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ULI Houston - Leadership Luncheon - Game Changers: The Intersection of Sports, Real Estate and Community
Pricing
| Pricing | Members | Non-Members |
|---|---|---|
| Private | $75.00 | $100.00 |
| Public/Academic/Nonprofit | $65.00 | $90.00 |
| Retired | $50.00 | N/A |
| Student | $50.00 | $70.00 |
| Under Age 35 | $50.00 | $70.00 |
Annual Partner benefits apply.
Leadership Luncheon
Game-Changers: The Intersection of Sports, Real Estate and Community
If you travel through any neighborhood in our region, you will see people wearing caps and athletic gear representing their loyalty for their favorite high school, college or professional sports teams. We love to play sports and attend sporting events of all sizes. Houston has been fortunate to recently host several high-profile sporting events with more on the horizon. That love of sports spills out from the local sports stadium into the community and surrounding built environment. From architecturally iconic stadiums to entertainment districts, the impact of the sports industry on real estate is undeniable.
What could/should be the impact of these sporting events and venues on our region’s built environment and open spaces? Join our panelists for a discussion about how sports teams, their venues and major events can change the built environment.
Feel free to wear a cap or pin featuring your favorite sports team to our lunch on February 15!
Moderator
David Staas
Shareholder, Real Estate Development and Investments
Winstead PC
David Staas is a shareholder attorney in the real estate development and investments practice group of Winstead PC.
His law practice includes development, leasing, financing, acquisition, and sale of sports and entertainment venues, convention centers, airports, mixed-use developments, hotels, and other real estate product types. His sports business practice is focused on developing, operating, managing, and marketing convention, sports, and entertainment venues. He represents venue owners, managers, concessionaires, professional sports teams, universities, destination marketing organizations, and local organizing committees on a variety of transactions.
He has earned a reputation for professionalism, thought leadership, and a 'get-to-yes' attitude. He is actively involved with several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Air & Space Law Forum and the Urban Land Institute's Travel Experience and Trends Council (ULI Americas).
His law practice includes development, leasing, financing, acquisition, and sale of sports and entertainment venues, convention centers, airports, mixed-use developments, hotels, and other real estate product types. His sports business practice is focused on developing, operating, managing, and marketing convention, sports, and entertainment venues. He represents venue owners, managers, concessionaires, professional sports teams, universities, destination marketing organizations, and local organizing committees on a variety of transactions.
He has earned a reputation for professionalism, thought leadership, and a 'get-to-yes' attitude. He is actively involved with several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Air & Space Law Forum and the Urban Land Institute's Travel Experience and Trends Council (ULI Americas).
Panelists
More panelists to be announced
Giuliana DiMambro
Vice President of Development
Boston Properties
Giuliana is a Vice President of Development at Boston Properties where she is responsible for the firm’s downtown development portfolio. She has over ten years of experience managing commercial and mixed-use projects in the Boston area.
Giuliana is currently managing the amenitization of the 200 Clarendon office tower in the Back Bay. She recently completed the $172M View Boston observatory at the Prudential Tower, which opened in June 2023. This project transformed the former Top of the Hub restaurant and Skywalk Observatory, as well as portions of building mechanical space, into a 3-story attraction and immersive experience. Giuliana was responsible for the underwriting and project budgeting, permitting, concept development and content production, and overall project execution.
Giuliana played an integral role in the project conceptualization and implementation of The Hub on Causeway adjacent to North Station and the TD Garden. She delivered the 272 room citizenM hotel in August of 2019 after negotiating a joint venture agreement with Delaware North Companies for the parcel and an air rights lease and development management agreement with citizenM for the hotel. She led the redesign and re-permitting of the 631,000 square foot office tower in order to secure a lease with Verizon for 70% of the building.
Previously, Giuliana worked on the company’s 2 million+ square foot CityPoint portfolio in Waltham where she completed the 250,000 square foot office building at 10 CityPoint and oversaw the design of the second phase. She developed a 17,000 square foot stand-alone retail building which was integral in the leasing of an additional 400,000 square feet of office in the adjacent properties. Giuliana also repositioned 170 Tracer Lane, transforming the 1970’s era building into a modern, side core build designed for today’s technology tenants.
Prior to joining Boston Properties in July 2013, Giuliana held positions with The Analysis Group, an economic and litigation consulting firm, and Antonio Di Mambro + Associates, Inc., an architecture, city planning, and urban design firm. Giuliana received a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Rochester in 2006, an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 2013, and a Master in City Planning from MIT in 2013.
Giuliana is currently managing the amenitization of the 200 Clarendon office tower in the Back Bay. She recently completed the $172M View Boston observatory at the Prudential Tower, which opened in June 2023. This project transformed the former Top of the Hub restaurant and Skywalk Observatory, as well as portions of building mechanical space, into a 3-story attraction and immersive experience. Giuliana was responsible for the underwriting and project budgeting, permitting, concept development and content production, and overall project execution.
Giuliana played an integral role in the project conceptualization and implementation of The Hub on Causeway adjacent to North Station and the TD Garden. She delivered the 272 room citizenM hotel in August of 2019 after negotiating a joint venture agreement with Delaware North Companies for the parcel and an air rights lease and development management agreement with citizenM for the hotel. She led the redesign and re-permitting of the 631,000 square foot office tower in order to secure a lease with Verizon for 70% of the building.
Previously, Giuliana worked on the company’s 2 million+ square foot CityPoint portfolio in Waltham where she completed the 250,000 square foot office building at 10 CityPoint and oversaw the design of the second phase. She developed a 17,000 square foot stand-alone retail building which was integral in the leasing of an additional 400,000 square feet of office in the adjacent properties. Giuliana also repositioned 170 Tracer Lane, transforming the 1970’s era building into a modern, side core build designed for today’s technology tenants.
Prior to joining Boston Properties in July 2013, Giuliana held positions with The Analysis Group, an economic and litigation consulting firm, and Antonio Di Mambro + Associates, Inc., an architecture, city planning, and urban design firm. Giuliana received a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Rochester in 2006, an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 2013, and a Master in City Planning from MIT in 2013.
Michael Heckman
President & Chief Executive Officer
Houston First Corporation
Michael Heckman has served in the role of President and CEO of Houston First Corporation since August 2020 and has been part of the organization’s leadership team since 2009.
Prior to this role, Heckman served as Chief Operating Officer of Strategic Initiatives for Houston First, responsible for developing a new strategic direction for the corporation. He has also served as the Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Event Development, with responsibilities ranging from major events like the Super Bowl to a portfolio of entrepreneurial enterprises.
Under Heckman’s leadership, Houston First helped steer the post-pandemic recovery of the region’s leisure and hospitality sector. By 2023, most industry indicators—from hotel revenue to sector employment—had completely recovered in the region. During the most recent Texas legislative session, Houston First effectively lobbied for the passage of SB 1057, a bill that provides nearly $2 billion in funding to transform the George R. Brown Convention Center and the surrounding district. Heckman has called the project slated to break ground in 2025 a “once in a generation opportunity.”
Heckman has a more than 20-year career with leadership roles spanning from destination marketing and hotels to sports and event management.
Prior to this role, Heckman served as Chief Operating Officer of Strategic Initiatives for Houston First, responsible for developing a new strategic direction for the corporation. He has also served as the Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Event Development, with responsibilities ranging from major events like the Super Bowl to a portfolio of entrepreneurial enterprises.
Under Heckman’s leadership, Houston First helped steer the post-pandemic recovery of the region’s leisure and hospitality sector. By 2023, most industry indicators—from hotel revenue to sector employment—had completely recovered in the region. During the most recent Texas legislative session, Houston First effectively lobbied for the passage of SB 1057, a bill that provides nearly $2 billion in funding to transform the George R. Brown Convention Center and the surrounding district. Heckman has called the project slated to break ground in 2025 a “once in a generation opportunity.”
Heckman has a more than 20-year career with leadership roles spanning from destination marketing and hotels to sports and event management.
Giles Kibbe
Senior
Vice President and General Counsel
Houston Astros
Giles Kibbe is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of
the Houston Astros and Jim Crane’s affiliated companies. His responsibilities range from mergers and
acquisitions, real estate development, litigation, human resources, contracts, and
compliance.Giles is also the Executive
Director & President of the Astros Golf Foundation which operates the PGA
Tour’s Houston Open.
Kibbe has helped lead the Astros through the following major projects:
Kibbe has helped lead the Astros through the following major projects:
- The acquisition of the Houston Astros for $615mm in 2011.
- The Houston Astros’ sale of Houston Regional Sports Network to AT&T and DirecTV in 2014.
- The Houston Astros’ development of a new publicly funded $155mm spring training complex in West Palm Beach, FL in 2017.
- The Astros Golf Foundation’s $34mm renovation of Memorial Park Golf Course in 2019.
- The Houston Astros acquisition of its minor league affiliates in Sugar Land, Corpus Christi and Fayetteville, NC.
- The Houston Astros acquisition of AT&T Sportsnet Southwest in 2023.
Prior to becoming General Counsel for Jim Crane, Kibbe
was a partner at Weller, Green & Toups in Beaumont, Texas where he focused
on a litigation and corporate practice. Kibbe joined Weller, Green & Toups in 1995
after serving a two-year clerkship for United States District Judge Joe J.
Fisher in the Eastern District of Texas.Kibbe is a graduate of Louisiana State University’s Law School (1993)
and Lamar University (1990) where he attended on a golf scholarship.
Zed Smith
Chief Operating Officer
The Cordish Companies
Zed Smith is the Chief
Operating Officer of The Cordish Companies.
In this capacity, Mr. Smith oversees all aspects of the Company’s
operating properties portfolio, which includes a number of high-profile
entertainment, mixed-use, and sports-anchored developments located in urban
communities across the country, many of which have been transformative with
regard to their economic and cultural impact. His expertise also extends to
pre-development work associated with the company's public-private partnerships.
Prior to joining The Cordish Companies in 2002, Zed was the founder and President of Urban Asset Management, a Baltimore-based real estate development firm that specialized in retail development in urban communities which included project work in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Zed began his real estate career with The Rouse Company in Columbia, Maryland.
Mr. Smith holds a B.S. in Accounting from Morgan State University.
Prior to joining The Cordish Companies in 2002, Zed was the founder and President of Urban Asset Management, a Baltimore-based real estate development firm that specialized in retail development in urban communities which included project work in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Zed began his real estate career with The Rouse Company in Columbia, Maryland.
Mr. Smith holds a B.S. in Accounting from Morgan State University.