With more than half of 2017 behind us, it’s time for AZRE’s commercial real estate mid-year market update and forecast, AZRE Forum.

The forum will be held at the Camby, along the Camelback Corridor, on Thursday, Aug. 3 from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased directly online. Three panels at the AZRE Forum will cover the State of the State of commercial real estate, along with the multifamily, retail, office and industrial markets in Arizona.

“Bring some paper and a pen, because we’ll be going over some hot topics you’ll want to remember with our expert panelists,” says David McGlothlin, associate editor of AZRE.

Meet the AZRE Forum panelists and moderators:

Pete Bolton, Pete Bolton Company

Pete Bolton

Bolton will be moderating on this year’s two brokerage panels focusing on multifamily, retail, office and industrial commercial real estate sectors in Arizona. Bolton is a former Army infantry officer who has started two companies and turned around two companies that are still in business. He has been managing director for three major commercial real estate companies.

Chris Camacho, Greater Phoenix Economic Council

Chris Camacho

Camacho will be speaking on the panel focusing on the State of the State. Camacho leads one of the longest standing public private partnerships for economic development across the country. A proven leader with more than 10 years in executive management roles, Camacho was recently appointed to the International Economic Development Council board of directors.

John Carlson, Mark-Taylor

John Carlson

Carlson will be speaking on the panel focusing on Arizona’s multifamily and retail markets. Carlson was appointed president of Mark-Taylor last September, after climbing the ranks of Mark-Taylor Residential since he joined in 2002. He was promoted to asset manager in 2005 and then vice president in 2010. Now as president, his core responsibilities include oversight of operations, strategy, execution and growth of Mark-Taylor Residential.

Dave Cheatham, Velocity

Dave Cheatham

Cheatham will be speaking on the panel focusing on Arizona’s multifamily and retail markets. Co-founder and President of Velocity Retail Group, a full-service commercial brokerage company focused on the needs of retail tenants and owners. For more than 30 years, he has provided strategy for corporate real estate executives for national retailers. He is considered an authority in providing leasing, development and consulting services for shopping center owners. During his career he has been involved in opening well over 1,000 stores.

Andrew Cheney, Lee & Associates

Andrew Cheney

Cheney will be speaking on the panel focusing on Arizona’s office and industrial markets. He is a commercial real estate broker who specializes in office sales and leasing. Cheney is a second-generation Arizonan, and had a four-year career on the ATP professional tennis circuit that took him around the globe. Cheney works on many well-known office assets around the Valley, such as the iconic Renaissance Square office towers in Downtown Phoenix.

Dennis Desmond, JLL

Dennis Desmond

Desmond will be speaking on the panel focusing on Arizona’s industrial and office markets. Desmond has two distinct roles: leading his own successful investment sales practice within the Phoenix Capital Markets Group and directing the growth of the Phoenix office as a whole. It’s a process that has transformed the team into an award-winning brokerage group providing office, industrial and retail tenant and landlord representation, multifamily investment services, property management services and construction services.

Grady Gammage, Gammage & Burnham

Grady Gammage, Jr.

Gammage will be moderating on the final panel focusing on the State of the State. Gammage grew up on the ASU campus in the 1950s. After graduating from Stanford, he came home and started practicing law in the mid 1970s. With two partners, he founded Gammage & Burnham in 1983. Gammage practices in the areas of zoning, land use and real estate. He is also a senior fellow at ASU’s Morrison Institute and the Kyl Center for Water Policy. His work there focuses on urban growth and development, quality of life and local economic issues. He also teaches at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and at the W.P. Carey School of Business.

Don Garner, Alliance Bank of Arizona

Don Garner

Garner will be speaking on the panel focusing on the State of the State. Prior to becoming CEO, Garner was executive vice president and statewide real estate manager for Alliance Bank of Arizona’s commercial real estate group. Garner has more than 27 years of experience in commercial and residential lending in Arizona and has been with Alliance Bank since its inception in 2003. He is an active member of both the Phoenix and Tucson business communities. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association. Prior to relocating to Phoenix in 2005, Garner resided in Tucson for 15 years. He is the Past President of the Tucson Conquistadores and former Chairman of La Paloma Family Services in Tucson. He is also a member of the National Association of Industrial & Office Properties (NAIOP) and the Urban Land Institute.

Beth Harmon-Vaughan, Gensler

Beth Harmon-Vaughan

Harmon-Vaughan will be speaking on the panel focusing on State of the State. Harmon-Vaughan brings more than 30 years of experience to her role at Gensler Phoenix. A recognized leader in design, she is sought after for her synthesis of practice, research, education and public service. Active in the local community, she serves on the Taliesin West Board of Stewards, holds Fellowship status in the International Interior Design Association and is an adjunct professor at ASU.

Brent Herrington, DMB

Brent Herrington

Herrington will be speaking on the panel focusing on the State of the State. Herrington provides strategic leadership for the DMB organization and oversees all aspects of the company’s operations. He joined DMB in 1998 and has been actively involved in the visioning and strategy of many of the company’s major projects since that time. Prior to joining DMB he served as town manager for Celebration, Florida, a 5,000-acre planned community developed by the Walt Disney Company.

Scott Maxwell, Cresa

Scott Maxwell

Maxwell will be speaking on the panel focusing on Arizona’s office and industrial markets. Maxwell has over twenty-five years of commercial real estate experience, working on project financing, troubled asset restructuring and the brokerage of office, industrial and retail properties. As a commercial lender, Maxwell maintained oversight of $2 billion in loans and generated more than $500 million in international resort transactions.

Bob Mulhern, Colliers International

Bob Mulhern

Mulhern will be speaking on the panel focusing on Arizona’s multifamily and retail markets. Mulhern currently manages the brokerage operations of two offices located in Phoenix and Scottsdale, he’s responsible for managing more than 10 million square feet of commercial inventory. Not only is Mulhern a commercial real estate industry leader, but he’s also a co-founder of the charter school system, Great Hearts Academies.

Jackie Orcutt, CBRE

Jackie Orcutt

Orcutt will be speaking on the panel focusing on Arizona’s office and industrial markets. Orcutt joined the CBRE’s Phoenix​ office in 2016. Orcutt started with Cushman & Wakefield in 2011. In her five years with the company, she completed more than 11 million square feet of transactions valued at over $510 million dollars. In addition to her consistent presence at the top of local production lists, at C&W’s most recent national industrial conference, she was named the firm’s Rising Star. Prior to her role at C&W, she began her real estate career at CBRE in 2007.

Mark Stratz, Cushman & Wakefield

Mart Stratz

Stratz will be speaking on the panel focusing on Arizona’s office and industrial markets. Stratz has been working in the commercial real estate industry for 17 years, having worked as a broker in both Seattle and Phoenix. Currently, he is focused on infill urban land sales, building sales, joint ventures and full reposition of historic and obsolete office buildings. He is the co-founder and co-creator of the FlagHi and FlagHi Pro Apps, which calculates golf shot carry distances, taking in to account both temperature, elevation and humidity.

Sandra Watson, Arizona Commerce Authority

Sandra Watson

Watson will be speaking on the panel focusing on the State of the State. Watson brings more than 20 years of economic development leadership experience. She and her teams have attracted hundreds of companies to Arizona that have invested billions of dollars in capital and created more than 75,000 quality jobs for the state.

About 300 people were in attendance last year to listen in on a breakdown of the state of the commercial real estate industry in Arizona and how the brokerage markets were performing.

2016 AZRE Forum Photos:

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