The Confluent Senior Living Leadership Team
Confluent Development Executive Team
Confluent Senior Living is a subsidiary of Confluent Development
Confluent Senior Living is a subsidiary of Confluent Development
Chief Executive Officer
With 25 years and billions of dollars in development experience, Marshall Burton co-founded and now serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Confluent Development. The full-service real estate investment and development firm features unmatched talent executing across a diverse portfolio of industrial, office, retail, mixed-use and senior housing development projects, all under one roof. Through Marshall’s leadership, the company’s footprint spans more than 100 projects and 10 million square feet of development in 22 states.
As CEO, Marshall guides the Confluent Development team’s success in all phases of real estate development, delivering custom and complex projects that add lasting impact to their respective communities. True to the Confluent name, the philosophy of unification is central to Marshall’s leadership of the firm. The company fuses its best-in-class team and stakeholders to create real estate solutions for communities to innovate, grow and inspire.
Marshall has a strong record serving on boards for successful industrial REITs. He is currently a full-cycle events director of Black Creek Industrial REIT IV (BCI IV), an industrial REIT focused primarily on high-quality distribution warehouses with more than $1.2 billion under management. He was previously a board member for Industrial Property Trust (IPT) and Industrial Income Trust (IIT), helping to steer the industrial REITs through the full cycle of their portfolios. IPT successfully sold its portfolio featuring 37.5 million square feet of industrial space for approximately $4 billion in 2020, and IIT completed its sale for more than $4 billion in 2015.
Prior to founding Confluent Development, Marshall was the executive vice president for Opus Development Company, where he led operations in the western region and oversaw the growth of its Denver office.
Giving Back in Business and Community
Marshall’s commitment to community began early in his career, when he served as an associate director for the Downtown Denver Partnership. Here, he co-founded Denver Capital Corporation, a multi-bank community lending organization.
Marshall has carried forward this spirit of community investment throughout his career. Currently, he serves on the Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation’s Corporate Leadership Council (CLC), helping to advance Children’s Hospital Colorado’s mission through philanthropy and special event fundraising. Marshall is also a member of Colorado Concern, an alliance of the state’s leading executives committed to enhancing Colorado’s business climate. Within the industry, Marshall previously served as president of NAIOP Colorado and as an active member of Urban Land Institute. Based on Marshall’s visionary leadership and commitment to community investment, the Denver Business Journal awarded him as a Most Admired CEO in 2020.
President/CDO, Confluent Commercial
Celeste Tanner is the co-founder and President of Confluent Commercial. Bringing nearly 20 years of industry experience, she established the full-service real estate investment and development firm to bring a new vision of development within the industry to life. In her role, she steers the firm’s execution across all phases of real estate development, successfully delivering custom and complex projects that create significant value in their respective communities. Since the company’s inception in 2014, Celeste has overseen more than $1.5 billion in development projects across the organization’s diverse portfolio, consisting of more than 100 industrial, office, retail, mixed-use and senior housing development projects.
Under Celeste’s guidance, Confluent has delivered award-winning projects and works with some of the country’s most sophisticated clients including Target, FedEx, Starbucks, Mikron Corporation, Vectra Bank, and Charter Communications, among others.
In her previous role as director of real estate development at Opus Development Company, Celeste led the real estate project team for its Denver office and played a key role in the ground-up development of more than 5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family space.
Celeste holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado at Denver, is an alumnus of the Downtown Denver Partnership Leadership Program, and has been awarded for her outstanding achievements from organizations such as The Denver Business Journal, CREW, NAIOP Colorado and Bisnow.
Giving Back in Business and Community
Celeste has represented the development industry both locally and nationally through her leadership in NAIOP, where she previously served as the chapter president for Colorado. Currently an executive committee member on NAIOP’s national board, she provides a voice for Colorado’s development industry at the national table.
Celeste also contributes her leadership well beyond the industry and into the community. She serves on the board of Wheat Ridge Localworks, where she contributes her industry expertise to help implement the organization’s business and home improvement loan programs, among others, focused on enhancing the city’s economic vitality and neighborhood revitalization. Celeste also represents District I as a member in Renewal Wheat Ridge (RWR), an Urban Renewal Authority committed to improving the visual aesthetics and environmental aspects of Wheat Ridge, meanwhile adhering to the wants and needs of the community.
Chief Financial Officer/Chief Investment Officer
Jon has over 17 years of experience in finance and joined the predecessor company, MVG Development in 2006, which subsequently merged with Confluent in 2015. He is responsible for all financial and accounting aspects of Confluent Development, including investor and banking relations as well as property sales.
Prior to joining Confluent, he held multiple positions in corporate finance and investment banking with a focus on acquisitions and high yield debt financing. Jon worked in the Leveraged Finance group for Bank of America Securities for five years where he participated in structuring over $10 billion worth of financings for leveraged buyouts, M&A transactions, restructuring and refinancing transactions across a broad spectrum of industries.
Jon graduated magna cum laude with a B.B.A in Finance from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA.
President, Confluent Senior Living
John is the President of Confluent Senior Living and is responsible for leading the business strategy, investment initiatives and development in Senior Housing. John works closely with Confluent’s development team to ensure successful project delivery, and the operating partners to ensure existing communities achieve asset management objectives. John also identifies and pursues new markets and sites for future projects. Confluent Senior Living is a subsidiary of Confluent Development.
Preceding the launch of Confluent Senior Living, John was a Vice President of Development at Confluent Development, focusing on office and industrial development in addition to Senior Housing. John is a member of the Executive Team at Confluent Development.
Prior to joining Confluent, John was a Senior Development Manager for Weston Solutions, where he was responsible for all acquisitions and development in the Rocky Mountain region. His experience includes the development and financing of diverse product types, including office, retail, hospitality, industrial, multi-family, and brownfield redevelopment. John has also held positions as an Acquisitions Manager with International Capital Partners, and a strategy consultant with Accenture. He is active in the Denver real estate community and a member of NAIOP, ULI and the Denver Downtown Partnership.
John has a Bachelor of Arts in finance from Calvin College, a Master of Science in economics from the Colorado School of Mines and a MBA from University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Giving Back in Business and Community
As a member of ULI, John serves on the organization’s Senior Housing Council as well as on the Executive Board of the American Seniors Housing Association. As a past Associate Board member, John proudly supports the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Denver.
Vice President, Land Use Entitlements
H has been practicing land use and real estate development disciplines for more than 25 years. During his career, H has skillfully lead multi-discipline project teams to create development plans and gain entitlement approvals for over 13 million square feet of office, retail, industrial, mixed-use, multi-family, senior living and master-planned development, including LEED certified projects. Blending experience from the public, quasi-public and private sectors has provided H with the expertise to successfully balance project programs, owner requirements and jurisdictional design criteria to achieve implementable results. In addition to his extensive exposure to transaction, design and construction phases of real estate development, H is also a member of the Inverness Planning and Architectural Control Committee and has guest lectured on managing the entitlement process at both the University of Colorado and University of Denver. H earned his Masters of Urban & Regional Planning from the University of Colorado and received his Bachelors degree from Drake University.
Senior Director, Real Estate Entitlements
Greg Meeter manages the design and entitlement process for Confluent Development projects with an emphasis on senior living, multi-family, industrial, and retail sectors. Greg has more than 28 years of real estate development, planning and construction project management experience. Greg is proficient in managing interdisciplinary teams responsible for implementation of complex projects on-budget and on-time. Greg has successfully managed design and secured approvals for more than 17 million square feet of senior living, retail, industrial, office, multi-family, master-planned development, and mixed-use projects throughout the United States. Most of Greg’s career has been in the development world: Castle Rock Development Company, Carruth Properties, and Lend Lease. Greg is a Certified Planner and holds a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from CU, and a Bachelor degree from the University of Kansas.
Vice President of Development
Matt works closely with senior housing operators to ensure existing projects receive entitlements and approvals, and that construction stays on schedule. Matt also assists in the identification, pursuit and acquisition of sites for future development in new and existing markets across the nation.
Matt has a diverse real estate background and began his real estate development career more than 15 years ago working with Marshall Burton and Celeste Tanner at Opus Northwest, focused on the development of Opus multi-family development projects. Matt has also held positions in commercial brokerage asset management, land development, land entitlements and land acquisitions.
A Denver native, Matt is active in the community and is on the Associate Board of ACE Scholarships and is a Big Brother for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado.
Matt holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a master’s degree in real estate and construction management from the University of Denver.
Construction Manager
Matt Ferguson is the construction manager for all of Confluent Senior Living’s senior living projects. In this role Matt works very closely with the architects, engineers, general contractors, interior designers and operators throughout the development and construction process to ensure projects move forward and are completed on schedule and within budget.
Matt’s experience in construction management and development is as broad as it is diverse, as a result of having worked in both the residential and commercial environments. Prior to joining Confluent, Matt worked for Toll Brothers, the 2012 and 2014 National Home Builder of the Year. As a project manager, Matt oversaw the construction, development, sales and marketing of one of the most prominent single-family home-gated communities in the greater Denver metro area. Before joining Toll Brothers, Matt was a project manager for Erickson Living, where he was part of the original team that oversaw the development and construction of the Wind Crest retirement facility located in Highlands Ranch, CO.
Matt has a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Miami (OH) University and a Master of Business Administration in real estate from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
General Counsel
Christine is Confluent’s general counsel and serves on Confluent’s executive team. In these roles, she oversees all legal activities, policies and risk assessment. A primary part of her focus is creating solutions to simplify the support for Confluent’s development team, including automating acquisition, disposition and leasing processes. Before joining Confluent, Christine served as a director of Senn Visciano Canges P.C. representing various commercial real estate clients and participating in transactions both on a local and national basis, including: representing a variety of entities in connection with their ownership of real property, including drafting and negotiating commercial leases and management agreements; representing both sellers and purchasers in individual as well as portfolio acquisitions and dispositions of office, multi-family, multi-use, retail and industrial properties; and representing institutional owners in joint venture acquisitions and development of land. She was twice selected to Super Lawyers. Christine holds a juris doctorate from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia. She is affiliated with several professional and non-profit organizations.
Executive Vice President of Development Management
Dean Barber joined the Confluent Development management team in 2017 as the Executive Vice President of Development Management. With 30 years of development experience, Dean’s capability spans product types that include build-to-suit, multi-tenant office, medical office and surgery centers, hospitals, retail, hospitality, multi-family, senior housing, light industrial business parks and large mixed-use land developments.
Dean leads the overall execution of all Confluent Development projects. With Confluent Development making a respected name for the level of complexity in their projects, Dean’s role focuses on the firm’s development management services, which continues to scale the organization both locally and nationally with best-in-class processes critical to the firm’s continued success and growth.
Previously, Dean served as the Senior Vice President of Development Management for McWhinney, where he oversaw the execution of the firm’s commercial, hospitality and multi-family developments. During his tenure there, he developed more than 35 projects resulting in more than 3.25 million square feet of commercial space with notable projects including the revitalization of Denver’s iconic Union Station and the redevelopment of the historic Dairy Block in Lower Downtown Denver.
Dean holds Bachelor of Architecture degree from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and has completed coursework in the M.S. in construction management program from Colorado State University.
Giving Back in Business and Community
Dean is an active participant in the professional community through membership in NAIOP and previously served on the board of Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation.
Dean’s love of mentorship through sports has lead him not only to coach over 20 youth and high school football, baseball and lacrosse teams over the years but to serve on the board of organizations such as CHAMP (Character in Athletics, Make it a Priority) and Ft. Collins Youth Lacrosse. Other notable organizations where Dean is proud to sit the board include Adoption Dreams Come True, Poudre Valley Hospital, Harmony Campus, and Colorado State University’s Everitt Real Estate Center.
Director of Construction
Mr. Rotunda serves as a leader of the Construction Management Department with Confluent Development. His is responsible for oversite and management of all construction operations outside of the Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona markets.
Sandy has over 39 years of experience in commercial and residential real estate development, construction management and general contracting. Sandy’s extensive experience, knowledge, and leadership skills in the real estate development and construction industries are a key contributor to the success of Confluent Development projects. While managing with an understanding of the big picture, Sandy has the ability and experience to get into the detail taking a hands on approach to solving complex issues at any point of a project.
Before joining Confluent Development, Sandy has served as a senior member of several distinguished national developers and general contractors. Serving as Senior Vice President of Construction and Maintenance for Forum Real Estate, Vice President of Construction for Resource Real Estate, Senior Vice President of Design & Construction for McKenzie House Real Estate. Director of Preconstruction Services for Swinerton Builders Denver operations, Sr. Project Manager, General Superintendent and Superintendent for General Contractors Hensel Phelps, Mortenson and DPR Construction.
Construction Manager
Cody Cowan is the Construction Manager for Confluent’s Senior Living, Industrial, and Office sectors. In this role Cody works very closely with the architects, engineers, general contractors, and environmental consultants throughout the development and construction process to ensure projects move forward and are completed on schedule and in budget. In the two years that Cody has been with Confluent he has managed the construction of over 470 square feet of Class A office space; including Granite Place at Village Center and The Circa Building.
Prior to Joining Confluent Development Cody was a Project Manager for National Oilwell Varco. He was responsible for overall construction project planning and scheduling, resource allocation, contract negotiations, project accounting and control; all while providing in the field technical direction and ensuring compliance with high quality standards. Prior to NOV, Cody was a Project and Facility Manager for RSI Group in Southern California. While with RSI Group Cody Gained career experience with site investigations, permit expediting, design, FF&E management, estimating, construction management, and facilities management.
Director of Asset Management, Senior Housing
As Director of Asset Management for Confluent Senior Living, Taylor is responsible for all senior housing assets in addition to advising on underwriting, acquisitions and dispositions. She participates in strategic capital deployment, oversees assets from development to stabilization and collaborates with various operating partners to ensure continued growth and improvement.
Prior to joining the team at Confluent, Taylor was Project Director at Spieker Senior Living where she consulted on acquisitions and design, managed onsite fill-up, and drove sales and occupancy for several of California’s largest CCRCs. Before transitioning into senior living, Taylor began her career in Property and Asset Management for Spieker Partners and MHF Real Estate where she managed commercial, retail, and industrial properties throughout the west coast.
Taylor graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a BA in Sociology.
Senior Development Associate
David Meyering is a Senior Development Associate of the Senior Housing development team at Confluent. He works alongside operators to identify sites in new and existing markets. In addition, David works closely with the senior living team to ensure a smooth development process from start to finish.
His real estate experience began in West Michigan. During his time there, David was a part of team that launched a senior living platform and development team to assist in the completion of multiple assisted living and memory support projects. In addition, David’s experience includes working for a Denver based senior living operator, Cappella Living Solutions. While working on the operations team, David oversaw the asset management of communities and led the team’s efforts for development consulting in the senior living space. Prior to working in real estate, David gained experience in financial modeling and dynamic reporting in big data.
David received his Bachelor’s of Finance from Grand Valley State University and is currently a CFA Level 1 candidate.
Development Coordinator
Mia Maestas is a Development Coordinator of the Senior Housing development team at Confluent. She works closely with the other members of the Senior living team to maintain team organization and alignment as the team continues to grow.
Her background is in real estate specializing in healthcare. Mia spent 8 years at NexCore Group on the Real Estate Management team where she served most recently as an Operations Analyst. Her responsibilities included financial reporting and analysis, asset management, and data analysis including ESG for their Medical Office Building portfolio. She also served as a primary member of the community outreach and public service committee.
Mia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a MBA in Strategic Management from Regis University. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family, photography, going to concerts, and traveling.
Development Manager
Charlie Kay is a member of the Senior Housing development team at Confluent Development where he is involved in acquisitions of existing properties, site identification for future developments in new and existing markets, and works closely with our senior housing operating partners to ensure our existing projects receive entitlements and approvals, and construction stays on schedule.
Prior to joining Confluent Development, Charlie worked for Spectrum Retirement Communities as a Development & Finance Analysis and a Project Manager/Owner’s Representative where he was involved in 15+ senior living developments. Charlie also worked at a commercial mortgage banking company, Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, in Los Angeles as an Analyst focusing on industrial, retail, and multifamily properties.
Charlie graduated from the University of San Diego with a degree in Accounting with an emphasis in Finance and Real Estate.
Offsite Construction Manager
Ted Lodigensky has been involved in real estate development and construction for more than 25 years, providing a broad range of construction supervision and management services. Specific areas of expertise range from site selection and evaluation; through architectural and engineering review and coordination, including governmental approvals and permits; to project-specific scheduling, management and supervision.
His experience includes the construction of retail centers and associated tenant improvements, as well as a variety of multi-family residential building types, ranging from the adaptive reuse and renovation of historic warehouses, hotels and apartment buildings into rental and condominium lofts, to the construction of suburban garden apartments and senior assisted living communities.
Executive Vice President of Construction
Steve joined Confluent in late 2014 shortly after its founding. He has more than 20 years of experience in construction management and development including eight years at Opus where he worked closely with Marshall Burton and Celeste Tanner as director of construction. The majority of his career has included delivering projects utilizing an integrated develop, design and build model.
With experience ranging from field superintendent through project director for office, multi-family, industrial, civic, retail and institutional project types he brings a strong background to the construction management side of Confluent. Over his career he has played a key management role in the development and construction of over 4 million square feet of commercial, industrial and multi-family projects.