Thomas Kozlowski

Thomas Kozlowski is well known for his work in creative large-scale real estate development. With a background in public real estate development, urban design, and architecture, he has been instrumental in the design and implementation of major urban, tourism, and public/private partnership projects throughout the world that creates innovative real estate value and defines a “sense of place.”

In January 2008, Mr. Kozlowski founded EDG, a boutique tourism and destination development partner, working at the intersection of entertainment, planning, and real estate with offices in Los Angeles and Shanghai. EDGventures, an entrepreneurial arm, is focused on the creation of and investment into new innovative tourism products and venues. As Chairman of EDGventures and President and CEO of EDG, his current work includes overseeing the planning, business strategy, positioning, and branding for the development of large scale tourism destinations, cultural heritage districts, new themed entertainment and resort developments, and new entertainment product development.

Previously, Mr. Kozlowski was a member of the Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) executive management team as Director Pre-Development and Development Management where he created and led a California-based team to provide design and planning vision, imagination, and development management to facilitate the master plan implementation of the $2 billion USD expansion of Disneyland Resort in Anaheim and the $3.2 billion USD Hong Kong Disneyland Resort in Hong Kong (HKSAR), China. Representing WDI, he also initiated the Anaheim Resort Real Estate Stewardship program.

Mr. Kozlowski also co-founded UINY (Urban International-New York) to expand the role of urban design and planning into one of strategy and feasibility, focusing on implementable design and development strategies for large-scale planning and mixed-use projects in Asia, culminating in the successful planning, feasibility and strategy, foreign investment, and implementation of the Nanshan Cultural Tourism District in Sanya, Hainan Island, China.

Prior to WDI, Mr. Kozlowski was recruited to establish and head a design management group to oversee the planning, design, and implementation of Battery Park City and World Financial Centre, the award-winning mixed-use waterfront community in New York. As Director of Architecture and Design and Corporate Development Officer, he was responsible for overseeing commercial, residential, retail, open space, and environmental art programs. During his tenure, and while working jointly with some of the most prominent developers, architects and artists in the US, Battery Park City’s curated master developer role received over 20 planning and design awards including Time Magazine’s “Best of Decade”. A former Hong Kong resident and a graduate of Harvard University, Graduate School of Design and Harvard Real Estate Institute, Mr. Kozlowski has lectured and taught throughout the US and actively advises government officials, developers, and architects on the means and methods of large scale, mixed use project implementation and public realm development. He is an active member of the Harvard Real Estate Alumni Association and is an advisor investor to innovative entertainment and “online” real estate crowdfunding start-ups.