Yale Alumni Real Estate Association Conference

“Decision 2016 – Real Estate and ‘Politics’- The State of Affairs of Commercial Real Estate”

The conference, which has convened annually at Yale since 2008, provides alumni, students, and faculty a chance to engage with leading thinkers in real estate—and with one another.  The purpose of the conference is broader than simply “an industry gathering.”  Instead, it is a venue to focus on new ideas and trends shaping a field that has a potential impact on the fabric of our communities.  

The Conference is open to Yale alumni, faculty, students, and administrators.  While priority will be given to members of the Yale community, guests who are sponsored by a member of the Yale community (also attending the conference), will be wait-listed and admitted (in the priority of their registration) based on availability.

Join Yale AREA LinkedIn group
Follow Yale Area on Twitter @YaleAREA and post about the conference using #YaleAREA and @YaleICF

Speakers

• Harry Macklowe

  Chairman, Macklowe Properties
  Keynote Speaker
  

  Harry Macklowe started in real estate in 1960, initially as a commercial leasing broker and then as a property developer and builder. His company combines design, planning, construction, management and accounting with executive-level ownership and operation to provide for absolute responsibility and control over its assets. In 2016, the mission of Macklowe Properties remains unchanged. To secure or create highly profitable real estate investments in apartment housing and office buildings in prime locations in and around midtown Manhattan. So far, these developments have totaled over 13 million square feet, with approximately 3.0 million square feet of office space and well over 3,000 apartment and hotel units. Mr. Macklowe’s contributions to Manhattan’s streetscape range from the Metropolitan Tower on West 57th Street to the redevelopment of 340 Madison Avenue to the iconic Apple glass cube in front of the GM Building. He is presently developing residential condominiums and retail at 432 Park Avenue, 200 East 59th Street and One Wall Street as well as converting 737 Park Avenue and 150 East 72nd Street from rentals to condominiums.

• Thomas Caputo

  President, Equity One
  Panelist
  

  Thomas Caputo has served as President of Equity One since March 2008. He is responsible for acquisitions, dispositions and our investment management program. He was responsible for the company’s leasing, property management and construction platforms from March 2008 until July 2014. Prior to joining Equity One, Mr. Caputo was an Executive Vice President at Kimco Realty Corporation where he headed Kimco’s acquisitions group and was responsible for new investments in excess of $10 billion dollars, including three mergers with public companies (Mid-Atlantic Realty Trust, Price Legacy and Pan Pacific). In addition, he was responsible for Kimco’s portfolio management group which oversees Kimco’s numerous joint ventures with institutional partners (assets under management $14 billion). Previously, he was a principal with RREEF, a pension fund advisor, overseeing nationwide retail acquisitions and dispositions, and was a member of its investment committee.

• J. Weili Cheng

  Executive Director, Association of Yale Alumni (AYA)
  Speaker
  

  J. Weili Cheng is currently the Executive Director of the Yale Alumni Association and in that role, is responsible for overseeing the direction of alumni organizations and programs as well as providing a channel for communication between Yale University and its alumni. She previously was Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. and in that role was responsible for all legal matters relating to the company’s operations worldwide. As a member of Ritz-Carlton’s executive team, she played an active role in shaping the company’s global business strategies and policies. She also chaired the Casino Oversight Committee for the parent company, Marriott International, Inc. Prior to joining Ritz-Carlton, she was Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for Marriott International, Inc., responsible for the company’s legal affairs for international operations in over 65 countries throughout Asia, Europe, Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. She also handled project development work and held a number of other leadership positions at Marriott, including spearheading that company’s China entry strategy. Prior to joining Marriott, Ms. Cheng worked for the United States Department of Justice in the Office of Legal Policy and the Civil Division - Commercial Litigation Branch. Ms. Cheng was named to the Power List by the Lawyers of Color in 2014. She is the recipient of the Women’s Leadership Award of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and the “Stars of the Bar” award from the Women’s Bar Association, Washington, D.C. Ms. Cheng is the youngest recipient of the Yale Medal, Yale University’s highest award for service to Yale.

• Elizabeth Bowie Christoforetti

  Co-Founder, Supernormal
  Speaker
  

  Elizabeth Bowie Christoforetti is design lead and co-founder of Supernormal, a practice that explores the potential of big data for small urban places. Supernormal combines architecture, urban design, and planning, and uses data analysis to make the development of urban spaces more repeatable and rigorous. This requires careful attention to urban types and the constraints of physical development, and makes understanding change over time and over location essential to predicting a place’s success. Elizabeth received a Master in Architecture with Distinction from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where she received the Henry Adams Medal, the school’s highest academic honor. She also holds degrees from Bowdoin College and The Art Institute of Chicago. From 2014-2016, Elizabeth conducted research at the Social Computing Group at the MIT Media Lab, where her work on the use of emerging urban data sources for improved analysis of public life and public space won a Knight Foundation Prototype grant in 2015. She currently serves as Design Critic at Harvard, where she teaches in the Architecture department at the Graduate School of Design. From 2010 to 2015 Elizabeth practiced architecture and urban design at Utile, where her work focused on the design of innovative housing and mixed-use building typologies and progressive planning strategies for their integration into the public realm. Her projects include the ParkingPlus design challenge and the Lawn on D, an award-winning event landscape that engages the principles of informal urbanism for long-term planning efforts. She has also worked for DEGW London (now Strategy Plus with AECOM), Howeler + Yoon, and Office dA. Elizabeth lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

• Todd Fasanella

  Managing Director, Imperial Capital, LLC
  Conference Co-Chair
  

  Mr. Todd Fasanella is a Managing Director in the New York City office of Imperial Capital, LLC, a full-service investment bank, where he heads Real Estate, Lodging & Leisure and Financial Institutions Investment Banking and Structured Finance Capital Markets. Todd Fasanella is CEO of Vacation Ownership Funding Company (VOFCO), which provides portfolio management services for Quorum Federal Credit Union’s investments in vacation ownership consumer loans. Todd has 20 years of experience in investment banking and asset finance capital markets for the real estate, hospitality / leisure and financial services industries. Todd worked in the past at The Prudential Realty Group, Credit Suisse and most recently Barclays Capital. Todd received a B.S. in Economics and Mathematics from The Ohio State University and an MBA in Finance and Strategy from Yale University.

• Kevin Gray

  Lecturer, Yale School of Management & Yale School of Architecture
  Moderator
  

  Kevin D. Gray, FRICS, is Lecturer in the Practice of Real Estate at Yale University and principal of Kevin D Gray Consulting (USA), a real estate advisory firm. He received his M.Arch from the University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from the Yale School of Management. Mr. Gray is a former managing director of real estate investment banking for PricewaterhouseCoopers Securities, and the editor, with John R. White, of Shopping Centers and Other Retail Properties as well as a licensed real estate appraiser and broker, and a registered architect. Recent publications include: “The Marine Etablissement: a New Terrain for Amsterdam” (Yale 2016), with Isaac Kalisvaart. Mr. Gray is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, and a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers. Mr. Gray is on the faculty at both the Yale School of Management and the Yale School of Architecture where he teaches courses on real estate finance and investment and the history of real estate patronage and ownership.

• Thorsten Helbig

  Partner, Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineering
  Panelist
  

  Thorsten Helbig is a partner of Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineering and is Managing Director of the New York office. Thorsten co-founded Knippers Helbig with Jan Knippers in 2001. Thorsten is an engineer with over 25 years of experience designing complex structures and building enclosures with high-profile architects across the world. In the US Thorsten is presently designing a glass and steel gridshell in Los Angeles with Renzo Piano for the Academy of Motion Pictures, among several other ongoing projects. He has successfully completed projects including the Miami Perez Art Museum façade, the gridshell and façade for the Institute of Peace in Washington DC, the Collier Memorial at MIT in Boston, and the new Lincoln Center canopies in New York City. Thorsten appreciates the importance of close interdisciplinary collaboration between architects, engineers, and clients to deliver successful projects. He strives to realize innovative structural solutions based on a deep knowledge of structure, materials, and fabrication technologies.

• Terri Herubin

  Portfolio Manager, Barings Real Estate Advisers
  Panelist
  

  Terri Herubin is a portfolio manager for Barings Real Estate Advisers and is responsible for the Barings Core Property Fund, an open-end core real estate equity fund. Before joining the firm in 2012, Terri led U.S. underwriting of investments for advisory and discretionary clients at The Townsend Group. Prior to that, she was Executive Vice President for Development at the United Group of Companies, and Head of Acquisitions for Equity Real Estate at the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, where she co-managed the Equity Real Estate Portfolio. She also held a position in the General Counsel's office of the NYSTRS, where she oversaw investment activities. Terri holds a B.A. in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. She is a member of W/X New York Women Executives in Real Estate, and on the Advisory Board of MSCI/PREA.

• Sally Jennings

  President, Realty Capital International LLC
  Panelist
  

  Ms. Jennings joined Realty Capital International LLC (RCI) in 2012 and has since become President following in the footsteps of her father and mentor Richard B. Jennings. At RCI she is responsible for raising equity and debt for acquirers and developers of commercial properties nationally and internationally. Ms. Jennings also consults as a member of Real Cap Solutions LLC, an advisory firm of experts specializing in distressed situations, including financial restructuring, loan/asset workouts and renegotiation, bankruptcy, capital raising, transitional management and litigation support. Additionally, she is a board member on Terra Capital Advisors, LLC international fund and an adjunct professor at NYU, teaching a course on real estate family business management. She has a Master of Science in Real Estate Finance from New York University and is a New York State licensed real estate broker. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Boston University in 1999, Ms. Jennings worked for CNN as an anchor, reporter and producer.

• Steve Kieran

  Partner, KieranTimberlake
  Panelist
  

  Stephen Kieran is a partner at KieranTimberlake, a prominent internationally recognized Philadelphia architecture firm established in 1984 and a leader in practice-based architectural research and environmentally innovative buildings. He received a Bachelor of Art from Yale University, a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, 1980-81. Stephen and his partner, James Timberlake, were inaugural recipients of the Benjamin Latrobe Fellowship for architectural design research from the AIA College of Fellows in 2001. KieranTimberlake has received numerous design citations including the 2008 AIA Architecture Firm Award, and the 2010 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture. Kieran has co-authored five books on architecture, including the influential book, refabricating Architecture, and KieranTimberlake: Inquiry, published in 2011. In addition to his architectural practice, he teaches a graduate research studio at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Design, and has held professorships at the University of Washington, Yale University, the University of Michigan, and Princeton University.

• Rob Kochis

  Principal, The Townsend Group
  Panelist
  

  Mr. Kochis is a Principal of The Townsend Group and currently provides investment consulting to institutional investors having real asset investment programs totaling more than $25 billion. Services include strategic and investment planning, structuring programs for multi-asset class portfolios, and identification and selection of managers, pooled funds and individual account investment opportunities in real estate, timber, agriculture, and infrastructure. In addition to domestic pension fund clients, Mr. Kochis advises an overseas private investor in the implementation of a $700 million real estate investment program focusing upon private investment in the United States and Europe. In connection with this program, he helped craft a tax efficient means of repatriating investment income and completed a study recommending allocation methods for an efficient global real estate portfolio. Prior to joining The Townsend Group in 1998, Mr. Kochis was a practicing real estate attorney at a leading regional law firm, where he advised clients on all matters of real estate investment, lending, construction and management as well as dispute resolution. Prior to that, he was an Economic Development Specialist in the Office of the Mayor for the City of Akron, Ohio. Mr. Kochis is an Advisory Board member and contributor to several real estate associations, a member of the PREA Editorial Board, and a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences. He received a BS in Public Policy Management from the University of Akron and a JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

• Francis Lively

  Chief Operating Officer, The LCP Group, L.P.
  Conference Co-Chairs
  

  Mr. Lively is the Chief Operating Officer of The LCP Group, L.P, a private investment firm specializing in hospitality investments. Prior to LCP, Mr. Lively served as Vice President and Counsel to Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW) from 2011- 2013. In his role, Mr. Lively led the restructuring and partial disposition of an approximately $4 billion commercial real estate loan portfolio and structured approximately $1 billion in commercial real estate loan originations. Before LBBW, Mr. Lively practiced law at Shearman & Sterling LLP advising on approximately $7.5 billion in commercial real estate transactions. Mr. Lively has a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, an MBA from Yale School of Management and a BA from Georgetown University.

• Grant McCargo

  Founder & CEO, Bio-Logical Capital
  Panelist
  

  Grant brings more than 30 years of experience in sustainable urban mixed-use development. He is the founder of Urban Villages, Inc., a leading-edge real estate development and investment firm. Urban Villages recently completed as co-developer the UC Davis West Village Project, the largest planned net zero energy community in the United States and the Sugar Cube, an award-winning LEED-certified development in downtown Denver. In his role as CEO of Bio-Logical Capital, Grant establishes the vision and takes the leads in investor and partner relations, policy, and overall operations. He has successfully completed more than $4 billion of transactions and has developed and invested across all real estate asset types. Looking back over the last 100 years, Grant realized development companies are out of balance and making choices that don’t make sense in terms of economics and the environment. He had his ‘ah-ha’ moment in real estate years ago when he realized that long-term investment (designing projects to last for generations and to meet diverse needs) created better value. Grant had a similar ‘ah-ha’ moment about how we steward and live with land while spending time on the board of directors for The Nature Conservancy and that tenure evolved into founding Bio-Logical Capital.

• John McCarthy

  Managing Director, Global Capital Raising, Starwood Capital
  Panelist
  

  John McCarthy is a Managing Director in Starwood Capital Group’s Global Capital Raising and Investor Relations Group. In this role, Mr. McCarthy is responsible for managing and expanding relationships with targeted investors around the world for existing and future Starwood Capital investment initiatives. Mr. McCarthy previously served as Starwood Capital’s Global Head of Asset Management from 2009–2012, during which time he was also a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee. Prior to rejoining Starwood Capital in 2015, Mr. McCarthy was a Senior Portfolio Manager and Deputy Head of Europe for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). In this role, he was responsible for European real estate investing and asset management teams, and served as a member of the organization’s Executive and Global Strategy committees. Before his initial tenure with Starwood Capital. Mr. McCarthy was Global Co-Head of Asset Management for Lehman Brothers Real Estate Private Equity, based in London. Prior to joining Lehman, Mr. McCarthy was a Partner at O’Connor Capital Partners, Co-Head of O’Connor’s European business and Head of European Asset Management. Mr. McCarthy previously worked for 17 years at GE Capital, where he held a variety of positions—including managing the firm’s real estate investing activities across Central Europe and serving as CIO for the Midwest Region in the U.S. Mr. McCarthy received a B.S. degree in finance from the University of Connecticut, and an MBA with a concentration in accounting from Fordham University.

• Lydia Muniz

  Director, U.S. Department of State Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO)
  Panelist
  

  Lydia Muniz was appointed Director of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) in June 2012. Prior to this appointment, she served the organization as Principal Deputy Director. OBO directs the worldwide overseas building program for the Department of State and serves as the real property manager for the U.S. government’s diplomatic properties overseas. Ms. Muniz was previously with New York University (NYU) from 2001 to 2009 where she served in a number of positions, most recently as Associate Vice President in the Office of Strategic International and Business Projects, advising the university on the development of international branch campuses; and Associate Vice President for the Division of Campus Planning, Design and Real Estate, providing leadership for the University in the areas of capital planning, space planning, design and real estate planning, acquisition and sales. Prior federal service includes positions as Deputy Director of the Department of Media Affairs in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH); Special Assistant for Policy in the Office of the Secretary of the Army; Legislative Assistant in the Office of Legislative Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); and Office Manager for the Honorable Leon E. Panetta in the U.S. House of Representatives. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Ms. Muniz also holds a Masters degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs, with a concentration in Economic and Political Development.

• D. Hara Perkins

  Partner, Goulston & Storrs
  Moderator
  

  D. Hara Perkins, a Director with the law firm Goulston & Storrs, negotiates public-private real estate transactions, often financed through tax credits and government subsidy. Hara counsels city agencies, developers and banks on a broad range of economic development and affordable housing transactions, including Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side and the Cornell Tech Campus on Roosevelt Island. She co-chairs Yale AREA and her firm’s Multifamily Housing Group, and serves as Secretary of the Board of Civic Consulting USA and on the Management Committee of ULI NY. She graduated from Yale College.

• Peter Rose

  Rose Associates, Peter Rose + Partners
  Panelist
  

  Peter Rose FAIA FRAIC is a recognized leader in the architectural design profession. Since beginning his practice in 1978, Rose has received numerous awards for residential, institutional, and urban design projects. The scale of his work ranges from large urban interventions – including the Old Port of Montreal Waterfront Master Plan and major cultural institutions, such as the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) and J.B. Speed Museum – to innovative and sustainable residential projects, including the Housing Tower at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, East House, and renovations. All of his projects, from the CCA in Montreal to a secluded boat house on Martha’s Vineyard, are united by his sensitivity to materials, details, and the relationship between the built environment, the landscape, and their inhabitants. In addition to his professional practice, Peter has been intensively engaged in architectural research and education. As Adjunct Professor of Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design from 1991 to 2012, Peter conceptualized and led a wide range of research-intensive studios, developing innovative and sustainable designs for tuberculosis clinics in Ethiopia, a Boston Subway Master Plan, and an Allston Housing Master Plan, among others. Peter has also taught at Princeton University, McGill University, and the University of Toronto, and frequently serves on student design reviews and related symposia. Peter received the Master in Architecture degree and Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University.

• Cherie Santos-Wuest

  Managing Partner, Celadon Venture Advisors, LLC
  Moderator
  

  Ms. Cherie Santos-Wuest is the Managing Partner for Celadon Venture Advisors, LLC, where she advises private equity real estate firms on capital markets, ESG integration and impact investment initiatives. Previously she was Principal Investment Officer in Real Estate for the CT state pension funds, where she managed $2.5 billion in commitments to Real Estate investments. Prior to this, Ms. Santos-Wuest served in various capacities at TIAA-CREF, among these as Director in TIAA’s Global Social and Community Investments group, where she managed the Program’s $580+ million debt and equity RE portfolio and launched the $50 million Green Building Technology Program venture capital fund. In other roles at TIAA, Ms. Santos-Wuest served as a Director in TIAA’s Global Private Markets group, responsible originating over $1.2 billion in large loan investments in various territories across the United States and Canada. Ms. Santos-Wuest has a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Virginia, a Masters of Science in Architecture from Yale University and a Masters of Science in Real Estate Development from MIT.

• Matthias Schuler

  Managing Directors,TRANSSOLAR Energietechnik
  Panelist
  

  Matthias Schuler is one of the managing directors of TRANSSOLAR Energietechnik in Stuttgart. Born 1958 he is educated as a mechanical engineer at University Stuttgart. In 1992 he founded the company TRANSSOLAR Climate Engineering in Stuttgart. TRANSSOLAR’S focus is on new energy saving and comfort optimizing strategies by an integral approach for buildings and urban design. Nowadays - with 50 employees in Stuttgart, Munich, Paris and New York – Matthias Schuler works on national and international projects with architects like Kazuyo Sejima, Frank O. Gehry, Steven Holl, Peter Zumthor and Renzo Piano. Since 2001 teaching as a visiting professor at the Graduated School of Design, Harvard University, he was there Professor in Practice on Environmental Technologies 2008 till 2014. Aside of building projects Matthias Schuler has realized different “cloud” installations applying the knowledge on physics to realize indoor experiencable clouds, like the “Cloudscapes” at the 2010 Venice Biennale, which was realized with a sky ramp in close collaboration with the architect Tetsuo Kondo. In 2016 Transsolar was again invited to join the Biennale in Venice and realized in collaboration with the architect Anja Thierfelder with “Lightscapes” a strong statement for the strength and beauty of local identity.

• Ira Shaw

  Managing Director, Landmark Partners
  Panelist
  

  Ira is a managing director in Landmark’s real estate group. He is responsible for the sourcing, origination, and underwriting of investments in real estate funds and fund portfolios. Prior to joining Landmark in 2008, Ira was an assistant vice president in AEW Capital Management L.P.’s direct investment acquisitions group. At AEW, he acquired in excess of $400 million in real estate properties across a broad range of asset classes and geographies. Ira also served as a director in CIBC World Markets’ asset securitization group where he underwrote intellectual property transactions and other asset-backed financings. Ira received an MBA from Yale University’s School of Management and a BA in philosophy from Haverford College.

• Robert A.M. Stern

  J.M. Hoppin Professor of Architecture, Yale University
  Speaker
  

  Robert A.M. Stern is a practicing architect, teacher, and writer. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and received the AIA New York Chapter’s Medal of Honor in 1984 and the Chapter’s President’s Award in 2001. Mr. Stern was the 2011 Driehaus Prize laureate and in 2008 received the tenth Vincent Scully Prize from the National Building Museum. In 2007, he received both the Athena Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Board of Directors’ Honor from the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art. As founder and Senior Partner of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, he personally directs the design of each of the firm’s projects. Mr. Stern served as Dean of the Yale School of Architecture from 1998 to 2016; he was named J.M. Hoppin Professor of Architecture in 2000. Before returning to Yale, where he received his Master of Architecture degree in 1965, he was Professor of Architecture and Director of the Historic Preservation Program at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University. Mr. Stern served from 1984 to 1988 as the first director of Columbia’s Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture. He has lectured extensively in the United States and abroad on both historical and contemporary topics in architecture. Mr. Stern’s work has been exhibited at numerous galleries and universities and is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Centre Pompidou, the Denver Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1976, 1980, and 1996, he was among the architects selected to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale, and he served as Chair of the International Jury in 2012. In 1986 Mr. Stern hosted “Pride of Place: Building the American Dream,” an eight-part, eight-hour documentary television series aired on the Public Broadcasting System. Mr. Stern served on the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company from 1992 to 2003. Mr. Stern is a graduate of Columbia University (B.A., 1960) and Yale University (M. Architecture, 1965).

• Katie Troutman

  International Realty Specialist, U.S. Department of State
  Moderator
  

  Katie Troutman is an International Realty Specialist with the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO), focusing on real property acquisitions and disposals within a global portfolio. Katie has managed and closed over $330 million in transactions in over 60+ countries. Prior to her tenure at State, Katie worked as a Senior Debt Analyst at Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, in Washington, D.C., arranging debt and equity for commercial real estate deals and managing the debt analytical team. Before joining HFF, Katie worked for Trammell Crow Company. She holds a real estate salesperson’s license in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Katie earned a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture at Yale University, a Master of Science in Real Estate at the Carey School of Business, Johns Hopkins University, and a certificate in Entrepreneurship from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. A native of Columbia, Maryland, Katie is a winter and water sports enthusiast who also enjoys reading, travel, and theonion.com.

• Thomas E. Zacharias

  Chief Operating Officer, W.P. Carey
  Panelist
  

  Tom Zacharias currently serves as Chief Operating Officer at W. P. Carey, a publicly traded REIT that owns and manages a global diversified portfolio of net lease assets with an enterprise value of approximately $11 billion. The company is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Dallas, London and Amsterdam and has approximately 290 people. Tom is also the COO of two non-traded publicly registered REIT’s in the Corporate Property Associates series with another $7.8 billion in primarily net lease assets. Mr. Zacharias was instrumental in setting up Carey Watermark Lodging fund series and is the COO of the two funds with roughly $3.8 billion in full service, resort and limited service hotels. Prior experiences include Senior Vice President of MetroNexus, a Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds Enterprise (2000 – 2002) and Principal of Lend Lease Development US (1998 – 2000), a global investment management and development company. Tom began his career as an investment officer at Corporate Property Investors in 1981, a private equity REIT sponsored by Lazard Frères that acquired and developed large regional shopping centers and was merged into Simon Property Group in 1998 for $5.8 billion. Mr. Zacharias received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and NAREIT and serves on the Board of several non-profit, educational and civic organizations.

Additional Information

• ---

  Conference Agenda

  	Thursday, October 13, 2016
  7:00 p.m.	Welcome Reception at Mory’s  306 York St, New Haven, CT 06511
  	Friday, October 14, 2016 (Day of Conference)
  8:00 a.m.	Registration and Networking/Continental Breakfast
  9:00 a.m.	Welcome and Acknowledgments,  Francis Lively, Chief Operating Officer of The LCP Group, L.P.
  9:05 a.m.	Real Estate 2016 – A Outlook on the State of Affairs of Commercial Real Estate
  	Keynote Speaker, Harry Macklowe, Chairman, Macklowe Properties
  9:35 a.m.	Global Investment Trends: A Survey of Global Investment Fund Managers on the current Economic and Political Realities Impacting Investment Strategies
  	Moderator: Cherie Santos-Wuest, Managing  Partner, Celadon Venture Advisors, LLC
  	Terri Herubin, Portfolio Manager, Barings Real Estate Advisers
  	John McCarthy, Managing Director, Global Capital Raising, Starwood Capital
  	Rob Kochis, Principal, The Townsend Group
  10:15 a.m.	Networking/Coffee Break
  10:45 a.m.	Using Big Data Analysis & Unconventional Data to Transform Urban Development,” a talk by Supernormal
  	Elizabeth Bowie Christoforetti, Co-founder, Supernormal
  11:10 a.m.	“Foreign Policy”: Building the London Embassy – A conversation with Lydia Muniz, Head of Department of State OBO, and Steve Kieran, Architect for the London Embassy
  	Moderator: Katie Troutman, International Realty Specialist , U.S. Department of State
  	Lydia Muniz, Director, U.S. Department of State Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO)
  	Steve Kieran, Partner, KieranTimberlake
  12:00 p.m.	Luncheon
  	New Haven Lawn Club – Introduction Todd Fasanella , Managing Director, Imperial Capital
  	Remarks by J. Weili Cheng, Executive Director, Association of Yale Alumni (AYA)
  1:45 p.m.	Public vs. Private: Is there a best way to invest?
  	Moderator: Kevin Gray, Lecturer, Yale School of Management & Yale School of Architecture
  	Thomas Caputo, President, Equity One
  	Thomas E. Zacharias, Chief Operating Officer, W.P. Carey
  	Ira Shaw, Managing Director, Landmark Partners
  	Sally Jennings, President, Realty Capital International LLC
  2:30 p.m.	Networking Coffee Break
  2:45 p.m.	Disrupting the Construction Industry: Creating Lasting Value in The Built Environment with New Strategies in Energy, Fabrication and Design
  	Moderator: D. Hara Perkins, Partner, Goulston & Storrs
  	Peter Rose, Rose Associates, Peter Rose + Partners
  	Matthias Schuler, Managing Director, TRANSSOLAR Energietechnik
  	Thorsten Helbig, Partner, Knippers Helbig
  	Grant McCargo, Founder & CEO, Biological Capital
  3:30 p.m.	New Yale Residential Colleges – Presentation and Tour hosted by Robert A.M. Stern
  5:00 p.m.	Closing Cocktails,  Yale School of Management Courtyard

One of the biggest current trends in real estate development involves is the creation of office space with collaboration in mind, Harry Macklowe, chairman of Macklowe Properties, told attendees and students in the keynote address at the Alumni Real Estate Association Conference held on October 14 at Yale School of Management Edward P. Evans Hall.

“What you’re starting to see now are buildings and developments that are not simply commercial space with office floors stacked one on top of another; they’re building a sense of community,” through the use of space for collaboration, he said. Many developers are “building an environment that you can see is unconventional to our traditional offices. They’re building places to relax to speak during the day, and to collaborate… What used to be shared office space has now become space for major companies to send their employees…to put them in an environment that is exciting, where there are ideas.”

The conference, titled “Decision 2016—Real Estate and ‘Politics’—The State of Affairs of Commercial Real Estate,” convened Yale alumni in the real estate, architecture, and development industries, as well as Yale SOM students who intend to pursue positions in the sector. Other speakers included Todd Fasanella ’98, managing director of Imperial Capital; Kevin Gray ’85, a real estate consultant and a lecturer at Yale SOM; Robert Stern ARCH ’65, the J.M. Hoppin Professor of Architecture and former dean of the Yale School of Architecture; and Thomas Zacharias ’79, COO of W.P. Carey. The day included panels and discussions on global investment trends, how big data analysis can be used in urban development, forces disrupting the construction industry, and other topics.