career in commercial banking in Arlington and the Washington Metro area where he has held Senior lending positions, and more recently is the Market President of the Arlington/Alexandria region, with a staff of 12 and approximately $1 billion in loans serviced in this market. In addition to his professional career he has helped to build the community through making time to serve in many professional and community organizations. Chief among them as founder and Chairman of the Board of Leadership Arlington, Director and Chairman of the Board of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and Director of the Arlington Community Foundation.