Future of Downtown Los Angeles

Clare De Briere is a native Angeleno and has spent her career creating special places for the citizens and visitors of Los Angeles. Clare joined The Ratkovich Company as a summer intern in 1991 after graduating from UCLA and worked her way through property management, leasing, construction, financing and development management while earning her graduate degree at USC's prestigious Lusk Center for Real Estate. In her career with the company she has overseen the acquisition, entitlement, planning, development and/or disposition of millions of square feet from The Wiltern Theatre, 5900 Wilshire, 800 Wilshire, The Alhambra, The Hercules Campus in Playa Vista and, most recently, The Bloc in downtown Los Angeles. Clare retired from the Company after 26 years, the last decade of which she spent as its Chief Operating Office and Executive Vice President. She remains affiliated with the Company through its Advisory Board. Clare and her husband, Chef Christopher Barnett, have started a new company, C+C Ventures, a Los Angeles based experience company to develop places that inspire creativity, curiosity and delight whether through a wonderful neighborhood restaurant or a fantastic renovated work or living space. Clare is an active member of the Urban Land Institute serving on the National Advisory Committee for Building Healthy Places and Building Healthy Corridors, and on the Los Angeles District Council'€™s Executive Committee and Advisory Board. She has served on a ULI Advisory Panel in the City of Denver and on a local Technical Assistance Panel for the Huntington Hospital and Cal Poly Pomona. She has been named on the Los Angeles Business Journal's Women Making a Difference list and has been on the Real Estate - Southern California's Women of Influence list every year since 2003. Clare is also on the Advisory Board of the UCLA History Department; and served on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Los Angeles Conservancy.

John R. Barganski is Senior Vice President - Leasing for the Western Region of Brookfield Property Partners (NYSE: BPY), a multi-billion dollar, publicly-traded commercial real estate corporation that owns, manages and develops premier assets in the world’s most dynamic domestic and international markets. Barganski’s responsibilities include marketing and leasing activities within the Western Region, which encompasses more than 10 million square feet of Class-A office and retail properties. Brookfield’s signature assets in the Western Region are strategically located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, West Los Angeles/Marina del Rey and San Francisco. Barganski is responsible for the regional leasing efforts and oversees a team of leasing professionals and exclusive listing brokerage teams. Barganski has more than thirty (30) years of commercial real estate experience, including comprehensive leasing, asset management and development responsibilities with renowned public and private organizations including Trizec Properties, C.J. Segerstorm & Sons, PacTen Partners (in joint ventures with Morgan Stanley and MetLife), Cushman & Wakefield and Prudential’s Premisys Real Estate Services. He has actively led negotiations for millions of square feet of office space leases with prominent international, national and local firms. Barganski holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Real Estate Finance from the University of Southern California, where he was also a member in USC’s inaugural Real Estate Development Program. He is actively involved in CoreNet, the Urban Land Institute (ULI), National Association of Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP) and the Los Angeles Commercial Real Estate Association (LACRA), where he has held board positions within each of these industry groups. Barganski is also a frequent speaker and panelist with Bisnow, RenTV, BOMA, and RealShare conferences. John is an active board member at the Ketchum YMCA of Downtown Los Angeles, Rosary Academy and Servite High School.

Ricardo Pagan is the founder of Claridge Properties, a 100% minority owned real estate investment and development firm. Mr. Pagan brings over 16 years of experience in real estate acquisition and development. Mr. Pagan is an established real estate developer, investor and operator with projects in Los Angeles, the New York City metro area, Detroit, Atlanta and Phoenix. Over the span of his career, Mr. Pagan has completed well over $1 billion in acquisitions and development of assets in his specified markets, encompassing more than 3,500 residential units and 500,000 square feet of office space.

Acclaimed Hospitality Leader Stephane Lacroix has been appointed General Manager at upcoming Downtown LA Proper. Located in the heart of the Fashion District, DTLA Proper will boost 148 rooms & suites. The creative vision of Kelly Wearstler seamlessly blends past and present with compelling design, vintage influence and local art. Essentials include two destination restaurants led by James Beard Award-winning L.A. chef Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne (Lucques, a.o.c., Tavern); an intimate library-lounge, a city-view rooftop pool and lounge-bar-restaurant. Especially Proper are two singular, one-of-a-kind suites fashioned from the basketball court and indoor pool of the building’s sporting club past. Stephane Lacroix joins Downtown LA Proper from the Forbes Travel Guide Five-star rated Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills where he was most recently Executive Assistant Manager overseeing all Food & Beverage Operations as part of the Opening Team, launching the first West Coast property for the Waldorf Astoria brand. Lacroix was previously Executive Assistant Manager at Baccarat Hotel in New York City short after its launch in 2015, Director of Food & Beverage at The Beverly Hills Hotel & Hotel Bel-Air, both Dorchester Collection iconic properties in Los Angeles. After graduating from Tain L’Hermitage Hospitality School, Lacroix worked at the Hotel de Paris in Monte- Carlo, the Ritz Hotel in Paris and then came to the US in 1994 to work with Chef Jean-Louis Palladin at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.; He then opened the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas with Chef Michael Mina, spent 10 years at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco and came to New York City to run Gilt at The New York Palace, a Two-Michelin star and Wine Spectator Grand Award venue. Lacroix has contributed to multiple Food & Wine Events with Gourmet Magazine and appeared on the Independent Lodging Congress panel at its fourth annual gathering of the industry’s leading hospitality professionals in NYC. Stephane lives in Highland Park with Estelle, his wife. During his free time, he enjoys CrossFit, Yoga and long hikes on the beach with Jack their Australian Shepherd.

Justin is a Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) market expert, with 11 years of experience in commercial real estate leasing and sales. As former Associate Director of Economic Development for the Downtown Center Business Improvement District and Central City Association and currently as Vice President of brokerage at Kennedy Wilson, Justin’s passion for a better DTLA is exemplified in his deep knowledge of the area’s history, strong relationships with local stakeholders, and track record of transactional success.CAREER HISTORYDuring his five-year tenure at the DCBID, Justin successfully recruited hundreds of retailers, developers, hotels, office tenants and residents to DTLA, while playing an active role in laying the political groundwork for DTLA’s renaissance. Notable recruits whose presence led to the explosion of growth seen in DTLA today include: City Target, Bottega Louie, Urth Caffé, and The Ace Hotel.Justin joined Kennedy Wilson in 2014 to spearhead its commercial brokerage platform in Downtown Los Angeles and is currently recognized as one of the area’s leading brokers. In that time, he and his partner, Lee Shapiro, have successfully completed over 590,000 square feet of retail, mixed-use, adaptive reuse, and creative office space transactions in DTLA. Given his boots-on-the-ground market expertise, Justin has also been engaged to represent numerous notable office tenants.In 2019 and 2020, the Los Angeles Business Journal named Justin one of L.A.’s 500 Most Influential People.

Practicing as part of the firm's Real Estate group, Max Shapiro helps clients analyze risk, understand the market and close deals. He enjoys working on complex deals, relying on his propensity for overcoming roadblocks and his passion for rigorous negotiation. His work includes commercial leasing and acquisitions and dispositions for clients ranging from institutional real estate investors to small companies and individuals. Max represents both landlords and tenants in office, recreational, retail, industrial, medical, shopping center and mixed-use projects both in California, and in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, and other parts of the United States. Notably, Max was the lead attorney representing Brookfield Property Partners in its lease of over 107,000 rentable square feet to Cost Plus Inc. for its headquarters at Marina Village in Alameda, California. He began his legal career as a Judicial Extern for the Honorable Berle M. Schiller, United States District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and also participated in the Summer Associate program at Allen Matkins. Max’s community involvement includes serving on the firm's Community Outreach Committee and participating in the Los Angeles Food Bank’s Food from the Bar program. He is also involved in the Urban Land Institute, the Harvard-Westlake Real Estate Alumni Association, and the Landau Lawyers softball league.