The Winchester Institute at Auburn University is hosting The Outlook on Jan. 9, 2025, where five highly esteemed commercial real estate executives will share their insights on real estate capital markets, multi-family projects, retail shopping centers, hospitality real estate, and overall construction trends for the coming year.

In its eighth year, The Outlook is part of the Winchester Institute’s CityBuilders initiative, and it provides a forum for CRE industry professionals to explore the coming year’s trends, opportunities and challenges.

The five panelists are:

• Rob Carter is the president/COO of Westplan Investors, where he has been a partner since 2007. He provides strategic leadership for the company’s operational functions and oversees all project debt financing. As a member of the company’s Investment Committee, he is also responsible for evaluating and approving new investments in addition to overseeing the performance of assets in Westplan’s portfolio. He currently serves on Auburn University’s MRED Advisory Board and Georgia State’s Real Estate Advisory Board. He received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Auburn and an MBA from Georgia State University.
• Amanda Chivers is managing principal of Crown Hospitality Consulting, an Atlanta-based firm specializing in hotel asset management, operational review, construction and loan administration, and distressed asset turnaround in the upscale and luxury hotel sectors. She has more than 18 years of industry experience which has led to more than $1 billion in transactions representing major hotel brands. She also oversees construction loan servicing of new-build development and conversion projects for several clients.
• Ray Jones is a broker/operating partner with The Shopping Center Group (TSCG) in Birmingham. He started in the commercial real estate industry in 2006 and has been with TSCG for more than 13 years.  He focuses on tenant representation, site selection, and working with select landlord clients in Alabama, Mississippi, and the Florida Panhandle.  In addition, he became the operating partner for the Birmingham office in 2018, where he oversees 10 commercial agents and is also responsible for business development.  
• Shawn Roberts is president of Mad Dog Construction in Tallahassee, Fla. He has led the construction and oversight of many university and K-12 projects in North Florida and South Georgia, as well as other projects—offices, retail, industrial, clubhouse/resort, and financial institutions—throughout Florida and Georgia. These 250 projects represent more than 1,500,000 square feet, more than $200 million in construction, and more than $150 million in preconstruction, development planning, and estimating services. He earned his bachelor’s degree in building sciences at Auburn and served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force.
• Kevin Stacker is the managing director of the Wells Fargo REIT Finance group (RFG), which has primary responsibility for U.S. public real estate investment trust (REIT) coverage and large privates. His responsibilities include originations, structuring and closing of balance sheet transactions, coordination of investment banking products with the various Wells Fargo Securities teams. Stacker earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Auburn and an MBA with an emphasis in real estate finance from the University of Southern California.

The Jan. 9 event will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in room 125 Lowder Hall, 405 W. Magnolia Ave. in Auburn. Registration is required. A networking event will follow in Horton-Hardgrave Hall, located adjacent to Lowder Hall.

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