Meet The Team
Michael Babin
Principal and Amenitization Lead
Michael Babin serves as principal-in-charge of CDG amenitization, ground floor activation, and strategic growth, bringing over 25 years of experience as an owner and operator of a wide range of innovative food and beverage concepts.
In 1997, Michael opened the Evening Star Cafe in Alexandria, Virginia, and a year later opened Planet Wine, an adjoining wine shop. Since that time, he has opened over 22 hospitality concepts including fast-casual and white tablecloth restaurants, bakeries and bars, breweries, and a multi-tenant food hall. Ten years ago, he founded Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, an organization on which he still serves as Board Chairman. NRG’s award-winning restaurants have been featured in a host of publications ranging from the Washington Post and Washingtonian magazine locally, to the New York Times, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Saveur, and many others nationally.
Michael has served as a board member of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and of Think Local First. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Yale University, his commission as an officer in the US Army Signal Corps, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Matt Harris
Principal and Development Lead
Matt Harris serves as the principal-in-charge of all CDG development projects, closely managing all aspects of development, leasing, entitlement, design, permitting, leasing and operations strategy. Prior to CDP, Matt was the head of development at Fivesquares Development, a mixed-use developer of large and complex trophy assets, where he now serves as Strategic Advisor. Prior to Fivesquares, Matt was a development manager at EastBanc, Inc., another development company specializing in ultra-luxury multifamily and trophy office, as well as Duke Realty, one of the nation’s largest office and industrial REITs.
Matt has participated in the development of a wide array of real estate projects including luxury and affordable multifamily, trophy office, technology, secure government facilities, industrial, retail, and mixed-use. His involvement in real estate projects has included pursuit, acquisition, entitlement, design, permitting, construction, lease up, operations, and strategic repositioning.
