In February 2004, Mr. Himmel, as the co-managing partner, opened Time Warner Center, the 2.8 million square foot mixed-use project at Columbus Circle in New York City which serves as the home for Time Warner, Inc, Mandarin Oriental New York, Jazz at Lincoln Center, One Central Park Residences, The Residences at The Mandarin Oriental, The Shops of Columbus Circle and the renowned Restaurant and Bar Collection. Other recent developments include CityPlace, the $500 million 72 acre retail mixed use development in West Palm Beach in 2000 transforming downtown West Palm Beach.  

Mr. Himmel is also responsible for the formation of Himmel Hospitality Group, a restaurant collection in Boston which includes the legendary Grill 23, celebrating its 25th Anniversary, The Harvest and Post 390.

Between 1990 and 1996, Mr. Himmel initiated and served as managing or co-managing partner for the development of Seattle's new Pacific Place, a 500,000 square foot entertainment/retail center; Reston Town Center, a 1.5 million square foot retail and hotel project in Fairfax County, Virginia, and 730 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, a 600,000 square foot luxury retail and hotel project. Mr. Himmel was a principal with Urban Investment and Development Company in Chicago where, among other projects, he was responsible for the development of Copley Place, the $600 million landmark mixed-use development in Boston's Back Bay and Water Tower Place on Chicago's North Michigan Avenue.  Mr. Himmel received a B.S. degree with distinction from Cornell University - School of Hotel Administration in 1970 and a B.S. degree from The College of William and Mary in 1968.

In 2008, the Massachusetts Building Congress honored Mr. Himmel with their highest award, the Skyline Award for Outstanding Achievement.  Given only six times in the organizations 87-year old history, the award recognizes exemplary contributions to the built environment and the design, construction and developments communities.

 
Panelists

Benjamin Breslau directs the overall activities of Jones Lang LaSalle's Research team in the Americas. In addition, he is a member of the firm's Global Research Executive Committee, a select team of professionals that leads the strategic direction of our 300-member global research department, which covers over 60 countries worldwide. In his current role, Mr. Breslau is responsible for managing a team of 40 analysts covering markets throughout the Americas. He sets the firm's statistical methodology, leads the firm's in-depth analysis of real estate markets, and oversees the delivery of the firm's leading research reports and capabilities in the Americas. Mr. Breslau positions real estate markets within the broader context of economic, industry and demographic trends at the regional, national and global levels, giving the firm and its clients a deeper understanding and competitive advantage in the marketplace.

During his eleven years in real estate research, first with Spaulding and Slye and now with Jones Lang LaSalle, Mr. Breslau has directed research for local markets, industry sectors, national and global programs, and investor and corporate clients. He has elevated Jones Lang LaSalle's industry-leading research capabilities with the highest quality, strategic market information, insightful interpretation, and delivery of analytical research reports and products that have become a hallmark of the firm. He has also held leadership positions and participated as a speaker or panelist for many local and national industry associations.

Mr. Breslau received his B.A. in Economics from Emory University. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), Boston District Council Executive Committee and a founder of the Boston ULI Young Leaders Group.

 
 
Jonathan D. Miller has more than 25 years of communications and marketing experience in the real estate industry, counseling many leading executives as a partner in Miller Ryan LLC. For the past 17 years he has authored Emerging Trends in Real Estate, Pricewaterhouse Coopers' and the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) premier annual industry forecast and speaks extensively on suburban and urban issues. He is also author of ULI's Infrastructure 2009: Pivot Point, a major analysis on the looming changes facing the U.S. on infrastructure and land use issues. He also writes the twice-weeklyTrendczar blog for the GlobeStreet.com real estate news website. He has led marketing/communications teams at Equitable Real Estate, Lend Lease, and GMAC Commercial Mortgage (Capmark Finance), overseeing re-branding programs for those firms as well as for COMPASS, Boston Financial and Amresco when they were acquired by Lend Lease. Miller graduated with honors from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism and earned a law degree cum laude from American University.
 

Douglas Poutasse is Executive Director of the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF). Since its founding in 1982, NCREIF has served the American institutional real estate investment community as a non-partisan collector, processor, validator and disseminator of real estate performance information. Prior to joining NCREIF in 2007, Doug was the Chief Investment Strategist for AEW Capital Management, one of the world's leading real estate investment management firms.  At AEW, he chaired the Investment Policy Group, was a standing member of the Investment Committee and oversaw AEW Research, the firm's in-house research group. He continues to serve on the investment committee for AEW Europe.  Doug has over 25 years of experience as an economic analyst and forecaster. Prior to joining AEW in 1991, Doug was with F.W. Dodge, where he managed real estate and construction forecasting, and with DRI/McGraw-Hill as Manager of Metropolitan Forecasting. Doug is a past President and member of the Board of Directors of NCREIF and currently serves on the Board of the Real Estate Research Institute.  He is also a member of ULI and PREA.  In 2005, PREA awarded Doug the Graaskamp Award for his high quality research in the area of institutional investment in real estate. He is a graduate of Harvard University (B.A.).

  
Bret Wilkerson is the CEO of Property and Portfolio Research (PPR), a subsidiary of the CoStar Group.  PPR is a real estate research and strategy development firm that works with major institutional investors in all quadrants of the real estate capital markets. PPR offers market research, strategic advice, and sophisticated analytical tools on a global basis. The firm is based in the U.S., and has offices in London and Hong Kong.

Bret integrates his research on macroeconomics, real estate markets, and capital markets trends into PPR's forecasts, products, and client relationships. He advises clients including pension funds, investment advisors, investment banks, developers, private investors, and commercial lenders - assisting them in the application of PPR's research to their real estate decisions.
 
A regular speaker at industry conferences and events, he is often quoted in the media and has written for a variety of real estate publications over the last 14 years.  Bret is a member of several industry associations, including PREA, NAREIT, and ULI, where he is a Trustee and serves on the Executive Committee.  Prior to PPR, he was with Sullivan and Worcester in Boston. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and received a B.A. in Geography and Political Science from Dartmouth College.