|
Detroit
Riverfront
Conservancy
names
Mark
Wallace
new CEO
and
president
Detroit
Resident
Brings
Public-Private
Partnership
and Real
Estate
Development
Expertise
to
City’s
Thriving
Riverfront
Redevelopment
Efforts
DETROIT
– The
Detroit
RiverFront
Conservancy
(DRFC)
Board of
Directors
today
named
Mark
Wallace
as the
organization’s
new
chief
executive
officer
and
president.
In his
new
role,
Wallace,
37, will
oversee
the
continued
development
and
permanent
stewardship
of the
Detroit
riverfront
that
will
ultimately
provide
5.5
miles of
contiguous
access
along
the
Detroit
River,
an
international
waterway
bordering
Downtown
Detroit
and
shared
with
Windsor,
Ontario,
Canada.
He will
begin
his new
role in
mid-August.
Wallace
joins
the DRFC
from
Hines
Interests
LP,
where he
has
supported
several
multi-million
dollar
development
projects
in
Detroit,
Chicago
and
Toronto
over the
past 10
years.
Most
recently,
he has
served
as the
project
manager
of River
Point, a
1.3
million
square
foot
mixed-use
development
on the
Chicago
River
that
includes
a public
park and
an
extension
of the
city’s
famed
Chicago
River
Walk.
Wallace
began
his real
estate
development
career
on the
Detroit
riverfront
in 2004
as an
assistant
project
manager
for
Hines
supporting
the
first
major
portion
of the
then
newly
established
RiverWalk.
He went
on to
support
Wayne
County’s
acquisition
of the
Guardian
Building
in 2006,
and has
overseen
property
management
contracts
for the
City of
Detroit’s
Coleman
A. Young
Municipal
Center
and
Public
Safety
Headquarters.
From
2007
through
2012,
Wallace
was the
leasing
director
of the
2.7
million
square
foot GM
Renaissance
Center,
and in
2013, he
managed
a
13-acre
residential-and
commercial-use
waterfront
development
in
Toronto
that was
funded
through
a
public-private
partnership.
Prior to
pursuing
a real
estate
development
track,
Wallace
taught
English
for
three
years at
both the
Detroit
Public
School’s
Crocket
Technical
High
School
and at
Horizons
Upward
Bound, a
summer
education
program
dedicated
to
create
first
generation
college
graduates
in
Detroit
and
Pontiac.
Wallace
earned a
bachelor’s
and
master’s
degree
in
public
policy
from
Princeton
University
and the
University
of
Michigan,
respectively.
A
dedicated
Detroit
resident,
he is an
active
leader
and
member
of
several
community
organizations.
He
currently
holds a
seat on
the YMCA
Boll
Center
board of
directors,
and
serves
on the
advisory
boards
of Kiva
Detroit
and
Hatch
Detroit.
Wallace
has been
recognized
as a
Crain’s
Detroit
Business
“40
Under
Forty”
and won
the
publication’s
2010
Deal of
the Year
Award.
“Mark’s
commitment
to the
Detroit
community,
coupled
with his
leadership
of urban
real
estate
developments
and
experience
in
public-private
partnerships,
position
him as
the
ideal
person
to lead
the
Detroit
RiverFront
Conservancy
during
this
exciting
time in
our
history,”
said
Matt
Cullen,
DRFC
founding
chairman.
About
the
Detroit
RiverFront
Conservancy
The
Detroit
RiverFront
Conservancy,
Inc. was
formed
as a 501
(c) (3)
with the
mission
of
transforming
Detroit’s
international
riverfront
into a
beautiful,
exciting,
safe,
accessible
world-class
gathering
place
for all.
The
entire
vision
is 5.5
miles of
riverfront
property,
from the
Ambassador
Bridge
to
Gabriel
Richard
Park,
just
east of
the
Belle
Isle
Bridge,
and will
include
the
construction
of a
continuous
RiverWalk
along
with
plazas,
pavilions
and
green
spaces.
The
Conservancy
is
responsible
for the
improvement,
operations,
maintenance,
security,
programming
and
expansion
of the
Detroit
international
riverfront
in
perpetuity.
|