[ DEVELOPERS ]
Heidi Kimball Senior vice president Sunbelt Holdings sunbeltholdings.com
Brent E. Herrington President and CEO DMB dmbinc.com By MATT DURACK
David Krumwiede Executive vice president Lincoln Property Company lpc.com
David E. Sellers President LGE Design Build lgedesignbuild.com
Joshua Simon President SimonCRE simoncre.com
LAST YEAR R. Chapin Bell P.B. Bell Companies Charley Freericks DMB Associates John Graham Sunbelt Holdings Sharon Harper Plaza Companies John Strittmatter Ryan Companies US, Inc.
From a young age, Brent Herrington was immersed in the world of expansive master-planned living communities. Now the president and CEO of DMB Associates, Herrington leads a company known for its impressive master-planned communities. “My family grew up in one of the very first major masterplanned communities in the United States,” says Herrington. “And so I was absolutely affected by that.” Herrington’s father worked for Exxon and his family lived in Houston, which Herrington adds became a pioneer in sprawling master-planned communities. He says watching his dad work gave him an inside perspective regarding the community, which sparked his interest in the industry and led to his career choice. Herrington graduated from Texas State University with a business degree at a time when there weren’t very many companies like DMB that specialized in large communities. He soon realized his entryway into the business was to get in on the operational side, so he spent five years getting his Professional Community Association Manager credential. “It got me working on some of the very best opportunities (for master-planned community management) in Houston,” Herrington says. He later moved to Phoenix in 1990. It wasn’t very long before he crossed paths with DMB, which was in the process of planning one of its flagship projects, DC Ranch. Herrington was brought on as a consultant for the project. He then served as the town manager for Walt Disney Company’s “Celebration, Florida” project, a 5,000-acre planned community inspired by Disney’s EPCOT theme park. He then returned to Phoenix to officially join DMB in 1998. Over the course of his career with DMB, he has envisioned and planned many expansive communities, most notably a large 1,000-acre project on the south shore of Kauai called Kukui`ula, which required him to live on the island until the project was completed. Herrington continues to plan projects for DMB and said he is anticipating a shift from the sprawling communities the company is known for to more vertically-oriented urban projects. “Increasingly, that opportunity has run its course, certainly here in the Valley,” says Herrington, adding that he views the high-density urban projects as “much more interesting.” For example, a mixed-use development he is particularly excited about is One Scottsdale. Although the 70-acre lot is small compared with the master-planned communities DMB is known for, Herrington hopes to provide the community’s residents with an urban lifestyle and luxury setting. PHOTO BY MIKE MERTES
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PEOPLE AND PROJECTS TO KNOW 2016