Jeff Spiritos is the principal of Spiritos Properties LLC, a commercial and residential developer that builds mass timber projects in the Northeast. Spiritos was a project lead and officer for 25 years with Hines (mostly in NYC) before starting Spiritos Properties in 2004 and for the past ten years has turned to build only with mass timber structural systems. Projects include Acme Timber Lofts, an 18-unit rental apartment vertical extension project, 340+ Dixwell, a 69-unit affordable housing project, both underway in New Haven, Ct, and 79 King Street, an 88-unit 55+ rental apartment building in Northampton, Mass, currently in predevelopment. Both the New Haven projects were selected for US Forest Service Wood Innovation Grants. The firm was the developer partner for the East Coast winner of the US Tall Wood Building Competition in 2015 for 475 West 18th, a 10-story condominium project in NYC. Spiritos has a BSCE from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Michigan and is currently the chair of the CTBUH Tall Timber and Steel-Timber Hybrid Committees.

As both a licensed Architect and Structural Engineer in the state of California, Melissa has a broad perspective on the building industry and technical design expertise from seismic to hurricane regions. Over the past few years, she helped expand WoodWorks’ audience to include real estate developers and has been a leader in programming mass timber content for national ULI audiences including: Spring and Fall Meetings, Product Councils, and Greenprint member firms. Melissa manages WoodWorks’ Mass Timber Business Case Studies which analyze how mass timber can create value for multifamily, office and student housing developments. Currently, she is developing resources to help expand mass timber to the industrial sector. Formerly Vice-Chair of the Sustainable Development Council, Melissa has a passion for building the business case for sustainability and resilience.

As Senior Director for Columbia Property Trust, Jesse Stephens is responsible for overseeing the planning and execution of development and construction activities in the Company’s Washington, D.C. and New York regions. Mr. Stephens came to Columbia in 2020 from Moore and Associates, where he was the Vice President of Development in the D.C. region. He has over 15 years of experience in commercial real estate and construction, including the oversight and execution of a wide range of projects ranging from Tenant interiors and capital improvements to complex major renovations such as the mass timber vertical addition to CXP’s 80 M Street property. Mr. Stephens also has extensive experience providing development and construction support to acquisition and asset management principals in the underwriting, due diligence, and disposition phases of real estate investments across multiple asset classes. Mr. Stephens is a graduate of Villanova University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering with a focus on Environmental Engineering. Mr. Stephens is a LEED Green Associate and a member of ULI and NAIOP.