Barbara A. Nadel, FAIA, principal of Barbara Nadel Architect, specializes in planning and design of justice, health-care and institutional facilities. As an accomplished practitioner and journalist, Nadel's work has appeared in more than 100 publications. She recently published her first book, Building Security: Handbook for Architectural Planning and Design (McGraw-Hill, 2004). In this issue, she writes about architectural innovation abroad, beginning on page 120.
Currently based in Dallas, Patricia Kirk has worked in editorial services for more than 20 years, most recently serving as editor of a magazine the covers California's commercial real estate industry and as West Coast bureau chief for that publisher's online business news service. Additionally, Kirk was managing editor of a medical news Web site, reporter for the Houston Chronicle, community newspaper editor, writer for a magazine that covers international business and over the years has been published in various consumer and business magazines and Web sites. A frequent writer for Retail Traffic, this month she covers the Las Vegas and Portland retail markets, beginning on page 226. She also writes about Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso's battle to develop Glendale Town Center on page 28.
Renée DeGross, a staff writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, covers Home Depot and other retail business and development news. She has more than 13 years of newspaper experience, including stints at the Washington Post and Raleigh News & Observer. See her Eckerd story on page 34.
Todd Umbarger is a widely published, McCutcheon Award-winning illustrator based in New York City. A graduate of the prestigious Hartford Art School, his work has been regularly featured in various Primedia titles and many other newsstand favorites such as Bums Monthly and Imaginary Sports. He recently returned from a month-long pilgrimage to Guyana where he “studied with an indigenous tribe of freelance illustrators.” A frequent contributor to Retail Traffic, he created the illustration on pages 50 and 71.
Steve Bergsman, based in Phoenix, specializes in writing about finance and real estate. For more than 25 years, his articles have appeared in a range of magazines, newsletters and wire services, including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal Sunday, Fortune and the Reuters news service. He is also a regular contributor to the “Ground Floor” real estate column in Barron's. This month, he writes about distressed retail properties, beginning on page 70.