ULI Philadelphia’s Young Leaders Council held its Third Annual Shark Tank event on Tuesday, March 19^th at FMC Tower at Cira Centre South. In what has become one of the most popular events of the year, local real estate developers present their local development projects to an esteemed, experienced panel of “shark” investors and financiers.

This year’s sharks included:

• Allan Domb, Allan Domb Real Estate and At-Large City Councilman
• Lauren Gilchrest, JLL – Philadelphia
• Doug Green, MSC Retail
• Brad Korman, Korman Communities
• Bernie Shields, M&T Bank

Two local developers presented to the sharks. First up in the shark tank was Anuj Khosla from Khosla Properties. Their development will be a five-story ground up new construction building in the heart of Brewerytown’s 31st Street corridor revitalization. The building will consist of 32 residential units, a ground floor amenity space, and 10 covered parking spaces. Some of the advice from the sharks included adjusting kitchen layouts to be mindful of the tenant’s space, accounting for taxes in underwriting and thinking about adjustments in policy at exit.

The second presenter to enter the shark tank was Jeremy Terr and David Ross from Argo Property Group, presenting their project “North Ridge.” North Ridge is a multifamily mixed-use project in an Opportunity Zone. The site features 70 residential units and 2 commercial units. The sharks advised that it’s important to prepare and paint a picture of what to expect for your future tenants when creating a market in a new neighborhood.

The event also included an audience Q+A for those not on stage to ask the presenters questions and give feedback on how to improve their projects. Some attendees also had the opportunity to tour the amenity floor in the connected AKA Hotel space.

ULI Philadelphia would like to thank our sponsors, speakers and all of the members and volunteers who made this event possible.

Contributed by Joe Buckshon. Joe is is one of the 2019 ULI Etkin Johnson Scholars and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration part-time at the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.