Southwest D.C. Surge — A Waterfront and Wharf Update

Mark Dorigan joined Hoffman & Associates in 2007. In addition to the company’s legal and corporate affairs, Dorigan focuses on the company’s acquisition pipeline and large-scale, mixed-use, public-private projects. Dorigan was responsible for the negotiation of the land disposition, development, and public financing agreements with the District of Columbia, as well as the related assemblage consolidations with adjacent stakeholders for The Wharf. Prior to joining Hoffman & Associates, Dorigan spent more than 10 years with The Mills Corporation (REIT) as real estate general counsel and co-general counsel. Prior to joining The Mills Corporation, Dorigan was a partner at McGuireWoods specializing in commercial real estate. He has an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law and a JD from Seton Hall University School of Law where he graduated with honors cum laude.

Steve Moore leads the Southwest Business Improvement District as Executive Director, connecting businesses and innovation efforts. Established in 2015, SWBID is a 480-acre cultural, government, and residential area occupying most of the SW quadrant of the District of Columbia. The SWBID employs 30 ambassadors and staff and manages several initiatives, including large-scale beautification programs, homeless outreach, weekend markets, transportation, and public art installations. Prior to working at the SWBID, Steve joined the team of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront LLC (HMW) as a leasing strategist and special projects manager. At HMW, he implemented the local leasing strategy and managed special projects for the 25-acre waterfront development on the Washington Channel. Steve also served as the President and CEO of the Washington, DC Economic Partnership, a non-profit organization promoting business and retail opportunities in the District of Columbia, and frequently worked with the Mayor's Office. Before joining the Economic Partnership, he was the Deputy Executive Director for the Downtown DC Business Improvement District. The majority of Steve's career was with The Rouse Company of Columbia, Maryland. Steve had led several forums and summits throughout his career in efforts to further economic prosperity. He has traveled extensively to study cities, tourism, transportation, climate change, event planning, and business development.

Christopher E. Donald was appointed Interim Executive Director in January 2020. As Interim Executive Director he is responsible for the overall supervision, coordination and strategic direction of the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency. Mr. Donald joined the Agency in October 2016 as the Senior Vice President of Multifamily Lending and Neighborhood Investments. He served as part of DCHFA’s senior management team. His primary responsibility was to manage the day-to-day operations of the Multifamily Lending and Neighborhood Investments (formerly Public Finance) department and assist the Executive Director & CEO with the development of multifamily programs, products, polices and strategic planning.   Mr. Donald has over 15 years of experience in real estate finance, community building, development, land entitlement and construction.  He’s entitled over 1MM square feet of mixed income, transit oriented, amenity rich housing.   Mr. Donald specializes in acquisitions, entitlement, community visioning and deal structuring.  He has completed over $1 billion in real estate financing over the course of his career and renovated over 1,000 multifamily units and entitled and underwritten almost 3,500 multifamily units throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.   Mr. Donald has also acquired and programmed commercial space for small local businesses and retailers. As the Director of Development at the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, Mr. Donald underwrote and structured $60MM in low-income housing tax credit transactions. Over the last several years he has provided underwriting services to the Office of State Superintendent for Education for the District of Columbia and financed over $300 million in improvements for public charter schools using New Markets Tax Credits, Tax Exempt Bonds and other tools. Mr. Donald began his career in finance at Lehman Brothers in the Municipal Finance Group and underwrote $200MM in revenue bonds for the District of Columbia. Prior to his tenure at DCHFA, Mr. Donald served as the Principal and Co-Founder of The Leidesdorff Group.   The Leidesdorff Group (TLG) is a diversified real estate advisory firm focused on the regeneration of urban communities within the Mid-Atlantic region.  As a principal of TLG, Mr. Donald focused on distressed and disinvested urban communities.   Mr. Donald is a member of the Urban Land Institute and serves on the Board of Directors of the African American Real Estate Professionals of DC (AAREP-DC) and the Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND). He is a graduate of Stanford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

Scott Hoffman has built his career on assisting law firms, corporations and nonprofit associations with various transaction structures, implementing some of the most complex real estate solutions in Washington and beyond. His professional, transparent approach has earned him a reputation as one of the Washington D.C. area’s most trusted commercial real estate tenant advisors. To date, Scott has completed nearly 15 million SF of real estate transactions totaling over $1 billion in total value for some of the nation’s top law firms, including Shearman & Sterling, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, Womble Bond Dickinson, and Wilkinson Walsh. Most recently, he led the team advising Williams & Connolly in their 300,000 SF relocation to Phase 2 of the new Wharf waterfront development in Southwest Washington, DC. Scott’s approach is to gain a complete understanding of each client’s business allows him to execute on the most effective ways to improve their short and long-term planning strategies. His specialties include strategic planning, benchmarking, forecasting, financial analysis, and transaction execution for leasing, acquisitions, and dispositions. Currently, Scott serves as the global account manager for Shearman & Sterling where he is regularly engaged to complete national and international assignments on their behalf. To date, he has completed assignments on four continents in 15 cities. Prior to joining the firm, Scott spent seven years at Cushman & Wakefield as a senior director. Awards, Achievements and Activities In 2006, Scott received the Greater Washington Commercial Association of Realtors(GWCAR) ‘Transaction of the Year, Northern VA’ award for his work on behalf of Conservation International. In 2007, he was honored as one of the “35 under 35” in the Washington, DC market by Bisnow. Scott also completed the Board of Trade Executive Network Training program, is a founding board member of the George Washington University Real Estate Alliance, and has served on the board of trustees for Concord Hill School in Chevy Chase, MD. Additionally, he was recognized by the board of trustees of the Washington School of Psychiatry for his pro bono work in developing and implementing a long-term real estate strategy for them in 2015-2016.

Holly Hull has more than a decade of experience in real estate development in the Washington metropolitan area and specializes in complex, urban mixed-use projects. She is Vice President of Development at Republic Properties Corporation and in this role is responsible for the planning and development of several high-profile projects in Washington, DC. Throughout her career she has participated in all aspects of development activities, including acquisition, planning, zoning and entitlements, design, finance, construction, marketing, and leasing. Prior to joining Republic in 2014, Ms. Hull was a Vice President of Development at The JBG Companies. In her eight years there, she worked on several large-scale commercial and mixed-use projects including: the American Pharmacists Association Headquarters Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC; Central Place and Rosslyn Gateway in Arlington, VA; two downtown Bethesda, MD mixed-use projects; and a 130-acre master plan/rezoning in Alexandria, VA. She successfully obtained zoning approvals for over 2 million square feet in her portfolio. Before JBG, Ms. Hull served as Director of Development at The Jenco Group, a boutique DC development firm focusing on urban sites with close proximity to Metro stations. Ms. Hull holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with concentration in Finance from Georgetown University and a Master’s in Real Estate degree from Georgetown University. She is active with local non-profits, including Arlington Street People Assistance Network (ASPAN) and Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless. She is a member of ULI, NAIOP, and CREW.

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.

After 25 years of federal service in Congress and the executive branch, Dan founded Mathews Associates LLC in 2021 as a strategic consulting and business development firm. He helps his clients navigate the highest levels of Washington and the complex world of federal real estate and government procurements to expand their revenue, identify new partners and enter new markets. In 2024, President Biden appointed Mathews to the Public Buildings Reform Board, which is tasked with making recommendations to realign the federal real estate portfolio. He also serves on the Industry Advisory Group of the US State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations. In addition, Mathews is a board member of both the Federal Real Property Association and the National Federal Development Association. He has extensive experience with federal real estate issues and served as Commissioner of the US General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service, where he led the 375 million square foot civilian real estate portfolio of the federal government, over 5,000 employees, and a $12 billion budget. Mathews graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in government and philosophy. He is married, has two daughters, and resides in Alexandria, Virginia.

Josh Posnick serves as Senior Managing Director of Capital Markets for Mill Creek Residential. His overall responsibilities include identifying, structuring, and managing equity relationships throughout the United States. Previously, Mr. Posnick served as Managing Director of Development for Mill Creek Residential in the Mid-Atlantic. He was responsible for all new multifamily community development phases, including site acquisition, design, entitlements, financing, and eventual disposition for Mill Creek Mid-Atlantic communities. Before joining Mill Creek Residential, he was a Senior Consultant in the Real Estate Advisory Practice for Deloitte LLP. During his time there, Mr. Posnick participated in domestic and international real estate valuation of over $3 billion of the multi-family, land, retail, healthcare, and office product. He focused on deal underwriting, due diligence, market analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and financial statement reporting. Before working for Deloitte, Mr. Posnick was an Investment Manager at Federal City Property Investors, LLC, a private real estate investment firm based in Washington, DC. Mr. Posnick received a Bachelor of Science in Leadership and Consumer Economics from The University of Delaware and a Master of Real Estate Finance from Georgetown University. He is a board member of BayVanguard Bank, a Maryland-based financial institution.

Whitney Loke is a Design Principal at HYL Architecture, where she has been in the firm’s top leadership group since its inception in 2014. She has over 15 years of experience in architectural interior design and workplace strategy expertise with projects ranging in size from 5,000 square feet to over 500,000 square feet. Her projects reflect each client’s unique brand and business criteria and are often at the leading edge of industry, whether it is corporate office, law firm, or association. Whitney is able to interweave all aspects of a project into a holistic design including aesthetics, materiality, work process, efficiency, and sustainability. She is well recognized nationally in the furniture industry for her knowledge of the development of new office and open plan workspace solutions. Some of her most notable projects include the 400,000 square foot New York Headquarters of White & Case, the 140,0000 square foot relocation of Urban Institute’s headquarters in Washington, DC, and she is currently leading the design of the 290,000 square foot law firm Williams & Connolly, who is relocating to The Wharf. She began her career in 2004 after completing her Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania and undergraduate Degree from James Madison University, concentrating in Interior Design. Beyond her professional experience, Whitney is an active member of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the U.S. Green Building Council (UGBC). She is a licensed Architect in both Washington, DC and Maryland and is a LEED Accredited Professional for Interior Design + Construction.

In his time on the DC Council, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen has championed legislative efforts around education, the environment, public transportation, campaign finance and elections reform, public safety, and protecting women’s health benefits. His first piece of legislation, Books From Birth, has delivered more than 431,000 books to the homes of DC families with a child under the age of 5 at no cost to the families, including enrolling 83 percent of children under the age of 5 living in communities with lower rate of literacy. It remains one of the most popular government-run programs in the city. As Ward 6 Councilmember, he’s focused his efforts on ensuring every student has a great neighborhood school, supporting small businesses, and creating more affordable housing – in the past four years, Ward 6 has created more new affordable housing than any other Ward. In the past year, Councilmember Allen led the way to pass legislation establishing a public-financing option for campaigns for DC elected office and passed major criminal justice reforms, focused especially on preventing young offenders from becoming repeat offenders. Charles serves as the Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety for the Council, overseeing the many DC agencies working in law and order, fire and EMS, elections, victim’s rights, and more. He is also Chair of the Transportation Planning Board, part of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. He lives in northeast DC with his wife Jordi, their two children Cora Neal and Everett, and their dog Olive. Most days he commutes via bus, metro, or bicycle.

Kevin Reynolds is Executive Vice President and Regional President, Director of Sales for United Bank, a subsidiary of United Bankshares, Inc. with $14 billion in assets and over 80 branches in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Formerly president and director of sales for Cardinal Financial Corporation, Kevin joined United Bank in April 2017, following its acquisition of Cardinal Bank. Prior to establishing Cardinal Bank with a select group of community bankers in 1998, he held executive and management positions with several leading area financial institutions, including George Mason Bank and American Security Bank. Kevin’s volunteer efforts, business expertise, and hands-on support have helped organizations throughout the area raise funds and awareness for their causes. His contributions have made a difference to organizations as diverse as the American Heart Association, Cornerstones, The Economic Club of Washington, DC, Rotary International, The Gladney Center for Adoption, Children’s Science Center, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Special Olympics, Homestretch and The Martin Luther King, Jr. Cultural Foundation. He serves as chairman of the United Cardinal Classic, an annual golf tournament that has raised $5.3 million to benefit Inova Kellar Center and community organizations around the area. Kevin’s contributions toward improving the quality of life in the region are widely recognized and reflect his years of service and dedication. He was elected board chairman of the 2015 World Police & Fire Games, the second largest multi-sport event in the world, surpassed only by the Summer Olympic Games. He was awarded the 2012 Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive of the Year for Large Businesses, and was finalist for the 2012 Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Executive Leader of the Year. Kevin was named the 2010 Business Citizen of the Year by the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce and was honored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2009 as one of Washington’s most outstanding fundraising volunteers. That same year, he was honored by Leadership Fairfax with a Regional Leadership Award for fundraising leadership. A graduate of The College of William and Mary, Reynolds earned an MBA in Finance/Business from The George Washington University. He lives in Oakton, Virginia with his wife, Stacey, their two children, and two golden retrievers.