ATLANTA, GA - Wood Partners, L.L.C, one of the nation’s most active multifamily developers, announced several high level leadership changes as it prepares to pursue more than $1 billion in new development opportunities across the United States in 2014.
Jerry Durkin, a founder and chairman of the Board of Directors, will step down as Chairman but remain on the Board. Chief Executive Officer Ryan Dearborn will assume the additional role of Chairman, and Joseph Keough will become President and Chief Financial Officer. Wood Partners founders Leonard Wood and Jim Simpson will step down from the Board of Directors at varying points in 2014, making room for Central Region Development Director Patrick Trask and Western Region Development Director Frank Middleton to join the Board. General Counsel Sean Reynolds will join the company’s Investment Committee.
“The vacancies created as Leonard and Jim step down create growth opportunities for our future leaders,” said Dearborn. “Based on their impressive track records building out their respective businesses, I believe Patrick Trask and Frank Middleton will contribute greatly to the Board of Directors.”
Added Dearborn, “I would like to thank Leonard and Jim for their excellent service and for being such fantastic partners through the years.”
Middleton, who joined Wood Partners in 2005, expanded the company’s West Coast presence by opening an office in Northern California in 2008 and in Seattle in 2010. Trask moved to Houston in 2001 to help open Wood Partners’ Texas Division. He has been a principal in the finance and development of more than 35 multifamily projects totaling more than 10,000 units and $1.2 billion. He now oversees the Wood offices in Texas, Colorado, Chicago and Arizona.
Wood Partners has identified $1.7 billion in new development opportunities as 2014 begins, and Dearborn said the company expects to start more than $1 billion in the coming year. “This level of production is consistent with the past two years and represents full production for our company,” Dearborn said. “We are proud of our team’s impressive results and thankful for the investments that our capital partners have made with us.”