Upcoming Forum

Wednesday, May 17th, 8:30 am-11:30 am  Toronto, ON, CA

Come join us for a deep dive into public-private partnerships. You’ll learn firsthand from developers, public sector leaders, and university professors on the how deals were financed and developed, how projects met public goals, and how everyone worked together to mitigate risk. This will be a dynamic forum with plenty of opportunities for attendees to join in the conversation with the speakers.

Past Forums

This program highlights Texas-based public private partnerships which create community benefits and address the financial viability of the development. The speakers, principals who crafted the partnerships, will explain the challenges that they overcame, and the benefits created.  The program also connects the attendees and fosters discussion on the inherent importance of public private partnerships for contemporary development and the range of community benefits that these partnerships create.  Attendees will be provided a digital copy of the ULI publication, Successful Public-Private-Partnerships: From Principles to Practices.

Agenda

Moderators:

Stephen B. Friedman, President and CEO, SB Friedman Development Advisors, LLC, Chicago, IL

Charles A. Long, President, Junction Properties, Oakland, CA

Time (CT)	Activity
1:00-1:30pm	Welcome and Introductions - Purpose and Organization of Afternoon - Self-Introductions at Tables/Why PPPS Are Important in Today’s Real Estate Development - Framing Today’s PPPs: Community Benefits; Equity; Diversity, Affordable Housing, Equitable TOD - Invitation to the Certificate Course—a new series of webinars and interactive discussions on Public Private Partnerships
1:30-2:30pm	Equitable TOD - Southwest Center Mall—Multi-Use Redevelopment of the former Red Bird Mall ---Terrence Maiden, CEO, Russel Glen ---Kevin Spath, Assistant Director, City of Dallas Office of Economic Development - Hatcher Station—A Health Services Focused TOD --- Dorothy Hopkins, President & Chief Executive Officer, Frazier Revitalization, Inc. --- Heather Lopeska, Interim Assistant Director, City of Dallas Office of Economic Development - How Would Such Projects be Funded Today? --- Panelists --- Dr. Morteza Farajian, US DOT, Build America Bure (confirmed)
2:30-2:45pm	Break
2:45-3:15pm	Hines Award Team: University of Texas Austin “Plan to Revitalize Old Oakland, CA"
3:15-4:00pm	Social Equity and Affordable Investment Strategies: A Discussion of Alternatives to LIHTC - Jennifer McElyea, Managing Partner, Watt Investment Partners, El Segundo, CA - AJ Jackson, Executive Vice President, Social Impact Investing, JBG Smith Properties, Washington, DC - Public Initiatives from Suburban and Smaller Cities, Fran Rood, AICP, Senior Vice President and Partner, SB Friedman Development Advisors (availability confirmed)

Speaker Bios

Charles A. Long
Principal, Junction Properties, LLC Oakland, CA

Stephen B. Friedman, FAICP, CRE
President and CEO, SB Friedman Development Advisors, LLC

Stephen B. Friedman leads SB Friedman Development Advisors, a 29-person consulting firm based in Chicago that provides a broad range of services focused on Public-Private Partnerships. The firm’s clients include Chicago, Milwaukee, Dallas, Atlanta, Kansas City, Cleveland, Omaha and numerous smaller cities and suburbs as well as private developers, corporations, universities and health care institutions.  The firm’s work with such tools as tax increment financing and New Markets Tax Credits has contributed to the development of 4,000+ units of affordable housing and $5 billion of public funds as part of over $25 billion of public-private development deals.

Steve was editor of the 2016 ULI publication “Successful Public Private Partnerships: From Principles to Practices.”  In 2013, he received the James Felt Creative Counseling Award of the Counselors of Real Estate for his development advisory role on The Shops and Residences of Uptown Park Ridge, IL project. In 2020, he received the Doris B. and Marshall M. Holleb Community Service Award from the Ely Chapter of Lambda Alpha International, the Land Economics Society.  He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Civic Federation, the boards of the Forest Preserve Foundation and Family Focus, and serves as adjunct faculty at the Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate at Roosevelt University among other boards and committees.

Steve holds a Master of Science in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and a Bachelor of Arts from Goddard College in Vermont. He is a Series-50 Qualified Municipal Advisor Representative.

AJ Jackson
Executive Vice President, Social Impact Investing

Brian Allan Jackson (AJ) heads social impact investing for JBG SMITH (NYSE: JBGS), a S&P 400 Real Estate Investment Trust, where he serves as an Executive Vice President. AJ leads the Washington Housing Initiative, an innovative, market-driven approach to preserve and create affordable workforce housing. He led the formation of the Impact Pool, JBG SMITH’s affordable housing investment platform that provides mezzanine financing for the preservation and creation of workforce housing in the metropolitan Washington area.

Prior to joining JBG SMITH, AJ was a partner with EYA, LLC, a Washington, DC area urban infill development company. He led EYA’s participation in more than one billion dollars of double and triple bottom line social impact projects, including: Capitol Quarter, an eight block mixed-income community created in partnership with the D.C. Housing Authority; Old Town Commons – a partnership with the Alexandria Virginia Redevelopment and Housing Authority to create more than 500 units of mixed-income housing; and Shady Grove Station, a 90-acre mixed-use/mixed-income/transit-oriented redevelopment partnership with Montgomery County, Maryland. AJ served on the investment committee and executive committee at EYA and lead strategic planning for the firm.

In addition to his development expertise, AJ has extensive experience in the formation of programs and policies to support the creation of mixed-income housing.  He played a key role in the formation of a nationally recognized workforce housing program and has been called on to advise local governments, public institutions, and the National Association of Homebuilders on mixed-income housing policy.

AJ serves on the Affordable Housing Advisory Council for Fannie Mae and is a member of the Advisory Council at the Center for Washington Area Studies at the George Washington University.  He is a Global Governing Trustee of the Urban Land Institute, a member of the Advisory Board of ULI’s Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance, a member of the ULI Diversity and Inclusion Council, former Chairman of the Public Private Partnerships Council, and a member of ULI Washington’s Advisory Council.  In 2020 AJ was honored as a Minority Business Leader by the Washington Business Journal.  He is also a Trustee of the Federal City Council and a past president and Life Director of the Maryland Building Industry Association.  AJ received a B.A. with honors from the University of Alabama and an M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard Business School.

Dr. Morteza Farajian
Executive Director

Dr. Morteza Farajian has served as a senior executive leading the Build America Bureau at USDOT (the Bureau) since April 2019. He is responsible for credit programs and loan guarantees with $29 billion in the existing portfolio and more than $22 billion allocated, issued or pending in private activity bonds that support development of large-scale and multimodal transportation infrastructure. The Bureau also promotes innovative project financing solutions and helps state and local governments develop and finance Public-Private Partnership (P3) transactions for transportation facilities.

Prior to this position, Dr. Farajian served as acting Deputy Secretary of Transportation and Director of Public-Private Partnerships (P3) Office in Virginia. Over a period of seven years, he led procurement, financing and contract negotiations of multiple multi-modal transportation projects totaling $10 billion in value. Under his leadership, the P3 program in Virginia was reformed to promote competition, engage stakeholders, and increase accountability. He established the first strategic program to manage a portfolio of P3 contracts post-procurement totaling $14 billion in project value.

Dr. Farajian is also an entrepreneur who co-founded a crowd-financing platform that provides local and small investors the opportunity to invest in infrastructure projects as equity or subordinate debt. He has proven experience in successfully leading multi-disciplinary teams and diverse expertise in P3 transaction structuring and negotiation, organizational transformation, business development, public policy, stakeholder management and project planning/finance.

He received his Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees in Project Management from the University of Maryland. He also has a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering.

Terrence Maiden
CEO of Russell Glen

Terrence Maiden currently serves as Chief Executive Officer for Russell Glen, a real estate development and investment company in Dallas, Texas. He draws on more than two decades of real estate experience to lead and inspire the company’s growth. Terrence is well recognized for his vision and approach to transformational real estate projects in the commercial real estate development industry. He is currently at the forefront of the multi-award-winning Shops at RedBird (former Red Bird Mall redevelopment).

Before establishing Russell Glen, Terrence served as Executive Vice President at Corinth Properties. While at Corinth Properties, his most signature development projects were Glen Oaks Crossings, Hatcher Station, Center City, Canyon in Oak Cliff, and Alexan West Dallas. Terrence began his real estate career with The Woodmont Company, project leasing and developing projects throughout Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, and North Dakota. He subsequently managed the development and expansion strategy for Panda Express and Panera, LLC (Director of Real Estate/VP of Real Estate) throughout the central United States.

Terrence received a Bachelor of Science and Engineering degree from Texas Christian University, where he and his identical twin brother Tim were standout football players for the Horned Frogs. In 2015 both Maiden brothers were inducted into the Texas Christian University Hall of Fame.

Dorothy Hopkins
President, CEO and CFO for Frazier Revitalization

Dorothy Hopkins is the president, CEO and CFO for Frazier Revitalization, Inc., a place-based nonprofit. People are deeply influenced by the place they live, and the Frazier neighborhood less than three miles from downtown Dallas, adjacent to Fair Park, is one of Dallas’ lowest income and most blighted neighborhoods.

Over the past fifteen years, Dorothy has helped change the landscape of the Frazier area. Properties with noxious uses were acquired, demolished, and a new health care campus was created including a Parkland Clinic, a Texas A&M Dental Clinic, and a planned healthy food grocery store/restaurant and additional health care services.  The organization also provides year-round out of school time programming and support services for students in Frazier. Other services include a Community Lawyering Center, in partnership with University of North Texas Dallas College of Law and Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, an urban farming operation in association with Restorative Farms, construction of quality affordable single-family housing, stabilization of the existing aging housing stock, and support for a 150 unit senior housing project.

Dorothy’s responsibilities include resource development, donor relations and reporting; and real estate acquisitions, development, and deal pursuit. Throughout her career in the nonprofit sector, she has raised over $15 million in donations, has administered governmental grants in the millions, and has successfully secured and navigated the New Markets Tax Credit program.

Dorothy has worked with the Foundation for Community Empowerment (FCE) since its inception in 1995 and is currently on its board and the CFO. FCE was established to address causes of income inequality affecting South Dallas, facilitate conversations, research systemic problems, generate ideas and best practice solutions, mobilize people and organizations, provide resources, and advocate for support of more equitable outcomes.

Dorothy has worked with J. McDonald Williams, retired Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trammell Crow Company and Founder of Frazier Revitalization and FCE since 1988. She was a controller for the Austin Office and Retail Divisions of Trammell Crow Company in the mid 80’s, and prior to that was an auditor for Ernst & Young, LLP (formerly Kenneth Leventhal & Co). Dorothy received her CPA in 1982, and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Texas Christian University in 1980, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, with a major in accounting. She and her husband have been married since 1980, have three adult children, and are living in Dallas.

Heather Lepeska
Interim Assistant Director for Business and Community Development in the City of Dallas’ Office of Economic Development

Heather is the Interim Assistant Director for Business and Community Development in the City of Dallas’ Office of Economic Development.  She currently oversees the business development staff, which focuses on the recruitment of new businesses and retention of existing businesses to and in Dallas, and the department’s programs related to community development, including the Dallas Development Fund (DDF), which operates the City’s New Markets Tax Credits program.  DDF operates the Healthy Food Dallas Initiative, which provides funding for low or no-cost food access programs to non-profits.

Prior to her arrival at the City of Dallas in 2005, she worked in Washington D.C. for Congressman Jerry Costello, serving as his Legislative Director.  In that position, she was responsible for legislation and policy matters related to Transportation, Trade, Appropriations and Budget, among other subjects.

Heather received a M.P.P. with a focus on Public/Private Policy and Management from the George Washington University and a B.A. in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame. She lives in Dallas, with her husband and three children.

Jennifer McElyea
Managing Partner at ETHOS Real Estate

Jennifer is a Founder and Managing Partner of Ethos Real Estate, an investment firm that is reimagining the relationship between housing, communities and capital. Jennifer’s career includes real estate investment banking, private equity, distressed debt and public-private partnership experience. She also has a deep expertise in California public policy, land use, affordable housing and building political, community and financial stakeholder consensus.

Prior to forming Ethos, Jennifer spent 10 years as Senior Managing Partner of Watt Investment Partners, the commercial real estate acquisition arm of the Watt Companies. Previously, Jennifer was a Vice President at OneWest Bank where she managed a portfolio of distressed commercial real estate debt in partnership with the FDIC, and a Vice President at Apollo Real Estate Advisors where she was responsible for West Coast acquisitions. Jennifer began her career at Deutsche Bank Securities in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group.

Jennifer holds a Master of Real Estate Development from the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and German Literature from the University of Virginia. Jennifer holds a number of leadership positions including Vice Chair of the ULI Public Private Partnership Council, Co-Chair of the LA Business Council Housing and Transportation Committee and member of the SCAG Global Land Use and Economic Council. Jennifer was also recently appointed by the California State Insurance Commissioner to serve as Vice Chair of the California Organized Investment Network (COIN) Advisory Board as an expert practitioner in the affordable housing space.

Kevin Spath
Assistant Director within the Office of Economic Development for the City of Dallas

Kevin Spath, AICP, EDFP, HDFP serves as Assistant Director within the Office of Economic Development for the City of Dallas, managing the Area Development division’s delivery of catalytic projects utilizing a suite of economic development tools including tax increment financing through 19 tax increment reinvestment zones, tax abatements through neighborhood empowerment zones and tax abatement reinvestment zones, and Chapter 380 economic development loans and grants.

Since joining the City of Dallas in 2013, Kevin has worn several hats, including managing the City’s Business Development division, which oversees the City’s incentive program to facilitate business expansion, attraction, retention, and relocation. Kevin also leads other special initiatives, including management of redevelopment activities for the Valley View-Galleria mall area (the International District) and the Red Bird mall area (including the Mall Area Redevelopment TIF District) as well as creation and management of the City’s Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program.

Since 2018, Kevin has had an executive leadership role in structuring, negotiating, and securing approval of incentives for more than 60 economic development projects (including major mixed-use and transit-oriented developments, mixed-income housing developments, office developments, data center developments, hotel developments, neighborhood retail redevelopments, light industrial developments, warehouse/distribution developments, and corporate relocation/expansion projects) that are anticipated to result in the creation or retention over 13,000 jobs and investment of over $2.5 billion.

Over the past two decades, Kevin has developed a unique and effective combination of subject matter expertise in multiple disciplines related to economic development, including real estate development and finance, business development, public finance, area revitalization, zoning and subdivision regulations, historic preservation, urban design, sustainable development, and integrated stormwater/floodplain management.

Kevin is certified AICP by the American Institute of Certified Planners. Additionally, he holds Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) certification and Housing Development Finance Professional (HDFP) certification from the National Development Council (NDC).

He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas with a Bachelor’s degree in sociology and a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington with a Master’s degree in city and regional planning.

Sophia Elena Aitken
Currently pursuing:
M.S., Community & Regional Planning, University of Texas, Austin

Education:
M.A., Production & Research in Art, Universidad de Granada, 2021
B.A., Economics, New College of Florida, 2016

Sophia is a first-year master’s student in the Community & Regional Planning program at the University of Texas, Austin. Previously, she was an Associate at Savino & Miller Design Studio, a landscape architecture and urban design firm based in Miami, FL. During her tenure, she helped lead a large-scale design effort to unify and brand Miami’s five miles of downtown waterfront, while making it more resilient to sea-level rise, flooding and storm surge. The project went on to win numerous awards, and the experience inspired her current studies in urban planning.

Also an artist, Sophia recently completed a master’s degree at the University of Granada in Spain where she began a performance art practice that explores interspecies relationships as a response to the Anthropocene.

Sophia is a native Spanish speaker thanks to her Bolivian background and Miami upbringing. She hopes to pursue an international career in design and planning with a focus on equitable climate resilience.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiaeaitken/

Margaret Mulroy Gallagher
Currently pursuing:
Masters of Landscape Architecture, University of Texas, Austin

Education:
B.A., Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2015
B.A., Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2015

Margaret is in her final semester of the M.L.A. program at the University of Texas, Austin. A former elementary school teacher, Margaret’s passion for the arts, science, community engagement, and living systems inspires her to create interactive work that draws attention to subtle evolutions present in the world around us and facilitate lasting connections between people and places. A California native who has lived in Arizona, Texas, and Louisiana, she is passionate about the power of design to create impactful change, specifically around issues of equity, climate justice and resiliency.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgallagher/
Instagram: @milieu__studio

Sanket Kamdar
Currently pursuing:
Masters of Science in Urban Design, University of Texas, AustinEducation:
B.Arch, Academy of Architecture, University

Education:
B.Arch, Academy of Architecture, University of Mumbai, India, 2018

Sanket Kamdar is in his final semester of the Master of Science in Urban Design Program at The University of Texas, Austin. He currently works as an Urban Design/Planning intern at Lionheart Places in Austin, a firm involved in multi-disciplinary work. Having received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Mumbai, India, he worked there as a project architect with Mobile Offices, Mumbai, where he was involved in projects at various scales. His understanding of the urban fabric was partly shaped by his academic experience and projects as a research assistant, design faculty at Academy of Architecture, Mumbai, and now as a GRA and TA at UT Austin.
Motivated from his collaborations with organizations like World Resources Institute (WRI), for their Cities-Safer by Design program, the UN-Habitat, and planning for Mumbai street vendors, his desire to work in the public realm was reinforced. He is particularly interested in urban interventions that operate through and between the public realm and architecture. In his past time, Sanket is an avid chess player, loves board games, and is learning to play the keyboard.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanket-kamdar
Instagram: @sanket.kamdar

Alay Anil Thakrar
Currently pursuing:
Masters of Science in Urban Design, University of Texas, Austin

Education:
B.Arch, Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies, University of Mumbai, India, 2019

Alay is a first-year Master’s student in the Urban Design program at the University of Texas at Austin. He is passionate about developing a human-centric approach for intervening in the public realm while addressing the underlying socio-economic and environmental structures. Trained as an architect in Mumbai, Alay practiced the profession, conducted research, and taught as a studio assistant before moving to Austin.

Early on in his career, Alay worked at JJP Architects and Planners in Taiwan, winning third place in the Taoyuan Museum of Arts competition in collaboration with MVRDV. The project, which recognized the potential for public spaces while blurring the boundaries between the built and natural environment, ignited an unquenchable desire in him to dig deeper into the larger mechanism of communities and cities.

In his former role as an architect at Studio LAB, Alay was responsible for developing design proposals for commercial and residential projects. Along with the production of graphics, technical drawings, and construction documents, the role demanded project management responsibilities. When he is not on his drafting table, Alay is improvising an old recipe in the kitchen, watching re-runs of “The Wire” or hiking on a nature trail.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alay-thakrar

Kent Carlson
Currently pursuing:
Masters of Business Administration, University of Texas, Austin

Education:
B.S., International Affairs, Georgetown University, 2014

Kent is a second-year MBA student at the University of Texas’s McCombs School of Business, focusing on real estate finance. Originally from Minnesota, Kent moved to Texas in 2014. There, he was a Sr. Product Manager at S&P Global Platts in Houston, leading the development of software and data solutions for traders and commodities markets. Seeking to have more of a direct impact on his city and local community, he decided to pursue a career developing buildings and spaces rather than software.

Since then, Kent has worked in multifamily development in Austin with Wayfinder Real Estate and served as a portfolio manager for the University of Texas’s Real Estate Investment Fund. This is Kent’s second year participating in the ULI/Hines case competition, and he was a finalist in Miami Herbert’s Impact Investing in Commercial Real Estate Competition in 2021. Kent is passionate about local real estate development as a redemptive force for good and building spaces designed to promote human flourishing.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kentmcarlson/

Get Involved

---

Past Forums

Spring 2021 (Virtual): Community Renewal through Partnerships  (Knowledge Finder)

---

Forum Leadership:

Steve Friedman, Friedman Advisors, LLC

Charles Long, Charles A Long Properties LLC