Richard Merritt

President

merritt@edpco.com

Rick Merritt is President and one of the founders of Elliott D. Pollack & Company, a real estate and economic consulting firm that provides consultation on all aspects of the Arizona economy with specialization in the real estate market. Mr. Merritt is responsible for management of real estate and economic consulting assignments for the Company. He also serves as Project Manager for a number of real estate development projects and investments affiliated with partnerships formed by private investment groups. Mr. Merritt has more than thirty-five years of experience in the fields of real estate development and consulting, city planning, and project management in the Phoenix area.

Mr. Merritt advises state and local governments and private parties on a variety of issues including the economic impact of development projects, taxation, affordable and workforce housing, real estate market analysis, financial feasibility, and economic development strategies. The firm is highly sought by local organizations and businesses for speaking engagements on the local, state, and national economies, and real estate markets throughout the Southwest region of the U.S.

Mr. Merritt has managed a wide variety of real estate projects over the last twenty-five years. His responsibilities have involved initial acquisition and due diligence analysis, planning and engineering of the properties, infrastructure development, entitlements and land development. Projects have ranged from master planned communities of 600 to 1,000 acres in size to small 5 to 10-acre retail and apartment sites.

Prior to his present employment, Mr. Merritt served as Land Development Manager for The Northern Equities Company with responsibility for planning, engineering, and construction of the Company's projects. Mr. Merritt also served as Planning Director and Manager of the Community Development Department for the Town of Gilbert, Arizona.

Mr. Merritt has a Master of Business Administration from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati. He is a licensed real estate agent in the State of Arizona. Mr. Merritt is a member of the Arizona Planning Association and is an active member in Lambda Alpha, an international land economics society, serving as its Treasurer. He has been a lecturer at a number of Arizona Planning Association conferences and a guest speaker at the Arizona Governor's Conference on Rural Development and Economic Planning.

Notable Consulting Studies

Expert Witness Testimony

Speaking Engagements