• Alum Joseph A. "Trey" Hollingsworth is "debunking the theory that youth is wasted on the young," writes business editor Bill Brewer of the Knoxville News Sentinel. His article continues:
  
  "[Trey's] Hollingsworth Capital Partners' inclusion on Inc. magazine's latest list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies defies convention on several age levels. Let's count the ways:
  
  
  • Hollingsworth has only been out of college four years.
  • The firm is only four years old. And he is only 24 years old.
  • His real estate investment company acquires large distribution warehouses, a risky proposition in today's economic climate usually reserved for grizzled veterans.
  • The company's revenue increased 7,256.4 percent from 2004-2007, a rather energetic spike. And 2008 has been a better year than 2007.
  
  How does a seemingly recession-proof company go virtually unnoticed locally yet reach No. 12 on a widely followed list of successful businesses?
  
  The managing partner has liked toiling in relative anonymity. But exposure from Inc. is appealing to the boyish-looking wunderkind with a knack for finding affordable industrial sites.
  
  "We've been extremely fortunate in this market. Real estate has become almost a dirty word," Hollingsworth said.
  
  Real estate may be a tarnished term to many investors now, but it's golden for Hollingsworth Capital Partners, with nine workers, 8.7 million square feet of owned space in its portfolio, and annual revenue of $32.7 million. "For every billion dollars of real estate we look at, we only buy about $50 million in assets," the graduate of Penn's Wharton School of Business said.
  
  Hollingsworth Capital Partners' 12th-place rank was well ahead of the next Tennessee contender, 57th-ranked LeGacy Resource Corp. of Brentwood. Trucking technology company IdleAire, which holds 299th place but declared bankruptcy in May is included. IdleAire's assets have been sold through bankruptcy court for $26 million. Some 16 other local businesses are on Inc's expanded list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies—not a bad showing for the area.
  
  Hollingsworth said he submitted an Inc. survey and audited financial statements to verify revenue growth. While surprised by the ranking, the list to him is recognition for owning 27 distribution centers in 22 states.
  
  Hollingsworth, the son of Clinton-based developer Joe Hollingsworth, said he's working six days a week scouring the country for industrial warehouses to buy. He also works at making his age an asset, not a liability. Inc. remarked: "At 24 years old, (Hollingsworth) is significantly younger than most people in the industry holding the same position."
  
  Given his age, he has ample time to accomplish his mission-conquer his niche in the world. "Our ostensible goal is to become the largest owner of distribution real estate in the world," he said. So far, his youth hasn't hurt his ability to get deals done. Maybe he's out to prove that maturity is wasted on the mature.
  
  
• 
  Janice Dornbush
  Janice Dornbush, MBA '08, has just joined HRJ Capital in Highland Park, Illinois as an associate. You can contact Jan at jan@hrjcapital.com.
  
  
• David M. Belford, MBA '06, is now with Colony Capital in New York, working in both the Real Estate Private Equity Fund (Fund VIII, $4.0B) and the Distressed Credit Fund (approx. $1.0B) looking at global acquisitions in all asset types related to real estate. You can reach David at dbelford@colonyinc.com.
  
  
• David D. Foster, Law 2005, has become the project director for the Greater Camden Partnership, following "a wonderful experience as an attorney in the real estate department at Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll in Philadelphia." The mission of the Greater Camden Partnership is to bring together institutions and leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors to plan and execute innovative redevelopment solutions in the city of Camden, N.J. "There has been a great deal of progress in the city over the past few years," says David, "but there is much work still to be done. I look forward to the challenges ahead and hope to have the opportunity to work with many of you in furthering this mission." You can reach David at the Greater Camden Partnership, 856-963-0144, or DFoster@greatercamden.org.
  
  
• 
  Ephram L. Lustgarten
  Ephram L. Lustgarten, MBA '06, writes that he recently left Credit Suisse Real Estate to join the Starwood Capital Group, a real estate private equity firm in Greenwich, Conn. (and a member of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center). "My group at Credit Suisse actually financed several of Starwood's acquisitions, and it's interesting to see things from the other side," writes Ephram. "Please do keep in touch--I've been completely immersed with lots of travel. In the almost three months that I've now been at Starwood I've seen the home office only a few times. It seems that this market has created a lot of opportunity out there--and Starwood so far has been a great learning experience. My personal contact info remains the same: ephram@lustgarten.com and 917-907-2999 mobile. . . . I am still in the same apartment in NYC and look forward to catching up very soon!" Starwood Capital was founded in 1991 by Barry Sternlicht and has completed more than 200 transactions representing more than $20 billion in assets across all property types including multifamily, office, retail, hotels, real estate development, casinos, industrial, residential and commercial land, mixed use, ski areas, and golf, as well as real estate-related operating companies. For more information on Starwood Capital, go to www.starwoodcapital.com.
  
  
• Joshua D. Morris, MBA '08, and his wife, Anne, re-located after graduation to New York, where he will be working for Davidson Kempner Capital Management, a hedge fund. Josh will be focused on real estate-related investments including distressed debt. You can contact Josh at jmorris@dkpartners.com.
  
  
• Troy Daniel, MBA '08, wrote to say, “After two great years in Philadelphia at Wharton, I've moved back to Texas to join Thackeray Partners, a real estate private equity firm based in Dallas.” Check out Troy's current contact information in our alumni directory [Login Required].
  
  
• 
  Alan C. Arnold, Jr.
  Alan C. Arnold, Jr., MBA '02, vice president of the Lionstone Group in Houston, reports, "I am always pleased to welcome a Wharton Real Estate alum to our private equity investment firm in Houston (an "off the beaten path" location for Whartonites). This year we welcomed two. Both came to us through the Wharton network (who says only the HBS gang hangs together?)." You can contact Alan at aa@lionstonegroup.com.
  
  Joining the Lionstone Group are:
  
  
  • Beth Schwartz, MBA '03, who recently moved to Houston from Washington, D.C., joined the Lionstone Group as an investment manager for urban investments, an investment vehicle focused on value-add investments in custom-defined urban cores. She's working on office, retail, multifamily, and industrial properties throughout the United States.
    
    
  • Jason Presley, MBA '08, returned to Houston where he formerly worked for CBRE Corporate Services. Jason joined the Lionstone Group as an Investment manager for cash flow office, an investment vehicle with CalSTERS and Oregon focused on niche office buildings in permanent locations.
  
  
• Daniel M. Kline, BS '06, has joined Morgan Properties of King of Prussia, Pa. His role at Morgan will include asset management and acquisitions in their multifamily investment business, as well as assisting Morgan in its continuing acquisitions of other property types outside of its core business. Established in 1985 by Mitchell L. Morgan, Morgan Properties is a real estate investment, development and management company. Morgan Properties owns and manages 131 apartment communities with more than 30,000 apartment homes in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia and Nebraska.
  
  Mitch Morgan is a Research Sponsor of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center and was Dan's career mentor while Dan was at Wharton. Dan was the Undergrad Real Estate Club president and also received a SIOR scholarship while at Wharton. You can contact Dan at dkline@morgan-properties.com.
  
  
• Michael Crimmins, MBA 2005, after two "very rewarding" years working in development at Boston Properties, joined Gramercy Capital in New York City as vice president, asset management. "It is a very exciting place to work," says Michael, "and a great fit. I often make use of knowledge that I gained directly from Peter Linneman in class, and through my association with Zell/Lurie." To contact Michael, email michael.crimmins@gramercycapitalcorp.com.
  
  
• Bruce Kirsch, MBA 2005, has joined the Washington, D.C. office of The Clarett Group (http://clarettgroup.com), a national developer of office, residential and mixed use urban projects, as an associate, acquisitions and development. To contact Bruce, email: bkirsch@clarett.com.
  
  
• Corrine Packard, MCP 2002, recently joined the Hudson Yards Development Corporation as vice president of development. HYDC (www.hydc.org) is a New York City local development corporation charged with spearheading the implementation of the redevelopment of the Hudson Yards area of Manhattan between roughly 30th Street and 42nd Street, west of 8th Avenue. The redevelopment plan includes the extension of the No.7 Subway Line, the redevelopment of the MTA Railyards, and other residential and commercial development sites. Prior to working at HYDC, Ms. Packard was a vice president of the financial services division of the New York City Economic Development Corp., where she structured City incentives and discretionary capital investments in real estate and economic development projects throughout the five boroughs. Ms. Packard began her real estate career at Capital Trust, a publically traded REIT chaired by Samuel Zell. To contact Corrine, email cpackard@hydc.org.
  
  
• Kara Hughley, SAS '08, will travel to Bulgaria this summer as a development associate intern with Federal Development of Washington, D.C. You can contact Kara at karah@wharton.upenn.edu or 202-270-0149.
  
  
• Bill Marsh, MBA '03, joined the Miller-Valentine Group as a senior developer. Bill has opened an Atlanta office for the company, where he will be responsible for sourcing and managing real estate development projects (primarily multifamily and mixed-use) around metro Atlanta and other Southeastern U.S. markets. Bill is on the lookout for good multifamily development sites. Contact him at 404-303-8700 or bill.marsh@mvg.com.
  
  
• James E. Yoakum, BSE '07, has taken a position as an analyst with Llenrock Group, a boutique commercial real estate investment banking firm in Philadelphia. You can contact him at (215) 483-1644, jyoakum@llenrock.com.
  
  
• Ben Haefele, BS '02, has joined the newly formed New York office of Lone Star Funds as Manager, Real Estate Investments. Contact Ben at (212) 849-9677 or bhaefele@lonestarfunds.com.
  
  
• Greg Belew, MBA '01, has just been named one of the Top 20 Rising Stars of Real Estate by Institutional Investor News. This yea's Rising Stars were announced in http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ii/20rs-realestate08/ and were selected based on expertise, dedication and consistency in the commercial real estate industry, demonstrating that they will be the trendsetters of the future and will impact the market for years to come. Belew and additional honorees will be recognized Real Estate Finance & Investment's EPIC Awards on June 5 at The Ritz-Carlton Battery Park in New York City. Belew is the co-founder of Fifth Square Partners, known for producing outstanding design-oriented adaptive re-use and urban infill developments. His firm's recent honors include the 2006 Home Building Industry (HOBI) Award for "Best Infill Community" in Connecticut for their project Laurel Ridge and the 2006 Baltimore Heritage Preservation Project Award for Rombro Condominiums, also named Maryland's Top Residential Project of 2006 by Square Feet, an annual publication of the Daily Record. Fifth Square Partners' latest development, The Steelworks Lofts, is a high-end 88-unit residential conversion in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The firm's portfolio includes more than $150 million in development projects in New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Baltimore and Connecticut. Contact Greg at 212-481-4488 or gbelew@5thsq.com.
  
  
• Joseph Ritchie, MBA '99, chief executive of Brick City Development, was instrumental in arranging some state-funded subsidies to enable Standard Chartered, the international bank with 60,000 employees around the world, to establish an office in Newark, N.J. Officials have signed a 10-year lease to bring about 300 employees from Standard's Manhattan location to Newark's Gateway 2 building. Standard chose Newark over competitive bids in Princeton, Jersey City, White Plains and Utica, underscoring Newark's efforts to market itself as an international city. After many visits to Newark, Ritchie said, Standard officials liked the city's proximity to air and train travel, as well as the city's emerging downtown attractions. Brick City was formed by Newark mayor Cory Booker to help attract and retain business in Newark and spur real estate development.
  
  
• Allison P. Wilson, MBA 2002, has joined BremnerDuke in Philadelphia as vice president, East Region of BremnerDuke Healthcare, East Region/Development. There, she will coordinate activities of project development, and negotiate with representatives of real estate, private enterprise, construction, governmental or regulatory organizations, and community leaders to acquire and develop land to develop medical use facilities. She will be the central point of communication for project relative to proposal, budget, schedule, and leasing matters. Previously, Allison was vice president of Anchor Health Properties, responsible for all phases of development on projects up to 70,000 sq. ft.
  
  
• Ron She, MBA 2001, is a vice president and senior analyst covering the Asia Pacific area for Duff & Phelps Investment Management in Chicago. You may contact him at rongchangshe@yahoo.com.
  
  
• Dean Chen, MBA '07, has settled settled in the Washington D.C. area (Vienna, Va.), working at The JBG Companies, a real estate firm in Chevy Chase, Md., focusing on acquisitions of commercial properties. Email him at netwire88@gmail.com
  
  
• Jefferson Lilly, BS '98 , has recently acquired an 88-space mobile home park in Oklahoma and is raising a fund to acquire similar properties. He is interested in hearing from any alumni with experience or interest in mobile home park investing. Contact him at jefferson_lilly@yahoo.com
  
  
• Brian D. Nichols, MBA '04, has joined the Commercial Real Estate Group at Centerline Capital Group in New York as an assistant vice president, responsible for sourcing real estate financing and investment opportunities nationwide. Email him at bnichols@centerline.com
  
  
• Barron Channer, MBA '04, was recently promoted to vice president of development with The Peebles Corporation. As the firm continues to grow, Barron has assumed responsibility for development activities in the Eastern United States and Caribbean.
  
  
• Josh Lavrinc, Law '02, has recently accepted a position as general counsel and vice president of Landmark Healthcare Facilities LLC, a medical office building developer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisc. "I am excited about joining the leadership of this growing, entrepreneurial business," writes Josh, "and for the opportunity to merge my legal and business training. I thought I would take a minute to thank you for your friendship and support in the past, and encourage you to contact me in the future." His new contact information is: Joshua J. Lavrinc, General Counsel and Vice President, Landmark Healthcare Facilities LLC, 839 North Jefferson Street, Suite 200, Milwaukee, WI 53202; (414) 277.0500; cell: (414) 617.6561; email: jlavrinc@lhf.biz
  

(l-r) Katie, Anna and Nate McOmber
• Nate McOmber, '07, co-president of the MBA Real Estate Club last year, and his wife, Katie, moved to Irvine, California. Nate joined the southern California office of Alliance Residential Company. As a development associate he will work on both urban and garden property deals, mainly in Los Angeles. The McOmbers are expecting their second child, a boy, in December.

• J.P. Marinelli, BS '75, has joined Citi Capital Strategies as managing director and head of the Real Estate Group. Citi Capital Strategies, an investment bank serving closely held and family owned businesses, is a division of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Prior to joining Citi Capital Strategies, J.P. was senior managing director of Horvath Hospitality and Leisure, where he ran the hospitality consulting, financing and advisory practice for the eastern United States. He previously led the real estate banking department of Berenson & Co., was a senior member of the real estate investment banking group and head of the Hospitality Practice for Prudential Securities, and developed the hospitality industry practice for PaineWebber's real estate investment banking group. J.P. spent a number of years in London, first managing the European Finance Desk and later the Equity Capital Markets Group for Lehman Brothers and then for Kidder Peabody/PaineWebber. Contact J.P. at 787 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019 (212) 783-2472; j.peter.marinelli@citi.com
  
  
• Matt Christensen, MBA '97, is working in sustainable investment as executive director of Eurosif, based in Paris. Eurosif is an association of leading investors that seeks to integrate sustainability issues into their investment processes. Eurosif's activities include research, EU lobbying and events centred around equities, debt, private equity and real estate. A sector report on sustainability issues affecting the real estate market will be published in July and may be found here.
  
  
• James Yoakum, a 2007 Wharton graduate with concentrations in Real Estate and Insurance and Risk Management, is starting a company to invest in vacant and deteriorated residential and retail real estate in Philadelphia. James decided to start the company based on his explorations of Philadelphia's neighborhoods where he saw a great need for redevelopment of 'problem properties' that hold back general growth in otherwise stable and desirable neighborhoods. Yoakum Property Investors, LLC has been in operation since January and has already acquired its first properties and begun value-adding rehabilitation work. After rehabilitation is completed the properties will be held as rentals and managed by the company for four to five years. The company will seek to acquire properties in traditionally-undervalued areas of the city that are poised for steady real estate value appreciation, and show improving market fundamentals. The company is currently seeking equity investors and welcomes inquiries to james.yoakum@gmail.com.
  
  

Brian D. Gumberg, Penn Urban Real Estate and Development alum '05, is now an analyst in acquisitions for Vornado Realty Trust of New York. He represented Vornado at the sixth annual Zell-Lurie Real Estate Center Career Fair on Friday, January 19. Gumberg is shown here speaking with finance major David Orowitz, WG08. Students from across the University were welcome at the event.

The Zell/Lurie Center presented its sixth annual Career Fair on Friday, January 19, attracting a record 75 companies and nearly 400 students from across the University, plus more than a few alumni. Here, Amy Costa (left), Human Resources Recruiter with Zell/Lurie Research Sponsor ASB Capital Management of Bethesda, Md., takes a moment from speaking with students, joined by Wharton Real Estate MBA '05 Latasha Edwards, an ASB Associate. Ms. Edwards is also an associate member of the Zell/Lurie Center.

• Tyler Wilkins, MBA '06, joined DTZ Rockwood, a global real estate advisor, in late 2006. Working in their Financial Services Group, he loves being back in New York City.
  
  
• Miriam Serxner MBA '04 has accepted a new position as an associate in transactions with MMA Renewable Ventures, a division of MunieMae (NYSE: MMA). Headquartered in San Francisco, MMA Renewable Ventures makes clean energy cost-competitive for commercial property owners and users. As a member of the solar team, she is working with both property owners and solar developers to structure partnerships and power purchase agreements, providing turn-key financing and predictable energy costs for end users. Miriam says the team is doing some very interesting deals. Please check out their website, and let her know if you would like to know more: Miriam.Serxner@mmarenew.com
  
  
• Michelle Cheng, MBA '04 left real estate in 2005 and started her business coaching company, Brilliance Coaching (www.brilliancecoaching.co.uk). Even though her business is not strictly real estate, Michelle appreciated the real estate professors, classmates and contacts she met, and says she cherished the lessons she learned from them and the time they spent together.
  
  
• Arash Farin, '98, will join the Los Angeles office of Lehman Brothers in early 2007, working with their Sponsors Coverage Group.
  
  
• Louis M. Joos, MBA '05, and his wife, Samantha, welcomed a daughter, Sophia, last March. They're in Jacksonville, Fla., where Louis is vice president of investments with AIMCO, a REIT based in Denver.

Read the MBA Real Estate Club Newsletter [500K PDF]. The newsletter highlights some key real estate events and MBA student-led activities, as well as articles on real estate trends.