April 21, 2026
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What separates real estate projects that succeed from those that struggle?
In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, Gregg Logan, Managing Director at RCLCO, sits down with Brent Herrington, President and CEO of DMB Development—where he has helped shape some of the country’s most distinctive master-planned communities, grounded in a deep respect for land, culture, and lifestyle.
“There is a great hazard that when a developer from elsewhere comes to a new area, it’s easy to be guilty of creating a cheap cartoon of the local architecture and lifestyles, etc. So even things like the landscapes. I mean, if you do it, from a position of being kind of poorly informed and with kind of a superficial take on it, it fools no one, and the locals chuckle at it—and the consumer isn’t convinced. So again, it’s a process of diving deep and really understanding that place at a level that you can confidently say: ‘this building, these home styles, this macro landscape that we’re creating here, is truly a living embodiment of this place.’”
– Brent on why “irreducible local-ness” matters when building communities
Brent discusses his career, from the day-and-a-half long assignment with Exxon’s Friendswood Development Group that launched his interest in development; to his tenure as Town Manager of Celebration, Florida; and DMB’s current collaborations with The Walt Disney Company—all the while reflecting on the tenets of placemaking and urban design that have guided him throughout his journey.
“I can tell you that there’s a lot of mythology that surrounds the Disney organization and the Imagineering team in particular, and as someone who has deeply experienced it firsthand, it’s all real. In other words, the level of creativity and design excellence and just mold-shattering ideas that come out of the Imagineering team. It’s real. It happens in front of your eyes if you’re in the room with those guys.”
– Brent on working with Disney’s Imagineers
About Brent Herrington
President & CEO of DMB Development
As President and CEO, Brent Herrington provides strategic leadership for the DMB Development organization and oversees all aspects of the company’s operations. Herrington joined DMB in 1998 and has been intimately involved in the visioning, strategy, planning, and development of DMB’s remarkable portfolio of large-scale community development projects. Immediately prior to joining DMB he was Town Manager for Celebration, Florida an innovative large-scale community developed by the Walt Disney Company in central Florida. Most recently, coming full circle in his relationship with Disney, DMB and Disney have announced their collaboration on two major new community development projects, including Cotino, located in the Greater Palm Springs area, and Asteria, located near Raleigh, NC.
Herrington is a long-time member of the Urban Land Institute, a past chair of ULI’s Community Development Council, and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate at Harvard University. He’s been an innovator in creating vibrant lifestyles and sound governance for new communities, having served as president of the Foundation for Community Association Research and as a national trustee for the Community Associations Institute.
About Gregg Logan
Managing Director, RCLCO
Gregg Logan is a Managing Director at RCLCO, with over 40 years of experience in the industry. His expertise spans residential and commercial real estate, with particular expertise on mixed-use developments and master planned communities that incorporate residential, retail, office, industrial and distribution space.
Gregg acts as a Project Director overseeing and providing expert input to RCLCO real estate consulting assignments, both domestically and internationally. He has managed RCLCO consulting assignments across the United States and internationally, particularly in South and Central American and the Caribbean.
