Thomas Cody
President & Chief Executive Officer
Master in City Planning, Harvard University Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning and Development, University of Southern CaliforniaTom’s work has set the standard for innovation in real estate. He is an industry leader in public/private partnerships and sustainable transit oriented development. In his tenure as a real estate executive, Tom has over 20 years of experience executing complex and sustainable development and is an industry leader in public/private partnerships.
Over the span of his career, Tom has successfully developed 35 projects ranging in size from $3 million to $300 million, and he has completed over $400 million of mixed-use development within the last eight years. At project^, Tom sets the company’s strategy, leads the team, and supports team members in execution across typologies. His experience is broad including flex, industrial, office, retail, multi-family, student housing, academic facilities, and large-scale urban mixed-use projects.
Prior to founding project^, Tom was for seven years a principal and partner at Gerding Edlen Development (GED) in Portland, where he oversaw large-scale urban mixed-use developments in Oregon and California and the company’s operations in California. Tom was instrumental in transforming GED from a local developer into a prominent force in West Coast urban development. During his tenure, GED became the nation’s leading sustainable developer with over 30 LEED projects including three platinum projects, and the first LEED platinum condominium project in the world.
Prior to GED, Tom served as Director of Real Estate for Opus Northwest’s Portland office, where he developed a number of projects for the Sivers Companies. At Opus, Tom honed his skills in merchant building and institutional underwriting. Before embarking on his real estate career, Tom worked for three years in the office of architect Frank O. Gehry in Santa Monica, CA. Tom has been responsible for envisioning and initiating some of the most innovative projects in Portland. Some of his most notable projects have been groundbreaking urban redevelopment projects and public/private partnerships with colleges and universities and private non-profits.
Tom is a fixture in both the California and Oregon development industries, working with the public and private sector helping to shape smart growth policies. Tom is a long standing member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI); a regular speaker and industry expert on urban development, sustainability, and placemaking; an invited Juror on ULI’s Award for Excellence (The Americas); and a member of ULI’s Sustainable Development Council. In 2008 The Portland Business Journal named him one of the city’s “Top 40 Under 40” and was named a “Mover and Shaker” for 2009 by Metropolitan Magazine in San Diego.
