JLL Reconnect

2020

James Cook
Americas Director of Retail Research, JLL

James Cook focuses on building knowledge of the ever-changing retail real estate industry to help you stay ahead of the next phase of retailing. To do this, he focuses on the development and implementation of research strategy, methodology, platform deliverables and broad sector analyses for retail property markets in the Americas. With this intelligence, he produces industry-leading research and insightful thought leadership that you’ll enjoy and appreciate. He also hosts the Where We Buy podcast, discussing retail and real estate, featuring conversations with fascinating people, original research and audio tours of unique retail places.

Jay Norris
CEO, Guesst Software

Jay Norris, CEO of Guesst Software - The Technology Platform that Powers New Retail, has over 15 years in developing experiential marketing concepts. Jay started in the music industry developing multi-city tours and venues for top recording artists for Clive Davis’ Arista Record and others. In 1997, Jay started Tastemakers Media, which published a cutting edge magazine throughout the US featuring the best retail & lifestyle offerings domestically and abroad. In 2005, Jay brought his expertise in lifestyle and experiential marketing to the commercial real estate tenant brokerage industry. Jay is a small to medium-size business growth executive at heart, continually looking to maximize resources, build relationships and identify growth opportunities. Jay has been effectuating Retail-Matchmaking in the analog space for a number of years, which has led to the founding of the GUESST® Platform.

Rhonda Diaz
EVP, Retail Advisor

Rhonda is a native to San Francisco Bay and brings a deep understanding of it’s entrepreneurial spirit and early adopter psychographic. Her expertise encompasses urban retail, food and beverage, hospitality and entertainment environments. With foresight into trends and her technology acumen, results through innovative solutions are delivered to her institutional, private equity, and start-up clients. Recent projects include the Golden State Warriors Chase Arena project, Piers 1.5 to 5 on San Francisco’s waterfront, the Historic Pier 70 adaptive re-use project, and City Center Bishop Ranch where a new downtown featuring restaurants, entertainment and retail was created in a mature market of business and residential. She serves on the ULI Entertainment Council, and is active in restaurant industry causes. Rhonda Is a consistent top producer in her field, and honored as such for nearly two decades at Terranomics, Cassidy Turley, and Cushman & Wakefield. She has been recognized as one of San Francisco’s Most Influential Women, inducted to their Forever Influential Hall, served as Chairwomen for the SF Bay Area chapter of the Woman's Integrative Network, Honored by SF Registry and Bisnow, and a recipient of numerous real estate and restaurant deal of the year awards. As a frequent speaker and panelist, she is a thought leader and regularly featured in the Allen Matkins | UCLA Anderson Forecast.

Josh Broehl
Senior Vice President, Group Account Director, Big Red Rooster, a JLL Company

Josh is a dynamic inventor with a keen ability to innovate and grow businesses. With over 23 years of experience consulting with retailers, manufacturers, and service providers, Josh has exhibited a strong desire to collaborate with clients, helping them develop creative solutions that lead to market success.

Elizabeth Blau
Founder and CEO, Blau & Associates

With an impressive career spanning nearly three decades, James Beard Award Nominee Elizabeth Blau is the founder and CEO of restaurant development company Blau + Associates, and is widely credited with transforming Las Vegas into the world-class culinary destination it is today. Blau first revolutionized the food and beverage operations at the Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas, before parlaying her extensive experience in the restaurant industry to found Blau + Associates, a firm dedicated to creating world-class hospitality experiences with an impressive client list. Blau went on to open a series of successful restaurants across Las Vegas including Society Café, Honey Salt, Buddy V’s Ristorante, and Andiron Steak & Sea. She has appeared as a judge on Food Network’s Iron Chef America, is an annual judge for Hotel Magazine’s best restaurants, and has been featured on the Travel Channel and the Martha Stewart Show. She was one of three investors on the third season of CNBC’s Restaurant Startup and is a member of OpenTable’s advisory board. Blau has delivered addresses at storied venues such as the Culinary Institute of America, Cornell University, and the Ecole Hoteliere in Lausanne, Switzerland, and is a member of the James Beard Foundation and Women Chef’s and Restaurateurs (WCR). Blau passionately supports local organizations by serving as the Culinary Council Chair for Communities in Schools and Three Square, a trustee for the Culinary Institute of America, and on the Global Advisory Board at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Charles Phan
Founder, The Slanted Door Group

Charles Phan is the inventor of modern Vietnamese cuisine in America and Executive Chef and Owner of the Slanted Door family of restaurants. A former architecture student at UC Berkeley (and a one-time software salesman), Phan opened his first restaurant, The Slanted Door, on Valencia Street in San Francisco’s Mission District in 1995. The restaurant relocated from its original space to its current location in the historic Ferry Building in 2004. Phan’s other restaurants are: Out the Door/OTD, The Coachman, Hard Water, South at SFJAZZ, and Green Cap Catering. All are located in San Francisco, California. In 2004, Phan won the James Beard Foundation award for “Best Chef: California.” The Slanted Door was also nominated in the “Outstanding Restaurant” category in 2008, 2013 and 2014. In 2010 and 2011, Phan was nominated “Outstanding Chef” by the foundation. The Slanted Door won Outstanding Restaurant in 2014. Charles has been featured on Food Network’s Iron Chef America, Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, and Esquire Network’s Knife Fight. In addition to his awards and accolades, Phan is a leader in San Francisco food community and has participated in charitable events including Share Our Strength, Project Open Hands, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Make a Wish Foundation, Meals on Wheels, CUESA, Alex’s Lemonade, One Vietnam, 18 Reasons, Taste of the Nation. Charles’ first cookbook “Vietnamese Home Cooking” published by Ten Speed Press won 2013 IACP Chefs and Restaurants cookbook award. His second cookbook “The Slanted Door: Modern Vietnamese Food” was published in the Fall of 2014.

Chris Weilminster
EVP & Chief Operating Officer, Urban Edge Properties

Mr. Weilminster joined Urban Edge Properties in September 2018 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Urban Edge Properties, Mr. Weilminster enjoyed over twenty-eight years of employment with Federal Realty Investment Trust, most recently as the Trust’s President of the Mixed-Use Division; responsible for directing the overall strategy and day to day operations and leasing of the Trust’s mixed-use portfolio. He was also responsible for identifying hotel and office partners for Federal Realty's mixed-use projects. Mr. Weilminster completed graduate work in Real Estate Development at Johns Hopkins University and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Marketing from Syracuse University. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute and the International Council of Shopping Centers. He has been a guest lecturer for real estate at several universities including Syracuse University, The University of Maryland and the University of Miami. Mr. Weilminster is an Advisory Board member for Neediest Kids, a program of the National Center for Children and Families and a member of the MRED+U Board at the University of Miami.

James Cook
Americas Director of Retail Research, JLL

James Cook focuses on building knowledge of the ever-changing retail real estate industry to help you stay ahead of the next phase of retailing. To do this, he focuses on the development and implementation of research strategy, methodology, platform deliverables and broad sector analyses for retail property markets in the Americas. With this intelligence, he produces industry-leading research and insightful thought leadership that you’ll enjoy and appreciate. He also hosts the Where We Buy podcast, discussing retail and real estate, featuring conversations with fascinating people, original research and audio tours of unique retail places.

Matthew Jones
Founder, Bread Ahead

Matthew Jones knows a thing or two about making great bread. As he should – a champion for English baking – he has been making it for over 25 years and has loved every minute of it! Between 1986 and 1998 he honed his craft working alongside well known names such as Shaun Hill, Simon Hopkinson and John Torode in restaurants including Bibendum, Pont de la Tour, Quaglino’s and finally as Head Pastry and Bakery Chef at Mezzo. In 1999 Matthew opened Flour Power City Bakery in Hoxton. It was a huge success serving over 100 customers daily across London and yet more at their second shop in Kent. Over the following 12 years Flour Power City gained a reputation for excellence, featuring regularly in prestigious food journals as well as on prime time TV. Throughout this time Matthew built a strong and ongoing relationship with Borough Market, Britain’s most renowned food market. Doing what he loves best, baking and selling his bread to an enthusiastic public, Matthew has not only fulfilled this goal by creating Bread Ahead, but has also found a place to teach baking to a new generation of enthusiasts. Integrated into the working bakery, the Bakery School teaches a wide variety of baking and pastry skills to both established bakers with an appetite for genuine traditional baking and an ever-increasing army of young men and women keen to learn the secrets behind our favorite food.

James Cook
Americas Director of Retail Research, JLL

James Cook focuses on building knowledge of the ever-changing retail real estate industry to help you stay ahead of the next phase of retailing. To do this, he focuses on the development and implementation of research strategy, methodology, platform deliverables and broad sector analyses for retail property markets in the Americas. With this intelligence, he produces industry-leading research and insightful thought leadership that you’ll enjoy and appreciate. He also hosts the Where We Buy podcast, discussing retail and real estate, featuring conversations with fascinating people, original research and audio tours of unique retail places.

Rebecca Fitts
Director of Real Estate, Leap, Inc.

Rebecca Fitts is a retail consultant focusing on non-traditional retail real estate strategies, brick and mortar customer experience and omni-channel solutions in the physical space. She’s specializes in pop-up shops, shorter term leases (1,3,5 and 7 years), commuter hubs, airports, retail as a service, co-working spaces and beyond. Her expertise lies in connecting brands to the right spaces at the right time and negotiating leases. A real estate unicorn, if you will, she loves being part of the continuing evolution between landlords and tenants. Rebecca is currently the Director of Real Estate for Leap Inc. Prior to that, Rebecca worked at Warby Parker on their real estate team she was also part of the mall industry for GGP/Brookfield and Westfield (now Uniball-Rodamco) in omni-channel solutions, retail and business development positions helping attract new retailers to the portfolio in the form of pop-up shops, short term leases and experiences.

Greg Maloney
President & CEO, Retail, JLL

As President and CEO, Mr. Maloney oversees all aspects of JLL’s Americas Retail business, which delivers management, leasing, marketing, development, tenant representation and strategic consulting services to clients of the firm. He is responsible for implementing all retail strategies in the Americas and plays a key leadership role in the direction of international retail for JLL. An International Director of the firm, he is Chairman of the JLL Global Retail Board. He is also Chairman of the Americas Retail Board which sets strategy and direction for all aspects related to retail for the firm. Mr. Maloney also heads up the firm’s receivership practice for all asset types, including office, industrial, retail, hotels, land, multifamily, healthcare and seniors housing. He is responsible for overseeing our client service teams as they fulfill receivership responsibilities for our clients. During his 15 years as a receiver, he has acted as receiver for more than 70 properties throughout the U.S. and, in several cases, he was charged with disposition of the assets and successfully directed the property sales.

Naveen Jaggi
President, Retail Advisory Services, JLL

Naveen joined JLL in 2014 and leads retail tenant rep, agency leasing and capital markets business for the United States and Canada. He is responsible for overall strategy, business development and growth of the platform. Naveen is instrumental in driving JLL’s retail business to produce effective best-in-class connections and collaborations. Additionally, Naveen is Chairman of the Global Retail Leasing Board that oversees JLL’s retail cross-border initiatives. With more than 20years of retail real estate experience, Naveen brings a client-focus and familiarity with all aspects of retail in the U.S and abroad. He specializes in multi-market entry strategy, site selection analytics, acquisition underwriting, portfolio optimization and disposition strategy. Prior to joining JLL, Naveen served as Senior Managing Director, Retailer Services at CBRE where he oversaw and managed all tenant representation matters for CBRE’s retail division for the United States, Canada and Mexico. Throughout his career, Naveen has represented a diverse client base from big-box retailers, apparel and lifestyle clients including Walgreens, Ikea, JC Penney, Staples and Dollar General to global corporate service firms, such as Shell Oil Company, Ford Motor Company and AT&T.

Joel Bayer
President, O’Connor Capital Partners

Prior to joining O’Connor in 2011, Joel was with General Growth Properties, Inc. (“GGP”) where he last served as Chief Investment Officer. While with GGP, Joel was instrumental in expediting the successful acquisition of CenterMark Properties, Homart, The Rouse Corporation and various other transactions with a combined dollar value of more than $40 billion. Prior to joining GGP in 1993, Joel held various positions with Equity Financial and Management Company (“Equity”). Among his responsibilities during the five years he was employed by Equity were supervising retail acquisitions for the Zell/Merrill Lynch Opportunity Fund and Equity Properties and Development Company. Joel is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, the Pension Real Estate Association and the Chicago Council on foreign Relations. Joel is a graduate of the University of Illinois (B.S.) and the University of Michigan (M.B.A.).

Norman McLeod
Chief Development Officer, At Home Group Inc.

Norman E. McLeod has served as At Home’s Chief Development Officer since October 2013. Prior to joining At Home, Mr. McLeod most recently served as Vice President of Development and Real Estate for FedEx Office. In this role he was responsible for 1,900 U.S. and international stores, including lease administration, renewals, remodels, relocations and repair/maintenance. Prior to this, Mr. McLeod was with YUM! Brands, Inc., most recently serving as Director of Development. In addition to this role, he also served as National Director of Construction, Franchise Development Director, Market Planning, Director of Special Projects and Equipment, and Development Manager. Prior to these roles, Mr. McLeod served as Director of Construction for Turnkey Construction Company, and as a Staff Engineer and Project Manager for Mobil Oil Corporation. Mr. McLeod received his Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech University.

Amy Filley
Sr. Store Development Manager, Starbucks Coffee Company

Amy has 25 years in the retail and restaurant industries, currently serving as Senior Store Development Manager (Dallas and East Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi) for Starbucks. She previously spent approximately 15 years at Brinker International where she was responsible for building out restaurants including Chili’s, Macaroni Grill and On the Border in the Midwest. Another past role was VP of Development for Maggiano’s Little Italy where she oversaw their expansion throughout the United States and was also the outside broker for Maggiano’s for several years.

Richard Feinberg
VP Real Estate Northeast & Canada, Xponential Fitness

Xponential Fitness is a curator of some of the best brands across many verticals in the fitness space including Pilates, cycling, stretching and rowing. Some of Xponential Fitness’ brand portfolio includes Club Pilates (fastest growing Pilates franchise), CycleBar (first and only indoor cycling franchise), StretchLab (one-on-one personalized stretching services) and Row House (a popular boutique fitness rowing concept). Richard is responsible for the matching of franchisees of their 8 boutique fitness brands with retail real estate brokers in the Xponential network.

Brett Sheets
Senior Vice President, Leasing, VEREIT

Brett Sheets serves as Senior Vice President of Leasing at VEREIT, Inc. In this role, he leads VEREIT’s national leasing team, working alongside its members to attract new tenants and retain existing tenants throughout the company’s growing portfolio. He also works closely with internal departments to help source and analyze new acquisitions and development opportunities while managing VEREIT’s national network of external brokers responsible for marketing current vacancies. During his tenure at the firm, Mr. Sheets has overseen the successful completion of approximately 2,500 lease transactions totaling 8.0 million square feet, maintaining a portfolio occupancy rate of more than 98%. He currently oversees more than 90 brokers located around the country who lease space in VEREIT’s portfolio of more than 2,100 retail properties totaling 34.9 million rentable square feet. Mr. Sheets has created a leasing platform focused on creating a balanced tenant mix across the portfolio while maintaining, enhancing and protecting property NOI. Mr. Sheets has more than 25 years of commercial real estate experience and has executed more than 10 million square feet of lease transactions during his career. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Sheets served as Vice President of Real Estate for Cold Stone Creamery, where he was responsible for executing the company’s nationwide strategic development plan.

James Cook
Americas Director of Retail Research, JLL

James Cook focuses on building knowledge of the ever-changing retail real estate industry to help you stay ahead of the next phase of retailing. To do this, he focuses on the development and implementation of research strategy, methodology, platform deliverables and broad sector analyses for retail property markets in the Americas. With this intelligence, he produces industry-leading research and insightful thought leadership that you’ll enjoy and appreciate. He also hosts the Where We Buy podcast, discussing retail and real estate, featuring conversations with fascinating people, original research and audio tours of unique retail places.

Matt Alexander
Founder, Neighborhood Goods