Washington D.C. Region's Office Market Update

Katie Lenss is Managing Director for Rockefeller Group. In this role, Ms. Lenss directs the development process for the company’s joint venture projects in the Mid-Atlantic region with a focus on executing future mixed-use and industrial developments in Washington, D.C., and throughout the region. Representative projects include 1901 L Street NW, a 200,000 square foot office redevelopment that delivered in 2020, and 600 5th Street NW, the upcoming redevelopment of WMATA’s headquarters into a 400,000 square foot trophy quality commercial office building. Ms. Lenss was previously a director for Hines. While at Hines, her projects included 1213 Walnut Street, a 322-unit 26-story multifamily high-rise in Center City, Philadelphia, and The Residences at CityCenter, a $200 million condominium project in downtown Washington, D.C. Prior to joining Hines, she worked for Host Hotels & Resorts in asset management; for PM Hotel Group as Director of Facilities for a portfolio of 15 Hilton/Starwood Hotels; and for Gateway Hospitality Group, where she was a financial and development analyst. Ms. Lenss has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a master’s degree from The Wharton School.

Catherine Heath is the Founder and CEO of HYL Architecture, providing vision and strategy and overseeing all operations of the firm out of both offices in Washington, DC and New York, NY. Catherine is recognized as a design leader by her industry peers, elected to the International Interior Design Association's College of Fellows in 2021. Her design career has included a leadership role on some of the most notable corporate headquarters, law firm, and government agency projects in the US and abroad. Catherine has worked at scales ranging from 1,000 to more than 4 million square feet. Projects under her direction have won more than 30 design awards and been published in numerous design and business books and periodicals. She was featured in the book Women in Design published by Interior Design Magazine, and was included in the Built By Women exhibit at the National Building Museum. Catherine has established herself as an international leader in law firm workplace strategy. She is also highly valued for her abilities to dissect complex programs and help craft buildings from the inside out. She has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the ABA Journal and has been published in Legal Management. Catherine holds a MArch degree from University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. Arch degree from the University of Virginia. She is a licensed architect in DC, VA, MD, DE, PA, IL and NY. Outside of the office, she is heavily involved in CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women), and will be President-Elect of the 600 member DC Chapter in 2024. In 2017, Catherine won the CREW Annual Achievement Award, and in 2011 she was Co-Chair of Programs for the CREW National Convention. HYL Architecture is a full service boutique architecture firm. HYL designs work environments that help individuals succeed and organizations soar. The firm’s focus is on creating destination workplaces and renovations to the buildings in which they are located. HYL’s expertise in the operational and cultural issues that drive real estate decisions for corporate, and professional services clients is sought

Craig joined Marx Realty as its President and CEO in 2017 and has been responsible for growing the company as well as streamlining the company’s strategy by focusing on value-add office investments in three core markets: New York City, Washington D.C. and Atlanta. Craig is also charged with repositioning Marx’s entire portfolio as well as growing the Marx team and profitability. Over his 25-year career, Craig has vast experience in every aspect of the real estate industry and believes in a very hands-on approach. Prior to Marx, he held senior roles at both private equity and private development companies, including redeveloping over 50 assets in major markets across the country with a particular emphasis on NY and DC. Craig’s projects have received various awards from industry groups such as NAIOP, BOMA, Globe St., Crain’s, Washington Business Journal and AIA. He has been interviewed as a thought and innovation leader in several features in the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Bloomberg and on CNBC, and was selected as one of the Real Estate Forum’s Best Bosses of 2019. Craig was named to the 2020 Commercial Observer’s Power 100 List. Craig previously practiced law in the real estate and litigation departments at Skadden before transitioning to the business side of the industry. Craig graduated Cum Laude from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business (where he currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Advisory Board) and earned a J.D. at Fordham University’s School of Law. Craig serves on the Mixed-Use Council of the Urban Land Institute and on the Strategic Advisory Council of Shadow Ventures, a venture capital firm specializing in PropTech investments.

Mr. Dooley originally joined Tishman Speyer in 2001 to lead its regional leasing efforts in the DC Metro area. Since rejoining in 2019, he has been responsible for leading leasing and asset strategy for our DC Metro portfolio and our expansion markets in the Southeast: Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham and Nashville. Prior to rejoining Tishman Speyer, Mr. Dooley was the Chief Operating Officer with Carr Properties where he ran their Leasing, Marketing, Property Management, Asset Management and Construction Management groups. With over 35 years of experience in real estate, Mr. Dooley has also held roles with Trammell Crow, JMB Realty Corporation, LaSalle Partners/JLL and Savills.  Mr. Dooley currently serves on the board of CREBA, the regional association for commercial real estate brokers.  He is also active on the programs committee with CoreNet. Previously, he served on the board of Jubilee Support Alliance, an affordable housing non-profit located in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC.  He also serves as a mentor for the Rubenstein Scholars Program, an affiliate of the Economic Club of Washington, DC and CREBA.  He graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BBA in Finance.  He holds broker’s licenses in DC, MD and VA.

Dave Belford joined WeWork in September 2019 where he is currently the Senior Leasing Director for the Mid Atlantic Region. Within his role he leads all leasing and business development efforts across the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area market. Throughout his 4 year tenure at WeWork he has held several positions within both the broker development and asset leasing orgs. Prior to WeWork, Dave was a Tenant Rep Broker in the DC Metro region representing Trade Associations, Non Profit Organization and Technology Companies. He is a graduate of Boston College and resides in Chevy Chase with his wife and two daughters.

Adam is a Senior Vice President, Managing Director of the DC leasing team. Adam’s responsibilities include co-managing the Washington, D.C. leasing team, alongside Merrill Turnbull. The team brings an expert approach to marketing, leasing and sales of commercial real estate while providing clients with analysis of lease terms and market information. Adam joined Lincoln Property Company in 2006 and has completed over 3 million square feet of lease or sale transactions totaling over $1.6B in gross value representing multiple third party landlords. He also works with numerous private sector tenants on their real estate requirements. He is a licensed salesperson in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland. Adam is a graduate of Seton Hall University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and a graduate of Shepherd University with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. Adam resides in Fairfax, Virginia with his wife and four children.

Meet Dominic, a DMV native and a proud member of the Magnolia Companies family. After graduating from Towson University, Dominic joined the family business and has since become a master of his trade, with licenses in plumbing, gas fitting, HVAC, and electrical. He's passionate about mentoring the next generation of tradespeople and giving back to the community. As an executive at Magnolia Companies, Dominic is committed to providing exceptional service and quality workmanship. He's a dedicated board member of the Luminis Health Doctors Community Hospital Foundation and loves spending his free time with family and his furry friends.

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.

William M. Collins is a member of the Board of Directors at DTZ. He has more than 30 years of commercial real estate experience focused primarily in the sale of commercial real estate office buildings and land in the Washington metropolitan area. Bill works actively with institutional owners in the consultation and disposition of their real estate assets. During the past ten years, he has successfully completed more than $18 billion in investment property sales. Areas of Specialization • Investment Sales • Finance, Debt, and Equity • Land Acquisition & Disposition

Marcy Owens Test heads the CBRE Federal Lessor Advisory Group. She is a federal government expert in commercial real estate space with more than 30 years of experience. Her strength lies in managing large and complex projects on behalf of owners and investors and her success is tied to a high-level attention to detail. From her years as a GSA Contracting Officer, she has a compelling network of relationships and unmatched insight into how federal real estate transactions are executed. She is sought out by many for technical knowledge in all aspects impacting Federal real estate including market trends, investment sales, due diligence, Federal lease construction, lease administration, leasing and relationship management.

Orlando E. Gutiérrez is Director, Development for Rockefeller Group’s Mid-Atlantic Region. In this role, Mr. Gutiérrez formulates asset strategies, conducts financial analyses for new projects, and evaluates projects from both financial and broader-market perspectives. Additionally, Mr. Gutiérrez focuses on various facets of the Mid-Atlantic Region’s joint-venture development projects that include 600 5th Street NW in Washington, DC, 1901 L Street NW in Washington, DC and Boro Tower in Tysons, VA. Prior to joining Rockefeller Group, Mr. Gutiérrez worked as an Investment Banking Associate for Miami-based Pan American Finance and held a similar position with PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance in New York. He began his career in St. Petersburg, FL with Raymond James & Associates’ Real Estate Group as an Investment Banking Analyst where he gained valuable commercial real estate M&A and capital markets experience. He has also held real estate development and investment internships with Colony Capital, ASB Real Estate Investments, and 13th Floor Investments as an MBA student. Mr. Gutiérrez holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, with a dual major in Finance and Real Estate, and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida, with a major in Finance.

Nick Cumings joined the firm in 2017 and works in the Land Use and Zoning practice group in the Arlington office. He primarily focuses on securing zoning and land use entitlements, including rezonings, special permits, and special exceptions. Before joining the firm, Nick practiced for several years as an associate with the law firm of BrigliaHundley, P.C., where he focused on real estate litigation, title issues, local government, and financial services litigation. Nick earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William and Mary in 2008 and graduated from William and Mary Law School in 2011, where he was a member of the William and Mary Law Review. After Nick graduated from law school, he clerked for the honorable Michael F. Devine of the Fairfax Circuit Court. He is an active member of the Fairfax Bar Association and serves as the President-Elect of the Young Lawyers Section. Nick was also named to the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Super Lawyers Rising Stars lists for Virginia and the District of Columbia.