Mike Ablon, Principal, PegasusAblon

Mike Ablon is a principal and founding partner of PegasusAblon. He provides the vision, know-how and discerning strategies in achieving the company’s specialty – recognizing emerging, undervalued and overlooked real estate opportunities. As the leader of the PegasusAblon strategic vision, Mike’s objective is to build the company’s portfolio and to increase its presence and value in the commercial marketplace. Mike draws on his experience, relationships, market knowledge and insight, and strategic processes to accurately identify, analyze and pursue “intelligent real estate opportunities.” Mike’s experience has encompassed every aspect of the development, finance and acquisition spectrum. Prior to founding PegasusAblon, Mike was the President of Connected Acquisitions, the acquisition and investment division of The Retail Connection. In this role he led real estate acquisitions, including Village on the Parkway.

Jared Aubrey, Associate, Marcus & Millichap

Jared Aubrey is an associate in the Dallas office of Marcus & Millichap. Mr. Aubrey specializes in multi-tenant retail centers in Texas and single-tenant net-leased investment sales and sale-leaseback transactions and portfolio dispositions nationwide. Since joining Marcus & Millichap, he has been involved in over $100 million in transactions. Before joining Marcus & Millichap, Mr. Aubrey was an associate account manager at a corporate tenant representation real estate firm.

Adam Blustein, VP – Leasing, Global Fund Investments

Adam Blustein serves as Vice President of Leasing for Texas at Global Realty & Management, TX. He is responsible for overseeing all leasing activities for approximately 3 million sq. ft. of retail space. Prior to joining Global, Mr. Blustein worked at Weingarten Realty specializing in project leasing throughout several states in the central U.S. Mr. Blustein is a graduate of Indiana University.

Lisa Burbey, Real Estate Manager, Chipotle Mexican Grill

Lisa Burbey is a Real Estate Manager for Chipotle Mexican Grill. Currently, she is responsible for developing restaurant locations in Texas and Arizona. Lisa has more than 25 years of experience in the Real Estate industry, spanning all aspects of Brokerage, Development, and Retail. Over the span of her career, she has worked with numerous clients, some of which include CVS, Dollar General, McDonald’s, Progressive Insurance, and, most recently with Chipotle Mexican Grill. Through her various roles in the industry, she has worked with both large and small corporations. Her work has included the assemblage of multiple parcels for development, along with navigating the development process in urban and restrictive markets.

John Chang, First Vice President – Research Services, Marcus & Millichap

John Chang serves as first vice president, research services for Marcus & Millichap. Mr. Chang is responsible for producing the firm’s vast array of research publications, tools and services. Under his leadership, Marcus & Millichap has become a leading source of market analysis, insight and forecasting, and the firm’s research is regularly quoted throughout the industry and in mainstream business media. Mr. Chang oversees a team of dedicated real estate research professionals who produce the firm’s more than 800 research publications, and countless conference and client presentations.

Fernando De Leon, Chief Executive Officer, Leon Capital

Fernando De Leon is the Founder and CEO of Leon Capital Group, a real estate investment and development firm with approximately $2 billion in assets under management. The firm invests in shopping centers, net leased properties, multifamily assets and senior debt instruments, principally in the southwestern United States. In 2013, Leon Capital, along with the Perot Companies, co-founded the European Industrial Company which currently controls over $250 million in industrial assets in the European Union. Mr. De Leon was previously a co-founder of CityView America, a fund management company with over $2 billion of capital under management and divested of those holdings in 2007.

Shannon del Valle, Store Development Manager, Starbucks Coffee Company

Shannon started her career with Brinker International in Accounting, and soon moved into Finance supporting the Development departments including Real Estate and Construction. She then decided that Real Estate was her passion and was eventually promoted to the Sr. Director of Real Estate,responsible for overseeing the growth of all brands domestically. Shannon is now a Store Development Manager for Starbucks overseeing the DFW, as well as East and West Texas markets for everything from new store growth to existing store strategy including renewals and relocations. She has been with Starbucks for 2 ½ years.

Robert Dye, SVP & Chief Economist, Comerica Bank

Robert A. Dye, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at Comerica Bank. He leads the Comerica Economics Department and provides commentary and research on the U.S. economy and the economies of Michigan, Texas, California, Arizona and Florida to Comerica, its clients and to national and regional media outlets. Dye most recently was Senior Vice President and Senior Economist for PNC Financial Services Group. Previously, he served as Vice President and Economist at Realpoint and Senior Economist for Moody’s Economy.com and Wharton Econometrics. He is on the board of directors of the National Association of Business Economics and past president of the Economic Club of Pittsburgh.

Mike Geisler, Managing Director, Venture Commercial

In 2000, Managing Partner Michael E. Geisler teamed up with long-time business colleague and personal friend, Kenneth E. Reimer, CCIM, to open Venture Commercial Real Estate. Together they work as co-managing directors for a team of 30± real estate brokers and salespersons while continuing to grow their personal brokerage businesses. Their goal when opening the doors at Venture: Create a customer-centric, values-driven brokerage firm held in high regard by the community as a whole. At Venture Commercial, now one of Texas’ leading retail brokerage services firms, Mike draws on more than 25 years of experience as one of Dallas/Fort Worth’s top real estate brokers and more than 15 years spent leasing specialty and lifestyle centers, including The Plaza at Preston Center, Park Place and Berkshire Court.

Joe Hickman, Chief Executive Officer, Blue Star Land

Since 1997, Joesph has worked with the Jones family (Joe’s sister Karen is the wife of Cowboys Executive Vice President, Stephen Jones) in real estate investment, acquisition and development and currently serves as Vice President of Blue Star Investments and General Manager of Blue Star Land, LP the residential and commercial real estate development arm of the Dallas Cowboys. With a reputation for high profile developments, Blue Star is best known for the Starwood development in Frisco, TX, the StarCreek development in Allen, TX and of course, the ATT Stadium in Arlington, TX. Upcoming projects include the Gates of Prosper and StarTrail, also in Prosper, TX.

Syd Hurley, Founder & CEO, Vista Property Co.

Mr. Hurley has been directly involved in the shopping center industry for more than twenty (20) years. After practicing law for three years, Mr. Hurley became the “chief financial dealmaker” for one of the largest private shopping center companies in Texas. In 1997, he left to form Direct Development, which became recognized as a leading developer of, and investor in, a wide range of shopping centers in and around Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin. Mr. Hurley has been involved in the acquisition, development, re-development or financing of more than 165 shopping center properties in Texas during his career. This experience has afforded him the opportunity to work with a broad spectrum of capital providers and anchor tenants active in the market today.

John Inabnett, Director, Kane Russell Coleman & Logan

Mr. Inabnett, a Director of the Firm, practices in the Real Estate Section. He has significant experience representing developers in the acquisition, development and disposition of property; landlords and tenants in lease transactions, including office, retail and industrial leases; and lenders and borrowers in a variety of lending transactions.

Farhan Kabani, Associate Vice President Capital Markets,Institutional Property Advisors

Farhan Kabani is an associate vice president capital markets of Institutional Property Advisors based in the Dallas office. Mr. Kabani is responsible for securing commercial debt and equity financing for an array of property types including office, industrial and retail. He is well connected with national, regional and local funding sources including, but not limited to, agency lenders (e.g. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac), commercial banks, CMBS lenders, life insurance companies, private and public funds and bridge lenders. Mr. Kabani has significant experience in the commercial real estate finance industry, having structured and closed more than 1,000 transactions in excess of more than $1.5 billion in funded loans.

Philip Levy, Vice President Investments, Marcus & Millichap

Philip joined Marcus & Millichap in 2004, serves as a Senior Director of the National Retail Group and is also a Vice President Investments. His primary focus is to provide his clients the most accurate and up to date information in the market, a collaborative strategy designed to get results, and an unparalleled commitment to execute. Philip specializes exclusively on the sale of investment property, both multi-tenant and single-tenant. He is recognized nationally as a top-producing agent by both the National Retail Group and the Net Leased Properties Group, consistently ranks as a top agent in the Texas market and is repeatedly the top retail agent in the Fort Worth office.

Jack Matthews, President, Matthews Group

While completing his MBA from the University of Western Ontario in 1982, Jack joined Matthews Group Ltd, the family construction company. In 1985 Jack was appointed President and presided over a period of unprecedented growth as company revenues grew from $69 million to over $500 million. In 1988, Jack founded Matthews Southwest to provide an American presence in the development business. Jack has led the completion of many diverse projects including hotels, condominiums, offices, retail, residential and industrial space. His experience and mastery of all aspects of development – from imagining to creating, acquiring the land, financing the deal, building the project, then holding or selling on completion – helps to create value at all stages in the process.

Frank Mihalopoulos, Owner, Corinth Properties

Frank Mihalopoulos is the owner of Corinth Properties. He graduated from Southern Methodist University and has thirty-five years of experience in real estate investments and development of commercial retail and office properties. His developments are throughout the country, primarily in the southwest. His projects have earned national and local awards and recognition from the commercial real estate industry, business publication including The Dallas Business Journal, the City of Cedar Hill and the City of Nashville, TN.

Rhett Miller, Regional Director, VTS

Rhett Miller started his career as a Tenant rep and Landlord broker at JLL in NYC in 2011 where he worked on a team of six including VTS Co-Founder Ryan Masiello and VTS Head of Business Development Andrew Flint. Miller assisted in the leasing of a 2.5 million square foot portfolio in Downtown and Midtown Manhattan, while also advising technology and financial services clients in their real estate decisions. Rhett officially joined VTS in the spring of 2013 and moved back home to Dallas in January of 2014 to open the Dallas office and oversee the Southeast Region.

Terry Montesi, Chairman & CEO, Trademark Property

In 1991 Terry founded Fort Worth based Trademark Property Company, which has since developed or invested in over $2 billion and 11.4 million s.f. of lifestyle retail, enclosed malls and mixed-use properties across the U.S. Trademark’s portfolio includes projects such as Market Street – The Woodlands, La Palmera Mall, Watters Creek, Alliance Town Center and many others. Terry was formerly a principal and co-founder of Huff, Brous, McDowell & Montesi, Inc., Fort Worth’s largest commercial brokerage and management firm. Prior to that, Terry worked for Lincoln Property Company. In addition, he and his brother became Blockbuster Video’s fourth franchisee in 1986.

Stephen Preston, Managing Partner, North American Development Group
Mr. Preston is a Managing Partner at North American Development Group (“NADG”), a Canadian and United States based shopping center development and acquisition company. Mr. Preston oversees all aspects of NADG’s operations from Texas (surrounding states) to California. Mr. Preston received a Master of Business Administration from The University of Florida and holds an undergraduate degree in Finance from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Prior to joining NADG in 1999, Mr. Preston worked as an Investment Banker for CIBC Oppenheimer in New York City. Mr. Preston lives in Dallas, Texas.

Valerie Richardson, VP – Real Estate, Container Store

Valerie Richardson has over 30 years of experience in retail real estate development and strategic store deployment. She is the Vice President of Real Estate for The Container Store, Inc. where she is responsible for market analysis, site selection and lease negotiation as well as store design coordination and construction oversight for The Container Store’s nationwide store expansion program.

Scott Rohrman, Owner, 42 Real Estate

Scott Rohrman specializes in commercial real estate investment and development and oversees the day-to-day efforts of the 42 Real Estate team. The 42 Real Estate team focuses on build to suit projects for corporate tenants, and also on land investments with outside partners for future development. The investment land tracts are typically planned for future retail, office, and industrial developments. Rohrman has also assembled over 30 parcels in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas near downtown, and has embarked on helping the community redevelopment going on in that area with the 100+ year old buildings.

Peter Russell, Director – Real Estate, Bed Bath & Beyond

A true retail veteran, Peter Russell started his career as an accountant in New Jersey working for Petrie Stores in 1986. Within 2 years, he expanded the 1,200 store chain to over 1,800 stores in 7 years. In 1998 Peter decided he wanted to grow Bed Bath & Beyond. He immediately started to grow the 146 store chain with 800 million in revenues into the 1400 store chain with sales in excess of 11 billion dollars today. Peter worked on the 4 acquisitions of Cost Plus World Market, Christmas Tree shops, Buy Buy Baby and Harmon Stores. Peter is now spearheading the company expansion into Mexico with an aggressive expansion plan.

Keith Schneider, Vice President, TriGate Capital

Keith Schneider is a Vice President at TriGate Capital, a real estate private equity firm based in Dallas with approximately $500 million of retail, office, industrial and hotel properties under management. In his six years with TriGate, Keith has been responsible for acquiring and managing distressed or undercapitalized retail properties across the country. Prior to joining TriGate, Keith worked for Stanford Management Company as well as Lehman Brothers. Keith has a B.S. in Economics from Tulane University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Zeshan Tabani, Managing Director, Tabani Group

Tabani Group is a family owned real estate investment and development group based in Dallas, TX. Creativity, speed of execution and integrity are the guiding principles of our firm. Zeshan Tabani focuses on large retail and mixed use properties across the country. His responsibilities include acquisitions, leasing, financing and asset management. Acquisitions: Over the past 24 months Zeshan has led the acquisition of over 3.5 million square feet of real estate across the nation. Leasing: Works with leasing brokers around the country and directly with anchors, national brand and local retailers. Financing: Closed loans with local banks, CMBS, life insurance companies and global banking institutions. Asset management: Hands on approach to property operations including negotiating 3rd party vendor contracts, staffing duties and regular on-site visits.

Stan Thomas, Founder & CEO, Thomas Enterprises

Stan Thomas founded Thomas Land & Development, LLC, a visionary real estate company that specializes in creating dynamic places where commerce, life and leisure intersect. Capabilities encompass master-planned communities and mixed-used projects, which include retail, residential and office uses. Since 1987, Stan Thomas
’ companies have developed more than 50 million square feet of retail property valued at $5 billion, and have master planned more than 20,000 acres of prime, developable land through- out the United States.

Matthew Tice, VP – Texas Offices, Inland Group

Matthew Tice is vice president and is based in the Texas office. Matt is responsible for purchasing properties and is involved in securing financing for Inland’s various real estate entities. In his more than 11 years with the company he has been responsible for more than 224 purchases, over $5 Billion and nearly 21 Million square feet. Noteworthy among these accomplishments are the purchase of Southlake Town Square in Southlake, Texas, for $300 Million, a $465 million portfolio of 21 retail properties in Texas and the procurement of more than $500M in financing and lines of credit for Inland Entities. Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Texas A&M University. He is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Jason Vitorino, Executive Director, Institutional Property Advisors

Jason Vitorino is a senior vice president investments and senior director of Marcus & Millichap’s National Retail Group. Mr. Vitorino is located in the firm’s Dallas office and covers the Texas markets. He focuses exclusively on retail investment sales, including both single-tenant and multi-tenant properties throughout Texas and the Southwest. Over the course of his 11-year career, Mr. Vitorino has closed more than 325 transactions valued over $1 billion in sales, consistently ranking him among the top agents in Texas and nationally within Marcus & Millichap. For the past five years, he has ranked within the Top 25 of the firm and has also been a Top 5 all-retail agent company-wide. Mr. Vitorino has earned 10 National Achievement Awards and 11 consecutive Sales Recognition Awards.

Denton Walker, Senior Managing Director, Trammell Crow Company

Denton Walker is responsible for office and retail development within the Trammell Crow Company – Dallas Fort Worth Development and Investment group. Mr. Walker joined Trammell Crow Company in Dallas in 1989 and led the company in industrial square footage leased in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1998. In 1996 and 1998, Mr. Walker was one of the company’s national top producers. Mr. Walker has leased over 15 million square feet during the last 14 years with a total rental income of $250 million and has developed over 5 million square feet of corporate office and industrial space.

John Weber, Principal, Weber & Company

John P. Weber, President of Weber & Company is a Dallas based shopping center developer. The Company has a niche for developing large national anchor credit shopping centers consisting of 30 to 50 acres of land and 300,000 to 500,000 square feet of G.L.A. of shopping center area. Weber & Company has developed an extensive list of credit-anchored shopping centers with Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Albertson’s, and Kroger. Mr. Weber has been actively involved in the real estate industry since 1969, beginning with Ford Motor Company’s Dealership Real Estate department in Dearborn, Michigan.

Adam Williams, EVP – Chief Investment Officer, Centennial

Mr. Williams joined the Centennial team in 2011. At Centennial, he focuses on sourcing and executing acquisition opportunities, as well as on Centennial’s debt and equity financing activities. In addition, Mr. Williams serves as an adjunct professor at the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, where he teaches an MBA-level class on commercial real estate transactions. Previously, Mr. Williams served as Vice President and Director of Investments at Trademark Property Company. Trademark is a Texas-based retail operator, which has invested in and developed over 10 million square feet of regional malls, shopping centers and mixed-use projects.

John Zikos, Partner, Venture Commercial

John Zikos, a partner in Venture Commercial, has over 28 years of experience in commercial real estate. During this period he has gained vast knowledge and experience in virtually every aspect of retail real estate including landlord and tenant representation, income property sales,disposition, land sales and new development consulting. John is an expert at planning and expediting “ground up” retail developments due to his past experience as a retail developer and partner for Hanover Property Company before joining Venture in 2001.