About Us

Robinson Weeks Partners is an industrial real estate development and investment firm. Privately held, it sponsors real estate funds and structures joint ventures to develop speculative industrial buildings, multi-phased projects, and customized built-to-suits throughout the United States.

As a senior management team, we average over 30 years of individual experience in the industrial real estate sector. We have developed or acquired more than 100 million square feet representing $5 billion of industrial properties across the United States since 1979.

Leadership

Ray Weeks

Co-Chairman

Ray Weeks was one of the co-founders of the company in 2008 following three decades of building prominent industrial real estate companies. Prior to starting RWP, Ray was chairman and chief executive officer of Weeks Corporation, a real estate company headquartered in Atlanta.  Ray took Weeks Corporation public in 1994 and merged Weeks with Indianapolis-based Duke Realty in 1999. Duke-Weeks Realty Corp. was the largest office/industrial real estate company in the U.S. As vice chairman, president, and chief operating officer of Duke-Weeks until 2001, Ray led the company’s growth in markets from Minneapolis to Miami.

Complementing Ray’s industrial real estate development success has been his focus on regional planning, land use policy, and natural resource conservation. Ray’s most significant civic contribution has been his leadership role in the launch of the Atlanta Beltline, one of the country’s most successful urban revitalization projects. In 2005, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin selected Ray to develop and lead a civic and political strategy to establish the organizations to develop the Atlanta BeltLine – and to fund the project’s implementation. As part of this effort, Ray founded and chaired the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership and co-chaired the initial 60-million-dollar capital campaign.

Ray’s other civic leadership has included co-chairing the Clean Water Initiative; chairing the Georgia Department of Industry Trade and Tourism board; founding the Regional Business Coalition; and chairing the Council for Quality Growth, from which he later received its distinguished Four Pillar Award. He has similarly been honored by organizations including the Urban Land Institute, the Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia chapter of National Association of Industrial & Office Properties, the Atlanta Regional Commission, and the Georgia Economic Developers Association.

Forrest Robinson

Co-Chairman

Forrest Robinson is Co-Chairman and co-founder of Robinson Weeks Partners. The company has acquired or developed more than 15 million square feet of industrial buildings in the past 12 years. Prior to that Forrest was President and chief operating of Weeks Corp. where he was responsible for more than 30 million square feet of development and managed the companies five divisions. Forrest worked with Ray as president and COO of Weeks Corp., which they took public through an IPO in 1994. Over his 22 years at Weeks, Forrest was responsible for more than 30 million square feet of development.

As a major industrial and office developer with assets of over $2 billion in 10 cities, Weeks Corp. merged with Indianapolis-based Duke Realty in 1999 to become a $6 billion company, Duke-Weeks Realty Corporation, the largest office/industrial real estate company in the U.S. Forrest ran the Florida market for Duke-Weeks before moving to South Florida’s Codina Group where he served as president of development and as a member of its executive committee.

Prior to the launch of Weeks Robinson, Forrest was president of the Industrial division of Cousins Properties, Inc. and was instrumental in the formation of Cousins/Weeks, a joint venture with Ray Weeks. Cousins Industrial developed over two million square feet of distribution facilities in Atlanta and Dallas, Texas.

He is a past president and advisory council member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties Georgia and South Florida Chapters and a member of Urban Land Institute. He was chairman of the Gwinnett Chamber and served on the boards of the Council for Quality Growth, the Northeast Metro Community Foundation, The Coral Gables Community Foundation, the Metro Miami Chamber and The Gwinnett Children’s Shelter.

He has a B.S. degree in business management from Jacksonville State University.

David Welch

Chief Executive Officer

David Welch is responsible for the overall operations and growth of the firm including the implementation and oversight of its developments, acquisitions, and dispositions. He maintains key relationships with investors and capital partners. He leads efforts to structure joint ventures through public and private partnerships and oversees the company’s largest development project, Gillem Logistic Center, an 1168 acre master-planned development in metro Atlanta.

Prior to joining Robinson Weeks Partners, Mr. Welch was Regional President of LNR Properties, LLC where he was responsible for all investment and development activities in the Southeast Region. Prior thereto, he was in senior leadership positions for 12 years with ProLogis.

Mr. Welch holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Kansas and an MBA from the George Washington University. He is a licensed Broker in the state of Georgia and holds the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation.

Mr. Welch is a board member of the Council for Quality Growth, a member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP), and active with the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). In addition, Mr. Welch serves on the Advisory Board for the Masters of Real Estate Development program at Auburn University. He is a frequent speaker for industry and professional events as well as educational institutions including the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn University, and the University of Kansas.

John Jennings

Chief Financial Officer

John Jennings joined Robinson Weeks Partners in 2012 and has held progressively responsible roles, culminating in his being named chief financial officer in June 2017. As CFO, Jennings is responsible for overseeing the Company’s accounting, finance, tax, and reporting functions. As a primary duty, Jennings manages the capital and budgeting processes for Robinson Weeks Partners and its investments. He cultivates and maintains the firm’s relationships with financial institutions, arranges debt and equity financing for all investments, and develops financial and tax strategies. Having also served as Controller for Fund I and head analyst, along with his time as the Vice President of Finance, Jennings has a singular and unique perspective on all aspects of the firm’s financial activity.

Prior to joining Robinson Weeks Partners, Jennings served as a fund accountant for Morgan Stanley Real Estate Advisors, where he was responsible for the accounting, operations, and reporting process of a $6.6 billion open-ended core real estate fund.

Jennings started his career in public accounting at KPMG, LLP in the assurance and advisory practice. He is a licensed CPA in the state of Georgia with over ten years of experience in real estate accounting. In addition, he holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee. Jennings is also a member of the Georgia Society of CPAs.

Kit Baker

Senior Vice President - Development & Construction

Kit Baker is responsible for managing new building developments and tenant improvement projects.  In addition to this, he is involved in the underwriting of new project opportunities.

Prior to joining the company in 2004, Mr. Baker worked for Taylor & Mathis in both Atlanta at Perimeter Center and Birmingham at Inverness, where he was the General Manager in charge of all leasing, operations, and management of the large mixed-use development.

Mr. Baker has an MBA degree from the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia, and a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Tyler Jones

Senior Vice President - Acquisitions & Development

Tyler Jones is responsible for the sourcing, acquisition, development, and disposition of industrial real estate investments for the firm. To source new investment opportunities, Mr. Jones works with the real estate community to evaluate high-quality projects that fit the company’s overall strategy.

Prior to joining Robinson Weeks Partners, Mr. Jones was an Associate Director for the Rockefeller Group where he was responsible for the sourcing of industrial development investments throughout the Southeast Region. Prior thereto, he was a Manager for Ernst & Young’s Transaction Real Estate consulting practice.

Mr. Jones holds a BS in Construction Science and Management and an MS in Real Estate Development from Clemson University. He is a licensed Broker in the state of Georgia and holds the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation.

Mr. Jones is a national forum member and active with the Georgia Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP). He is also active with the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR).

Matt Davis

Senior Vice President – Leasing & Development

Matt Davis is responsible for all marketing and leasing activities for the firm. In his role, Mr. Davis develops strategies and executes tactics to promote the company to lease its existing and speculative/acquired buildings and to secure built-to-suites. In addition, Mr. Davis will oversee all promotional activities to support the marketing strategies.

Prior to joining Robinson Weeks Partners, Mr. Davis was a Senior Vice President with Lincoln Property Company in Atlanta for seven years where he represented a wide range of various owners of office buildings throughout the city. Mr. Davis spent two years at CBRE in a similar position following its acquisition of Resource Real Estate Partners, where he was for 12 years.

Mr. Davis received a BBA in Marketing from Terry College at The University of Georgia. He is a licensed Salesperson in the state of Georgia.

Our Team

Tim Staub

Vice President - Project Management

Frances Jackson

Vice President

Jon Stoudt

Senior Vice President - Finance

Cindy Gary

Fund Controller

Corneshia Hill

Senior Property Manager

Deborah Wannemacher

Executive Assistant

Heather Walters

Family Office Controller

Sheri McNelley

Accountant