Tour Guide
Lisa Percy
Project Manager, Community Action Center
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ULI Minnesota YLG Summit: Sustainability and Development in Greater MN
Our ULI Minnesota YLG Summit 2025 is planned as the not to miss YLG event of the season! Register today to join us for a field trip to Northfield, MN for a full day of content and tours as we dive in on sustainability and development in Greater MN. We are excited for the opportunity to tour the new Passive House student housing at Carleton College, tour the net-zero supportive housing community, Hillcrest Village, and enjoy lunch in downtown Northfield as we host a panel discussion focused on the opportunities and challenges of development in Greater MN and an overview of how adaptive reuse also contributes to sustainability in real estate. We plan to embrace the benefit of carpooling by renting a bus, while also enjoying the extra time for networking and building relationships with industry peers!
Standard registration was open through June 30 and is now closed.
If you are still interested in attending, please email Rachel Keenan ([email protected]) to inquire if any space is still available.
Thursday, July 17, 2025, 8:00AM - 4:00PM
1-Day Summit Agenda:
7:30-8AM: Arrival, park at the Atrium Office Building in Saint Paul for the day.
8:00AM - 9:00AM Networking breakfast & board the bus.
10:00AM - Arrival in Northfield, MN for a project overview and tour of Carlton College's new Passive House student housing, The Lilac Hill Community.
11:30AM - 1:30PM - Lunch at Reunion with panel discussion about real estate development in Greater MN including sustainability strategies and adaptive reuse.
1:30PM - 3:00PM - Project overview and tour of Community Action Center's Hillcrest Village, which is a first-in-the-nation Net Zero Energy emergency shelter and supportive housing development where 100% of the utilities are supplied by on-site solar panels. Designed, funded, and built by the community, Hillcrest Village represents local solutions to climate change.
3:00PM - Board the bus back to St. Paul.
4:00PM - Arrive back at the Atrium Office Building in Saint Paul.
This course has been APPROVED by the Minnesota Department of Commerce for 2 hours of real estate continuing education and for 2 hours of AICP CEUs. An application for AIA CE hours has been applied for and is pending approval.
Thank you to our 2025 YLG Summit Sponsors:
Ballard Spahr
ARCO/Murray
Amani Construction & Development
Rebound Partners
Reunion
Wellington Management, Inc.
Generous grant support has been provided by: ULI Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate.
Speakers
Panelist
Jay Scott
President , Rebound Real Estate
Panelist
Mikayla Schmidt
City Planner, City of Northfield
Tour Guide
Becky Ford
Community Resource Manager, Community Action Center
Tour Guide
Tom Brown
President, Terra Construction
Panelist
Elizabeth Turner
Architect, Passive Building Consultant, Precipitate
Architect (MN+NE), Passive Building Consultant (CPHC®)
Elizabeth believes resilient carbon-neutral architecture must be centered on equity and affordability and founded Precipitate in 2017 to accelerate change in the profession toward that goal. She is a 2020 recipient of the Energy News Network’s 40 under 40 recognizing her leadership in the transition to a clean energy economy. She coaches client project teams in energy efficiency as a Certified Passive House Consultant. She teaches sustainable community development and net positive architecture at the University of Minnesota and St. Olaf College. Elizabeth volunteers extensively with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Minnesota, serving on the Culture Change Leadership Team and co-chairing the Government Affairs Committee, advocating for public policy with a focus on equity and inclusion toward truly sustainable communities for all.
Tour Guide
Kim Bretheim
Senior Architect, Housing Studio Leader, LHB, Inc.
Host
Joanne Kuria
Chief Operations Officer, Amani Construction & Development
Panelist
Ray Bouchart
Sustainability Lead, Design Tree Engineering
Ray serves as the Sustainability Lead at Design Tree, where he focuses on reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption in both new and existing projects. With expertise in sustainability program compliance and funding opportunities, Ray will provide an overview of Minnesota's sustainable development landscape and practical advice for incorporating energy efficiency into various projects.
Tour Guide
Rob Hanson
Manager of Campus Energy, Carleton College
As the campus energy manager, my role is to reduce campus energy usage where we can, and make what energy we use as sustainable as possible. I oversee and/or work with the two campus wind turbines, the geothermal system, the solar arrays, the electric vehicle (EV) chargers, and building energy usage. As a thorough energy nerd, I love discussing anything related to energy, so reach out if you have any questions or ideas!
BS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University
MEng in Energy Systems Engineering from Iowa State University
At Carleton since 2022.
Panelist
Chris Kennelly
CEO, NCC Builders
As CEO, I ensure that all projects and people are moving forward and that we are not just meeting client expectations – we are exceeding them.
I’ve been involved in real estate construction and development for 25 years, and I’ve been with Northfield Construction Company, now NCC Builders, since 2012. My background is in project management and property development, and I have an MBA in Real Estate Development and Finance from the University of Colorado. Before NCC, I led development and investment projects with over one million square feet.
Moderator
Matt Ganter
Development Manager, Rebound Partners
My name is Matt Ganter and I grew up in Maple Grove, MN. I attended Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis from K-12. Then I continued my education at Carleton College in Northfield, MN where I studied Economics. I began my career at Solhem Companies as an intern and quickly moved up to a full time position as a leasing agent after graduating. Within 6 months I was promoted to a property manager role opening a new 159 unit project called Gibson in Northeast Minneapolis. I learned how to manage a maintenance, leasing, and construction team to effectively lease-up that project to 90% occupied within 6 months of opening. I also learned to manage resident's desires against the financial considerations of Solhem. After this early stage of my career, I moved into a Development Associate role at Solhem mainly managing construction and completing the quality control for our new apartments. This helped develop my project management skills and I learned about the construction process. In September of 2023, I was approached by Rebound Partners to join on in a Development Associate role completing the financial analysis needed to assess real estate deals. I was excited for this opportunity to utilize my college education and continue to expand my development skills by working on the financial side. Rebound Partners focuses on development in smaller communities like Northfield and aims to partner with locals in order to address their real estate needs. Rebound has completed projects ranging from hotels, restaurants, mixed use, industrial, and multifamily. To that end, I am looking forward to continuing to expand my development toolkit with ULI through the courses I will be taking and the connections I will make.