Our Team

Unique Places houses a team of professionals dedicated to generating economic and public value through permanent protection for natural and cultural resources. With more than 75 years of collective experience, we provide expertise in real estate management; land protection; real estate design and development; conservation planning; comprehensive ecosystem asset evaluation; and conservation finance.

North Carolina is home to some of the most progressive land conservation initiatives in the country. Organizations such as the Conservation Trust for North Carolina and other members of the N.C. Land Trust Council are responsible for moving land protection policies forward and protecting acres of forests, fields and farmland. The Unique Places team has strong relationships with these and other N.C. conservation organizations, making it a natural environment for our first Portfolio projects. We also operate in several other Southeastern states, including South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.

Partners

Guenevere Abernathy Managing Partner Guenevere Abernathy is a Managing Partner at Unique Places. She provides leadership in structuring land acquisitions and investments. With over 12 years of real estate development and land conservation experience, Guenevere has protected $52 million of land and raised $45 million for land conservation transactions. Prior to founding Unique Places, she was Director of the Door Peninsula Project in Wisconsin and Director of Land Protection for North Carolina’s Triangle Land Conservancy. Guenevere earned an M.S. in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management from N.C. State University. She sits on the Land Committee for the Eno River Association, as well as the Program Committee for the Urban Land Institute. She also serves as an advisor to Greenfire Development, a development company that revitalizes inner-city properties in Durham, N.C.

Jeff Fisher Managing Partner Jeff Fisher is a Managing Partner at Unique Places, where he provides leadership in managing business development and conservation design. With 10 years of experience in land conservation and real estate development, Jeff has been involved with $75 million of land transactions and raised $50 million for land conservation. Before co-founding Unique Places, Jeff was Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Delta Project in Arkansas and Executive Director of the Tar River Land Conservancy. Jeff holds a J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.E.M. from Duke University’s Nicholas School for the Environment.

Team Members

Sidney Cruze Communications Consultant Sidney Cruze supports internal and external communications at Unique Places. Before joining the Unique Places team she served as Director of Marketing at the Environmental Federation of North Carolina and worked in the communications department at Duke University’s Terry Sanford Institute for Public Policy. Sidney is director of Sidney Writes LLC, a marketing communications company. She earned her M.A. in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has served on boards for the Triangle Land Conservancy and Durham Central Park. She sits on the Local Food Systems Advisory Committee sponsored by the Center for Environmental Farming Systems at N.C. State University.

Bret Frk Director of Conservation Design As Director of Conservation Design, Bret Frk manages all aspects of Unique Places, including GIS analysis, conservation asset assessment, land planning and site design. Before joining Unique Places, he worked as an associate at Design Workshop, Inc., where he designed and managed a wide range of project types ranging from large scale residential to intimate urban design. Bret earned his B.A. in Urban Planning and Design at the University of Cincinnati after completing six internship quarters at some of the leading design firms in the nation. He has sat on the Land O’ Sky Regional Council of Government's "Hillside and Steep Slope Development Advisory Committee" among other community design initiatives serving Western North Carolina.

David Harper Conservation Consultant David Harper helps manage Unique Places' strategic conservation planning, easement projects, grant writing, model ordinances and land trust partnerships. David has 20 years of experience conserving land in rapidly developing urban areas and has raised over $4 million for conservation planning and restoration projects. He is director of Land in Common, which supports landowner and land trust stewardship of landscapes and watersheds. Prior to joining the Unique Places team, he was the Watershed Conservation Program Manager with the Natural Lands Trust and the Senior Planner with the Brandywine Conservancy, both in Pennsylvania. David earned his M.R.P. from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Political Science/City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He teaches Conservation and Land Management in the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Environmental Studies program.

Wendy Jacobs Project Manager As a Project Manager at Unique Places, Wendy Jacobs oversees land use planning, conservation site design, due diligence and landowner outreach. She sits on both the Durham County Planning Commission and the Piedmont Conservation Council and has extensive knowledge of conservation subdivision ordinances and zoning issues. As chair of the Erwin Area Neighborhood Group, she coordinated a successful multi-jurisdictional campaign to create a new regional park/preserve along the New Hope Creek Corridor. Wendy is also chair of the New Hope Preserve Master Plan Committee and a member of the New Hope Creek Corridor Advisory Committee, which is responsible for implementing the plan. Wendy graduated from Duke University and earned a teaching certificate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Julie LaValle Jones Financial Strategy Consultant As Unique Places' Financial Strategy Consultant, Julie LaValle Jones is responsible for project investments and finance, plus business development and strategy. Julie has over 25 years of experience in real estate finance and economic development. Her work includes development and project management, feasibility assessments, lease and contract negotiation, and structuring and securing debt and equity financing for residential, commercial, retail and mixed-use developments. In total, she has secured over $160 million in acquisition, construction and permanent financing for developments ranging in size from $400,000 to $26 million. As the principal in Mayin, LLC, Julie provides development consulting and contract development services to profit and not-for-profit development entities. She earned her M.B.A from Yale University's School of Organization and Management and B.A. in Urban Studies from George Washington University. Julie has served on the Boards of Directors of the Self-Help Ventures Fund and Durham Community Land Trustees. She is a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Kenneth Marks Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Marks serves as Chief Financial Officer at Unique Places. As managing partner of High Rock Partners, Inc., he has served as manager, advisor or board member with more than 18 emerging growth companies. Kenneth's past positions include President of JPS Communications, Inc. and Director for a N.C. investment bank. He teaches graduate level courses focused on managing and financing emerging growth companies at the Hult International Business School and N.C. State University. He earned his M.B.A from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and has attended executive programs at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the lead author of the "Handbook of Financing Growth: Strategies & Capital Structure" and a Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA).