A spring survey showed more than half of residents polled in the greater Washington, D.C., area are concerned with making rent or mortgage payments in 2023, highlighting the lack of affordable housing in the nation’s fourth largest metropolitan area.
Fifty-two percent of D.C., Maryland and Virginia residents polled by Gallup and the nonprofit Greater Washington Community Foundation said they were either “very worried” or “somewhat worried” last year, up from 31% in 2020. Virginians in Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties and Alexandria didn’t differ much from their neighbors, checking in at 51%.
“I think it relates to the ongoing economic impact of the pandemic, and we will be dealing with that for a long time,” says Darius Graham, managing director of community investment at the Greater Washington Community Foundation.
Northern Virginia, like many metro areas, is suffering from a shortage of affordable housing. In April, Zillow reported that seven cities in Virginia had become “million-dollar” cities, where median single-family home purchases had eclipsed the $1 million mark, part of a new national trend.
And Virginians in the survey, Graham says, were less likely to want low-income housing coming to their communities. That can lead to legal disputes, depending on the circumstances.
In Arlington County, a zoning change that allowed multiunit residential buildings in formerly single-family housing neighborhoods led to a lawsuit by unhappy neighbors and a bench trial in July. (A ruling was expected in late August, after this story’s press deadline.)
Graham is focusing on how to influence that mindset. Policy changes would be the best way, experts agree. Measures like low-income property tax credits, emergency rental assistance and food assistance are ways to lift communities up.
“There isn’t just one wave-a-magic-wand solution to this,” says Ryan McLaughlin, CEO of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, adding that these challenges affect both home ownership and rental markets in the region.
But McLaughlin is also quick to point out the “silver linings” in the poll. Virginians in the survey rated availability of grocery stores, entertainment, access to health care and other quality-of-life measures higher than their neighbors in Maryland and the District.
Another boon for the commonwealth came from CNBC in July, when it ranked Virginia the No. 1 state for business for a record sixth time.
“It seems to me that Virginia has a leg up on the region,” McLaughlin says.
William “Bill” Marx Jr. is Grant Thornton’s new market managing principal for the Washington, D.C., area, the Chicago-based U.S. arm of the global accounting firm network announced Wednesday.
Marx succeeds Greg Wallig, who was the company’s metro D.C.-Arlington County market managing principal and added the role of public policy head in June 2023. Wallig left Grant Thornton in June, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Marx has been a tax principal at Grant Thornton for more than 13 years and has more than 25 years of finance and tax experience. From 2015 to 2020, he led the firm’s Tax Accounting and Risk Advisory practices in its Atlantic Coast region.
“Bill has a long track record of providing valuable guidance to public and private companies, and his extensive knowledge will be an asset to our people and clients in the D.C. area,” Jim Wittmer, Grant Thornton Advisors’ managing principal for the Atlantic Coast region, said in a statement.
Before joining Grant Thornton in 2011, Marx was managing director of tax services at Smart Business Advisory and Consulting, which rebranded to LECG Business Consulting after merging with financial services management consulting firm LECG in 2010. Grant Thornton purchased LECG’s tax and business consulting groups in 2011.
Prior to that, Marx was the director of tax at utility construction company InfraSource Services, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has also worked for Comcast and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“Grant Thornton has an incredible team in place in the D.C. region, and we’re providing a level of high-touch service that’s tailored for the broad range of organizations based in our nation’s capital — both inside and outside of the government,” Marx said in a statement. “I can’t wait to expand our footprint in this unique community and bolster our peoples’ collective skillset.”
Marx holds bachelor’s degrees in education and accounting from Pennsylvania State University. He also earned a master’s degree in taxation from the University of Tulsa. He often leads classes and panels at events hosted by the Financial Executives Networking Group, the Tax Executives Institute and the American Bar Association, according to a news release.
Patrick Ryan has been named managing partner of Big Four accounting firm KPMG’s Washington, D.C.-area office, the company announced Thursday.
In the role, Ryan will oversee more than 3,000 employees and also will be the firm’s U.S. federal business leader and sector leader. He succeeds Tim Gillis, who is retiring Sept. 30 after 26 years at KPMG.
He will split his time between the KPMG Tyson’s Corner and Washington, D.C., offices, a spokesperson for the company said.
“Patrick is an experienced leader with a deep commitment to serving our clients, developing our people and making the difference for the Washington, D.C., community,” said Lisa Daniels, KPMG’s vice chair for growth and strategy, in a statement.
With a bachelor’s degree in accounting from James Madison University, Ryan began his career with KPMG in 1998 as a senior associate. He went on to work at InPhonic, a Washington, D.C.-based online cell phone service provider that filed for bankruptcy in 2007, and at Dulles-based Integral Financial Group, where he was vice president of accounting and valuation services, according to his LinkedIn profile. Ryan returned to KPMG as a partner in 2011.
Gillis, who began his career with KPMG in 1998, became managing partner of the Washington, D.C., office in 2019.
As Virginia celebrates Economic Development Week, there is no better time to recognize that when it comes to success in economic development, fundamentals matter most.
Incentives, public sector support, personal connections and various intangibles — like, say, letting a CEO pick his favorite Grateful Dead concert to play during a recruitment dinner — can undoubtedly be helpful in getting a deal over the finish line.
But what earns accolades and puts a state in the best position to compete for major investment are a state’s fundamentals: excellent education systems; a high-quality and available workforce; a stable and reasonable tax and regulatory structure; a first-class transportation infrastructure; abundant energy resources; ready-to-build sites; low cost of doing business; and ample natural resources — just to name a few.
This is where Virginia consistently shines and what makes the commonwealth’s recruiting pitch to corporate executives as impressive as ever.
And because our fundamentals are strong, Virginia will continue to shine in the years to come.
***
The commonwealth recently came up short in a spirited competition to be the home of a new $2 billion arena project that would have hosted the Washington Wizards and Capitals professional basketball and hockey teams in Alexandria and anchored surrounding redevelopment.
In the end, the teams accepted an investment package from Washington, D.C., the city they have called home for more than 30 years.
In the wake of this high-profile competition, it is fair to wonder whether there could be any lingering effects on the commonwealth’s ‘best for business’ reputation or its ability to attract new investments, businesses and headquarters.
That is a question that has been posed to me dozens of times of late given my past tenure as secretary of commerce and trade, as well as my current involvement in economic development deals in Virginia and around the country.
To me, the answer is an unequivocal ‘no.’
The arena project was a proverbial unicorn in the economic development world.
Indeed, sports franchises are rare, unique economic development prospects with needs that bear little resemblance to the kind of bread-and-butter recruitment and development projects that local, regional and state economic development professionals pursue every day.
While sports teams can be prestigious and impactful economic assets, especially when they anchor broader mixed-use developments in their surrounding areas, they tend to have little need for the commonwealth’s sterling workforce development programs — our excellent college athletics programs notwithstanding.
That is why Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Secretary of Finance Stephen Cummings and other members of the Youngkin administration created a first-of-its-kind financing structure as part of its pitch to Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns and operates the Wizards and Capitals.
But as is so often the case in economic development, we were not the only players in the game.
Even as Virginia pursued the opportunity, the District of Columbia stayed in the game with a continually improving offer that eventually carried the day.
The strength of incumbency is significant when a corporation is considering the cost and challenges of a major relocation.
Virginia has both benefited from and lost out from the powerful allure of home.
No serious business leader would punish a state because it was unable to convince another business to pull up stakes and relocate.
Because the arena project was such a unique prospect, pursued in such a unique way, and supported by such a unique financing structure, its fate will have very little to no impact on the way companies view the commonwealth, its competitive assets and its economic development efforts.
***
As stated earlier, when a business is deciding where to invest, its leaders look at the fundamentals that will determine its long-term success.
Virginia touts its own fundamentals quite well, and independent, third-party validators also have consistently confirmed the commonwealth’s enviable position and solid fundamentals.
For example, CNBC consistently ranks Virginia as a top state for business and job creation — the commonwealth is currently ranked No. 2 in CNBC’s annual Top States for Business rankings — for many reasons, including education, thanks to our outstanding K-12 systems, community colleges and four-year colleges and universities that are the envy of the nation.
Further, Virginia scores highly because our corporate income tax has remained low and stable for more than 50 years, and our utility costs are competitive amongst our regional rivals.
In addition, Virginia’s central East Coast location is a major plus. That position along major highways puts us just one day’s drive from key domestic markets and more than 50% of the U.S. population, while our international connections through the Port of Virginia and Dulles International Airport provide direct access to the global economy.
And thanks to recent and enhanced state and local investments, we have one of the East Coast’s megasites in the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill as well as dozens of shovel-ready sites that will allow companies to invest, hire and open for business quickly.
Put more simply: Virginia has never been more prepared or better positioned to move at the speed of business.
Having proudly worked alongside three governors — both Democratic and Republican — to recruit new businesses and investment to Virginia and having been on the receiving end of those overtures in the private sector, I can tell you with great confidence that fundamentals are what truly matters.
***
It would have been exciting to welcome two professional sports franchises to the commonwealth, which remains the most populous state in the nation without a professional franchise in the top league of the four major sports.
But regardless of the outcome of this particular effort, the fundamentals of the commonwealth’s business case remain unbelievably strong and make us the envy of most other states.
Indeed, Virginia has a tremendous story to tell and a great case to make.
That is why, even if Virginians must cross the Potomac to see live hockey or basketball, economic development professionals at the local, regional and state levels will continue to be successful in bringing new jobs, new investments and new opportunities to the commonwealth.
Todd P. Haymore is managing director of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s public affairs consultancy. He served as secretary of commerce and trade for Gov. Terry McAuliffe, secretary of agriculture and forestry for Govs. McAuliffe and Bob McDonnell, and commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for Gov. Tim Kaine. He is rector of the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors, vice chairman of the GO Virginia Region 4 Council and a board member for the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Virginia FREE and RVA757 Connects.
Washington Commanders fans did everything but sing “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead” during the team’s Sept. 10 season opening game.
It felt like a new day as the NFL team came away with a win against the Arizona Cardinals. FedEx Field was sold out, and the stands were packed with local fans instead of supporters of the opposing team, an irritating trend over the past decade-plus.
The reason, of course, was the team’s new ownership as of July. The Commanders’ unpopular former owner, Daniel Snyder, offloaded the team for a record-breaking $6.05 billion to a group led by Chevy Chase, Maryland, native Josh Harris, who assembled 20 investors, including NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. The billionaire investor is now the Ashburn-based NFL team’s primary owner — a relief to many beleaguered fans.
The sale came after a long, ignominious history of mediocre-to-worse win-loss records, a revolving door of quarterbacks and coaches, alleged interference and retaliation by Snyder, and — most seriously — two NFL investigations of alleged sexual harassment against female employees and findings of a “toxic work culture” in a U.S. House of Representatives report in 2022.
Last year, amid congressional scrutiny of Snyder’s team, Northern Virginia state legislators rescinded their offer of economic incentives to bring a future Commanders football stadium to the commonwealth. (See related story.) Another team owner said it may be time for Snyder to sell, breaking the traditional code of silence among NFL owners.
And even those problems didn’t touch the sheer magnitude of local distaste for Snyder, who bought the Super Bowl-winning team in 1999 and saw its attendance decline from perennially sold-out games to the lowest numbers in the NFL, as well as a dearth of post-season wins.
Exorbitant parking fees, 9/11 commemorative Redskins baseball caps sold at a profit, Snyder’s lawsuits against 125 fans who tried to back out of season ticket purchases and much more all added to the sense of insult.
It’s no wonder fans at the Sept. 10 game chanted “Thank you!” to majority owner Harris, who co-founded the private equity firm Apollo Global Management and whose net worth is estimated between $6.9 billion and $8.6 billion.
In addition to the Commanders, Harris is principal owner of the Philadelphia 76ers NBA team and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, as well as a general partner of the Crystal Palace English football club. His home base is in Miami, where he and his wife, Marjorie, live with the two youngest of their five children. They also spend some of the year in New York City.
Last year, Harris’ investment group put in a bid for the Denver Broncos NFL team and lost out to a group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton. But in an interview with Virginia Business on the Friday preceding the start of the 2023 NFL season, Harris says he considers the failed bid a blessing, because he was able to purchase the Commanders, his favorite pro football team while he was growing up.
Photo by Shannon Ayres
Virginia Business: When did you first seriously consider buying the Commanders?
Josh Harris: Really, it was a sales process. Dan himself hired a banker and there was a process. We got a call, and that was probably in the fall of last year. Certainly, we’re well known in the sports community, obviously, so generally speaking, the intermediaries, the banks — Bank of America in this case — knew we were out there, contacted our people, and then eventually I spoke with the Snyder family.
VB: It sounds like you have pretty solid ideas of what role you’re meant to take as owner, and where to let coaches and players handle things themselves. How did you learn those lessons?
Harris: Obviously, I’ve owned the Philadelphia 76ers since 2011 and a number of other sports franchises — the [New Jersey] Devils since 2013, Crystal Palace since 2015.
It’s been experiential learning, on-the-job training, if you will, but also, it’s just common sense. But in sports, because fans [are] so focused on all the details and because everyone is such a great fan of the sport, sometimes owners who are fans come in and they want to make a lot of decisions. But it’s like every other career.
Ultimately, the years of learning that a coach might have dealing with 53 men, 53 individuals, and how to make a system work — if [owners] don’t defer to that [experience], that would probably not be common sense. Sometimes people don’t.
VB: With sports, people do have strong emotions and yell at the TV screen to change quarterbacks or strategies. Is that a temptation you have to fight?
Harris: Yes. Listen, I’ll go the other way. Just because I’m only a fan that’s recently become an owner of the Washington Commanders, it doesn’t mean that you’re not entitled to have opinions, it doesn’t mean that you might not see something that a coach might not.
I’ve sat on the floor for the last 11 years for NBA basketball. I have an opinion on how we should play, and I have opinions on some things that I see, but generally, I will voice those in a constructive way at the right time quietly.
You’re allowed to be involved, and you should be involved. If you see something you don’t like and you’re the owner of a franchise, it’s almost on you to bring it up and say, “What about this? What about that?” At the same time, I think you have to recognize that other people might have more experience than you do. It’s finding that balance, and everyone is different.
Photo by Shannon Ayres
VB: A congressional report said the Commanders had a “toxic work culture” under Snyder’s leadership. What are your responsibilities for improving and maintaining the team’s culture as its new owner?
Harris: The thing about sports franchises — unlike companies generally — is that they’re public assets; they’re public trusts. I want to create a franchise that my kids are proud of, and the city is proud of and I’m proud of. I think everything, ultimately, is my responsibility. I spend many sleepless nights thinking about making sure that everything is going to go right. I think that extends to how people are treated inside the organization, how employees are treated, how they act with one another, how fans are treated, how all the stakeholders, players and coaches are treated. It’s a village, so what I have to do is set the tone and then hold people accountable.
VB: How did the process of buying the Commanders differ from bidding for the Denver Broncos?
Harris: It was different personally for me. I think I was blessed in some sense to not buy the Broncos.
Obviously, this is where I grew up, and it was emotional for me, and I’ll never forget when I walked into FedEx Field and I saw the pictures. I have an investment team that I’ve been involved with [for] a lot of this stuff. You have a whole team that shows up with you [when] we were given a couple days to do due diligence.
We came into the stadium and my team saw me marveling at the pictures of the legends and Super Bowl trophies, and they were like, “This is different. You’re acting differently.” I’m not an emotional person as an investor. I try to be quite clinical about it, but clearly, I was emotional about it, and that was very different for me personally.
VB: Speaking of stadiums, what do you consider important attributes for a new stadium?
Harris: I start with football and I branch out. When an opposing team walks into our stadium, I want them to not want to be there. When I was talking to [former Dallas Cowboys quarterback] Troy Aikman on “Monday Night Football,” he’s a guy who didn’t like to play [at] RFK. On the other hand, I want our team to feel excited. The noise level, how you set it up, the crowd engagement and focus, all that’s good.
Then you get to fan experience, which is a really broad concept, but accessibility really matters, whether it’s being on … Metro, whether it’s a close drive, ingress and egress parking, all that stuff. We want people to get in, get out, have a great time. The Washington DMV fan base does extend deep into Virginia; it extends into Maryland.
Not everyone is going to have the same accessibility, but certainly having it on a rail system would be a massive plus. Having it close to most of the fans, [being] able to get in and out [of] major highway systems, all that actually really matters, all those logistics.
Then it’s about economic development, and how you help a community economically. I mean, we built a practice facility [for the 76ers] in Camden, [New Jersey], which is a tough city. We run Prudential Center in Newark. We’re building a center in Philly in an area that needs help, and … we’re using trade. If we are allowed to go forward in Philly [with a new arena], we’re going to use contractors from diverse backgrounds, which is probably slightly different than what’s happened in the past.
All that stuff plays into it.
Photo by Shannon Ayres
VB: Under the team’s previous ownership, two possible stadium locations were designated in Loudoun and Prince William counties. What’s the status on those?
Harris: We’re literally just starting at the beginning. We’re at the very beginning of thinking about what we want, versus the sites.
VB: You grew up in the area. What was your relationship to the team?
Harris:My relationship with the team was really deep. There’s a picture of me that someone dredged up wearing a [1970s Washington quarterback] Billy Kilmer uniform when I was like 10 years old. I was a huge fan, and I never in my wildest dreams thought I might own the Commanders. I went to RFK once or twice a season. It was a 25-year waiting list to get [season] tickets.
I have two really early memories as a child. One is walking down East Capitol Street and then walking into RFK and hearing … all the noise and looking up at Jack Kent Cooke’s owner’s box, and my dad saying, “That’s the owner,” and me saying, “Wow.”
VB: The team’s name has changed twice in the last few years. What’s your timeline for thinking about the name?
Harris: We’re really focused right now, honestly, on limiting distraction. We’re focused on getting the stadium ready, and I’m doing tons of meetings everywhere in the city to engage with everyone. I’m not really thinking about [the name] right now.
VB: You have 20 people in your investment group, including Magic Johnson. What do they bring to the table?
Harris: Look, the reality of an NFL franchise is that it’s expensive, and so it’s hard to participate unless you’ve had tremendous success. We have people that have D.C. backgrounds that are super-engaged charitably in the community. We have a lot of diversity in the group. Then we have amazing business builders, real estate people. Honestly, Eric Schmidt is in our group. Can you imagine I [brought in] one of the founders of Google? Obviously, Mitch [Rales] built Danaher, a storied business. When I left Apollo and I was considering what to do, I was trying to find people that I could talk to, and I sought out Mitch because I said, “Wow, this guy built Danaher, [a] $200 billion company,” and by the way, D.C.’s biggest company. As far as professional athletes, [there’s] Magic Johnson.
VB:Is Magic on your text chain? What’s he like?
Harris: Yes. Magic, I would say, he’s incredibly charismatic, an amazing motivator. I’m motivated when I speak to him. He’s won five NBA titles with the Lakers, and then five other titles with other sports, and he’s built an incredible business. He’s an amazing speaker. He can relate to a businessman, and then he can relate to the players, and he can relate to a 10-year-old at a boys’ club.
He has an amazing way of connecting with people, and he’s a humble person. I think for him to be humble, he’s a great example for me because he’s achieved so much in his life and he’s someone that I want to emulate. … By the way, the other thing I like about Magic, and we share this, is that he’s a religious person. He believes that there’s a greater force. For all of us who’ve achieved some luck and been blessed in our life, I think personally it really helps me, and it’s something I really relate to.
VB:Let’s look ahead five years. What will need to be in place for you to consider this purchase a success?
Photo by Shannon Ayres
Harris: I think that we’re going to need to have improved the fan experience to a great extent. That would mean improving the existing FedEx Field and [making] substantial progress towards a new stadium. In five years, I would hope that we would be a perennial playoff team. I’d say in five years I would want to see the arena selling out on a consistent basis and the team being supported, and I want us to be more deeply engaged in the community.
VB: The Sixers had a big rebuilding period under your ownership. Do you think the Commanders could benefit from a similar rebuilding that was high-risk, high-reward?
Harris: I think they’re totally different. Obviously, when you engage in a rebuild as we did in Philly, we wanted to be a championship-contending team. We rebuilt the team, and it worked. We haven’t won an NBA championship, obviously, but we’re perennial contenders every year right now.
I think the Commanders’ situation is totally different than that. Look, I think that we have a great young team. We don’t have an aged team. I’d say that so far I really like what I see in the coaching staff. I think [Head Coach] Ron [Rivera] is a good man. We have real areas of strength on the team. I think the answers to what we do and what we think will become apparent as this season plays out.
VB: I saw a picture recently of you and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin at the Commanders’ Ashburn facility. He was previously co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, so how long have you known each other?
Harris: I’ve known him for many years. We were in the same business. We competed, but … I always had great respect for Glenn. He was always just a really nice person and a decent human being. Even though we were competitors, we were kind of friendly competitors.
VB:Does that have any bearing on where you would decide to put the stadium?
Harris: Look, I have to actually think about the city. Having a relationship of trust always matters in every situation, but, obviously, we’re going to do what’s right for the DMV. There is a “V” in DMV.
RELATED STORY: Virginia’s back in game to score Commanders stadium
In July 2022, Clarke joined WMATA, the Washington, D.C., regional public transit system, which manages the Metro subway system and Metrobus. He took leadership of WMATA when it was struggling with lingering low ridership from the pandemic and the removal of 60% of its railcars due to a wheel defect.
Things have picked up somewhat. The defective cars were fixed, and although Metro ridership hasn’t rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, bus ridership has exceeded 2019 numbers. In November 2022, WMATA opened the Silver Line’s $3 billion second phase, and in May, WMATA opened the $370 million Potomac Yard-VT station in Alexandria.
But Clarke isn’t done dealing with crises. This year, he’s focused on staving off a massive budget crisis and trying to get officials from Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., to bail out the transit system. Due to decreased ridership and increased personnel costs, WMATA faces a $750 million shortfall next year that could result in drastic cuts to services.
Clarke previously was president and CEO of Capital Metro in Austin, Texas, and vice president of operations and member services for the American Public Transportation Association. He was also an executive for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
Lee has worked in banking for more than 23 years, and she couldn’t be happier to have found her place overseeing the Greater Washington, D.C., region at Truist. “I wanted to be financially independent, and I wanted variety,” she says. “Every day is different, and I work with people I admire and learn from.”
A Baltimore native and William & Mary alumna, Lee took up her current position in December 2019, after the blockbuster merger of BB&T and SunTrust into Truist, the nation’s sixth largest bank, with $574 billion in assets. She previously worked for SunTrust for two decades.
Lee loves giving back to the community as part of her leadership role. She sits on the boards of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, Goodwill of Greater Washington, United Way of the National Capital Area, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, DC Policy Center, and charter school Ingenuity Prep.
FIRST JOB: Working at the Roland Park Deli in Baltimore during high school
MOST RECENT BOOK READ: “Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution,” by Helen Zia
Schoppmann oversees six offices in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., as well as the performance and strategic growth of business in the mid-Atlantic region for CBRE, a $30.8 billion commercial real estate giant with more than 115,000 employees.
A graduate of Duke University and the University of Michigan, she has more than 20 years of experience in sales strategy, training and professional development. She also is active in CBRE’s Global Executive Inclusion Council and is a board member for the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., and a founding member of Chief’s Washington chapter, an organization supporting women executive leaders.
IF I HAD A TIME MACHINE, I’D MEET: Marie Curie. She was a pioneering woman in science, which was a field dominated by men at that time.
HOW I CHOSE MY CAREER: I originally followed in my father’s footsteps and studied civil engineering. The analytical skills I learned have served me well throughout my career, including my first jobs in sales at Dow Chemical and consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM. My transition to real estate and CBRE is a culmination of all the skills and knowledge I gained in prior roles.
Gannon joined Colliers International in his role as executive managing director and D.C. market leader in 2019. He is responsible for the strategic direction and performance of Colliers offices in Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Maryland, totaling more than 50 real estate professionals.
He had spent the previous five years at Paramount Group, leading leasing efforts for the company’s 1.8 million-square-foot Washington, D.C.-area office portfolio.
Prior to Paramount, Matt Gannon spent 15 years at Vornado Realty Trust, rising to the position of vice president of leasing, a role in which he oversaw an office portfolio composed of about 6 million square feet.
Gannon serves on the board of the Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Association of Greater Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of Fordham University in New York.
Colliers, an international commercial real estate and investment management corporation, operates in 66 countries, with $99 billion in assets under management and 2 billion square feet managed.
As Greater Washington market executive for Merrill, the wealth management arm of Bank of America, Francisco Castellanos leads the D.C. market’s nearly 150 financial advisers, overseeing some $31 billion in client assets. He was named to the position late last year, having previously been Merrill’s Greater Virginia market executive and for 18 months also serving as Hampton Roads market president for Bank of America.
A native of Cuba, the former Foreign Service officer is vice chair of Merrill’s Hispanic Latino Advisory Council. He holds a bachelor’s degree from George Mason University.
Merrill parent Bank of America boasts 217,000 employees worldwide, including about 4,100
in Virginia. The $95 billion company reported $25.2 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2023, up from $22.7 billion last year. In the first quarter of 2023, the company reported a record in net new clients for its wealth and investment management business, with 14,500 net new relationships.
WHAT I’VE LEARNED: Challenge the status quo!
NEW LIFE EXPERIENCE: Paragliding
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