Opening Keynote

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey

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  Jacob Frey

  Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey grew up in northern Virginia and went to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia on a track scholarship. After graduating with a degree in government, he began running professionally while attending law school at Villanova University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That’s when he came to Minneapolis to run the Twin Cities Marathon and when he fell in love with the city. The day after graduating, he drove 1,200 miles west to Minneapolis, his chosen home. As an employment and civil rights attorney, Jacob became an active community organizer. In 2011, he led efforts to launch the Big Gay Race, which raised over $250,000 to help defeat the proposed Minnesota constitutional amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman. He also became involved in advocacy for those experiencing homelessness, helping tenants who lost their homes in North Minneapolis. In 2012, the City of Minneapolis awarded its inaugural Martin Luther King, Jr. Award to Jacob for his civil rights work. Jacob successfully ran to represent the Third Ward on the city council in 2013. As a Council Member, Jacob focused on constituent services, increasing residential growth, growing the number and variety of small and local businesses, and fully funding affordable housing. Since his election as Mayor in 2017, Jacob has championed an agenda centered on increasing access to affordable housing throughout the city, strengthening community-police relations, and fueling economic growth through inclusive policies. He has successfully secured record-setting investments for the city’s affordable housing work, boosting efforts to expand and preserve affordable housing. Jacob has worked with Police Chief Medaria Arradondo to shift the department’s culture, enhance accountability, and prioritize officer wellness. From strengthening the police department’s body camera policy to overhauling the department’s use of force policy, Jacob has been persistent in improving public safety in Minneapolis. And to help bridge the city’s racial disparities, the mayor has targeted resources where they’re needed most to accelerate economic growth. He worked with his Council Colleagues to establish seven new Cultural Districts, areas prioritized for investment. To help ensure more entrepreneurs of color have a fair shot at owning their property, he created a first-of-its-kind Commercial Property Development Fund to target resources to neighborhoods that have historically experienced disinvestment. Jacob lives on the Eastside of Minneapolis with his wife, Sarah Clarke. Sarah practices government relations with a focus on early childhood education.

  Minneapolis

  Mayor

  Keynote

  Jacob Frey

  Mayor

  Minneapolis

Opening Discussion: The Key Economic Trends Shaping Minneapolis CRE

Ron Wirtz, Regional Outreach Director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis shares his outlook for the region.

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  Ron Wirtz

  Director, Regional Outreach

  Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

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  Megan Rogers

  Megan Rogers advises local and national clients on legal and policy issues impacting land use, zoning, real estate, municipal law, regulatory matters and mining. Before joining Larkin Hoffman, she served as counsel to cities in south Florida and most recently as an assistant city attorney for the city of Bloomington, MN. Megan is a trusted advisor on board governance, real estate development, public financing, and transactional real estate matters for both private clients and municipalities.

  Larkin Hoffman

  Shareholder

  Moderator

  Megan Rogers

  Shareholder

  Larkin Hoffman

Building the Northstar Center

The team behind the Northstar Center share the keys to its success.

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  Chris Sherman

  President

  Sherman Associates

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  Matthew Legge

  Principal

  Polaris Properties

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  Barry Stoffel

  Ask Barry about any of the many successful projects he’s managed and he’ll tell you, “Teamwork is everything.” Delivering an outstanding finished product is impossible without an effective and well-managed team, and Barry is skilled at bringing the right people together for the smoothest possible process. Barry holds a Construction Management degree from Mankato State University, Mankato, Minnesota as well as a minor in business. During his career as a Project Manager, quality construction, superior craftsmanship and meeting deadlines were his foremost concerns throughout the project. He takes seriously his responsibility for accurate job costing and timing, treating each job as if every client’s time and money was his own. More than just a job, construction is Barry’s calling. Today, Barry is a member of the Gardner Builders Executive Leadership Team. He also serves as a Board Member for the local non-profit Perspectives.

  Gardner Builders

  Partner and Integrator

  Barry Stoffel

  Partner and Integrator

  Gardner Builders

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  Jake Saufley

  Jake Saufley advises businesses, developers, and property owners in land use, zoning, transactional, and development matters. He assists clients seeking approvals for regulatory and licensing matters, including liquor licensing. Jake also assists in homeowners association and landlord-tenant matters. Jake's strength lies in his versatility and the depth of his experience with real estate and local governments. He has served as a city attorney for several municipalities in the west metro, as real estate counsel for private developers and investors and has maintained a general real estate practice for individuals and small businesses. Jacob has experience handling a wide variety of issues including negotiating and drafting developer's agreements, purchase agreements, AIA-series contracts, lease agreements, easements, conditional use permits, variances, lot splits and boundary line adjustments, amending special assessment agreements, as well as assisting with a variety of zoning actions and code interpretations.

  Larkin Hoffman

  Attorney

  Moderator

  Jake Saufley

  Attorney

  Larkin Hoffman

Modernizing Development and Building Consensus

Assembling the project team, working with community leaders, and best practices for collaboration

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  Heidi Swank

  Dr. Heidi Swank is the executive director of Rethos, a historic preservation nonprofit based in Minnesota and working across six states and growing. She received her BA from Hamline University and Ph.D. in anthropology from Northwestern University. Dr. Swank grew up in the St. Croix Valley and moved back to Minnesota from Las Vegas, NV in January 2021. In Nevada, she started Nevada’s first statewide historic preservation nonprofit and served four terms in the Nevada Legislature chairing the Natural Resources Committee and General Government Subcommittee of Ways and Means. Under Dr. Swank’s leadership, Rethos has seen a growth in their real estate program into new states, expansion into the heritage tourism sector, and launched education offerings on deconstruction and reuse. Heidi is a member of the National Preservation Partners Network Executive Committee and Chair of the Mendota Heights Natural Resources Commission. She is happy to be back in her home region and looks forward to identifying more partners for Rethos and extending the nonprofit’s work to support more communities.

  Rethos

  Executive Director

  Heidi Swank

  Executive Director

  Rethos

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  Evan Doran

  President

  Doran Properties Group

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  Alicia Belton

  Founding Principal

  Urban Design Perspectives

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  Bryan Huntington

  Bryan Huntington represents clients in enforcing property rights, including landowners and contractors involved in litigation and negotiations against governmental subdivisions (such as counties, cities, and townships) and government agencies. His work covers eminent domain, inverse condemnation, zoning, administrative law, and payment disputes. Bryan also litigates contract disputes and is dedicated to obtaining justice for clients when misrepresentations are made about real property conditions during real estate transactions. His clients include developers, landowners, contractors, builders, surety companies, condominium owners, landlords, and tenants. Additionally, Bryan is a Rule 114 qualified neutral (mediator) in Minnesota

  Larkin Hoffman

  Shareholder

  Moderator

  Bryan Huntington

  Shareholder

  Larkin Hoffman

Interest Rates, Redevelopment, and Looking Ahead: Previewing 2025

What's next in making the Twin Cities a place to call home?

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  Connor McCarthy

  Current Responsibilities As Vice President of Industrial Development at United Properties, Connor is responsible for the company’s industrial development and acquisition activities in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota market. In his role, he leads the project teams through land acquisition, due diligence, municipal entitlement, design, construction, stabilization, and disposition. Past Experience Connor joined United Properties in 2015. For his first two years at the company, Connor worked as an Investment Analyst in which he performed underwriting and financial modeling for office, industrial, retail, and hotel development projects. He began leading industrial development projects in 2018. Since that time, Connor has developed approximately 2,500,000 square feet of industrial space throughout the Twin Cities. Professional and Community Involvement Connor spent time as a board member of the NAIOP Minnesota Chapter and served as the Chair of the NAIOP Developing Leaders in 2020. In recent years, he has served as a volunteer instructor for Urban Land Institute (ULI) facilitating several real estate development and financial analysis courses. In 2021, Connor was the recipient of the Minnesota Real Estate Journal’s Emerging Leader of the Year award. Education Connor earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Real Estate at the University of St. Thomas.

  United Properties

  VP, Industrial Development

  Connor McCarthy

  VP, Industrial Development

  United Properties

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  Paul Mellblom

  A registered architect and MSR Design principal, Paul regularly designs buildings for nonprofit, mission-driven clients. He designs workplaces, public broadcasting facilities, affordable housing, and luxury homes with a passion for creating healthy, highly sustainable, beautiful places that enhance the human condition. Paul actively donates his time, including currently serving on Tulane University’s Center for Public Service Advisory Board, on several committees for the Minnesota Museum of American Art, and a three-year term on the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission. He has led a wide mix of design teams on projects that have received notable recognition, including a national US Green Building Council (USGBC) Malcolm Lewis IMPACT Award and national Urban Land Institute (ULI) Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award, as well as several state historic and affordable housing awards. Paul received the 2013 AIA Minnesota Louis Lundgren Award for his exemplary volunteerism and was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows in 2021 for his life’s work focused on supporting historically underserved people as a citizen architect who consistently improves lives through design excellence and by saying yes when asked to help a good cause.

  MSR Design

  Principal

  Paul Mellblom

  Principal

  MSR Design

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  Erin Fitzgerald

  Erin Fitzgerald is the Founder and CEO of Willow Peak, with over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate. She has transformed 10 million square feet of office space nationwide through her expertise in property repositioning. Her career began in Minneapolis’ North Loop and Warehouse District, where she developed skills in leasing, sales, tenant representation, and public-private partnerships. Erin advanced to CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate firm, and later became a partner at Transwestern, where she led the downtown leasing team to market leadership and executed high-profile repositioning projects as the national amenity expert, before focusing on office investment sales in JLL Capital Markets. Erin also leads the Minneapolis Renaissance Coalition, a public-private partnership with over 150 organizations focused on revitalizing downtown Minneapolis. Erin’s diverse experience drives Willow Peak’s innovative vision and growth in property acquisition and repositioning.

  Willow Peak

  Founder and CEO

  Erin Fitzgerald

  Founder and CEO

  Willow Peak

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  Jay Bhakta

  With a laser focus on expansion, Jay has sourced more than $200 million worth of acquisitions and developments since JR Hospitality was founded in 2008. With an out of the box methodology, Jay negotiates and executes development projects, franchising, construction processes and acquisition opportunities.

  JR Hospitality

  Managing Partner

  Jay Bhakta

  Managing Partner

  JR Hospitality

• Moderator

  Connor Danford

  Senior Business Developer, CPA

  Wipfli