Our Team
Several entities are engaged to bring the 21c Austin project to life. They include:
ACE Unlimited
ACE (Art Commerce Entertainment) Unlimited LLC was founded on the belief that art
drives commerce. ACE's vision is to expand the 21c concept by creating one-of-a-kind
experiences, specific to each community, through unique art, architecture and entertainment.
A stunning collection of contemporary works by living artists inspired the creation
of the original hotel and museum in Louisville.
As ACE expands the 21c concept, each hotel will have a museum featuring art of both
emerging and acclaimed regional and international artists. The décor will continue
to be comfortable and contemporary, providing an inviting backdrop for the art,
making each project distinctive.
Although 21c Austin is an ambitious project, it is just one of several large-scale,
multi-million-dollar projects that have been, or are currently being jointly developed
by members of the 21c Austin team. The goal of each of these developments, like
21c Austin, is to help revitalize the urban centers in which they are located.
A current significant project for the owners of ACE and Poe Companies (another 21c
Austin partner) is Museum Plaza in Louisville, a $480-million, 62-story mixed-use
skyscraper that will feature an innovative design and mission. The building will
serve as a cultural center for the city of Louisville and include sections devoted
to arts, entertainment, office space, lodging and residential living. Museum Plaza's
construction is expected to begin in September 2007.
Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown
Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown, both native Kentuckians, are the creative force
behind the 21c Museum Hotel concept. Partners in life and business, they have found
success by using their passion and intuition as a guide in farming, preservation,
philanthropic giving, investing and collecting contemporary art.
The couple actively pursues community restoration projects aimed at revitalizing
Louisville's urban cultural and architectural landscape, and offers real alternatives
to suburban sprawl. They were instrumental in safeguarding 1,000 acres in Kentucky
from development and co-founded Oldham Ahead, a land-conservancy group. Additionally,
the two own a bison farm and Kentucky Bison Company, in Goshen, Kentucky.
Wilson is the chair of ACE's Board of Directors. He earned his degree in political
science from Kentucky's Murray State University and went on to work in the Kentucky
governor's communications office for four administrations.
Brown is a graduate of Sweet Briar College, one of the nation's premier liberal
arts and sciences colleges for women. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Brown-Forman
founder George Garvin Brown. Brown-Forman is one of the country's largest liquor
conglomerates, with holdings that include Jack Daniels, Finlandia Vodka, Southern
Comfort, Korbel, and many other labels.
The couple lives in a contemporary art-filled 19th century farm house overlooking
the Ohio River in Kentucky. The 21c Museum in Louisville houses numerous works of
art from Brown and Wilson's personal collection.
Michael Bonadies
Chief Executive Officer
Highly respected in the hospitality industry as an accomplished restaurateur and
writer, Michael Bonadies has been instrumental in the development of the 21c Museum
Hotel and Proof concepts, making him ideally qualified to lead its expansion into
new cities, including Austin.
Bonadies' previous experience was as a founding member of the New York-based Myriad
Restaurant Group, which owns and operates acclaimed restaurants such as Tribeca
Grill, Nobu and Rubicon. He handled the development and day-to-day operation of
the company's consulting and contract management division, which included new business
growth, consulting management, employee recruitment and educational training endeavors.
Additionally, Bonadies is the author of "Sip by Sip—An Insider's Guide to Learning
All About Wine," (Doubleday 1998) and a frequent contributor to numerous culinary
and beverage magazines. Personal honors include the James Beard Foundation Journalism
Award for Magazine Writing on Spirits, Beer and Wine. In 1997, Bonadies was chosen
as one of Restaurant Hospitality's Rising Stars.
Bonadies is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and conventions, as well
as food and wine festivals, including Food & Wine magazine's Aspen Classic and Austin's
Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival. He is also a regular guest lecturer at
Cornell University, New York University and The Institute for Culinary Education.
Bonadies received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University, graduating
magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Chett Abramson
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
As vice president and chief operating officer, Chett Abramson is responsible for
the financial and operational systems of ACE.
Prior to joining ACE, Abramson was with Myriad Restaurant Group for 15 years, serving
in a variety of positions including project director for the company's consulting
division and director of operations for the restaurant group. His responsibilities
included financial reporting for Myriad and spearheading numerous consulting projects
across the country.
For six years, Abramson served as area director of purchasing and director of food
and beverage for Starwood Hotels' W Hotel brand. As well as overseeing the food
and beverage operations in New York, Abramson assisted in opening W Hotels in Seattle,
Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco. He is a frequent contributor for the Nation's
Restaurant News and Food Arts magazines.
Craig Greenberg
Craig Greenberg is an attorney with Frost Brown Todd LLC in Louisville who specializes
in development strategies that turn important and challenging urban real estate
projects into realities. He is an owner of ACE Unlimited and a member of its board
of directors. Greenberg helped structure and secure the financing for 21c Museum
Hotel and Proof. He is also a member of the Museum Plaza development team.
At Frost Brown Todd, Greenberg manages an ancillary business dedicated to securing
and deploying New Markets Tax Credit investments. This business has helped clients
raise and invest over $100 million in low-income communities across the country.
Greenberg is on the boards of several civic and charitable organizations, including
Metro United Way and the University of Louisville Board of Overseers. He is also
on the Board of Directors of Republic Bank and Trust Company.
A 1995 graduate of the University of Michigan, Greenberg earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree before attending Harvard Law School and graduating in 1998. Greenberg and
his wife Rachel have two sons, Daniel and Benjamin.
Poe Companies
Poe Companies is a visionary real estate investment, development and management
firm based in Louisville. Uncovering unique opportunities, Poe Companies utilizes
significant experience and strategic resources to create value while improving their
properties and enhancing the community. To maximize the potential of projects, Poe
Companies looks at each one as a new opportunity to overcome challenges and create
functional, valuable developments, whether it is from the ground up or a pre-existing
development. Poe Companies does not follow the usual path—they lead the way to new
and resourceful solutions.
For more information, visit www.poecompanies.com
Steve Poe
Chief Executive Officer
Steve Poe has a signature approach to development, conquering complex projects through
the creation of strategic partnerships and using underperforming assets to create
value while minimizing risk. These underperforming assets range from under-utilized
retail centers to land that could be re-zoned. In addition to projects in Louisville,
Poe currently has real estate developments in South Florida, Texas, Arizona, Utah,
Tennessee and Belize.
Poe remains active both in the real estate industry and Louisville community. He
currently serves as a trustee at the University of Louisville, board member of the
Louisville Free Public Libraries, chairman of the capital campaign for the Home
of the Innocents, as well as a board member and past president of the Louisville
Apartment Association.
Poe recently received the distinction and honor of winning Kentucky's 10th Annual
Governor's Economic Leadership Award. He and his wife live in St. Matthews, Kentucky
and are both actively involved with charities and other civic groups on an ongoing
basis.
Eric Schreiner
President—Construction and Development
With a degree in construction management from Purdue University, Eric Schreiner
is well suited to handle a wide range of large-scale construction projects. His
commitment to perfection is reflected in every Poe Companies project.
Prior to joining Poe companies, Schreiner managed a wide range of projects, including
the Cincinnati Reds Great American Ball Park, the Indiana Pacers Conseco Fieldhouse,
the Pre-Construction of the Indianapolis Colts New Stadium, Chicago's McCormick
Place South Convention Center, the expansion of Cincinnati's Convention Center,
and the Indiana Government Center North and South Buildings.
Mike Miller
Chief Financial Officer
With an extensive background in financial management, Mike Miller is well equipped
to meet the challenges of a growing business such as Poe Companies. Miller assumed
the role of chief financial officer in February 2007, and currently oversees accounting,
financial reporting, project financing and a privately funded real estate trust.
Prior to joining Poe Companies, Miller acted as the chief financial officer for
Churchill Downs. He orchestrated the company's recent acquisitions and divestitures
and directed the effort to secure public support for the $121-million "Master
Plan" renovation project to modernize the historic Churchill Downs racetrack.
Before working for Churchill Downs, Miller was the chief financial officer and treasurer
of Fender Musical Instruments in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was responsible for its
worldwide financial organization, including the establishment of its European subsidiaries.
Miller gained valuable experience in the international financial marketplace through
his work at Fender.
Miller has also served in the top financial post for Elder Beerman Stores Corp.,
a Dayton, Ohio-based retailer. Prior to these positions, he was a partner in the
certified public accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche.
A West Virginia native, Miller graduated from Marshall University in 1974 with a
bachelor's degree in accounting. Miller was granted his status as a certified public
accountant in Kentucky in 1976.
Miller is a board member and treasurer for Home of the Innocents, a Louisville-based
charity dedicated to serving children in crisis. He also serves on the board of
PBI Bancorp, a bank holding company based in Louisville.
Ironwood Real Estate
Ironwood Real Estate is a commercial real estate investment firm founded by Matthew
Hooks and Scot Krieger in 2002. The firm focuses on the acquisition and development
of retail properties throughout Texas. Both principals are active in building relationships
with Ironwood's institutional and individual investors. Together, Hooks and Krieger
have more than 30 years of experience in commercial real estate.
For more information, visit www.ironwoodre.com
Scot Krieger
Principal
Scot Krieger oversees Ironwood Real Estate's development, construction, financial,
accounting and property management efforts. Ironwood manages projects with more
than 600,000 square feet in Austin and San Antonio.
Prior to forming Ironwood, Krieger was a vice president at JPMorganChase Bank with
responsibilities for commercial real estate banking activities in the Austin and
San Antonio markets. During his 16-year tenure, Krieger sourced acquisition, construction
and permanent financing for the bank's clients. Krieger also managed the disposition
of client and bank-owned properties.
Krieger is heavily involved in civic organizations and is a former board member
of the Real Estate Council of Austin and member of the Real Estate Council of San
Antonio, the International Council of Shopping Centers and The University of Texas
at Austin Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council, as well as a board member of the
Austin Duke University Alumni Club. In addition, he has served as a guest lecturer
at The University of Texas McCombs School of Business on real estate and finance
topics.
Krieger is a magna cum laude graduate of Duke University, having received a Bachelor
of Arts degree in economics and history. He also earned a Master of Business Administration
degree from The University of Texas at Austin.
Matthew Hooks
Principal
Matthew Hooks manages Ironwood Real Estate's leasing and brokerage division and
is primarily responsible for identifying the firm's future investments. Ironwood
serves as the general partner for a portfolio of nine properties worth in excess
of $70 million.
Prior to Ironwood's formation, Hooks worked as a vice president and senior broker
with the Austin office of The Weitzman Group, focusing on the sales and leasing
of retail and mixed-use properties. Before joining The Weitzman Group, Hooks was
a partner with Austin-based Alta Vista Properties, where he worked on real estate
development, acquisitions and brokerage.
Hooks is active in professional and civic organizations, including the Real Estate
Council of Austin, the International Council of Shopping Centers, the Urban Land
Institute, the Commercial Leasing Brokers Association, The University of Texas at
Austin School of Architecture Foundation Advisory Council (former board member)
and the Gulf Coast Conservation Association.
Hooks received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stephen F. Austin State University.
Deborah Berke & Partners Architects LLP
The New York-based firm is accomplished in a broad range of institutional, commercial
and residential architecture. Deborah Berke & Partners' work includes interior design,
a line of furniture and university master planning projects.
For more information, visit www.dberke.com
Deborah Berke
Deborah Berke founded her New York-based practice in 1982. Since that time, Deborah
Berke & Partners Architects has become accomplished in a broad range of institutional,
commercial, and residential architecture. The firm’s diverse design work also includes
interior design, a line of furniture, and master planning projects. DBPA has built
projects throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean,
and is especially adept at shaping its architectural language based on regional
materials, climate, and customs.
Deborah Berke builds direct and subtle architecture that satisfies the spirit of
its users through careful planning and the integrity of details and materials. The
breadth of the firm’s work, both in building type and locale, attests to a thoughtful
and inventive approach to design. The office always develops fresh and unexpected
buildings that still manages to embrace—and be embraced by—their context.
DBPA has created several successful and award-winning hospitality projects, including
21C Museum Hotel in Louisville. Projects for arts related institutions include the
School of Art and the New Theater at Yale University and the Serkin Center for Performing
Arts at Marlboro College. The firm is also known for their retail work for clients
as diverse as cK Calvin Klein, Burton Snowboards, Club Monaco, and Sigerson Morrison.
In recent years, the firm's projects have become increasingly high-profile, including
the recently completed Irwin Union Bank in Columbus, Indiana, 48 Bond, an elegant
condominium tower in New York, and the Marianne Boesky Gallery—a new building
situated next to Chelsea's High Line.
Among the numerous publications which have featured articles on Deborah's work are
Architecture, Index, Interior Design, Metropolis,
New York Magazine, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue,
and Wallpaper.
Berke has been a Professor at Yale University's School of Architecture since 1987
and has been a guest lecturer at architecture schools and professional and public
events through the country. She has held academic appointments at the Rhode Island
School of Design, the University of Maryland, University of Miami, and the Institute
for Architecture and Urban Studies.
Goody Clancy Architecture
Boston-based Goody Clancy is a national architecture, urban design and preservation
firm with a strong commitment to creating successful urban buildings and neighborhoods.
Since 1955, it has designed award-winning mixed-use and mixed-income urban housing
projects that have become models that continue to be emulated internationally. The
firm's design for Tent City, a mid-rise, mixed-use housing complex spanning Boston's
Back Bay and South End neighborhoods, is a prototype for contextual multi-use urban
projects that has been recognized with numerous awards including the United Nations
World Habitat Award.
In addition to 21c, the firm is currently working on Parcel 24, a 315-unit mixed-use
urban housing project that is community responsive and includes commercial and retail
space. Goody Clancy has completed design for River Park Place in Louisville, a 600-unit
(phase one) project comprised of a series of mixed-use buildings structured around
green spaces and an inviting public waterfront plaza.
From researching solar housing design, to a recently completed LEED Gold-Certified
student housing project, the firm has been committed to sustainable design since
its inception in 1955. Several other recent projects are currently submitted for
Silver and Gold-level LEED certification. More than 40 of Goody Clancy's staff are
LEED-accredited professionals.
The success of Goody Clancy's urban housing work has been recognized through national
awards from the American Institute of Architecture, The Urban Land Institute, The
Congress for the New Urbanism and the American Planning Association.
For more information, visit www.goodyclancy.com
Rob Chandler
Principal
Rob Chandler is a principal at Goody Clancy whose work focuses on planning and designing
significant urban-residential and mixed-use projects. Each building is shaped to
complement the physical and social context of it's surrounding city, and programmed
to enliven it's neighborhoods. By providing a mix of uses and resident income levels,
each is a financially, socially and environmentally sustainable component of the
city.
Chandler has completed master plans for urban residential development around the
country, including the redevelopment of Cabrini Green in Chicago and a significant
new neighborhood at Crown Center in Kansas City. He has also designed urban residential
projects in Boston, Louisville and Cleveland.
Chandler and his design teams have won national awards for housing design, including
an AIA National Honor award. He is a member of the Massachusetts Green Roundtable,
and is co-author of Building Type Basics for Housing, published by Wiley Press.
Chandler earned a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University Graduate
School of Design.
Susman Tisdale Gayle
Susman Tisdale Gayle (STG) is a 30 year-old design firm with an integrated approach
to architecture, planning and interiors. The firm has become one of the nation's
leading architectural design firms committed to multidisciplinary design.
With offices in Austin and Nashville, STG works for a diverse client base on a wide
range of projects—from new corporate campuses and major hospitality projects to
institutional facilities and large interior finish-outs. With a staff of 82, STG
has the resources to address interior and exterior issues simultaneously. Jim Susman,
Jack Tisdale and DeWitt Gayle are in charge of the Austin office, and David Johnston
leads the Nashville office. Martha Horlander is in charge of interior services.
Some of the design firm's recently completed projects include Dell Computer's campus
in Winston Salem, North Carolina; additions and renovations for the Lakeway Resort
& Spa in Central Texas, Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee,
and the recently completed Edward Brooks Science Center on the St. Edwards University
campus. Other notable Austin-area projects by STG include the GSD&M Idea City,
National Instruments' north Austin campus, Dell Computer Company's Round Rock and
Parmer Lane campuses, and numerous offices for companies such as Austin Ventures,
Clark Thomas law firm, Winstead Sechrest & Minnick, and Texas Monthly. Susman Tisdale
Gayle has been involved in a number of downtown Austin projects. It will be one
of the lead design firms on the upcoming Seaholm Power Plant conversion project.
For more information, visit www.stgarchitects.com
Jim Susman
Principal
At Susman Tisdale Gayle (STG) since 1982, Jim Susman leads one of the architectural
studios for the firm. A talented designer with a remarkable ability to understand
what the client is trying to achieve, Susman guides the design efforts for many
of STG's larger projects. Key projects that he has led include Dell, Inc., GSD&M
Advertising, the Brown Building Lofts and the Austin Children's Museum.
Susman received the Design Excellence Award from the City of Austin and belongs
to the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Texas Society of Architects, the
Real Estate Council of Austin and the Downtown Austin Alliance.
Jack Tisdale
Principal
As one of Susman Tisdale Gayle's founders, Jack Tisdale oversees business development,
project quality control and leads one of the Austin architectural studios. He has
particular expertise in project programming, conceptual design and site planning.
Key projects which have benefited from Jack's expertise include the Del Webb Sun
City campus, the Domain Business Park, renovations and additions to the Lakeway
Inn and Conference Center, and the Clark Thomas law firm.
Tisdale is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Texas Society
of Architects, Urban Land Institute, Real Estate Council of Austin and the Downtown
Austin Alliance. He is also a director of the Austin Museum of Art.
DeWitt Gayle
President and CEO
Since 1979, DeWitt Gayle has filled virtually every role at Susman Tisdale Gayle
(STG), from project draftsman to his current position as president and CEO. His
duties include overseeing all firm management, directing STG strategic planning,
and leading the design of numerous office and institutional projects.
Gayle is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Texas Society
of Architects and is Past-President of the Austin Parks Foundation. He has also
served as director of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, YMCA of Austin, West
Austin Youth Association and Westwood Country Club.
urbanspace Realtors LLP
urbanspace is a real estate firm specializing in marketing and selling high-end
residential and mixed-use properties in downtown Austin. Founded by Kevin Burns
in 2000, urbanspace owes its success to an unparalleled passion that comes from
being a part of the downtown community itself.
For more information, visit
www.urbanspacerealtors.com
Kevin Burns
Principal and Broker
Kevin Burns is an entrepreneurial visionary with a passion for downtown. Since founding
urbanspace, Burns has become the top producing broker in Austin and has developed
a premier mixed-use and residential real estate company that continues to grow.
Since the company's inception, urbanspace has partnered with the city's most prestigious
projects and developments.
As the former vice president of the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association and
an active member of the Economic Development Committee of the Downtown Austin Alliance,
Burns is a leading voice in the downtown Austin community.
Burns received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with a concentration in
real estate investment and finance from The University of Texas at Austin.