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

Robin Kennedy is the EVP, Chief Development Officer for Montage International. In this role, Ms. Kennedy is responsible for spearheading all strategic business development, capital partnerships, acquisition, design and construction activities for the company, including the global expansion of the company’s portfolio of both Montage and Pendry branded hotels.

Prior to joining Montage, Ms. Kennedy was the Vice President, Acquisitions at Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, managing opportunistic acquisition & investment transactions, and successfully delivering industry-leading total returns to shareholders. During her tenure, Pebblebrook completed the acquisition of over 24 hotels representing more than $2.5 billion dollars of total asset value. In addition, Ms. Kennedy led several high impact asset management projects on owned assets, including brand and management selection, management agreement negotiation and lease negotiations for both retail and F&B operations.

Prior to her role with Pebblebrook, Ms. Kennedy spent nine years with Marriott International, holding multiple management roles within business development and finance, including Vice President, Full Service Development. In that role, Ms. Kennedy was responsible for identifying and pursuing new business opportunities for Marriott International, including The Ritz-Carlton, Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, Edition, Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance Hotels and Autograph Collection Hotels.

It was during her tenure with Marriott that Ms. Kennedy played an integral role in the launch of the Autograph Collection, from sizing the initial opportunity through to securing 12 properties for the new brand within the first year of the launch.

Ms. Kennedy graduated from the University of North Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a minor in Business Administration. She went on to achieve a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

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. He received his BSBA in 1972 from UNC-Chapel Hill. 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.

Britt A. Snider is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE: CDP). In this role, Britt manages the overall operations of the Company including asset management and leasing, property management, government services, and commercial development. His responsibilities also include developing and executing strategies to expand the Company’s investment opportunities, predominantly regarding new development at existing Defense/IT properties, including data centers. Prior to joining CDP in December 2023, Britt served as Principal of Redbrick LMD, a diversified real estate investment and development company based in Washington, D.C., where he was a member of the senior leadership team overseeing the company’s development, asset management and leasing activities. Prior to Redbrick, he served as Senior Vice President at WS Development, a real estate investment and development company based in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, where he led the company’s mixed-use development initiatives outside of the Boston Seaport. Between 2006 and 2019, he served as Executive Vice President, Head of Commercial Asset Management and Principal, Development at JBG Smith (NYSE: JBGS), a mixed-use investment and development real estate investment trust, where he oversaw the company’s office portfolio and development activities. Previous to JBG, Britt worked in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group at Friedman Billings Ramsey. Britt received his B.A., Cum Laude, from Amherst College and his M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.