Keynote Speaker

Nori Gerardo Lietz
Partner, Partners Group
Chief Strategist for Private Real Estate

Ms. Gerardo Lietz is a Partner, chief strategist for private real estate and chairman of the private real estate investment committee. Prior to joining Partners Group in the San Francisco office, she was Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Pension Consulting Alliance, a global leader in real estate investment consulting, which she co-founded in 1988. Previously, she co-founded Public Storage Management, Inc., an institutional money management firm deploying pension capital to acquire real estate assets. Furthermore, she was an attorney specializing in SEC and ERISA matters on behalf of pension funds, real estate managers and real estate pension consultants. Ms. Lietz graduated with honors from Stanford University and holds a juris doctorate from the UCLA School of Law. She is a former member of the Pension Real Estate Association Board of Directors and of the Real Estate Research Institute. She is a Lecturer at the Harvard Business School, and has guest lectured at the Wharton Business School and MIT Center for Real Estate. In 2006, she was named one of the 30 most influential individuals in Private Real Estate worldwide.

Andrew Albers
Director of Sustainable Development, Gale International

Andrew Albers is the Director of Sustainable Development for Gale International. He manages the company’s LEED certification and sustainable development efforts, including building energy efficiency strategies, alternative energy installations, and the standardization of green building metrics across the company’s development portfolio. Gale’s portfolio currently includes over 100 million square feet of mixed-use development on two continents, including 40 million square feet of LEED-registered projects under construction and an additional 40+ million square feet of planned or in-design buildings targeting a LEED rating.

Prior to joining Gale, Mr. Albers worked as a Project Manager for a construction and development company in Waltham, MA. He holds a Master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Ceramic Engineering from Clemson University.

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Chris Allman
Vice President, Capmark Finance

Chris Allman, a vice president in Capmark Finance Inc.’s (Capmark Finance) hospitality lending group, is responsible for originating new hotel mortgage loans and is also heavily involved in capital market activities for the division.

Mr. Allman joined Capmark in December 2000 and has 11 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Capmark, Mr. Allman worked as a senior analyst at Cambridge Associates where he was responsible for managing a team of associates tasked with researching and producing a variety of investment research reports for institutional clients including university endowments, pension funds and not for profit organizations.

Mr. Allman attended the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business part-time where he earned an M.B.A. with honors and Virginia Tech where he received two B.S. degrees with honors in Environmental Engineering and Finance.

Senator Steven Baddour
Massachusetts State Senator, Massachusetts General Court

Senator Steven A. Baddour was first elected to the Massachusetts Senate in January of 2002 after winning a decisive victory in a hotly contested special election. Since then, he has worked to generate reform, protect vital services, and safeguard the interests of his constituents in the First Essex District.

Steve’s work as a legislator is part of a longstanding commitment to advocacy and community service. As an Assistant Attorney General, he established a reputation for fighting to protect working people that he continues to foster as a Senator. On his first day at the State House, Steve broke ranks with legislative leadership to oppose a redistricting plan that would have split the Merrimack Valley and weakened its representation. Since then, he has been an independent leader with a record of supporting education reform and funding, protecting essential services for our most vulnerable citizens, reforming state government, and spending our tax dollars wisely.

In 2004, amidst one of the state’s most exciting and tumultuous years, Senator Baddour remained a consistent voice for working families and taxpayers. In addition to being named a Guardian of Small Business by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Steve was awarded Legislator of the Year by the Massachusetts Municipal Association for his role in securing funding for cities and towns to repair and build roads. As Chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation, Steve also routinely convened hearings to ensure that the taxpayers are protected during the remainder of Big Dig construction. As a result of his questioning, the project is more accountable to the public and cost recovery efforts are back on track.

Senator Baddour has always used his leadership role to safeguard the interests of taxpayers, including initiating one of the most comprehensive acts of reform in over a decade through a proposal to restructure the state’s transportation hierarchy that will save millions. His plan will help make the repair and construction of our roads, rail systems, and other modes of travel more efficient by drastically increasing coordination among agencies.

In 2008, Senator Baddour stood alongside Senate President Therese Murray, Speaker Sal DiMasi and Governor Deval Patrick to announce major transportation reforms to be included in the Transportation Bond Bill focusing on cost-containment recommendations for project management and construction processes. The reforms address the use of police details and MBTA pensions and health benefits. They also establish a wide array of transparency measures to improve project management and construction processes and are a crucial first-step in handling the $20 billion transportation funding gap and changing how the Commonwealth’s transportation agencies do business.

In December 2008, citing the need for reforming a dysfunctional transportation system before increasing taxes, Steve held a series of oversight hearings of the Joint Committee on Transportation aimed at reforming the state’s transportation system. One of the “Reform Before Revenue” hearings focused on exploring public-private partnerships as an option for the Commonwealth, providing an alternative to increasing the gas tax or tolls. The hearing featured testimony from experts in law, finance, labor, and individuals who have played key roles in successful public-private partnerships in other states.

Understanding that years of neglect and inadequate investment in the state's capital assets and infrastructure have resulted in a backlog that has far exceeded available resources, Senator Baddour has also lead the effort to pass legislation to accelerate the repair and replacement of the state’s most structurally deficient bridges. The $3 billion bond bill establishes an eight-year plan to fix 250 to 300 Massachusetts bridges identified as being in urgent need of repair. The bill also provides for the ongoing maintenance of bridges and will reduce the number of structurally deficient bridges by 15 percent over the next eight years. Additionally, by starting projects now rather than waiting, the Commonwealth will save approximately $1.5 billion in inflation and deferred maintenance costs while creating new jobs for the economy.

Senator Baddour’s passionate advocacy stems from longstanding personal ties to the community. A life-long resident of Methuen, Steve attended Methuen public schools and received his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts and his J.D. from the Massachusetts School of Law. He lives with his wife, Ann, and two young daughters, Isabella and Victoria, in Methuen.

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Joshua Benaim
Principal, Square Mile Capital

Joshua Benaim is a Principal at Square Mile Capital, where he is focused on value-oriented distressed debt acquisitions, equity joint ventures and special situations. Mr. Benaim has worked with Manocherian Brothers, a closely-held business that owns and develops residential properties in New York City, as well as with High Rise Capital Management where he worked as a REIT analyst. He began his career as at Credit Suisse First Boston in Mergers & Acquisitions and subsequently Principal Transactions. Mr. Benaim is an avid opera aficionado and performer and currently serves on the board of the Sarasota Opera Association. Mr. Benaim received a B.A. from Harvard University and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Josh Feltman
Associate, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Josh Feltman joined the Restructuring and Finance department of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in 2002. He specializes in distressed mergers and acquisitions and workouts. His deal experience includes the acquistion of a controlling interest in Kmart Corporation by ESL Investments and the subsequent merger of Kmart with Sears (on behalf of ESL and Sears); the acquisition of Harrah's Entertainment (on behalf of Apollo Management); the acquistion of Bear Stearns (on behalf of JPMorgan); and the federal government's investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (on behalf of the Department of the Treasury).

Mr. Feltman received a B.A. in Social Studies, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1995 and an M.Phil. in Development Economics from Cambridge University in 1996. He completed a J.D. at Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and a recipient of the school’s Sears Prize, in 2002, graduating magna cum laude. Prior to joining Wachtell, Mr. Feltman worked as a consultant and economist on regulatory and antitrust matters for Price Waterhouse and National Economic Research Associates.

Eric Fischer
Senior Vice President, Trammell Crow Company

Eric oversees Trammell Crow Company's healthcare development and investment efforts for the Eastern United States. He is also a national content leader for physician driven specialized hospital initiatives as well as national and international healthcare facility privatization programs. Eric's career has been focused entirely on healthcare, including hospital financial administration, principal-based consulting, and a key investment and development leadership position with a publicly traded healthcare real estate investment trust.

Eric Friedman
Director of State Sustainability, MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

Since April of 2001, Eric Friedman has been the Director of the State Sustainability Program at the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, where he is responsible for directing a comprehensive “Greening the Government” effort for all state agencies. The program focuses on internal operations at state government facilities and works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, eliminate mercury from the waste stream, expand waste prevention and recycling, promote sustainable design and construction, and establish comprehensive planning and management systems at agencies that incorporates environmental issues into day-to-day decision making. Prior to working at EOEA, Eric was the Environmental Purchasing Coordinator at the Massachusetts’ central purchasing agency). During his tenure there, the Commonwealth increased its purchases of recycled products from $2.8 million in 1992 to over $65 million in 2000, as well as expanded purchases of a variety of environmentally preferable products within in the public sector, including those which promote waste prevention, toxics use reduction, and energy efficiency. From 1992-1994, Eric worked at the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute and Tufts University on toxics use reduction, energy efficiency and waste prevention and recycling programs. Eric received a Masters Degree in Environmental Policy from Tufts University in 1994.

Rob Gifford
Principal, Robert Gifford Advisory

Robert G. Gifford is Principal of Robert Gifford Advisory, counseling HNW managers on real estate investments and pursuing niche real estate acquisition strategies for his own account. Rob has twenty-five years of real estate investment, development and portfolio management experience. Prior to starting his own firm in 2008, Rob was a Principal of AEW Capital Management. He joined AEW in 1986, and during his 22 year career with the firm, Rob managed a wide variety of assignments and portfolios, including the restructuring and $1.5 billion sale of Westcor Realty to Macerich, the $1 billion sale of interests in a portfolio of super-regional shopping centers to The Mills Corporation, and the raising of $700 million in client capital for investment in REIT private placements and income securities. Rob came to AEW from The Rouse Company where, as Assistant Development Director, he managed development planning for several projects in Atlanta. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College (B.A.) and the Yale School of Management (M.P.P.M.). Rob is a full member of the Urban Land Institute and serves as a Council Vice Chair. Rob is also very active in his home town of Newton, Massachusetts, serving as a member of the Economic Development Commission, the Newton Cultural Alliance, chairing the Finance Committee of the Newton Centre Task Force, and serving as the City’s representative on the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.

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Tom Gilbane
Principal, Rockpoint Group

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Thomas Green
Managing Director Infrastructure Finance, Citigroup

Thomas H. Green. Tom Green is a Managing Director in Public Finance and is Head of Citigroup's Infrastructure Group, which includes the firm's U.S. "public-private" and "public-public" partnership ("PPP") infrastructure finance practice, as well as its surface transportation, water & sewer, sports stadium, hotel and convention center project finance and municipal asset securitization areas. In addition to 17 years of investment banking experience that dates to 1985, Mr. Green has served in both State and local government, including six years of service during the mid-1990's as the First Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts. He has B.A., J.D., and M.B.A. degrees from Harvard University.

Leslie Hale
CFO and Senior Vice President, RLJ Development

Ms. Hale was promoted to Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President in October 2007. In her new role, she is responsible for all financial matters across RLJ Development and its three affiliated funds, and for the execution all company transactions.

Ms. Hale joined RLJ in March 2005, as its Director of Real Estate and Finance. In this role, she was primarily responsible for securing financing for each asset and managing the entire execution process for all transactions. In June 2006, Ms. Hale was promoted to a Vice President – her responsibilities were expanded to include all treasury functions and she successfully created and oversaw the portfolio management arm of RLJ, as well.

Prior to RLJ, she was an Associate Director in the GE Real Estate – Strategic Capital Group, where she provided structured finance products to institutional clients. Previously, Ms. Hale also served as a Vice President in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of GE Commercial Finance, responsible for managing the strategic review and due diligence process for prospective transactions. Before rejoining GE, she was an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co., advising clients across industries on mergers, acquisitions, and corporate finance matters. Preceding business school, Ms. Hale worked for GE Real Estate in both the Large Transactions Group and the European Mergers & Acquisitions Group, completing over $8 billion of real estate transactions. She received her undergraduate degree in Finance from Howard University, graduating Summa Cum Laude. Ms. Hale earned her MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Goldman Sachs and Robert F. Toigo Fellow.

David Hegarty
President and COO, Senior Housing Property Trust

David serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of Senior Housing Properties Trust (“SNH”), a NYSE-listed real estate investment trust (“REIT”) that invests in senior housing income-producing real estate, particularly independent living, assisted living, congregate care communities and skilled nursing facilities as well as wellness centers, medical office buildings and biotechnology laboratory space. SNH currently has investments of $3.0 billion in 220 senior living properties, 10 wellness centers and 48 medical office buildings located in 35 states and Washington, DC. SNH is a spin-off of HRPT Properties Trust (“HRP”), one of the largest publicly-traded REITs in the United States that invests in commercial and medical office properties. Mr. Hegarty was the President and Chief Operating Officer of HRP from 1994 until the spin-off transaction in 1999. Mr. Hegarty also is on the Executive Board of the American Seniors Housing Association and the Board of Advisors of Radius Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in the healthcare industry. Mr. Hegarty is a certified public accountant and a graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Scott Jamieson
Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle

Mr. Jamieson has more than 20 years of commercial real estate experience. In 13 years with Jones Lang LaSalle, he has participated in over 200 sales transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $5 billion.

A recipient of Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” Award, Mr. Jamieson is active in numerous civic and charitable organizations, including the Real Estate Finance Association (Board of Directors) and Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity (Executive Committee and Board of Directors). He holds a B.S. from Boston College's Wallace E. Carroll School of Management, and resides in Andover, MA with his wife and three daughters.

Sarah Kauss
Vice President of New York Region, Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Sarah M. Kauss is Vice President of the New York Region at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. In her role, she leads a powerful team developing the East River Science Park – poised to become one of the world's leading centers for life science and technology commercialization – a science park in the heart of New York City. The Alexandria Center will be a 1.1 million square foot campus of first-class laboratory and technology space with a platform of special services and amenities and spectacular water views. The first phase of development consists of an East Tower totaling approximately 320,000 square feet. Previously with Alexandria, Ms. Kauss was responsible for expansion into European markets, and was vital in initiating the creation of a new commercial, academic and clinical life science cluster in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms. Kauss has a deep expertise in analyzing market opportunities by applying both quantitative and qualitative frameworks to help ensure the overall success of life science cluster formation. Ms. Kauss has a unique perspective and a diverse business background, which is essential to success in her current role. Previously, she helped the world's largest private equity firms structure their firms as well as their funds by focusing on more efficient deployment of human capital and more effective use of financial capital, and has worked at Ernst & Young and JP Morgan. Ms. Kauss earned her Masters in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School, her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is a Certified Public Accountant. She is a Board member of the New York Biotechnology Association.

Gregory Kiss
Partner and Founder, Kiss + Cathcart Architects

Gregory Kiss has been working to advance the art and technology of environmentally responsible architecture for over 20 years. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University, he became a founding partner of Kiss + Cathcart Architects in 1983.

Mr. Kiss has designed and consulted on many ground-breaking high performance building projects in the Americas, Europe and Asia. His ongoing research into the functional and aesthetic improvement of photovoltaics for buildings has led to several new products and systems. He has authored a number of technical manuals for the Department of Energy, and lectures frequently on recent advances in solar technologies and their potential for integration into architectural design.

Mr. Kiss’s projects include solar and sustainable housing in the Netherlands, the PV system at 4 Times Square, and the Bocas del Toro Station for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, the photovoltaic glass train shed for New York City Transit’s Stillwell Avenue Terminal in Coney Island, and a photovoltaic manufacturing facility for Heliodomi in Greece.

In addition to his work at Kiss + Cathcart, Greg Kiss is cofounder of Native American Photovoltaics (NAPV), a non profit venture on the Navajo reservation in Arizona.

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Chuck Kostro
Town Administrator, Town of Newbury, MA

Chuck Kostro has served in senior leadership positions in state and local government for 23 years. In 1999, he was appointed as the Undersecretary of Transportation for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and had previously served as the Deputy Commissioner of the Massachusetts Highway Department.

During his tenure in transportation, Chuck was a leader in the development and implementation of some of the most innovative public-private partnerships in the country. He directly managed the procurement process for the $385 million Route 3 North project, the first privately financed design-build highway project in Massachusetts. While at the Virginia Department of Transportation, Chuck supervised the development of nearly $4 billion of highway infrastructure projects under Virginia’s landmark Public-Private Transportation Act.

Chuck has a Master’s Degree in History and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts.

David Lipson is an executive vice president and director of Studley’s Washington, DC office. For the past 20 years, David has participated in real estate transactions totaling more than 30 million square-feet with an asset value of more than $9 billion.

At Studley, David heads Studley’s federal government real estate advisory practice, which is responsible for assisting the General Service Administration’s with its 176 million square feet portfolio of leased space nationwide. David and his team have negotiated more than 400 real estate transactions on behalf of the United States government and its contractors, including structuring new leases, land and building sales, and build-to-suit developments. In 2002-2003, David represented the U.S. Census Bureau (1.5 million square feet) in the procurement of its headquarters via a design-bridge-build procurement and the U.S. Department of Transportation its headquarters lease (1.35 million square feet), the largest lease ever signed in Washington, DC. He is currently assisting the Army Corps of Engineers with a 1.8 million square foot consolidation in Northern Virginia.

David specializes in the financial restructuring of leased and owned assets and has led acquisition, restructuring and disposition projects for some of the nation’s largest and most prestigious office tenants. In May 2008, David and his partners represented Arent Fox with a lead tenant lease at 1000 Connecticut Avenue, a 12-story, 370,545 square foot building in the heart of Washington’s office district. His roster of corporate and association tenants includes the RAND Corporation, American Petroleum Institute and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

In 2004, David was elected to the firm’s Board of Directors. He is also Chairman of the British Schools and Universities Foundation, a New York public charity that has donated more than $28 million to schools and universities throughout the British Commonwealth.

David received an Honours Bachelor of Arts in politics, philosophy and economics from Christ Church, Oxford University, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with an AB in Economics. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

John Macomber
Lecturer of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

John Macomber is a Lecturer in Real Estate at Harvard Business School. His professional background includes leadership of real estate, construction, services, and technology businesses. He is the former Chairman and CEO of the George B H Macomber Company, a large regional general contractor whose clients included Harvard, MIT, EMC, Fidelity, CISCO, Childrens Hospital, Wyeth, and the WGBH Foundation. He is a principal in several real estate partnerships in Massachusetts. At HBS, he teaches two Real Property courses in the elective curriculum, "Real Property Asset Management" and "Real Estate Development, Design, and Construction." John has been a lecturer at MIT in Civil Engineering and Real Estate for almost 20 years, and still teaches a course there in Real Estate Sustainability. Past courses taught have included both Strategy and E-Business in Real Estate and Construction. He is an adviser to and frequent instructor in Executive Education for both HBS and the Harvard Design School. He is chair or co-chair of Executive Education programs including "Real Estate Management," "Real Estate Executive Seminar," and "South Asia Real Estate." In the community, John is active with Young Presidents Organization (YPO), Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, the Appalachian Mountain Club, and Mount Auburn Hospital. He serves on the boards of Boston Private Bank and of Vela Systems, an Internet services firm in the real estate and construction market. He is an advisor to several other real estate, design, and construction organizations.

Luke McKneally
AIA, LEED AP, Senior Project Manager, Solar Design Associates

Luke is a registered architect at Solar Design Associates, Inc. with 15 years of diverse design experience. A US Green Building Council LEED accredited design professional, he specializes in energy-efficient, environmentally responsive design and the use of renewable energy in buildings. He is involved in all aspects of the firm’s practice including client relations, architectural programming, design and production, project management and LEED certification.

During his first decade of practice, Luke became increasingly involved in sustainability and environmental issues and took a sabbatical to expand his knowledge of living systems. He earned his Masters degree in Biology from Harvard, performing his graduate research at the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Laboratories while also providing weekly presentations at Boston’s Museum of Science to broaden public understanding and appreciation of science.

Luke is currently focused on Solar Design Associates’ “Beyond LEED” program to create ultra-efficient buildings powered by integrated renewable energy systems to achieve carbon neutrality, and require little to no fossil fuels.

Bart Molloy
Managing Director, Monument Group

Mr. Molloy joined Monument Group in January 2002. Prior to joining Monument Group he worked at the Audax Group as part of the deal team responsible for investing the firm’s first Private Equity fund. Previously Mr. Molloy was at Commonfund Capital where he evaluated both domestic and international private equity and venture capital partnerships. He began his career at Merrill Lynch in the firm’s Oil and Gas Investment Banking Group. Mr. Molloy has a B.A. in Economics from Amherst College magna cum laude and a M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University where he was a Keller Scholar.

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Rich Monopoli
Senior Project Manager, Boston Properties

Mr. Richard T. Monopoli is a Senior Project Manager in the Development Group of Boston Properties.

Mr. Monopoli has redeveloped approximately 800,000 SF of office space in the Boston suburbs and delivered 77 CityPoint, a 209,000 SF, six story, Class A office building, and the suburb’s first LEED Gold speculative office project. He is currently planning and permitting the next phase of CityPoint, a 1,500,000 square foot mixed-use development in Waltham, MA.

Prior to joining Boston Properties in 2005, Mr. Monopoli worked as a Vice President of Acquisitions for LaSalle Investment Management. Mr. Monopoli also spent five years as a consulting structural engineer with Simpson Gumpertz & Heger.

Mr. Monopoli received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1993, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Irvine in 1994, and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management in 2002.

Mr. Monopoli is a registered Professional Engineer in Massachusetts and California and is a CFA Charterholder.

Kenneth Munkacy
Senior Managing Director, GID International Group

Mr. Munkacy is the Senior Managing Director of GID International Group, an affiliate of GID Investment Advisers LLC.  Mr. Munkacy is responsible for setting the strategic vision for GID’s international real estate investment activities including formulating, implementing and guiding GID’s investment strategy in emerging markets.  Prior to joining GID he served as Managing Director/Asia at Starwood Capitol Group (Tokyo), Senior Managing Director of GE Capital Golub Europe (Prague), and Managing Director at TrizecHahn Asia Pacific (Hong Kong); he also served as Chief Operating Officer of the New Boston Fund based in Boston.

Mr. Munkacy graduated with a BA in Economics-Government from Franklin and Marshall College and earned his Masters of City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in real estate development/finance at Wharton School of Business.

Clint Myers
Debt Strategist, Property & Portfolio Research

Clint Myers, Debt Strategist, is a member of the PPR Debt and Risk Management Team and monitors trends in both U.S. real estate and the overall capital markets. In this capacity, he writes and speaks extensively on the valuation of the various investment asset classes as they pertain to real estate investors. These clients include commercial and investment banks, public and private pension funds, pension fund advisors, real estate developers, foundations, and REITs. During his time at PPR, Clint has been quoted in a number of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, National Real Estate Investor, and Mortgage Banking. Previously, he worked as an Investment Analyst at the pension fund TIAA-CREF on their fixed income portfolio.

Clint has earned the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation and is a member of REFA. He received a B.A. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.S. in Finance from Boston College.

Arndt Nicklisch
Director of Acquisitions, Colony Realty Partners

Mr. Nicklisch, Director - Acquisitions for Colony Realty Partners, LLC, is responsible for sourcing, underwriting transactions, and execution of acquisitions on behalf of the Manager.

Prior to joining the Manager in 2006, Mr. Nicklisch was a Project Manager in the development group at Boston Properties. In this role he was responsible for development and acquisition projects primarily in the Greater Boston area. Prior to that Mr. Nicklisch was a Senior Associate in acquisitions at Transwestern Investment Company in Chicago and a Assistant Project Manager at Bovis Lend Lease in New York.

Mr. Nicklisch holds an engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Real Estate Finance Association.

Meredith Oppenheim
Senior Vice President, Savills

Ms. Oppenheim is a senior housing specialist and a Senior Vice President with Savills, a pre-eminent real estate services company with 200 offices worldwide. Ms. Oppenheim joined the New York City investment banking office in June 2007 to launch and lead the senior housing practice and is responsible for originating and executing transactions including financings, re-capitalizations, dispositions and joint ventures. Ms. Oppenheim brings senior housing experience that spans the globe, extends across all products, and covers the full life cycle of a deal through from pre-development through disposition. Ms. Oppenheim has worked for leading senior housing owner/operators and developers, including Marriott Senior Living, Sunrise Senior Living and K. Hovnanian. Prior to joining Savills, Ms. Oppenheim ran Oppenheim Real Estate Ventures, LLP where she advised major developers, investment banks, private equity firms and hedge funds on senior housing transactions, as well as completed senior housing consulting engagements in Mexico, India and the Philippines. Ms. Oppenheim is a frequent guest speaker on senior housing trends and opportunities. She most recently moderated the Healthcare panel of the Wall Street Journal Investment Real Estate Forum and has been a HBS Real Estate Symposium speaker/moderator in 2007 and 2008. Her affiliations and activities include Urban Land Institute Senior Housing Council, American Senior Housing Association (ASHA) Chairmen's Circle, National Investment Center, Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center and Gerson Lehrman Group Expert Network. Ms. Oppenheim earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School (Class of 2001) and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell University.

Stephen Silveira
Vice President, ML Strategies

Steve Silveira is a Vice President at ML Strategies, LLC where he assists a variety of clients in their interactions with state and local governments.

Steve is also currently involved at the forefront of various planning and transportation issues in Massachusetts. Steve was appointed by Governor Romney in 2004, and reappointed by Governor Patrick in 2006, to Chair the 13 member Transportation Finance Commission (TFC). The TFC was established by an Act of the Legislature to make recommendations on how the Commonwealth can best finance, maintain and expand its transportation system. The TFC developed the $15-19B shortfall number and a series of 28 cost cutting and revenue enhancing recommendations. The findings of the TFC has served as the underpinning of the transportation financing discussions in MA and the recommendations of the TFC continue to act as the cornerstones of the reform proposals currently under consideration by the Legislature. In addition, Steve is a gubernatorial appointee to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the planning agency for the Boston MPO, where he serves on the Executive Committee.

Immediately prior to joining ML Strategies, Steve was at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) for almost nine years. In his capacity as the Deputy Director of Real Estate for the MBTA he helped oversee the process that maximized the MBTA's revenues from the sale and development of their surplus real estate assets. In addition, he led the MBTA’s joint effort with Amtrak to expand the Route 128 Station, a critical link in Amtrak's high-speed rail corridor and the site of several previously failed expansion efforts. The $26 million, 2,700-space garage was the first time the MBTA utilized a design/build procurement process and was the first MBTA parking facility to allow payment through Fastlane transponder technology. Prior to that role Steve served as the MBTA's Assistant Director of Planning where he managed the process under which the MBTA attempted to achieve cost savings through “competitive bidding” with private sector firms to deliver a variety of necessary goods and services.

Throughout the past twenty-five years, Steve has worked on a full and part time basis of a number of statewide political campaigns. Most notably, in the watershed 1990 election, Steve served as the Political Director for the MA Republican Party and in 2002 he developed and managed the Get Out the Vote effort for Governor Romney’s election. Steve also worked for a time in the MA State Senate as a Legislative Aide.

Steve received a B.A. in Politics and Government from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Kathryn Sweeney
Managing Director, GPT Group

Kathryn is responsible for the investment management of GPT’s US Seniors’ Housing Portfolio. This involves the development of asset plans for each of the communities in which GPT has an ownership interest in the New England region of the US as well as overseeing GPT’s investment in the manager of the Portfolio, Benchmark Assisted Living (BAL). Kathryn is based in the BAL Head Office in Boston, USA.

Kathryn has over 11 years of experience in developing and executing senior housing investment strategies. In her most recent role at AEW she was a Portfolio Manager overseeing more than $1 billion of senior living investments in major metropolitan markets in the US. Her prior experience includes the investment management of a $400 million portfolio of senior housing investments located in New England, the Mid Atlantic and the West Coast of the US.

Kathryn serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care Industries (NIC), is a member of New England Women in Real Estate and a graduate of Boston University.

Ronald Vergnolle
Portfolio Manager, Sciens Real Estate Management

Mr. Vergnolle has been involved in real estate development for eleven years and has been the managing member of PHC Communities, LLC since its inception. At PHC he developed and managed over $130 million worth of real estate properties including apartments, condominiums, townhomes and apartment-to-condo conversions in South Carolina and Florida. Previously, Mr. Vergnolle practiced international and transaction law at Baker & Botts LLP in Washington, DC. He graduated with honors from the Citadel with a B.A. in English and he received a joint J.D./L.L.M. in Transnational and Comparative Law from Duke University School of Law.