Executives in Residence

Gary is the recently retired co-founder of Trinity Partners, a Carolinas-based full-service commercial real estate firm headquartered in Charlotte, with regional offices in Raleigh/Durham, as well as Greenville and Columbia SC. Trinity Partners leases and manages 26 million SF of office and industrial properties throughout the Carolinas.

He and his partners also co-founded Trinity Capital Advisors, a private equity real estate investment firm that has invested $4.1B through acquiring and developing over 28 million SF of office and industrial assets in seven states, primarily in the Southeast. Gary retired from both firms at the end of 2021.

After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1987, Gary spent three years with Wachovia Bank as a corporate lending officer. In 1990, after a three-month honeymoon spent backpacking throughout Europe, he began his career in commercial real estate. During his first next seven years in the industry, he worked as an office tenant representation broker, and then later as an office leasing agent for developer Childress Klein.

Gary and his partners founded Trinity Partners in 1998, and Trinity Capital Advisors in 2001. He has written about Trinity’s entrepreneurial real estate journey in his recently released 2022 book called “Creating Trinity – Blueprints of a Real Estate Entrepreneur & Investor”. In addition to being a serial entrepreneur, Gary is an avid fly fisherman, saltwater creek fisherman, runner, mentor to younger real estate professionals, and passionate advocate for the homeless. He lives in Charlotte with Kim, his wife of 32 years; they have three daughters.

Community Affiliations & Boards

• Board Member, Roof Above, 2018-present
  • Capital Campaign Chair, Homeless to Homes $40mm Campaign, 2018-2021
• Board Chair & Board Member, Urban Ministry Center, 2005 – 2017
• Board Member, Alexander Youth Network, 2011 – 2018
• Board Member, Charlotte Family Housing, 2012 – 2015
• Board Member, Charlotte Rescue Mission, 2005 – 2008
• Guest Lecturer, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, Undergraduate & MBA programs, 1999-2023
• Member, Christ Lutheran Church, Charlotte

Alan Levow, a principal of Crowne Partners, Inc., has over 35 years of experience in purchasing and structuring real estate transactions throughout the United States, and currently is at the forefront in designing creative and successful investment strategies in developmental real estate.

Prior to joining Crowne Partners, Inc., Mr. Levow was a Vice President and General Partner of Investors Realty Associates of Atlanta, Georgia.

From 1978-1982, Mr. Levow was associated with JMB Realty Corporation, one of the nation’s largest sponsors of tax advantaged real estate investments. Beginning his career as an Associate in the Acquisition Group, he was promoted to Vice President of Acquisitions and thereafter opened and served as Director of JMB’s Southeastern Region Acquisition Office.

In June, 1978, Mr. Levow received a MBA from Northwestern University. An associate with the law firm of Holland and Hart in Denver, Colorado from July, 1975 to June, 1977, Mr. Levow received his JD from Northwestern University in May, 1975, where he was on the Editorial Board of the Law Review and graduated cum laude.

Dick Michaux is a founder and former Chairman & CEO of AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB), whose predecessor firm, Avalon Properties, he helped found  in 1993. Prior to the formation of Avalon Properties, Mr. Michaux was a partner of Trammell Crow Residential (TCR), which he joined in 1980, and served as one of the three Group Managing Partners of TCR from 1986 to 1993. In that capacity, he was responsible for residential apartment development in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, and Midwestern states. He started his career in real estate at Sea Pines Company on Hilton Head Island.

Mr. Michaux’s professional affiliations include: past Chairman of the National Multi Housing Council; past Chairman of the Gold Flight Residential Council of Urban Land Institute (the ULI); past member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT); past Vice President/Treasurer of the United States Naval Academy Class of 1966 Foundation; and  former Advisory Board member of Trammell Crow Residential and Mill Creek Residential Trust.  

Mr Michaux’s non-profit affiliations include: founding Board member of the DC Early Child Care Collaborative; member of the Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley Board; founding Board member and former President of the National PKU Alliance. 

He graduated from the United States Naval Academy with distinction and was a nuclear submarine officer. He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Fellow and a Dean’s Scholar.

Dick has been married to Ginny for 57 years. Ginny holds a masters in nursing from Carolina. Their daughter Alison is a Carolina MBA and granddaughter Tia is a Carolina undergrad.