The Changing Landscape of Fort Worth

While working toward a bachelor’s degree in restaurant, hotel & institutional management from Texas Tech University, Kristin Assad found her passion in hotel management through a job in hospitality at a local hotel. After graduating, Assad gained experience at the Omni Hotels in Austin and Dallas and the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek as front office manager, where she honed strong leadership skills. Then, at The Joule, a Luxury Collection Hotel, she quickly worked her way up from director of front office to director of rooms. Assad furthered her career at various additional hotel groups, finally taking on the position as general manager at The Joule & The Lumen Regional hotel group in DFW. With years of hotel experience under her belt, she joins the opening team of Hotel Drover as vice president general manager. In all aspects of her position, Assad brings her passion for people, the culture of collaboration, and the value of servant leadership, working to build a team that can’t be found anywhere else. Professionally she strives to make a home away from home for guests and to help create memories that will last a lifetime. With every action she takes, she is intentional, taking great pride in the work she does and the people she works with. Assad has previously served on the board of the Hotel Association of North Texas, the Women’s Hospitality Network, and is currently on the board of University of North Texas Hospitality. Additionally, she volunteers when she is able to for Grace Grapevine’s annual gala. Assad was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and now lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband, Ivan, and two children, Stella and Ethan. When not working, she is spending time with her family, seeking out the best dining experiences and reading as many books as possible.

A 35-year veteran of commercial real estate, hospitality and casino gaming, Craig Cavileer delivers a rare depth and breadth of experience in high profile, highly successful retail and resort projects. Craig serves as CEO of Silverton Casino Hotel in Las Vegas and as EVP of Majestic Realty Co. in Los Angeles. Since joining Silverton in January 1998, Craig has been responsible for the strategic development and operations of the resort, as well as the development of its 100-acre mixed-use, entertainment/gaming/retail destination. Craig has directed the investment of more than $300m at the resort, including multiple expansions of the casino, restaurants, entertainment, the award winning 117,000-gallon saltwater aquarium attraction and the 165,000 sf flagship Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. Innovative in its design, Silverton remains the only award winning casino/resort where large format lifestyle retail is seamlessly integrated into the gaming/entertainment experience. Recent developments at Silverton include the development of a $90m, 400-unit timeshare-hotel property located at the resort. This 4 Star all-suite resort added to the broad offerings of Silverton. Other recent developments include the addition of Panera Bread, Cracker Barrel, Blaze Pizza and Starbucks. Opening in August 2019 is the new $50m-150 room Hyatt Place Hotel. Craig’s additional accomplishments and career highlights include: • Served on the design and development team for Staples Center in Los Angeles on behalf of Majestic Realty Co. • Served as EVP at Majestic since ’93 where he has developed more than 2.5m sf of retail and entertainment projects. • Currently leading the development of the $120m Fort Worth South Business Park in Texas. • Currently leading the development of a $200m mixed-use, retail, office and Autograph Collection hotel in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. • Currently leading the development of the new Silverton Ranch / Marriott Hotel in Pahrump, NV located at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch. Craig is an active member of the community serving in a variety of leadership roles. In addition to being a board member and treasurer of the Nevada Ballet Theatre, he is a Trustee of the UNLV Foundation, a member of the Leadership Council for the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Nellis AFB Support Team (NST) board member, Honorary Commander of the 820th Red Horse Squadron, a member of the Nevada Resort Association and is a frequent speaker for the Urban Land Institute, G2E and ICSC. Craig holds a BBA in Marketing from Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.

Jessica Miller Essl is the co-president of M2G Ventures, a commercial real estate private equity and advisory development comp any based in Fort Worth, Texas. Guided by the leadership of Jessica and her partner, Susan Gruppi, the fast-growing company carefully invests in distinctive mixed-use and industrial development projects located in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and the Austin Central Texas region. Jessica is responsible for business development, strategy, marketing, leasing and overseeing the company’s landlord advisory practices at M2G. Under Jessica’s leadership, the company continues to push the envelope with innovative ways to create places users want to be. Jessica possesses a relentless drive in truly creating value-add opportunities for all of the projects the company touches. Prior to starting M2G, Jessica was with Open Realty Advisors. During her tenure there, Jessica was instrumental in the company’s landlord consulting platform. She led the strategy and execution of the real estate roll out for Tesla and Spanx across North America. Jessica also played a key role in the site selection and execution of other major brands, such as J. Crew, Apple, Restoration Hardware, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Abercrombie & Fitch, to name a few. She negotiated transactions with every major retail owner in the United States during her time there. Prior to joining Open Realty, Jessica was Senior Leasing Representative at Trademark Property Company, where she specialized in the leasing strategy, execution, and project management of super-regional malls and upscale mixed-use centers. Jessica is credited with bringing some of the nation’s most premier specialty retailers to Trademark’s projects during her four years there. Jessica serves on the Real Estate Council of Greater Fort Worth, the TCU Center for Real Estate Advisory Board, the Board for the TCU M.J. Neeley Entrepreneurial School, and the Small Development Council for Urban Land Institute. Jessica was named Top 40 under 40 in 2017 as well as received the Strong Partner Award from Girls Inc. of Tarrant County. She is a graduate of Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Real Estate with a Concentration in Leadership.

Frost Prioleau is the Co-Founder and CEO of Simpli.fi. A four-time entrepreneur, Simpli.fi is his second company in the digital advertising space. Prior to Simpli.fi, Prioleau was the CEO and Founder of Personifi, a contextual and behavioral targeting company. The firm was acquired by Collective Media in 2008. While at Collective, Prioleau served as General Manager of the Technology Solutions Group. Prioleau is a 2017 Fort Worth Inc. “Entrepreneur of Excellence” award winner, as well as a past winner of Dallas Morning News’ “Best Midsize Company CEO,” SMU Cox School of Business’ “Dallas Top 100 Entrepreneur,” and Owler’s “Top Rated CEO.” He brings to Simpli.fi over 15 years of experience in online advertising with focus on corporate strategy, driving Simpli.fi growth, and ensuring customer satisfaction and employee retention. His focus on company culture and servant- leadership have directly contributed to Simpli.fi being named Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Best Entrepreneurial Company in America,” Inc. Magazine’s “Best Places to Work,” the Dallas Morning News’ “Top 100 Workplaces,” and the Dallas Business Journal’s “Best Midsize Company in DFW.” A thought leader in online advertising, Prioleau often speaks on the topic at industry trade shows and in the press. Prioleau is a graduate of Princeton University, where he earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering Management Systems. Additionally, Prioleau has been happily married to his wife Martha for 33 years. Together they have three children, two dogs, and a blind cat.Outside of work, Prioleau most enjoys surfing, skiing, and traveling with family and friends.

Jason Boso found his way into restaurant development after stints as a stockbroker, ad salesman, and scuba instructor. His culinary path began with his frustration that he couldn’t get a decent burger in Dallas without going to a steakhouse and paying 20 bucks –so off to culinary school he went. Jason’s passion is identifying what people want and need and developing creative concepts around those ideas. At least that’s how he explains why he owns a Toilet Seat Art Museum, a ferris wheel, and America’s largest beer stein collection. After culinary school, Chef Boso opened Twisted Root Burger Co. in 2006.Twisted Root landed on the national radar after being featured onFood Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” in 2009. Twisted Root has since been named a Nation’s Restaurant NewsHotConceptand featured in QSR's 11Sizzling Better-Burger Concepts to Watch. Jason’s bar garden concept, Truck Yard, was built in 2013 around a sprawling backyard with a rotating cast of local food trucks, multiple bars and a cheesesteak restaurant. Truck Yard has been featured as one of Travel & Leisure’sBest Sports Bars in America, on the Travel Channel’s‘101Best Places to “Chow Down” in the US’ andon the Booze Traveler episode covering the Best Bars in the US. Second Rodeo Brewing Co., opening late 2020, puts a prison rodeo spin on Truck Yard’s bar garden environment and in lieu of food trucks customers will find Chef Boso’s take on chicken wingsalongside the classic Truck Yard cheesesteaks. Second Rodeo’s brewery, helmed by veteran brew master Dennis Wehrman, founder of the first microbrewery in the Dallas metroplex, will be open for touring and tasting, and Truck Yard’s favorite bottled and craft draft cocktails are featured at the full bar. Brain Storm Shelter Restaurants, Jason’s restaurant management company, oversees Twisted Root, Truck Yard, and his other concepts: By The Horns Brewing (brewpub), Tacos & Avocados (tacos), Hart Hall (event space), and the Greenville Theater, which features weekly improv comedy. All of that keeps Jason’s hands and creative mind just busy enough to keep him out of jail.

Dustin is the Managing Director responsible for land and residential development build-for-rent, acquisitions and dispositions of projects within the Southwest Region of the U.S, focusing on the greater DFW area and Central Texas. Since joining Hines’ Dallas office in 2012, Dustin has worked on over 20 single-family development projects in cities across the Southwest USA totaling over 20,000 lots. He is leading Hines’ efforts to enter into the new single-family build-for-rent product type. Dustin has specialized in the DFW metroplex and Central Texas. He is responsible for sourcing financing, both equity and debt, and has been directly involved in over $1.8B in revenue of projects.

Adam Kober is a graduate of Purdue University’s highly acclaimed landscape architecture program. In addition, Adam has also spent time in Edinburgh, Scotland at Heriot-Watt University studying golf course architecture and design. While at Lifescapes, Adam has successfully designed and managed highly complex projects from early concept stages all the way through final construction. His experience in both the US and abroad includes hotel/casino resorts, mixed-use developments, master planned communities, as well as private estates. Some of Adam’s most notable projects at Lifescapes International include New York’s iconic Rockefeller Center Channel Gardens and The Rainbow Room, Fort Worth Stockyards, Hotel Drover, Palms Casino Resort Expansion (2019) and Pendry West Hollywood.

Aaliyah Haqq, Vice President at Dominus Commercial partners with C-level executives, entrepreneurs and business leaders to explore the relationship between office space, strategy, purpose, culture, and staff retention. After spending nearly two decades in leadership development and health & human services, Aaliyah has consistently used her super powers to create the conditions for leaders, organizations, and communities to be at their best. A strong advocate for serving the community, Aaliyah is a past Board Chair for Promise House and the National Family Preservation Network. She currently serves on Dallas CASA’s Board of Directors, is a member of the Promise House Executive Support and Assessment Team, and is a member of Hofstra University’s School of Health Professions and Human Services Dean’s Advisory Committee. To support the demands of being a corporate athlete, she plays soccer, practices yoga, and is a marathoner. Aaliyah holds a BS from Hofstra University in Community Health and is a Licensed Texas Realtor. Her professional affiliations include CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women), NTCAR (North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors), and Conscious Capitalism. She is currently the Chair of the CREW Dallas Smart Growth Committee and is a member of CREW Network’s Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force.

Born and raised in South East London, Adam has always been a ken sportsman; representing his high school in Soccer, Rugby and Cricket. He started his working life as a Police Constable in Central London and then moved on to becoming a “Mens Grooming Expert” (which led to him appearing on The Times, The Telegraph, The Independent & GQ). This career path bought Adam to Dallas, Texas where he met his wife and decided to settle down. In Texas, Adam chose to start over or “re-tool”, and pursued a Management Degree at SMU. Once his studies were complete, Adam moved into sales of HVAC where he touched many commercial construction projects. Adam loves the thrill of new challenges, and meeting new people and can't wait to start his career with Bisnow in Dallas.