MSRED - Meet our Professional Advisors

John P. Amershadian is retired Senior Counsel and former Managing Partner of, Hodgson Russ, LLP, Buffalo’s oldest and largest law firm. During his over forty years of practice he concentrated in transactional real estate and  finance work, including serving as the lead attorney for both borrowers and banking syndicates in multi-lender financings and representing lenders and developers in construction and permanent mortgage financings. He has also played a number of roles in various types of asset-backed securitizations.

Keith M. Belanger is a Senior Vice President responsible for the M&T bank’s Corporate Services Division.  In this role, Keith oversees the bank’s 971 facilities totaling 8.4 million square feet spread across some 25 states and 5 countries.  He also is responsible for a number of non-real estate support groups, including Corporate Procurement, Vendor Risk Management, Food Service, Travel and Meeting Management, Mail and Courier Service, Records Management and Material Reuse.

Christian Campos is President of TM Montante Development, a design oriented firm that focuses on projects in Western New York that improve communities and create long term value by developing sites to their highest and best use.

Mr. Chiazza has been in the real estate development business since 1982. Since 2007, he has been project partner and Executive Vice President of Iskalo Development Corp., a full service, commercial real estate development company headquartered in Williamsville, NY.

As a Project Manager for TM Montante Development, Mr. Crowther is responsible for the execution of all TM Montante Development projects. He manages the creation of site master plans, project pro formas, schedules, and building design concepts, as well as the creation of construction documents. Mr. Crowther also assists in site selection and feasibility analysis.

Mr. Dewart is the President of Seneca Development & Management Corporation and has been actively involved in real estate development and management since 1968.  His firm has been responsible for the development, construction and ownership of light-manufacturing and distribution warehouse facilities throughout Western New York.  In the 1980’s, Alan’s company spearheaded the redevelopment of Buffalo’s Theatre District. He also serves as a consultant in many aspects of real estate development.

Stephen Fitzmaurice has over 30 years of experience running commercial buildings ranging in size from 300,000 square feet to over 1.5 million square feet. 

Darby is the CEO of CBRE|Buffalo, an affiliate of CBRE Inc. commercial real estate brokerage firm, and Comvest Real Estate Management, a local woman owned facilities management firm.

Mr. Foerster is a former adjunct instructor and Senior Fellow in the UB Real Estate Development Program, and is highly experienced both as a commercial real estate executive and as a faculty member in real estate development.  He previously served as the Olson Real Estate Field Faculty Fellow and a full-time member of the real estate faculty in the Baker Program in Real Estate at Cornell University, where he taught core courses in the real estate field and conducted outreach to the industry.

Christopher Hogan is the Chief Operating Officer of RP Oak Hill Building Company Inc., an employee-owned construction management and general contracting firm that has built over $800 million in projects in Western New York over the last decade.

Kellena Kane is the Founder and Owner of Ascension Real Estate. Prior to forming her own consulting company, she was Director of Development for Uniland Development Company, a leading builder, developer and manager of commercial real estate in Western New York.

Connor Kenney is a Developer with SAA | EVI. He represents the firm in New York State and is responsible for overseeing real estate development, construction management, and business development.

Dennis Penman is Managing Principal of Penman Development Partners. Mr. Penman previously served as Executive Vice President and Principal at MJ Peterson Real Estate, and Executive Vice Pres-ident and Principal of Ciminelli Real Estate Corporation. 

Ms. Powell is a principal owner and President of the Casilio group of companies. She oversees the Williamsville, New York-based company’s regional and national commercial real estate and construction activities.

As Benderson’s Executive Director, Eric L. Recoon leads Buffalo’s regional development and leasing group. He has been actively involved in development and leasing of major retail shopping centers within Benderson’s Northeast Region.

Matthew Roland, AICP, joins the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning as an Assistant Dean for the Real Estate Development program and Clinical Assistant Professor. He has a Bachelor of Science in Urban Studies from Cornell University and a Master of Regional Planning with specializations in land use, real estate and economic development from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mr. Savarino serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Savarino Companies. Since it was formed in January of 2001, it has grown to be one of Western New York's leading general contracting, construction management and development firms.  

As Director of Capital Markets Group at Uniland, Mr. Sayadoff is responsible for the financing of Uniland’s commercial development projects as well as funding the company’s various capital requirements relating to acquisition of property. 

Mr. Schneider heads both Schneider Design, Architects, PC, which focuses on  educational and religious architecture and adaptive reuse of historic structures and Schneider Development, LLC, a property development company targeting the adaptive reuse of vacant and derelict buildings in Buffalo’s downtown core.

In 2009, Mr. Sinatra founded a real estate investment firm focused on the Western New York and Southern California areas called Sinatra & Company Real Estate. The entrepreneurial company invests in distressed multi-family and retail real estate.

Mr. Stebbins is President of Bisonwing Planning & Development. He is the former Executive Vice President of Buffalo Urban Development Corporation (BUDC), and was responsible for managing several major real estate development projects for BUDC.  He is also a former Adjunct Instructor in UB’s Real Estate Development Program, and continues to provide career counseling to its students.

Mike Tunkey is a Principal with CannonDesign.  In his over 20 years at CannonDesign, he has contributed to the growth of the firm through active design, operational and client leadership roles.    

Ben Upshaw is the founder of CB-Emanuel Realty, LLC, a developer of apartments across upstate New York and in New York City. He is a graduate of Canisius College, where he was a Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar, and of NYU where he received a Master’s of Science in Real Estate Development.

Mr. Weiss is one of the founding partners of Cannon Heyman & Weiss, LLP, a boutique law firm located in Albany, NY and Buffalo, NY.  

Sujata is the leader of Hodgson Russ LLP's Real Estate, Finance & Bankruptcy Practice Area. She draws upon her extensive experience in business and commercial real estate development, commercial leasing, and real estate investment and financing to provide business-focused legal advice to help her clients reach their goals.