PHOENIX, ARIZONA (June 25, 2019) – A stellar group of 19 protégés was honored recently as the NAIOP Arizona Developing Leaders Young Professional Group (YPG) Mentor Program hosted graduation for the 2018-2019 class at Citizen Public House.
Mentors and protégés gathered June 10 in Scottsdale for a reception, presentations and dinner. The 19 protégés, grouped into four teams, pitched development proposals on their choice of two sites: Cactus Commerce Center, an industrial development; and Summit Business Park, an office development.
Teams were matched throughout the 9-month program and created a development and business plan for the site. The program culminated with project presentations to equity sources, pitching them to invest in their respective deals.
NITTA Commerce Center took home top honors. The proposal was to take down the site in four phases and develop a combination of industrial, flex space and retail. Future phases incorporated self-storage and cold storage.
Team members included Ryan Donahue, Lovitt-Touche; Mark Esslinger, Colliers, Matt Field, Ryan Companies US; Lauren Fisher, Deutsch Architecture Group; Jake Hanvey, Willmeng Construction; and Aaron Kimberlin, McShane Companies. John Orsak of Lincoln Property Company was mentor of the winning team.
“This program is truly a great opportunity for the participating protégés to gain a better perspective of the various aspects of real estate development,” said mentor Cathy Thuringer of Trammell Crow Company. “I have served as a mentor for the last four years, and continue to be a huge advocate of the program for the valuable insight it provides young professionals into the complicated world of development.”
Additional mentors were Megan Creecy-Herman, Prologis; and Molly Carson, Ryan Companies US. Serving on the Investment Committee (judging panel) were Cooper Fratt, CBRE; Gary Anderson, Cushman & Wakefield; Pat Devine, Artis REIT; and Jeanine Jerkovic, City of Surprise Economic Development.
Program chair was Cullen Mahoney of Trammell Crow Company. Co-chairs were Josh Tracy, Ryan Companies US; and Mollie Zemer, Barclay Group.
“The YPG program is educational, collaborative and offers participants a better understanding of how all the pieces of a development come together,” Zemer said. “We had four great presentations this year, all groups chose industrial for this site and each pitch was unique in its offering.”
The rest of the protégés include Alyssa Altosino, Cushman & Wakefield; Justin Arnitz, Lincoln Property Company; Shane Coppedge, Brycon; Tanner Ferrandi, CBRE; Connor Maloney, Transwestern; Matthew Miceli, Midfirst Bank Juan Montoya, Okland Capital; Michael Mulé, Wells Fargo; Cody Pillsbury, Layton Construction; Nico Rochwalik, JOKAKE Construction; Patrick Schrimsher, Cushman & Wakefield; Massimo Sommacampagna, CIMA Holdings, LLC; and Drew Wenger, FCI Constructors, Inc.
Applications for the 2019-2020 NAIOP YPG Mentor Program will be available in September. All NAIOP members who are age 35 or under qualify to participate in the Developing Leaders program, whether they joined through the DL membership category or as part of a corporate membership.
