Panelist
Panelist
Mr. Sohael Chowfla
Senior Vice President, Head of Development Redbrick LMD, LLC
Sohael Chowfla has over fifteen years of experience in commercial real estate development. Sohael heads Redbrick's development group and leads several high profile projects for the company, including the Bridge District, Navy Yard, and St Elizabeth's East. Sohael is also involved in acquiring and developing new opportunities for the company.
Prior to joining Redbrick LMD, Sohael was a Director of Development for EDENS, where he supported and led the acquisition and development of over 2.7 million sf of residential, retail, office, and hotel assets across the Washington, DC metropolitan area. At EDENS, his primary responsibilities included site acquisition, entitlements and permits, JV structuring and financing, design and construction oversight, leasing, and disposition. Previously, Sohael worked as an architect and urban designer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in San Francisco, CA, where he provided design and development advisory services for commercial and institutional clients in Asia and the United States.
Sohael is a member of the Harvard Alumni Real Estate Board and is a licensed architect in DC, MD, and VA. Sohael received a Bachelor's in Architecture from Rice University and a Master's in Urban Planning with a focus on Real Estate and Urban Development from Harvard University.
Speaking at
Mon May 12
4:00 PM — 5:00 PM (GMT-07:00) Mountain Time
Colorado Convention Center - Street Level, 405-407
Profit Meets Purpose: Building the Case for Sustainability in Mixed-Use Development
The PAE Living Building in Portland, Oregon, is the first developer-driven Living Building in the world. Phase 1 of the Bridge District in Washington, D.C., will be the world's largest multifamily building to achieve ILFI's Zero Carbon certification. Both projects prove the viability of developing mixed-use commercial structures that improve their urban and ecological context while delivering financial returns. With each project, the teams tackled seemingly unsolvable problems with practical solutions, building the case for balancing sustainable solutions with for-profit models, laying out a roadmap for others to follow. Key to both approaches is the premise that specifying sustainable and resilient strategies, including lowered embodied and operational carbon, reduced energy use, and improved air quality, daylight, and a biophilic interior, provide not only a better place to live and work, but also may translate into higher leasing rates, increased occupant satisfaction, better retention, and higher residual value. From design to construction to financing, presenters will share strategies that build the case that sustainability aspirations and developer returns do not have to be mutually exclusive.