The 2015-2016 NAIOP Arizona Developing Leaders Mentor Program protégés have been announced, and the 12 young professionals come from all corners of the Valley’s commercial real estate industry.
Each protégé was selected to participate in the year-long program in which they will attend educational seminars and complete a full scale development project by the end of their year. The first educational seminar is Wednesday.
The new class is Billy Cundiff, an Arizona State University MRED student; David Dickson, Wentworth Property Company; Greg Barrett, Colliers International; Kate Perrin, Beal Derkenne Construction; Leo Sanchez, Fidelity National Title; Martina Stephan, EPS Group; Michael Marsh, Lee & Associates; Sam Dul, Willmeng Construction; Samuel Doncaster, Rose Law Group; Thomas Maynard, GPEC; Tim Colquhoun, National Bank of Arizona; and Jason Ploszaj, RSP Architects.
“Our first educational panel is aimed at educating the protégés on the initial phases of a real estate development transaction, beginning with analyzing a market for potential opportunities and selecting a site to develop,” said Candace Rosauro of Deutsch Architecture Group, Mentorship Program Co-Chair.
Projects from last year’s class ranged from mixed-use, office, retail and multi-family to industrial. Teams presented market analysis statistics, architectural site plans, market studies and marketing plans, construction budgets, and exit strategies to three judges. The team of Derek Buescher (Irgens), Katie Bush (Phoenix Design One), Alex Wentis (CBRE) and Russell Fine (Marcus & Millichap) won for most creative concept and best use of a Priest and Rio Salado site for a mixed-use development.
This year’s mentors include Tony Lydon, JLL; Cathy Thuringer, Trammell Crow Company; Larry Pobuda, Opus Group; James Murphy, Willmeng; Jim Wentworth Jr., Wentworth Property Company; Mike Burke, DMB Associates; Scott Maxwell, Cresa; Alisa Timm, Lincoln Property Company; Barry Gabel and Pat Feeney, CBRE; Megan Creecy-Herman, Liberty Property Trust; and Fred Messner, Phoenix Design One.
The NAIOP Arizona Developing Leaders Mentor Program helps deepen young leaders’ knowledge of the industry and helps develop invaluable relationships with some of the industry’s most successful professionals. 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.
