REDA speaker series to feature area's top land developers

Some of Texas’ top land development professionals will discuss their career experiences at this fall’s Texas A&M Real Estate Development Association Speaker Series.

The lectures will take place 7 p.m. in the Wright Gallery, located in building A of the Langford Architecture Center.

Oct. 6 — Dan Leverett lecture
Vice president of the commercial division
The Woodlands Development Company

Leverett has profit and loss responsibility for all of the company’s commercial operations in The Woodlands, Texas, including asset monetization, land sales and acquisitions, leasing and property management, financial analysis, land planning and architectural design. He is also developing new urban mixed-use office, retail, condominium, hotel and multi-family projects.

Leverett previously worked for three Exxon Corporation subsidiaries: Exxon USA, where he managed Exxon's office and industrial portfolio in the U.S., Canada and Central America; Friendswood Development, where he marketed and developed commercial office and retail properties; and with Exxon Chemical as a financial manager.

He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1980 and a Master of Business Administration degree in finance in 1988 from Texas A&M.

Oct. 27 — Don Janssen Lecture
Senior vice president, Planned Community Developers Ltd

Janssen led the company’s development of Sugar Land Town Square, a mixed-use project that includes city hall, mid-rise and high-rise condominiums, 566,000 square feet of office space and 238,000 square feet of main street-style retail.

Responsible for his company’s commercial land sales, ground leases and office leasing, Janssen also led the completion and sale of the160,000-square-foot Kingwood Commons Shopping Center, the delivery and sale of the first phase of River’s Edge, a 930-lot development in Richmond, Texas and the acquisition of Lake Pointe, a 190-acre property in Sugar Land, for a $250 million mixed-use project.

Nov. 10 — A.J. Reese Lecture
Controller, CPA, Oldham Goodwin Group

Reese has more than 10 years experience working for Fortune 200 real estate and accounting companies in Texas, Washington and California and oversees the accounting, finance and treasury processes for all segments of his company.

A certified public accountant and a licensed real estate broker in California, Reese earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Master in Business Administration degree from the University of California, Riverside.

Sept. 22, Internship Roundtable

MSLD students will discuss their summer 2011 internship experiences in a panel discussion moderated by fellow student Quincy Crow. The students interned at Browne & Associates, Hardin Construction, Magi Real Estate, Trammel Crow and in Chicago doing land value research surrounding Millennium Park.

The lecture series began with a Sept. 1 lecture featuring Fred Balda , president of Hillwood Communities, a Dallas-based outfit that develops master-planned communities, and Master of Science in Land Development alumna Lisa Chahin ’95, vice-president of Hillwood Residential, which develops properties in the Houston area.

For more information, contact Master of Science in Land Development program coordinator Geoffrey Booth, gbooth@arch.tamu.edu or 979.845.7883.