Advisory Board
An advisory board consisting of several prominent real estate professionals who have made a financial commitment to the Center guides the Center's activities. The Board also includes the Deans and relevant Directors of the School of Buisiness and College of Urban and Public Affairs.
Advisory Board
Chairperson: Mark Fisher - StanCorp Mortgage Investors
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Bill Barendrick - Bill Naito Company |
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Lew Bowers - Portland Development Commission |
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John Bushnell - Ticor Title Insurance |
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Scott Dawson - PSU School of Business Administration |
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Abe Farkas - ECONorthwest Abe Farkas is the development services director with ECONorthwest. Farkas has nearly three decades of experience in structuring successful public-private partnerships that have improved urban neighborhoods, business districts, and university environments. |
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Mark Fisher - StanCorp Mortgage Investors |
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Fred Gast - Polygon Northwest Company |
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Dave Girt - Moss Adams |
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Ken Griggs - Norris, Beggs & Simpson
Ken holds his real estate license in Oregon and is the Oregon Chapter President of the Counselors of Real Estate. He earned his degree from Oregon State University with an emphasis in Finance and Computer Science. |
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Dan Kavanaugh - Turner Construction Dan Kavanaugh is a Vice President of Turner Construction Company and the General Manager of Turner's Portland office. After nearly a decade in this role, Dan has grown Turner's northwest presence and reputation by guiding the successful completion of numerous landmark projects including, Providence Cancer Center, Salem Hospital Patient Care Tower, Sacred Heart Medical Center, Solarworld SA7 Building, University of Portland's Shiley Hall Renovation and the Portland Timber's Jeld-Wen Field. Additionally, Dan serves as a board member for PSU's Center for Real Estate, OSU's Construction Education Foundation and the AGC's Oregon Chapter. He is a native Portlander and graduate of Oregon State University's Construction Engineering Management program. Beyond the buildings, Dan enjoys spending time at Mt. Hood and the Oregon Coast with his wife Jenifer and their four children, Taylor, Connor, Katie and Kimmy. |
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Bruce Korter - Washington Capital Management, Inc. |
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Scott Langley - Ashforth Pacific, Inc. |
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Keith Leavitt - G.M. Business Development and Properties, Port of Portland
Leavitt has been a board member of Greenlight Greater Portland and is currently a member of the board for the Portland State Center for Real Estate Development. |
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Gerard Mildner, Ph.D. - Associate Professor of Real Estate Finance, PSU Center for Real Estate |
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Connie Ozawa - PSU School of Urban Studies & Planning In addition to serving as the Director of the School of Urban Studies and Planning, Dr. Ozawa co-directs the PSU-China Innovations in Urbanization Program and teaches courses on environmental policy and management, planning theory and practice, and negotiation and dispute resolution. Her research interests focus on the use of scientific and technical information in public decision making, the dynamics of planning practice and public participation, and the dissemination and adoption of sustainable urban practices. She is currently conducting evaluations of community planmaking processes and a state initiated effort to increase interagency coordination of environmental reviews. Dr. Ozawa is author of Recasting Science: Consensus-Based Procedures in Public Policy Making (Westview, 1991), editor of The Portland Edge: Challenges and Successes in Growing Communities, and author of several book chapters and journal articles. |
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Brian Pearce - Unico Properties LLC |
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John Petersen - Melvin Mark Capital Group
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Bryan Powell - Lane Powell PC Bryan Powell is a shareholder at law firm Lane Powell, where he chairs the Real Estate and Land Use Practice Group. He focuses his practice on retail, office and mixed-use development, private/public redevelopment and seniors housing projects. In addition, Bryan has broad experience in real estate finance, secured lending, workouts and loan restructuring, having represented numerous lenders and borrowers over the years. |
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Barbara Radler - Ball Janik LLP
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Larry Remmers - Wells Fargo Bank |
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Gary Reynolds - Perkins & Co |
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Josh Schlesinger - Schlesinger Companies |
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Greg Specht - CEO, Specht Development Inc.
After a short stint playing football for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973, and the Portland Storm in the World Football League in 1974, Greg worked for Pioneer National Title Company (now Ticor Title) in Salem, Oregon. While there he began developing residential duplexes, which eventually led him to leave the firm in 1975, to pursue full-time development activities. Greg is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Jesuit High School, is on the Multomah Athletic Foundation Board, and also serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Real Estate at Portland State University. Greg lives in Southwest Portland with his wife Roxanne, and twins Mathew and Madeline. |
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Robert Stutte - Norris & Stevens, Inc.
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John Wallace - Oregon Association of Realtors
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Dee Walsh - Reach Community Development, Inc.
1990. REACH is a 29-year old nonprofit community development corporation that provides innovative affordable housing solutions for lower income renters and home buyers in the Portland metro area. Under Dee’s leadership, REACH has developed or preserved 1000 units of affordable housing, bringing REACH’s total portfolio to 1400 units. Dee has also conceptualized and implemented programs to revitalize inner-city residential areas and business districts and created programs to build assets for residents of REACH-owned housing. Dee is responsible for the overall management of REACH, which has a staff of 94 and a consolidated annual budget of $11 million. Prior to working with REACH, Ms. Walsh worked for ten years in the field of housing and community development with both public and private firms, including: Pacific Power and the cities of Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis. Ms. Walsh holds a Masters degree in Urban Planning from the University of Washington and a certificate of completion from Harvard University for the Achieving Excellence in Community Development program. Walsh received the Gretchen Miller Kafoury Award for Lifetime Achievement in Community Development (2002), the Fannie Mae Foundation James A. Johnson Fellowship (2005) and Senator Merkley’s “Bending Toward Justice” award (2011). Dee currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Housing Partnership Network and is on the steering committee of the International Housing Exchange Partnership, a peer exchange with social housing organizations in the UK, Canada and Australia. She also sits on the Oregon Opportunity Network Portland Policy Council. She is an adjunct instructor at Portland State University’s School of Urban Studies and Planning. Dee, along with co- author Robert Zdenek, has published three papers on the affordable housing field for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Community Development publication and Shelterforce magazine.
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Mike Wells - CB Richard Ellis
Mike Wells joined CB Richard Ellis in March 2011 as Managing Director for Portland Operations. Mike has long been regarded as a leader in industrial real estate, construction and development over his 25-year career. Mike joins us from CresaPartners where his focus was on advising local, national and international businesses on industrial real estate; both in the Portland area and throughout the country. Before CresaPartners, Mike was a partner at both Wells Otis Development and Panattoni Development Company. In the last ten years, he has developed over 1,800,000 sq. ft. of primarily industrial and office buildings in Portland and Seattle. Prior to development, Mike focused on corporate services and industrial brokerage in Oregon and SW Washington at Cushman & Wakefield. His track record of success, active leadership roles in the business and non-profit communities, and focus on client-centric solutions to business makes him a great leader for CBRE’s Portland office. |
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Steve Wells - Trammell Crow Company |
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Karen Williams - Carroll Community Development LLC |
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Bruce Wood - Foundation Real Estate Development Bruce Wood is the Principal owner of Foundation Real Estate Development, a northwest development company. Prior to starting his own development firm, Mr. Wood served as Managing Director of Real Estate Development for Opus Northwest, LLC. Mr. Wood's real estate career also includes working/consulting for Harsch Investments, Trammell Crow Company, and Booz, Allen & Hamilton Consultants. Mr. Wood is a graduate of Baylor University and Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. |
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Ann Young - SVP and Oregon/SW Washington Market Manager, U.S. Bank – Commercial Real Estate |
Ken Griggs has been in the real estate investment industry since 1984. Since joining Norris, Beggs & Simpson in 1993, Ken has originated over $1 billion in finance transactions throughout the Northwest. The completed transactions encompass a variety of property types including industrial, office, retail, multifamily, senior housing, and mobile home parks. Ken became President of NBS Financial in 2011, and serves on the Management Team for Norris, Beggs & Simpson Companies. Ken has achieved recognition as the company’s Top Producer and received the Finance Officer of the Year Award multiple times. He also received the President’s Award for Distinguished Service from OMLA. Ken is a board member and past president of the Oregon Mortgage Lenders Association, a trustee on the Oregon State University Foundation Board and a member of its Finance Committee, sits on the State Farm Correspondent Advisory Council and the Woodmen Correspondent Advisory Council, and is active in numerous committees at Our Lady of the Lake School and Parish.
Keith A. Leavitt has served several positions for the Port of Portland since joining the organization in January 1999. His positions with the Port have included State Government Affairs Manager, Development Project Manager, and since 2008, General Manager of Business Development and Properties. In his current job he oversees the Port’s business parks at: Rivergate, Swan Island, Portland International Center and Troutdale and is responsible for sales and leasing of Port marine and industrial properties.
For the past 30 years, John Petersen has been an active community leader with a diverse background in corporate, legal, finance, credit, management and marketing of financial services at every level. He has established relationships with a majority of top-tier developers and borrowers in the region. Prior to joining Melvin Mark Capital Group, John spent nine years at CBRE Capital Markets/Debt & Equity Finance as Director and Manager or the Portland, Oregon office. He was also a Senior Vice President for Bank of America, Regional Executive, and manager for commercial real estate lending in Oregon, Idaho and southwest Washington. 
Greg Specht's entire professional career has been in real estate development and construction. Born and raised in Salem, Oregon, Greg attended the University of Oregon on a football scholarship, where he received first team All Pac-8 and All West Coast honors in 1972 as a wide receiver. He received his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in finance, in 1973.
Robert Stutte joined Norris & Stevens in July 1970 as “Operations Manager.” Has served in various capacities since, including building manager, office leasing agent, sales agent, stockholder, vice president, and, currently, president of the corporation. He is currently President of the Corporation and head of the Commercial Services section; one of two major stockholders of the Corporation.
John Wallace, PhD, CAE holds a PhD in Organizational Leadership from Regent University. He has been involved with the REALTORS(r) family since 1985. He served as the CEO of a large local association, as well as the Washington Association of REALTORS(r) before moving home to North Carolina, where he was an Adjunct Professor of Organizational Behavior and Business at North Carolina Wesleyan College and the Master of Science in Administration program at Central Michigan University off-campus sites. John also was a principal in a consulting firm focused on trade and professional associations. He is currently the CEO of the Oregon Association of REALTORS(r), having returned to the Northwest in 2010.
