Real Estate Outlook and Opportunities

A discussion with CIOs of TerraCap Mgmt., East River Partners and Campus Evolution
Wharton Real Estate Investment group (WREI)

On Thursday, January 29, 2015, you are invited to a special Wharton Real Estate Investment Group (WREI) meeting with Robert Gray, Jody, Kriss and Evan Denner on Real Estate Outlook and Opportunities.

Honored Speakers:
Robert Gray, Managing Partner and CIO, TerraCap Management
Jody Kriss, Co-Founder and CIO, East River Partners (W’97)
Evan Denner, CIO, Campus Evolution
Moderator: Celina Kuoch, Managing Partner, Nexus Hill Capital (W’98)



Robert Gray, Managing Partner and CIO, TerraCap Management:
Mr. Gray has 28 years of institutional commercial real estate experience leading a number of teams at Cantor Fitzgerald, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Citicorp.  Prior as Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Merchant Banking at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co, Mr. Gray was in charge of establishing, capitalizing and acquiring commercial real estate investing and operating companies globally.

Before that, Mr. Gray was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, a $60 billion real estate investment business. As the head of real estate capital markets for the real estate private equity investing business for the Americas, Mr. Gray ran a team responsible for sourcing and executing the capital structure for substantially all real estate investments in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. Mr. Gray was CIO for the Morgan Stanley Mezzanine Partners Fund, a $1.5 billion global debt fund raised in the autumn of 2007, and head of Real Estate Capital Markets for real estate investing throughout Europe from 2002-2007.

In addition, for seven years Mr. Gray developed JP Morgan’s Commercial RE Lending & Securitization Program in the US, Tokyo and London.  Mr. Gray graduated from Columbia Business School with an MBA in finance and from Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Science in engineering.

Jody Kriss, Co-Founder and CIO, East River Partners:
Jody Kriss has been focused on development and financing of real estate in NYC his entire 17-year career. Since founding East River Partners LLC in 2010, he has been focused on the development of eight residential projects in Brooklyn and Manhattan with an aggregate value of over $125 million. Four of those projects have been successfully completed and four more are currently under development. Jody has been instrumental in crafting ERP’s focus on NYC development, applying many years of experience with landmarks, rezonings, assemblages, and many other aspects of adding value to properties.

Before co-founding ERP, Jody Kriss was a partner in the development of a 47-story ground-up hotel development in Manhattan, the assemblage and sale of a 100,000 SF residential development site in Brooklyn and the re-zoning of a 13-acre waterfront property in Queens. Before that, Jody was an Associate at investment banking firm APC Realty Advisors, where he participated in successfully raising equity and debt capital for several projects including a 100,000 SF loft condo conversion in Tribeca. Jody began his career as an Analyst at the Athena Group where he helped execute the financing and development of 838 Fifth Avenue, a condominium located on Central Park at 65th Street that was the first in NYC to reach $2,000 / SF in sales in 1999.  Mr. Kriss received his Bachelors degree in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1997.

Evan Denner, CIO, Campus Evolution:
Evan serves as Chief Executive Officer of Campus Evolution, LLC, and as Chief Investment Officer of Campus Evolution Villages, LLC. Evan Denner is co-founder and principal of Lauderhill Partners, LLC.  Evan has extensive experience leading both public and private companies during periods of major change including high growth, movement to public company status, downsizing and reorganizations. He also has experience acquiring, integrating and repositioning operating businesses.

Prior, Evan was a Senior Managing Director and CIO of Merchant Banking at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., where he successfully completed the acquisitions of Mint Equities, the US business of Newmark Knight Frank, and Grubb and Ellis, and launched Resolution Asset Mgmt.  Before that, Evan was the Deputy CIO of Hypo Real Estate Capital Corporation (HRECC), a subsidiary of Hypo Real Estate Group (DAX:HRX). Under his management, the company originated over $23 Billion of loans and grew from $2 Billion of assets to $14 Billion and increased revenue from $80 Million to over $250 Million.  Evan also acted as the architect behind the creation of Quadra Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:QRR), a REIT that listed on NYSE in 2007.

Prior to joining HRECC in 2004, Evan was a Director at Merrill Lynch Capital Corp. where he launched the firm’s national real estate healthcare lending practice in the New York, Chicago and Washington, DC offices. Prior, Evan was a Director in the Principal Finance Group at UBS. Evan was also a founding member of the commercial real estate group at Daiwa Securities America, Inc.  Evan has a MS in Real Estate Finance and Development from Columbia University and a BBA in Marketing from Hofstra University.

 
When:
Thursday, January 29, 2015
6:00pm-6:30 pm (Networking)
6:30pm-7:30 pm (Panel Discussion)
7:30pm-8:00 pm (Q&A)

Where:
Midtown Location (Note: Address will be sent via email to all registered guests 24-48 hours prior to the event to the "Primary Email" address listed in your profile. Please review your profile to confirm that the email address listed is correct.)

Cost:
WCNY Supporting Members - $20.00 (WCNY supporting membership costs $95/yr at Join/Renew Membership)
Silver, Gold & Benefactor Members - $0
Other Wharton Alumni/Guests - $40.00

Refreshments will be provided.

Click here to register


 
Due to building security requirements, you must pre-register for this event.  Walk-ins cannot be accepted.
Registration will close on Wednesday, January 28 at 3:30 PM
- No Exceptions! 



Wharton Real Estate Investment group (WREI)
WREI is community of Wharton alumni who are engaged in real estate commercial investment. Through educational seminars, breakfasts with industry leaders and special events, WREI provides members with a forum for visibility and exchange, spotlights the accomplishments of Wharton alumni in the real estate industry and further knowledge accumulation of real estate investment.

Have Questions and/or Suggestions? Ask WREI Officers:
Celina Kuoch  |  Chair (W'98)
Nick Petkoff   | Vice Chair (WG'02)
Eric Bashford | Vice Chair (WG'88)
Email us at: wrei@whartonny.com