Development Strategies announces a leadership transition for its development implementation practice. Larry Marks, Principal, who has been with the firm since its inception in 1988, retired at the end of 2021. Justin Carney, Principal, and Katie Medlin, Senior Associate, now lead the firm’s implementation practice and both have worked closely with Larry and the firm’s clients for several years.
Carney has over 20 years of public sector leadership and joined Development Strategies in 2018. Medlin has strong real estate and finance expertise in both the public and private sectors; she joined the firm in 2009 and again in 2020 after several years of working with top developers on the East Coast. “Great projects require everyone to be moving in the same direction,” said Carney. “Development Strategies has always embraced that understanding of public-private partnerships, and we will continue to build on that legacy to make great development plans a reality.”
Development Strategies’ principals now consist of Brad Beggs, MAI, Matt Wetli, AICP, and Carney, AICP. “This firm is about positively impacting people and communities through outstanding planning and development,” said Beggs. “On behalf of Justin, Matt, myself, and the entire firm, we thank Larry for his many years of service and commitment to our mission and ideals.”
Based in St. Louis, Development Strategies provides development consulting and urban planning services across the country. The firm has been involved in many successful St. Louis-based implementation projects including the Cortex Innovation District, the St. Louis CITY SC’s MLS Stadium, and Ballpark Village adjacent to Busch Stadium. It is currently working on several projects in Colorado including a mixed-use development anchored by the U.S. Air Force Academy Visitors Center in Colorado Springs, and tax-supported tourism projects anchored by the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. Current work elsewhere in Missouri includes consulting services for a new Nordstrom store in Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza.
Its planning practice portfolio includes Downtown Development Plans in Toledo, OH, Akron, OH, and Louisville, KY; equitable housing strategies in Tulsa, OK, Omaha, NE, and Columbus, OH; comprehensive plans in Asheville, NC, and Ferguson, MO; town-and-university strategic development plans in Blacksburg, VA, Clemson, SC, Lexington, KY, and Gainesville, FL. The firm provides real estate consulting services throughout the country including corridor strategies, highest and best use analyses, market studies, and appraisals.
