Bisnow's Hurricane Harvey Construction & Development Summit

Ryan McCord joined McCord in 2003 and has served as President since 2008. Founded in 1973, McCord is a leader in commercial real estate and has a great track record of success in urban infill and green field development. Since joining MDI, Ryan has led more than three-quarters of a billion dollars of transactions in office, retail, multi-family, condo, bond, and land throughout Texas and across the country. Today, Ryan’s focus is on developing Generation Park, the newest and largest master planned economic center in Houston. Located on Beltway 8 in the Lake Houston area, over $500MM / 2MM SF of Office, Retail, Civic, and Industrial have been constructed in Generation Park since breaking ground in 2014. Hospitality and Multi-family are set to start construction in 2017. At 4,000 acres Generation Park is by far the largest contiguous property on Beltway 8, has the most frontage (2.5 miles) and is the closest to Downtown, both airports, all major sporting venues, and the Texas Medical Center. McCord takes seriously the stewardship owed to such a significant development opportunity in the Greater Houston Area and is focused on creating the greatest possible value for the entire region. Prior to joining McCord, Ryan served as Risk Manager for GE Capital Real Estate in Tokyo and participated in over $2 billion of equity and debt transactions in Japan, Taiwan, China, Korea and the Czech Republic. Ryan holds a B.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and currently serves on the board of the Herman Park Conservancy.

Robert Fields leads all new development and project management activities for the firm. His project experience includes corporate headquarters, commercial office developments, multifamily properties, mixed-use development and hospitality projects. He is personally hands-on with all projects, commencing with due diligence and financial modeling, then continuing through design and into construction. During his career, Mr. Fields has been involved in the development of over $3 billion in real estate, including over 5 million square feet of corporate facilities. Mr. Fields received his M.B.A. from the University of Houston and a Bachelor of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University.

Jennifer joined DPR Construction in 2014 to pursue the things she is most passionate about: problem solving, working with others in a collaborative environment, and building meaningful places that benefit our communities. She specializes in working with clients upfront, when the project is just a concept or simple idea, and being able to work together with a team to provide a project that will exceed their expectations. With 17 years of experience, Jennifer has worked on some of Houston’s most notable life science projects, including the Rice Bioscience Research Collaborative, the first Moon Shot project for MD Anderson, and Bellicum Pharmaceuticals phases III, IV, and V at Life Science Plaza. Jennifer is one of the Business Unit Leaders for DPR’s Central region, with a focus on Building Great Things in Houston. She holds a B.S. in Construction Management from Texas A&M University.

In his role as Vice President at Hartman REIT, David is responsible for spearheading Houston office leasing operations for the fast-growing REIT based in Houston, TX. As the market expert, he works to increase occupancy through various marketing initiatives, tenant retention campaigns, and broker outreaches. David oversees deal negotiations and strategy for his portfolio and leads a team of real estate agents. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS David has been active in commercial real estate for over 12 years and has transacted over 6 million square feet of office, retail, and industrial space. Throughout David’s career he has used tenacity and unique insight to deliver simple and effective solutions to complex challenges. As a lifelong learner, David is always looking for ways to improve himself and help those around him do the same. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS/RECOGNITION David is a licensed Real Estate Broker in both Texas and Florida and a member of NAIOP. EDUCATION David received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton FL.

William Wagasy grew up in Missouri. A former Outside Linebacker and Special Teams player for the University of Notre Dame under Coach Lou Holtz from 1992-1996, he graduated with an accounting degree and a second major in philosophy in 1996. He went on to receive his Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine University in 2000 and his Master’s degree in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine in 2001. Following the attacks of September 11th, he enlisted in the navy. He is a decorated U.S. Navy S.E.A.L. having completed four combat tours from 2002-2012, three to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and one to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In the SEAL Teams his specialties included being a lead sniper, a lead breacher, a JTAC, and a lead navigator. After his time in the navy he served as the Director of Veteran's Outreach for the Gary Sinise Foundation and continues to be an official ambassador for the foundation as well as sitting on the Advisory Board for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, the Board Council for Hope for the Warriors, the West Coast Host Committee for the Navy SEAL Foundation and also on the Selection Committee for the Orange County Community Foundation's veteran initiative. Today he is the Vice President of National Sales, National Commercial Services for Commonwealth Land Title Company as well as for Fidelity National Title Group for Home Builder Services. He provides national commercial services for national accounts and major projects from coast to coast and has current accounts in New York, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Colorado, Washington D.C. and California. He also is an active Inspirational and Motivational Public Speaker, having spoken on Patriot Tour with Marcus Luttrell of Lone Survivor, as well as to major corporations such as, imortgage, Shea Homes, Tri Pointe, Allied Building, Zellman Associates, and Orbis, as well as Universities and sports teams to include Texas A&M Football Team, Ohio State Football Team, Pepperdine Law School, and the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team, just to name a few.

Deniese Palmer-Huggins began her career financing international and domestic energy transactions at Banque Paribas, Houston (now BNP Paribas). In 1983, she joined the finance department of Transworld Oil, an international and domestic energy trading company and was promoted to Treasurer in 1987. During her tenure at the company, she was part of the acquisition team when the company purchased the refining and other assets of ARCO in the eastern U.S. In 1992, she joined Bayoil (U.S.A.), Inc., an international energy trading firm, as its Treasurer where she was responsible for financing the company’s activities in the Middle East and Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. In 1997, she joined the New York Mercantile Exchange to head up the Houston office of this commodity exchange where she was responsible for marketing the exchange and its energy derivatives. In 2002, she joined Prudential Financial Derivatives, LLC to head up its Houston office and help it expand its energy derivative trading and clearing business. In 2005, she joined Sun Coast Resources, one of the largest privately held companies in Houston, as its VP of Finance as part of the company’s growth strategy. In 2013, she joined the Center for Energy Economics at the University of Texas at Austin as a Senior Advisor on Energy focusing on the midstream in addition to other energy consulting projects.