BREAKOUT SESSION: From Stress to Solutions: Managing Risk and Finding Value

Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP

Dominic J. De Simone is a partner at Ballard Spahr and a founding Co-Chair of the firm’s National Finance Department, and previously served, for six years, as Co-Chair then Chair following the Department’s formation. He continues to co-lead the firm’s Real Estate Private Credit, Distressed Real Estate, and Distressed Assets and Opportunities teams. Dominic’s practice focuses on complex real estate debt and equity transactions, including loan originations, structured and multi-party capital financings, and programmatic lending platforms, as well as troubled loans, restructurings, workouts, and distressed asset and opportunistic investment matters. He represents institutional and private credit lenders, investors, sponsors, debt funds, special servicers, and asset managers in a wide range of transactions nationwide and is a frequent speaker and author on real estate finance markets and related matters.

President, Starwood Mortgage Capital

Adam Behlman is President of Starwood Property Trust’s Real Estate Investing and Servicing segment as well as President of Starwood Mortgage Capital. In this role, Mr. Behlman is responsible for overseeing Starwood Property Trust’s commercial mortgage-backed securities, its conduit lending and subsequent securitization activities and its real estate investment platform, as well as leading the company’s wholly owned special servicer, LNR Partners. He previously served as Head of Capital Markets and Chief Risk Officer for LNR. Prior to joining LNR in 2011, Mr. Behlman served as Head of the Real Estate Finance and CMBS division of UBS. In this role, he was responsible for managing and trading UBS’ legacy CMBS and commercial real estate loan book, while also helping return UBS to the origination, trading and underwriting business. Mr. Behlman previously held a variety of capital markets and real estate roles with firms including Deutsche Bank, Prudential Securities and Deloitte. After serving on the Board for the past 5 years, Adam was the President and Chairman of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC) during the 2020-2021 board of directors term, which is the leading trade organization for the commercial real estate finance industry, with over 11,000 members. He is currently serving as the Past Chairman and chairs the compensation and nomination committee’s as well as co-chairs the DEI HBCU and Education sub-committee Mr. Behlman holds a B.A. degree from Queens College, CUNY, in both accounting and information systems and economics.

Vice President, CWCapital Asset Management LLC

Margaret "Meg" Honigberg is a Vice President at CWCapital (CW), a third-party special servicer and CRE technology company, in the asset management, underwriting, and due diligence practice groups. In her role, Meg oversees a portfolio of loans for the company’s roster of CMBS, CLO, and debt fund clients, working on specially-serviced assets with extensive experience in retail, office, and multifamily loans and REO assets. Meg brings 12 years of real estate and construction experience to her role. Meg graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Theatre from Franklin and Marshall College and a Masters in Real Estate from Georgetown University.

Managing Director & Head of Real Estate Finance, Voya Investment Management

Gregory Michaud is head of real estate finance at Voya Investment Management, responsible for the oversight of sourcing, underwriting, and management for all commercial real estate loan platforms. Over the last seven years the platform developed from a proprietary platform to a third-party management one. In addition to managing Voya general account commercial mortgages, there are 21 separate managed accounts and an open-ended debt fund. Investors include a broad group of insurance companies, banks, and public pension funds. Additionally, he serves on the executive leadership team for proprietary assets, the U.S. Credit Committee and chairs the CMBS Steering Committee. Prior to joining Voya as a real estate analyst, Greg was a real estate appraiser focused on commercial properties and eminent domain cases in the southeastern U.S. Greg is an active member of several distinguished real estate industry groups, including the Urban Land Institute (Urban Development Mixed Use Blue Flight), Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (Chairman Emeritus), Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers. Greg earned an executive MBA from the University of Georgia, an MBA in finance from Kennesaw State University, a Graduate Certificate in Ancient and Classical Studies from APUS, and a BS in real estate from Florida State University.

Senior Managing Director, Greystone

Jenna Unell is Vice-President/Senior Managing Director, of Greystone Servicing Company LLC. She serves as the head of special servicing in Irving, Texas, which includes oversight responsibility for special servicing asset management, portfolio oversight, finance, accounting and legal. The special servicing group is also actively engaged in CMBS b-piece underwriting. She joined Greystone in connection with Greystone’s acquisition of C-III Asset Management as of January 1, 2020. Prior to Greystone’s acquisition Ms. Unell was General Counsel at C-III Asset Management LLC which acquired the servicing group from Centerline Capital Group in 2010, where Ms. Unell had been Assistant General Counsel since 2003. She has been part of the executive leadership of Greystone special servicing, and prior to that of C-III and its predecessors, for more than 20 years. Prior to joining Greystone’s predecessor entity, Ms. Unell practiced law in the areas of real estate and real estate finance in the Real Estate section of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld in Dallas. Ms. Unell received her Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist University School of Law where she served on the Board of Editors of the Southwestern Law Journal in the capacity of Texas Survey Editor. Ms. Unell is a former Chairman of the Dallas Bar Association Real Property Section. She is also a member of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys where she is past Co-Chair of the Program Committee and is a member of the Board of Regents. In addition, Jenna is a member of the MBA and of CREFC where she served as past Co‐Chair of the Professional Development Committee of the CREFC Women’s Network.