Noel Johnson is a real estate developer, investor, and educator who moves fluidly across the civic, academic, and business realms to untangle and reimagine complex projects in the built environment. With over $1B in real estate activity across 22 developments combined with years of mass timber research, Noel brings hard-won experience from concept to capitalization to construction site — and a developer’s clarity on where value is created (or lost!)

As a proven mass timber leader, Noel wears the hats of researcher, educator, and builder, speaking regularly at conferences spanning sustainable development to urban economics, and teaches behavioral finance at Lewis & Clark College's Bates Center for Entrepreneurship.

At the 2025 Mass Timber Group Summit, Noel is the curator of Day 2, where the theme is “Creating Value.” He’ll open the day by flipping the frame: instead of asking what mass timber is, he’ll ask what it does — to returns, to risk, and to answer end-user demands.

Throughout the day, Noel will guide the value-creation focused conversations, keep the lens firmly on the demand side of the equation, and draw out insights from institutional capital leaders, AEC professionals, and fellow developers.

His goal? Ensure attendees walk away with clarity on how — and when — mass timber can deliver value as a product to drive ecosystem growth.

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