UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate

Philip Cyburt has over thirty years of experience as a senior executive leading large organizations both within public companies and private equity investment firms.  Here is the list of those roles:

• Cyburt Holdings, LLC Principal Currently
• Monday Properties, Managing Partner 2017-2018
• Laurus Corp. CEO 2012-2017
• Lehman Bros Holdings Co. (Bankruptcy period), CEO 2009-2012
• Cyburt Hall Partners, Principal 2003-2008
• GenCorp formerly Aerojet Real Estate, CEO 2005-2006
• Boeing Realty Corp., President 1998-2003
• McDonnell Douglas Realty Co., President 1990-1998
• Tishman Realty and Construction, Director of Development 1986-1990

Mr. Cyburt has been a senior executive with two Fortune 500 companies, where he was responsible for the leadership of a large global organization.  As President of Boeing Realty Corporation, post-merger of McDonnell Douglas Realty Company, Mr. Cyburt successfully directed the company's investment strategies in a real estate portfolio consisting of $9 billion in assets comprising of 125 million square feet in 26 states and 63 countries.  Boeing Realty Corporation focused on all aspect of real estate including real estate investments, development of corporate surplus assets, corporate real estate and pension fund investments.  In addition, he spearheaded Boeing's relocation of its world headquarters from Seattle to Chicago.   As President of Boeing's real estate, he oversaw various alternative real estate investment strategies.  Mr. Cyburt institutional real estate experience includes, corporate public company operations and structured finance; joint ventures, corporate finance structuring and value creation strategies at the operating company level; debt/equity formation and negotiations; strategic planning for new company programs; portfolio repositioning and feasibility valuation studies.   Mr. Cyburt has been instrumental in completing more than $10 billion in various types of real estate transactions in major markets across the United States and overseas markets.  Real estate asset class experience:

• $5B Land entitlement, infrastructure, residential / industrial and commercial development
• $1B Resort / golf course asset repositioning
• $750M Hospitality transactions, full service and limited service and resort$1B Industrial development
• $2B Office transactions
• $500M Retail transactions and asset repositioning transactions

Mr. Cyburt was Managing Partner at Monday Properties and ran the west coast investments focused on office and multifamily.  Prior to that, Mr. Cyburt was Chief Executive Officer of the Laurus Corporation, a Los Angeles based real estate private equity firm that invested in hospitality, office and retail.  Additionally, in 2009, Mr. Cyburt was as Managing Director of Alvarez and Marsal, LLC, served as CEO of Lehman Brothers Holdings real estate division based in New York City, during the bankruptcy he managed the 400 employee organization that oversaw the bank's real estate portfolio consisting of over $40 billion in related debt and equity positions.  In 2003, he co-founded Cyburt Hall Partners, where as Principal he acted as an investor, developer, and operator for approximately $500 million of land and commercial real estate investments.  Early in his career, he was also Director of Development at Tishman Realty and Construction based in Los Angeles.

Mr. Cyburt attended Chapman University in Southern California, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Finance. He also attended graduate courses at Chapman University, Pepperdine University Executive MBA Program, and completed the commercial real estate certificate program at University of Irvine.  Mr. Cyburt currently serves on the advisory board for the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, a joint center of the UCLA Anderson School of Management and UCLA School of Law.  Additionally, Mr. Cyburt is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Resort Council.

Mr. Fogel is CEO and Co-Principal of Westwood Financial Corporation which he founded in 1967.  Westwood Financial Corporation owns and operates over 100 shopping centers located throughout the United States.

Mr. Fogel has is a past president of Stephen S. Wise Temple and is the past chairman of the California Arts Council.  He is the author of three books, The Yes I Can Guide to Mastering Real Estate, Your Mind Is Not Always Your Friend and The Mind Is What the Brain Does for a Living.

Mr. Fogel is an oil color artist with over 50 portraits in private collections.  His works have been displayed in public exhibitions.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a business specialization from the University of Southern California.  He also attended the Graduate School of Business of the University of California.

Jeff Friedman co-founded Mesa West Capital and is involved in all areas of the company.  With offices in Los Angeles and New York, Mesa West is a real estate finance company with over $3.5 billion in lending capacity.   Mesa West primarily provides non-recourse first mortgage loans for high quality institutional real estate properties throughout the United States.  The portfolio includes all major property types with loan sizes from $15 million to $200 million.

Prior to co-founding Mesa West, Jeff was a principal at Maguire Partners and worked directly with the founder, Rob Maguire, to engineer a recapitalization of the company's properties and eventual $800 million IPO of the company.  Jeff began his real estate finance career in New York at Nomura Securities in 1994 and later moved to Credit Suisse First Boston in 1996 where he was a director and led one of the largest origination teams.  Jeff began his career as a corporate lawyer in Tokyo, Japan at an affiliate of Sidley & Austin and later in New York at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.  

Jeff is a graduate of UCLA and the University of Michigan Law School and Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

As the CEO of iBorrow, former real estate lawyer, real estate owner and adept businessman, Brian has a vast array of knowledge in the commercial real estate sector, specifically structuring complex deals. Borrowers and investors alike turn to Brian because of his ability to underwrite deals quickly while adhering to a high standard of ethics and due diligence. Not only is Brian well-positioned in understanding every aspect of the deal process - including what is vital and what isn't - but he goes beyond the numbers by taking a comprehensive and strategic approach to each deal.

Brian first founded Eagle Group, LLC in 2001, as a fully-integrated real estate company that handles all aspects of commercial real estate including finance, loan servicing, management and advisory services. In 2012, Brian branched off to create iBorrow (formerly Eagle Group Finance), a dedicated lender specializing in private loans for commercial properties in the Western U.S.

Prior to iBorrow, Brian was a real estate transactional attorney at the law firms of TroyGould and Kulik, Gottesman & Mouton, where he represented real estate investment trusts, publicly traded real estate companies and high-net-worth individuals. He also served as President and Board Member of TenantDirect.com, the developer of the first web-based property management software system for the real estate industry.

Brian earned his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his J.D. from Loyola Law School. He also has an MBA from Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business.

Brian is a licensed California real estate broker and a member of the State Bar of California. He has taught multiple courses at UCLA Extension, and currently serves as Vice President of the Guardians, Board Member of the Southern California Golf Association Foundation and Member of the Real Estate Council of the Federation.

Steven Good retired as an active audit partner from the accounting firm of CohnReznick LLP (formerly Good, Swartz, Brown & Berns) and is currently doing consulting work for the firm's clients. He founded Good, Swartz, Brown & Berns in 1976, and has been active in consulting and advisory services for businesses in various sectors, including the manufacturing, garment, medical services and real estate development industries.

Mr. Good also has many years of experience as the chairman of the audit committees of several public companies. Mr. Good founded California United Bancorp and served as its Chairman through 1993. He currently serves as a director of OSI Systems, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of specialized electronic products. Mr. Good also formerly served as a director of California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. and Arden Realty Group, Inc. from 1997 to 2006. 

Mr. Good has extensive experience with corporate governance, financial and accounting matters, evaluating financial results and overseeing the financial reporting process of a large corporation. In addition, Mr. Good brings to the Board of KYN and KYE many years of experience as the chairman of the audit committees of several public companies.

Steven is very active in the Los Angeles community and continues to devote time to many charitable endeavors. In 1996, he completed a two-year term as chairman of the Board for the Jewish Home for the Aging. During his tenure he also served on the various committees affiliated with all phases of the Home. He is a director and current president of The Guardians of the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging, which is a fund-raising support group. He is also a member of the Board of the American Friends of the Hebrew University and the Jewish Community Foundation.

In addition, Steven is the former founding director of the ALS Association (Lou Gehrig's Disease), a member of the Chancellor's Circle of UCLA, and former chairman of the Marilyn and Monty Hall Statesman's Club of the Jewish Home for the Aging. He is founding president of the Santa Monica Synagogue. Steven participates in other religious and non-religious organizations as well. He is also an active participant in both the Brentwood Country Club Chapter of the United Jewish Fund and Jewish Big Brothers and Sisters.

Steven received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he also attended graduate school. He is an active member of: the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the National Association of Accountants, the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the Nevada State Board of Accountancy.

Robert N. Goodman is Chairman and CEO of The Resmark Companies. The founder of Resmark, Mr. Goodman has 40 years of experience in real estate finance and asset management. Since establishing Resmark in 1995, he has guided more than 180 equity investments, with over 28,000 units of residential single-family and multifamily real estate, representing approximately $9 billion in cumulative and anticipated revenue. Currently, Resmark manages more than $1 billion in investment capital.

Mr. Goodman has served on the boards of directors of four publicly traded companies, including two REITs. He currently sits on the Board of Regents of the City of Hope, the Executive Committee for the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, and has recently joined the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate Advisory Board. For many years, he was on the boards of the Los Angeles Police Foundation, City of Hope National Medical Center (including two years as Chairman of the Beckman Research Institute) and Oakwood School (an independent K-12 school in North Hollywood, California).

Daniel Horwitz is President and Founder of the Daniel Horwitz Company, Inc., which specializes in real estate financial services, placing both equity and debt for major real estate ventures. Dan has also been involved in the development, ownership, and syndication of commercial, industrial, residential, and hotel properties.

For more than four decades, Mr. Horwitz has personally participated in arranging transactions that now total more than $5.5 billion. These transactions have covered a gamut of financing solutions and product types such as diverse forms of developer equity, conventional institution-sourced loans, and income property types at locations throughout the United States. Transactions have also included single tenant industrial and office buildings, marinas on unsubordinated leaseholds, and apartments both market rate and age restricted. Site locations, in addition to the home state of California, have included New England, Southern, Eastern, and West Coast states.

Prior to his entry into the real estate profession, Mr. Horwitz was an aerospace project engineer and a management consultant specializing in computer-aided solutions for operations management.

Mr. Horwitz has also been active in diverse civic, cultural and educational activities. He is an original contributing founder of the Museum of Contemporary Art/Los Angeles, and founding member of  The Los Angeles County Music Center, The Wiesenthal Holocaust Center, Otis Art Institute, UCLA John Wooden Athletic Center, UCLA James E. West Alumni Center, UCLA Coaches Round Table and Wooden Athletic Fund. Mr. Horwitz also serves as a sustaining board member of the UCLA Chancellors Associates and an advisory board member of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, and he supports various councils of the Schools of Architecture, Music, Theater, Engineering and UCLA Anderson School of Management. Additionally, Dan's civic duties have included several years of service at the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles as a Commissioner and Chairman of its Contracts & Finance Committee.

Mr. Horwitz has also provided charitable support to numerous organizations and causes including AJU Moriah Society, City of Hope, Cedars Sinai Hospital, Beit T'Shuvah Dependency Treatment, Vista del Mar Child Care, Big Brothers of  LA, There with Care Colorado, and various schools and universities, human caring facilities, and medical research organizations.

Dan was raised in Los Angeles and obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from UCLA. He also earned his MBA in Finance from UCLA while working full-time as an engineer. His post-graduation education includes numerous programs and courses in the arts, architecture, finance, and real estate.

William H. Jackson III joined the firm in 1989 and is a partner in the firm’s real estate department.

Mr. Jackson's practice focuses on the formation and organization of real estate equity investment funds and the representation of real estate private equity investment fund sponsors in real estate joint ventures, acquisition, disposition and financing transactions.

Mr. Jackson received his J.D. in 1989 from Stanford Law School. In 1986, he received his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, where he majored in economics.

Mr. Jackson is a member of the State Bar of California, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the International Council of Shopping Centers. He is the former Chairman of the Board of Commissioners for the City of Los Angeles’ Community Redevelopment Agency and the former President of the Board of Commissioners for the City of Los Angeles’ Fire & Police Pension System.

PRACTICE AREA
Real Estate

AREAS OF EMPHASIS
Real Estate Private Equity Investment Funds
Real Estate Joint Ventures
Financings
Acquisitions and Dispositions

BAR ADMISSIONS
The State Bar of California, 1990

AFFILIATIONS
State Bar of California, Member
Los Angeles County Bar Association, Member
American Bar Association, Member
International Council of Shopping Centers, Member
City of Los Angeles' Community Redevelopment Agency, Past Chairman of the Board of Commissioners
City of Los Angeles' Fire & Police Pension System, Past President of the Board of Commissioners

EDUCATION
J.D., Stanford Law School, 1989
B.A., Stanford University, 1986

Ken Kahan founded California Landmark Group (CLG) in 1988. Since its inception, CLG has invested in and developed all types of real estate from residential to commercial. Under Ken's leadership, the company has developed over three (3) million square feet of innovative projects.

CLG has distinguished itself in Southern California as an innovative problem solver in both the design and development of dozens of multi-family communities. Ken spearheaded development of the company's signature byCLG residences, properties that have pioneered walkable, luxury residential living by integrating resort-style amenities and services classically found in condominiums. With an eye for quality and design, Ken is focused on crafting truly unique living experiences in every residence.

Ken is passionate about all aspects of urban planning and development. He is a frequent speaker on matters pertaining to entitlements, zoning, multi-family/mixed-use projects and urban development. Ken sits on several philanthropic boards including the Advisory Board of the Ziman Center for Real Estate where he guest lectures and provides advice to students about the real estate development business. Ken is also a member of the Building Industry Association and participates in many City of Los Angeles planning initiatives.  In the past Ken was the Chair (or co-Chair) of a) the Real Estate and Construction Division at the Jewish Federation b) RPO c) the AJU Real Estate Committee and d) the UCLA Hillel Development Committee. 

Ken obtained both his bachelor of arts and juris doctor degrees from UCLA. A native of Los Angeles, Ken currently resides in West LA with his wife Roneet. Outside of the office you'll find him skiing, hiking, travelling and spending time with his family and friends.

Robert J. Lowe, Jr. is the Co-CEO of Lowe Enterprises and Chief Executive Officer of Lowe Hospitality Group, the hotel and resort management and development division of Lowe Enterprises.  Rob oversees operations of Destination Hotels, Lowe's hospitality operations company.  With 45 independent luxury and upscale hotels and resorts and over 11,000 rooms under management, Destination is one of the largest independent hospitality management companies in the country and the largest manager of independent hotels.  Mr. Lowe also oversees Lowe Destination Development, responsible for hotel and resort development, with well over $3 billion in projects over the last decade. 

Mr. Lowe is a past Trustee and President of the Palisades Presbyterian Church and Chairman of the Board of Managers of the Palisades-Malibu YMCA.  Mr. Lowe earned his BA from Stanford University, and has an MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Gabriel Marquez is a partner in CohnReznick’s Real Estate Assurance practice with over 32 years of professional experience. He has served a variety of public and privately-held real estate and construction companies, including real estate developers/owners/operators, pension-sponsored and private equity real estate funds, homebuilders, engineering firms and contractors.

Mr. Marquez is a former partner in Ernst & Young's Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction (RHC) practice with over 28 years of professional experience and became an Ernst & Young partner in 2003.  He served a variety of public and privately held real estate and construction companies, including real estate owners/operators, pension-sponsored & private equity real estate funds, homebuilders, engineering firms and contractors.

Mr. Marquez has extensive experience in GAAP technical matters, Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 controls and SEC experience with both 1933 and 1934 Act Filings.  He has lead various client projects ranging from land development/construction cost and operational audits, contract claims resolution, mergers & acquisitions, and restructurings/reorganizations.  He serves as a firm subject matter expert on contract accounting matters and has authored several industry related articles.

Selected clients served include: Broadreach Capital Partners, Colony Capital, Hilton Hotels, ING Realty, Jacobs Engineering, J.F. Shea Homes/Construction, Latitude Management, Majestic Realty, Penhall Construction, Playa Vista, Resmark Companies, Ryland Homes, Tejon Ranch Co., Thomas Properties Group, Valley Crest Companies and Watt Companies.

Mr. Marquez earned his BA in psychology, with an accounting emphasis from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors at the Los Angeles Variety Boys & Girls Club in Boyle Heights.  He has also served as a National and Los Angeles Chapter Director for the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA), and is a member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and California Society of CPAs.

Mr. Marquez is an executive sponsor for Ernst & Young's Latino Professional Network, and Campus Recruiting Diversity Champion at UCLA.  He has served as a Corporate Advisory Board member for the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA).

Gabriel and his wife Teresa have three children, boys ages 13, 15 and 18.  In his free time, Gabriel enjoys sports, music and spending time with his family.

Tom McCarthy is the Co-President of McCarthy Cook & Co. ("MCC") a Los Angeles based commercial real estate investment and management firm. Founded in 1995 by Mr. McCarthy and Edward W. Cook, MCC invests in office, mixed use, medical research and technology properties in the major markets of the western U.S. The firm is a vertically integrated operating company. Its current and former institutional partners include JP Morgan Investment Management, Morgan Stanley Real Estate, Canyon Capital Advisors, the California Public Employment Retirement System (CalPERS), the Blackstone Group, Stockbridge Capital Partners and BayNorth Capital. MCC maintains offices in Los Angeles, Costa Mesa, San Francisco and Phoenix.

McCarthy Cook has completed over $3 billion in transactions. Its current portfolio encompasses 3 million square feet of space and includes China Basin in San Francisco (930,000 sq. ft.) and a recently acquired 1 million sq. ft. portfolio in Phoenix. The firm is also nearing completion of a 230,000 sq. ft., $225 million neuroscience medical research facility pre-leased to the University of California San Francisco.

Prior to co-founding McCarthy Cook & Co., Mr. McCarthy was a senior executive with Maguire Thomas Partners (now Maguire Properties), a major Los Angeles-based commercial real estate development company.

Mr. McCarthy is the former Chairman of the Board of Directors and serves on the Executive Committee of Junior Achievement of Southern California. Through Junior Achievement, Mr. McCarthy teaches economics and entrepreneurship classes principally in inner-city public schools.

Mr. McCarthy holds an MBA in Finance from the UCLA Anderson School of Management where he is a member of the Ziman Center and serves on the Advisory Board of the Fink Center for Finance and Investments. He is a member of the Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkley. Mr. McCarthy is a member of the Pension Real Estate Association and the Urban Land Institute. He graduated with Honors from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He is a native of Evanston, Illinois.

Andy Meyers is the Chief Executive Officer of Shangri-La Construction (SLC), a regional general contractor specializing in tenant improvements, retrofits, core and shell and design-build cost-conscious sustainable construction. As the CEO Mr. Meyers is involved in all aspects of Shangri-La's operations and is specifically responsible for strategic objectives and business development. Mr. Meyers has been involved in all aspects of both the Capital Projects and Special Projects division of Shangri-La including acquisitions, planning, design and construction. Mr. Meyers is a pioneer and champion with respect to cost-effective, sustainable construction and clean technology innovation. As the CEO, Mr. Meyers has acquired and completed the first LEED Platinum private aircraft hangar, the first LEED for Core and Shell Gold Certification in Las Vegas, NV with a full retrofit of the 302 E. Carson building and is pursuing LEED Platinum Certification for Citadel Environmental, an office facility in Burbank, CA. Additionally Mr. Meyers has recently acquired the Los Angeles Biomedical Institute, a building retrofit and laboratory facility and an affordable housing center servicing the Hollywood area.

Mr. Meyers has a personal passion for real estate and business development. He obtained his real estate broker's license over 11 years ago and has been working in the industry ever since. He began his career managing high-end residential properties in Bel Air, Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles. Mr. Meyers then gained extensive experience in the commercial real estate sector, eventually leading him to a strategic management role with Shangri-La in the acquisition, construction and sale of a 12-acre project in Bel Air. In addition to Mr. Meyers' involvement with Shangri-La Construction, he has overseen Shangri-La Entertainment (Polar Express, Beowulf and Martin Scorsese's Shine A Light) and Shangri-La Music (Jerry Lee Lewis's Last Man Standing and The Pretenders' Break Up The Concrete) since their inceptions.

Mr. Meyers graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Bachelor of Arts degree. As an accomplished student athlete in UCLA's prestigious football program, Mr. Meyers excelled both on and off the field. He was honored as a twotime All-PAC 10 Guard, Third Team All-American, Academic All-PAC 10 and Academic All-District and also briefly played for the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League.

EXPERIENCE
11 years
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts, University of California at Los Angeles
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Lambda Alpha International

Lisa Quateman has served on the UCLA Ziman Center Advisory Board since 2014 and was the first woman to join the Board at that level. In 2019 Lisa delivered the Center’s Howard J. Levine Distinguished Lecture on Business Ethics and Social Responsibility. She is a past President of Commercial Real Estate Women - Los Angeles, and a proud "double Bruin", having earned her Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from UCLA.

A seasoned corporate director, Lisa qualifies as an SEC audit committee financial expert. She is a trusted advisor to CEOs, recognized for her positive, collaborative approach and her expertise in growing revenues and managing enterprise risk. Lisa's current corporate Boards include a NYSE-traded mortgage REIT, a pension fund-owned operator of a large public-private infrastructure investment, and a privately-owned provider of specialized financial background screening services. Lisa serves on each of these companies’ Audit Committees, and she has additional committee assignments, including as Compensation Committee Chair for the REIT.  She is also a member of the Advisory Board for a multi-generational Central California-based company operating in several industries including real estate development and management, construction, agribusiness, venture capital, and private equity.

In addition to the Ziman Center Advisory Board, in the non-profit arena Lisa serves on the Boards of National Association of Corporate Directors Pacific Southwest Chapter, where she is Chair of the Marketing & Communications Committee, the City of Hope Board of Governors, and Heidi Duckler Dance, where she chairs the Nomination and Governance Committee. She was the 2016-17 Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the UCLA Alumni Association, Chair of the Nominating Committee and of the Governance Committee, and General Counsel from 2014-2016.  Lisa is a member of UCLA Law Women.

Lisa served eight years as a public official, having been appointed and re-appointed by former Mayors Richard Riordan and James Hahn to the Board of Directors of the City of Los Angeles Industrial Development Authority.

Lisa practiced transactional law for many years, most recently as a Senior Partner of national law firm Polsinelli, where she was the founding Managing Partner for the firm’s first California office. She was named one of California's best real estate attorneys by California Law Business, and 2020 Public Finance Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers. Concurrently, Lisa runs a single-family office that owns and operates industrial, retail, hospitality, and multi-family real estate in Los Angeles County.

Lisa has received numerous awards and commendations from federal, state and local elected officials; business periodicals, and professional organizations, including the Los Angeles Business Journal, Los Angeles Daily Journal, The American Lawyer, Commercial Real Estate Women Los Angeles, and the Century City Chamber of Commerce. Lisa was named "2018 Board Member of the Year" by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. Most recently she received a Resolution of the California State Treasurer, commemorating her work as bond and disclosure counsel for the State of California.

Kevin L. Ratner was the President of Forest City West, the former subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises, Inc. Forest City was an owner, developer and manager of a diverse portfolio of premier real estate located throughout the nation, with approximately $10.9 billion in total assets. In December 2018, Forest City was acquired by a real estate investment fund of Brookfield Asset Management, a global leader in alternative asset management.

Ratner was responsible for Forest City's commercial and residential businesses on the West Coast. In addition to the development of market rate, affordable, and high-density urban housing, both new and through the adaptive re-use of preexisting structures, Ratner and his team were involved with several mixed-use, developments focusing on technology and today's innovation economy. Ratner worked in Forest City's Los Angeles office from 1998 until December 2018 and was extensively involved in the development of more than 1,500 multi-housing units, including several high-profile redevelopment projects in Southern California. 

Ratner has significant expertise in revitalizing urban neighborhoods through public/private partnerships. He was dedicated to the communities in which Forest City worked and has participated in many public policy forums.

Ratner is continuing the family tradition of real estate development following his grandfather and father into the family business. Max Ratner founded Forest City in 1921 in Cleveland, Ohio, which served as the company's corporate headquarters. Forest City established a national reputation as a master developer and property owner of some of America's largest, and most prestigious, urban and suburban real estate projects.

Ratner graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BA degree and holds a Masters in Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California. Ratner serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for both the American Jewish University and the California Infill Builder's Federation (CIBF). He is also on the Board of Directors for the Central City Association of Los Angeles, the Hammer Museum, SCI-Arc, Center for Creative Land Recycling, and Center for Architecture and Urban Design Los Angeles. Ratner is an Advisory Board Member of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate and an Executive Committee Member of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.

Spencer leads land use entitlement and real estate transactions for the nation’s key real estate and business players. As a former assistant city attorney handling land use matters, Spencer leverages his deep understanding of the process and long-standing relationships at the city, county, state, and federal levels, to resolve issues quickly and close transactions smoothly.

Clients appreciate Spencer’s ability to create consensus among the variety of players often involved in land use entitlements and real estate deals. Additionally, clients rely on Spencer for his streamlined processes that save clients time and money.

Right-Sized Resources

A primary focus of Spencer’s practice is project and team strategy, utilizing every possible tool to get the right results. One of those tools is Spencer’s cultivated and curated contact list of architects, traffic engineers, environmental consultants, and other specialists. Because facetime is essential when dealing with council members, neighborhood stakeholders, city planners, and others, seamless access to these relationships can make a significant difference to his clients’ projects. Depending on the development type and involved parties—what community and which council district—Spencer can quickly assemble the right mix of personnel, experience, and expertise. He knows whom to put forward for each job, creating distinct efficiencies and turning out better results.

Additionally, Spencer takes a hands-on approach in managing the legal side of land use entitlements, typically pairing his own experience and skill with just one qualified Allen Matkins associate. So, when clients call, they get Spencer’s advice as opposed to being passed up or down a chain of attorneys. Clients receive the right-sized resources to complete even their most complex entitlement needs.

All Development Types

Spencer has an exceptional amount of practical experience in the full range of entitlements for urban infill, mixed-use, transit, affordable and senior housing, signage, hotels, multi-family residences, shopping and dining districts, and more. No matter what the product type, Spencer has entitled it.

Throughout Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, including West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Culver City, and beyond, Spencer represents developers, investors, management companies, and institutions, such as hospitals, schools, museums, and related entities, in land use entitlements. High net worth individuals and family offices investing in real estate also engage him for land use guidance.

Responsive Service

With construction costs accelerating, community challenges more prevalent, and labor unions more aggressive in their stance, being able to save clients time and money by effectively managing their projects from beginning to end creates enormous value. He knows that big decisions can rise quickly and unexpectedly in land use entitlement matters. Whether addressing entity formation or resolving an environmental question, at Allen Matkins, Spencer’s clients have access to real estate legal talent from across all spectrums.

EDUCATION
J.D., Loyola Law School

B.S.J., Northwestern University

BAR ADMISSIONS
California

Mr. Safran is Chairman of Thomas Safran & Associates, developers and managers of affordable multifamily residential housing. His firm specializes in both family and senior low-rent housing and mixed use developments.

Nationally, Mr. Safran has belonged to such organizations as the Home Builders, the Urban Land Institute, the National Housing Coalition, NAHRO, and the National Leased Housing Association, of which he was a member of the Board of Directors. He has been active locally in Los Angeles nonprofit housing organizations as President of Alternative Living for the Aging and as Vice President of Menorah Housing Foundation, and as a member of the Corporate Fund for Housing. In addition, Mr. Safran has volunteered in his community serving on local boards: homeowner associations in Brentwood and Bel Air, 15 years on the San Vicente Design Review Board, Chair of the San Vicente Improvement Association, Treasurer of Brentwood Green, and Business Representative on the Brentwood Neighborhood Community Council. He is also a founder of both the Museum of Contemporary Art and on the Board of The Music Center of Los Angeles County.

Mr. Safran has a Bachelors Degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut (where he was on the Board of Fellows), and an MBA from UCLA where he is a Chancellors Associate. Prior to establishing his own company in 1974, he held various positions over a five-year period with the Los Angeles Area, Chicago Regional, and Washington, D.C. Central offices of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Bryan J. Slotkin is a Partner in the Strategic Advisory Group at PJT Partners, based both in New York and San Francisco. Mr. Slotkin joined PJT Partners in June of 2018, following a partnership role at Discovery Land Company and a 18-year career as an investment banker.

Mr. Slotkin spent the last 10 years of his investment banking career at Goldman Sachs where he was responsible for the West Coast Financial Sponsor franchise and previously responsible for the West Coast Real Estate, Gaming and Leisure business. Mr. Slotkin managed and executed transactions for many of the firm’s largest and most important private equity, family office, real estate, gaming, leisure and sponsor owned portfolio company relationships.

Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Slotkin was a Director in the technology, media and telecom group at Citigroup Global Markets and also served as an Mergers & Acquisitions specialist at Banc of America Securities LLC.

Mr. Slotkin is a member of the Rutgers Business School Board of Advisors and is also a member of the Real Estate Board of the City of Hope Hospital in Los Angeles. Mr. Slotkin received a BS in Finance from Rutgers College and a JD/MBA from George Washington University.

Roger Yang is an audit partner in KPMG's Los Angeles office, where he serves as the Industry Leader for KPMG's Building, Construction and Real Estate practice in the Pacific Southwest Region. He has more than 25 years of experience, including over twelve years as a partner, providing audit services to public and private real estate and construction companies, including experience working with global Fortune 500 companies and their senior leadership teams.

Roger has provided professional audit services to multiple leading public global companies. He has specific knowledge and experience of  SEC rules and regulations, PCAOB audit requirements and U.S. GAAP.

Roger is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Additionally, he serves on the Advisory Board of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate and is a Board Member and Vice President of the Peninsula Education Foundation. 

Roger is a licensed California CPA.  He holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California at Los Angeles, and a BA from the University of California at Berkeley.

Arnon Adar has been extensively involved in real estate and finance since 1976, originating more than $3 billion in transactions, and organizing several high-tech venture capital groups, bringing some to IPO status. Mr. Adar established CNA Enterprises as a real estate investment and advisory firm with a primary focus on direct equity investments of grocery-anchored shopping centers and regional power centers in the western United States. As President and CEO, he oversees the company's ongoing operations, as well as its long-term vision. This vision includes the development and implementation of investment strategies which define the structure and organization of the company's corporate culture.

Prior to entering the real estate business, Mr. Adar served for three years in the Economic Affairs Office of the Diplomatic Corps. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California.

For more than thirty years, Mr. Adar has been an active leader in the Los Angeles community. He is a member of the United Jewish Fund/Real Estate & Construction Division, and he was nominated to the post of Commissioner for the California Citizens Compensation Commission by Governor Gray Davis. Driven by a desire to improve education for future generations, Mr. Adar served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Harvard-Westlake and helped to found the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. He is currently a member of the International Board of Trustees of Tel Aviv University and a member of the Founders Society of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 2004, Mr. Adar received the Louis Dembitz Brandeis Distinguished University Fellow award from Brandeis.

Mr. Adar's passion for music has associated him with a variety of organizations and projects, which include serving as a member of the Executive Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Opera and The Founders for the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County and being a member of the West Coast Council of the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Committed to supporting medical research and development, Mr. Adar is a member of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Executive Cabinet Committee and a member of the Board of Governors of Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv.

In 2008, Mr. Adar and his family founded The Adar Family and Friends Research Institute for Eye Disease at Brandeis University. Working in conjunction with the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA and the Goldschlager Eye Institute at Sheba Medical Center in Israel, these researchers strive to develop more advanced treatment protocols for a variety of eye diseases.

Jack is responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and acquiring multifamily properties for M1. Prior to this, Jack was responsible for acquisitions and development at Grand Street Development, a developer of Class A multifamily and mixed-use projects in New York City and Philadelphia.

Jack was a Director and Partner at Grand Street Development, a fully-integrated real estate investment and development company based in New York City, where he and his partner share all the firm's responsibilities. Jack helped steer Grand Street into new ground-up and value-add development projects in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Relative newcomers to New York City development, their projects have been recognized by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, The New York Times, Curbed, and others for their progressive design and record setting market performance.

Jack studied at UCLA Anderson, where he was named a Peter Bren Fellow in Entrepreneurial Real Estate, and Fordham University, where he serves on the President's Council.

Robert Barth has over 40 years of experience in real estate investment, finance and development. For the past 30 years, he was partnered with Stanley Black in acquiring over 200 properties consisting in excess of 7 million square feet of buildings. He currently oversees the management and operation of this portfolio located principally in California and the western states.

Robert graduated from the University of California with a Bachelor of Science degree and received an MBA from Harvard Business School. He began his career in 1973 by acquiring industrial and commercial properties and in 1985 joined with Stanley Black in vastly expanding the portfolio.

Bob is the co-founder of California Republic Bank and currently serves as Chairman of the Board and is a major shareholder. The Bank manages assets in excess of $3 billion. He also serves on boards of several privately held companies. 

Bob is a member of the Board of Directors and Investment and Finance Committees at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where in 2010, he endowed the Barth Chair in Cancer Genetics. Additionally, he has served on the Board of Vista del Mar, Orangewood Children's Foundation, Harvard University Committee on University Resources, and the USC Marshall School of Business Board of Leaders.

Joel Blumberg currently serves as the Managing Director of Wealth Management for Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. and has been with Merrill Lynch since 2016.  Blumberg was previously the Managing Director in JP Morgan's Private Bank where he ran the Private Bank's real estate practice in Los Angeles, handling the overall relationship of real estate principals, executives and private families.

Joel previously served as a Director and Senior Relationship Manager with Wachovia Securities Real Estate Capital Markets and Wells Fargo Real Estate Banking. He was responsible for originating commercial real estate debt and equity investments as well as developing and managing balance sheet lending and treasury services relationships. Prior to Wachovia, Joel worked in the Investment Properties division of CBRE in Los Angeles. Earlier in his career, Joel worked in development for the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation in Los Angeles.

Joel earned his MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, an M.A. in Political Science from The Ohio State University and his B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from The American University in Washington D.C.

Joel is currently involved with the Jewish Federation Real Estate & Construction Division and the City of Hope Real Estate Council.

He resides in Redondo Beach, CA with his wife, two sons and two dogs.

Lance Bocarsly is a nationally recognized transactional real estate attorney specializing in affordable housing, community and economic development transactions, and a founding partner in Bocarsly Emden. He has represented developers, syndicators and investors in over one thousand transactions financed with federal low income housing tax credits and tax exempt bonds, generating tens of thousands of residential units for low income tenants in over forty states. In addition, he actively represents developers and investors financing transactions with alternative energy tax credits, new market tax credits and historic tax credits. Mr. Bocarsly's practice focuses on all aspects of the acquisition and development of, and investment in, real property, including negotiation of purchase agreements, construction and permanent financing from institutional and governmental sources, negotiation of construction and development contracts, formation and syndication of partnerships and limited liability companies owning and operating real estate developments and syndication of investment funds in real estate transactions. In addition, Mr. Bocarsly has substantial experience in advising nonprofit and for-profit developers undertaking affordable housing and economic development.

Mr. Bocarsly handles the acquisition, financing and development of multi-family and senior affordable housing transactions throughout the United States. He also represents the ultimate investors in syndicated tax credit funds, as well as syndicators investing in transactions generating low income housing tax credits, historic tax credits, solar energy tax credits, new markets tax credits, and in the formation of multi- investor and single investor funds for investment in affordable housing transactions throughout the United States. Mr. Bocarsly also represents clients in the acquisition, financing and disposition of mixed-income and mixed-use transactions, economic and community development projects and low income homeownership developments.

Mr. Bocarsly was formerly a partner with Bingham McCutchen LLP and Riordan & McKinzie in Los Angeles, California.

Mr. Bocarsly is the co-author of "Community Land Trusts: A Growing Trend in Affordable Home Ownership", ABA Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, Summer, 2008, "Tax-Exempt General Partners and the IRS: Defenestrating the Myth of Private Inurement and Public Benefit", ABA Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, Fall, 1997, "Real Property Tax Exemptions In Affordable Housing Transactions", ABA Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, Winter, 1993, and "Scenic Rivers Designation Maintained", U.C.L.A. Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, Spring 1985. He has been a featured speaker at, and has chaired, numerous conferences analyzing affordable housing and community development issues. In addition, Mr. Bocarsly served on the Governing Committee of the American Bar Association's Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law from 1994 through 2003 and served as the Chair of the Forum in 2001-2002.

Mr. Bocarsly is currently an adjunct professor at the UCLA School of Law, where he teaches Real Estate Law Clinic: Affordable Housing, a year-long clinical course offering students practical, hands-on training and experience working on live real estate transactions involving the development of affordable housing.

Mr. Bocarsly received his Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1984, and his Juris Doctor degree in 1987 from the University of California, Los Angeles.  He was recognized by the UCLA School of Law Real Estate Law Association as its Alumnus of the Year in 2013.

Mr. Brandt is the former Managing Director and the National Originations Director of the Real Estate Capital Markets Group at Wells Fargo Bank. Based in Los Angeles, Mr. Brandt directed the origination activities of Wells Fargo's CMBS and balance sheet lending businesses which generated over $8.5 billion in loan production in 2014.
 
Previously, Mr. Brandt was head of real estate lending and debt investments for the Buchanan/TCW Funds, a $1.2 billion private equity firm that invests in JV equity, first mortgages and mezzanine loans in all major U.S. markets. Over his career, Mr. Brandt has helped build several lending and investment management businesses in both New York and Los Angeles. Mr. Brandt was previously a Managing Director of RBS Greenwich Capital where he directed real estate investments in the western U.S. and financed over $11 billion in real estate transactions. He has held previous positions as a Managing Partner at Menlo Equities, a $500 million private equity real estate fund, and as a Managing Director at Nomura Securities, heading its west coast real estate finance operations.
 
He serves as a Board Member of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA, a Governor of the Mortgage Bankers Association, and a Board Member and Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, CA. He has authored several industry articles and served as a guest lecturer at the USC Lusk Center, UC Irvine Business School, UCLA Anderson School of Management, and the MIT Center for Real Estate.
 
Mr. Brandt holds a M.S. in Real Estate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and completed his undergraduate degree at Stanford University.

Gregory Brody is the managing partner of BW Brody Affiliated Companies, a real estate investment, development, management, and construction company specializing in multifamily properties.

Since 1949, the firm has a solid track record with a history of successful real estate developments Greg has been with the firm since 1977.  Under his direction, the firm has rehabilitated or completed ground-up development and construction of several million square feet of residential, commercial, and retail projects in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. The latest ground up project, The Metro Art Sherman Oaks, consists of 16,500 sf of retail and 113 apartments. The project received the San Fernando Business Journal's Gold award for best mixed-use project in 2015.

Greg is a bruin through and through starting with his graduation from UCLA UES elementary school along with an undergraduate degree in Biology, a master's degree in public health, and an MBA specializing in Real Estate Finance all from UCLA.

Ricardo Capretta is President of Capretta Properties Inc., a Western U.S. real estate full service development and investment company formed in 1992 that has completed over 8,200,000 square feet of commercial transactions valued at over $1.6 billion.  Previously, he was Managing Partner for Katell Properties, a regional Southern California developer and a Project Manager for the Paragon Group, Los Angeles.  Currently, Capretta Properties is solely focused on "Net Zero" sustainable green design and development of office buildings and residential subdivisions.

Mr. Capretta received a Bachelor's of Architecture from UC Berkeley in 1981, a MBA from UCLA in 1981 and a Masters in Architecture & Urban Planning from UCLA in 1985.

Mr. Capretta currently serves on the Dean Council for the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley.  He previously was a Visiting Professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management teaching Real Estate Development and Finance.  Ricardo Capretta is a licensed Architect in the State of California, the Chairman of the Mill Valley Planning Commission and active with assisting Foster Care children in California.

Mr. Capretta currently resides in Mill Valley, California with his wife Lisa, son Alex and two daughters Sofia and Bianca.

Mitchell D. Clarfield is an Executive Managing Director for Newmark Knight Frank in the Santa Monica office specializing in multi-tranche and highly structured transactions. Since 2013, Mr. Clarfield has originated over $6.6 billion in Multifamily loans making him one of the company's and industry's top producers. Mr. Clarfield is the primary customer contact for servicing and asset management on the roughly $7.0 billion of outstanding debt that he has originated.

Prior to joining Berkeley Point in 2001, Mr. Clarfield founded Carbon Mesa Advisors in 1994 and served as its President until its sale to the WMF Group, LTD in April 1998. Mr. Clarfield oversaw the growth of Carbon Mesa's funds management business to over $450 Million of interim, mezzanine and other structured finance assets. Mr. Clarfield was also an Executive Vice President for the WMF Group, LTD and served on its Executive Loan Committee.

Prior to the sale to WMF Group, Carbon Mesa engaged in origination of commercial mortgages, the acquisition, resolution and sale of distressed commercial mortgages as well as performing advisory services for institutional clients.

In 1990 Mr. Clarfield was one of the four co-founders and Principals of Secured Capital Corp. There he helped lead the company to the preeminent position in the non-performing and sub-performing Commercial and Multifamily Mortgage Market, successfully completing over $7 billion in assets sales and over $1 billion in acquisitions in less than four years.

From 1985 to 1990, Mr. Clarfield was a Vice President in the Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities Department at Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. in Beverly Hills, California. There he had primary responsibility for the real estate credit and due diligence functions.

A graduate of Fairfield University with a B.S. in Accounting, summa cum laude, Mr. Clarfield also earned an MBA in Real Estate Finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, he joined the Commercial Mortgage Consulting Group of Kenneth Leventhal & Company where in 1984 he worked on the development of the original commercial mortgage securities rating model with Standard & Poor's.

Affiliations:

• Executive Committee Member: Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania 
• Member: Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
• Sustaining Board Member of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate
• Former President of the LA Real Estate and Construction Industries Council

Patrick Cowan is a Vice President of Business Development for Ticor Title Company's National Commercial Sales team. Patrick was a former starting quarterback for UCLA and brings the same competitive team oriented skillsets to the Ticor Team. Patrick has an extensive background in philanthropic endeavors, including volunteer work at home and abroad, teaching, and most recently he was the Executive Director of Regional Giving for UCLA. He has also worked extensively with educational non-profits in inner city Los Angeles, as well as Kenya.

Patrick will be instrumental in continuing to grow the Ticor brand on a national level servicing the most complex commercial transactions with support from Ticor's outstanding internal associates.

Patrick earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles in the field of history. He is a member of The Order of the Blue Shield, The UCLA Chancellor’s Society, and the UCLA Quarterback Club. He lives with his wife Katie in San Pedro, California and together they are raising their two children, Oliver and Louise.

Patrick believes in doing good work, following up on your word, and doing things right the first time.

Clare De Briere leads the Los Angeles region of Skanska USA Commercial Development, which delivers customer-focused, highly sustainable office, mixed-use and multi-family properties across the United States. A native Angeleno, De Briere has spent her career spearheading countless innovative real estate developments across Los Angeles that benefit tenants and their surrounding communities.

In her current role, Clare has been responsible for leading the company’s commercial development entry into Los Angeles, which includes land acquisitions, the development and design of new projects, tenant leasing strategy and execution of future projects. In 2019, De Briere secured the acquisition of the group’s first Los Angeles site, a fully-entitled building at 9000 Wilshire. With the guidance of Clare’s forward-thinking approach and design, Skanska will construct a 46,000-square-foot office building in the heart of one of the most desired submarkets across the country, Beverly Hills. The project is designed for LEED® Gold Certification and expects to achieve LEED Platinum upon completion.

Clare is also charged with building Skanska Commercial Development’s Los Angeles community outreach strategy, which has fostered partnerships with the Downtown Women’s Center, City of Hope, United Way’s HomeWalk, Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles and Via Care Community Health Center, among others.

Prior to her current role, Clare was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of The Ratkovich Company. There she led the development of The Hercules Campus converting the former headquarters of Hughes Aircraft including the historic Spruce Goose hangar into an innovative creative campus in Los Angeles’ Playa Vista neighborhood. The award-winning campus is now home to Google,72 and Sunny. Clare also led The Ratkovich Company’s development of the Alhambra a 900,000-square foot urban community, 5900 Wilshire a 32-story tower in LA’s Miracle Mile, and 800 Wilshire. Her most notable work was the Bloc in downtown Los Angeles. The project boasts an unprecedented open-air urban center including a 34-story office tower with one of the first open air roof top tenant lounges in a downtown LA office building, premier retail, gathering space, and a flagship 500 room Sheraton Grand Hotel.

Clare serves on the Urban Land Institute’s (“ULI”) Americas’ DEI Committee, and is the immediate past chair of the Los Angeles District Council for ULI where she currently serves as Chair of the Governance Committee. She is a Global Trustee, and sits on the national Advisory Committee for Building Healthy Places and Building Healthy Corridors. Previously she has sat on the ULI Advisory Panel in the City of Denver and on a local Technical Assistance Panels for the Huntington Hospital and Cal Poly Pomona.

Staying connected to her alma maters, Clare is a current board member of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, a member of the University of Southern California’s Price School’s Real Estate Advisory Board, as well as the Advisory Board for UCLA’s History Department where she has focused on engaging the undergraduates with successful alumni in various fields. She is a member of the Huntington Library’s Society of Fellows, the executive committee of the Central City Association and is a former board member and present supporter of the Los Angeles Conservancy.

De Briere holds a Masters of Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree from UCLA.

Chris Dischinger is a proven leader within the real estate development industry and is president, co-principal and co-founder of LDG Development in Louisville, KY. He is committed to the business of building better lives through developing quality, affordable communities for hardworking families and active seniors to grow and thrive.

In 1994, Chris formed LDG Development with his business partner Mark Lechner, successfully focusing on acquiring, developing, building and managing single-family homes. The company eventually grew to have a portfolio of more than 500 homes as well as acquiring and managing commercial real estate properties in 17 states. In 2002, LDG saw an opportunity to enter the Housing Tax Credit Program and by using this model, LDG has developed over 13,000 units in multiple states.

Today, LDG has three main divisions, all focused on maximizing growth and production. With the mission statement, “Everyone Deserves a Quality Place to Live”, the company has almost 80 employees in its offices located in Louisville, Austin, Nashville and Atlanta who are focused on developing and managing properties for the thousands of families and seniors who are proud to call one of our communities home.

Chris has served as president of four different trade organizations including the national president of the Society of Exchange Councilors. He resides in his hometown of Louisville, KY with his family.

Matt has more than 20 years of commercial real estate and finance experience.  Matt has played a pivotal role in the acquisition of $40+ billion in assets including $4.4 billion in commercial real estate through single asset and portfolio transactions in both equity investments and loan purchases.

In 2016 Matt joined Dedeaux Properties, a privately held industrial developer and investor with roots dating back to 1936.  As CIO, Matt is responsible for developing investment strategy, supporting the firm’s continued rapid growth, and driving operational efficiency.

From 1998 to 2015 Matt held various roles within GE Capital.  Prior to joining Dedeaux Properties Matt led the Asset Management and Capital Markets activities for Arden, GE Real Estate’s wholly owned office portfolio, nationally (approximately 15 million square feet).  Before his role in Asset Management, Matt was Senior Director for GE Real Estate’s equity team and was responsible for the identification, development and maintenance of commercial real estate joint-venture equity partnerships and investments in industrial, multifamily, office, and retail assets.

Prior to joining GE Real Estate's equity team, Matt spent four years as a member of GE Capital's Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions team (2001 - 2005), where he identified, analyzed, and executed on GE Capital acquisition targets in existing and new industries.

Matt is a graduate of GE's Financial Management Program (FMP), a 100+ year leadership development pipeline and he is also six-sigma quality trained and certified.

While at GE, Matt represented GE’s Hispanic Forum as a member of GE Real Estate’s Diversity Board.

Although a native to Southern California, Matt spent his formative years oversees in both Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.   He lives in West Los Angeles with his wife and two children and enjoys travel, scuba-diving, skiing and the beach.

Matt has a BA in Economics from UCLA and an MBA from Columbia University.

Based in Los Angeles, Mr. Greeno is responsible for originating and evaluating new investment opportunities, executing on value creation strategies and continuing to build and oversee Dune’s business on the West Coast.

Prior to joining Dune in 2020, Mr. Greeno was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, where he was co-head of U.S. Investments for the firm’s real estate investing group, overseeing investment activities and managing the acquisition team on the West Coast in addition to sourcing, executing and managing investments on behalf of both the core and opportunistic funds managed by the firm.

Mr. Greeno began his 13 year career at Morgan Stanley in New York as an associate in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group, focused on capital raising, corporate defense, strategic initiatives and M&A advisory before moving to the principal side of the business in 2008 where he has invested and managed assets on behalf of open and closed-ended funds with various strategies including opportunistic, value-add, core, debt and special situations. Mr. Greeno relocated to Los Angeles in 2014 to help source and execute transactions on the West Coast.

Mr. Greeno is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and serves on the board of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate. Mr. Greeno received a JD/MBA from the UCLA School of Law and Anderson School of Management in 2007 and a BS from the University of Miami (Florida) in 2003, where he graduated Cum Laude.

Marchell Hilliard is a Senior Vice President in the Commercial Real Estate Banking Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.  In this role, Marchell is responsible for marketing and business development for major real estate clients based in the greater Los Angeles area.  She is a lead relationship manager and senior external contact on Bank of America Merrill Lynch's deal team for developers, REITs and private commercial real estate investment funds.

Throughout her 25 year career with Bank of America, Marchell has been a strong champion of a diverse and inclusive company.  She is currently the co-chair of Bank of America's Associate Leadership Council in Los Angeles and sits on the company's Diversity and Inclusion Council.  These councils are comprised of key employees from across all Bank of America business lines to help develop and retain key talent and develop rising executives.

Marchell also spends her time giving back as a civic leader in Los Angeles as member of the board of directors of Chrysalis, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating job opportunities for homeless and low-income individuals.  She is also a sustaining member of the Junior League and an active member of the National Charity League.  She has also served on her church's finance council.

Marchell graduated from University of California at Los Angeles with Honors.  She holds series 7 and 63 licenses.  Her personal passions include traveling and spending time with her two children and husband.

Noah is responsible for sourcing equity capital, investor relations and debt strategy across the portfolio and oversees joint venture structuring and partnerships. Mr. Hochman is also a member of the firm’s Investment Committee.

TruAmerica Multifamily seeks class B or better multifamily investment opportunities of 100 units or more in primary US markets.

TruAmerica's senior leadership consists of a talented and experienced group of professionals with significant experience in residential and commercial investments as well as real estate operations. Its Senior management’s track record and network of relationships differentiates the company from it's peers with the ability to source inefficiently priced investments and achieve strong risk adjusted returns for the company’s investments.

TruAmerica has acquired over $10 B in real estate in the past 8 years raising $3.5 B of equity. With over $14 B and 55,000 units in AUM, TruAmerica has constantly ranked as one of the largest and most active apartment buyer in the united states right now.

Rachel Howitt is President and CFO of NAI Capital, Inc., a woman owned company. NAI Capital, Inc. is the largest privately held full service commercial Real Estate Company in Southern California, headquartered in Los Angeles. NAI Capital, Inc. has 14 offices throughout the five county region of Los Angeles.  As the regionally exclusive NAI Global member, NAI Capital provides transactional services for the leasing and sale of industrial, office and retail properties as well as the sale of land, senior housing and multi-family properties "around the block or around the world."

Ms. Howitt earned her Bachelor's degree at University of Massachusetts-Amherst, attended Brown University Graduate School of Engineering with a concentration in metallurgical engineering, and was hired by Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.  While working at JPL, she simultaneously received her degree from the UCLA Graduate School of Management. Her entrepreneurial spirit led her to join four male counterparts to start Brentwood Saving and Loan, the highest capitalized Savings and Loan to open in California at that time.  In 1988 Ms. Howitt joined NAI Capital, Inc. as CFO and became President in 1996.

Ms. Howitt oversees all financial and administrative matters relating to NAI Capital, Inc.  With over 25 years of experience leading the company, Ms. Howitt is responsible for exploring strategic alliances to enhance the depth and scope of the services NAI Capital provides to its clients, including strategizing on company expansion plans.  She is tightly aligned with NAI Global regarding the expansion of their Asian Pacific counterparts.  She is also the President of NAI Capital Management Services, Inc., a new property management company exclusively managing Commercial Investment Real Estate.

Ms. Howitt is an associate with the Milken Institute.  She is a past Co-Chair of the Tiger Club at Occidental College, which is the fundraising organization of the Athletic Department.  She is the co-founder of On Deck Training Center which over the last seven years has provided a baseball training program dedicated to the personal growth and development of children.  She and her husband Michael personally sponsored underprivileged, sports minded children to the program with the hope that they would be provided the fundamental tools to enable them to pursue and achieve success in their chosen career paths.

Frank was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and is one of seven children. He attended Oshkosh West High School and after graduation worked at Bowery Savings Bank. In 1978, he decided to head westward to California.

While working professionally and attending the University of Pepperdine in Malibu, California, Mr. Jansen and his wife started their family of two daughters and one son. Shortly thereafter, he was offered a position at Chicago Title Company to head a newly formed department, of which he is now Sr. Vice President. Today, Chicago Title's Special Projects Department is a National Business Title and Escrow Group that oversees the coordination of over $10 billion dollars annually in commercial real estate transactions.

Frank is now a proud father of two daughters and three sons, and more recently became a first-time grandparent to his grandson. He enjoys his relaxation time between The Jonathan Club, San Gabriel Country Club and his family cabin in Rock Creek Cattle Company, Montana. His hobbies are golf, fishing, water rafting and wine tasting in Napa, California.

Memberships and Affiliations

• Founder of First Enterprise Bank
• Founder of Cap Harbor / 1031 Exchange
• Governor of Urban Land Institute
• Member of ICSC
• President of City of Hope (2004-2005) for Real Estate Group
• Board Member of Natural History Museum
• Board Member of Los Angeles Headquarters
• Board Member USC Lusk School
• Member of Jonathan Club
• Member of San Gabriel Country Club
• Member of Rock Creek Country Club

Malcolm Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Langdon Park Capital, a real estate investment management company that sources opportunities and creates value through local expertise, strategic relationships with development partners and corporate tenants, and a deep understanding of the communities in which its real estate investments are located. Mr. Johnson directs the overall strategy and operations of Langdon Park Capital.

Mr. Johnson has 16 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Previously, he was an Executive Director in JPMorgan’s Commercial Real Estate group, where he led the firm’s efforts on a new platform that deployed equity into affordable and workforce housing projects in markets across the country. Mr. Johnson joined JPMorgan in 2012 as the senior coverage banker in the firm’s Real Estate Banking group in Los Angeles, where he underwrote and arranged $3 billion in debt financing for institutional real estate developers and investment firms. From 2006-2012, Mr. Johnson was a vice president in the Commercial Real Estate Banking group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Prior to his banking career, Johnson played professional football with the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers from 1999-2003.

Mr. Johnson has been a guest lecturer for the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, UCLA Anderson School of Business, University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the National Football League and numerous schools and non-profit organizations in South Los Angeles and his native Washington, DC.

Mr. Johnson also serves on the Sustaining Board for the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, the Board of Trustees for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and the Corporate Advisory Board for The Brotherhood Crusade, a non-profit organization supporting low-income South Los Angeles residents.

Mr. Johnson received his Master's in Business Administration from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University and his Bachelors of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business.

Donald Kaplan and his son have built and renovated industrial and multifamily real estate for over 50 years across the United States. Together they form CJA corporation which owns and operates millions of square feet of industrial and multifamily assets nationwide.

Don Kaplan graduated in 1968 from the University of Southern California as a real estate and finance major. Shortly thereafter, he joined Home Savings and Loan as an appraiser and obtained a real estate brokerage license. While at Home Savings and Loan, he specialized in the
appraisal of multifamily assets.

In 1971, Mr. Kaplan left Share Holders Capital Corporation and formed a partnership that developed over 1,500 apartment units throughout Greater Southern California.

In 1973, Mr. Kaplan became President of a public corporation, Inter-Continental Equities. The company bought and sold unimproved land, predominantly in the Inland Empire. Mr. Kaplan was responsible for all acquisitions, dispositions and value creation of the company assets.

After completing his responsibilities with Inter-Continental Equities, Mr. Kaplan went out on his own and formed CJA Corporation, (named after his three children, Charles, Josh and Amanda).

Jim Kruse is the Regional President of Brokerage for Greater Los Angeles, including our offices in downtown LA, West LA/Century City, El Segundo, and Pasadena. He oversees strategic business pursuits, client relationships, and recruitment. Jim is a well-known industry leader with over 35 years of commercial real estate expertise in Southern California. His vast experience includes 15 years as Senior Managing Director for CBRE’s LA offices, Executive Vice President for Grubb & Ellis’ LA offices, top producing broker at Cushman & Wakefield, and CEO of LA-based investor/developer DPI Retail, among other successful pursuits.

A lifelong resident of Los Angeles, Jim was an All-American water polo player in college and inducted into the University of California Irvine Hall of Fame. He was a member of the US National and Olympic water polo teams, competed with the US team for seven years, and was later invited to be an Olympic water polo commentator for NBC and ABC Sports for the following five Olympic Games.

James Kruse was the Senior Managing Director with CBRE, Inc. and led the firm's Investor Services division throughout Southern California. He was accountable for CBRE's top institutional clients, partnering with service line leaders and local market experts to maximize their real estate value, orchestrate CBRE resources on their behalf and ensure consistent, high-quality service for their regional assets.

Mr. Kruse also led CBRE's Beverly Hills Office and oversaw the strategic growth and performance of the firm's West Los Angeles region. He was responsible for the professional development and continued success of regional professionals across all CBRE service lines; and under his leadership, they improved and expanded client service delivery, resulting in increased regional revenue and market share.

Mr. Kruse has held a number of strategic leadership positions with CBRE, including the role of Chairman for the firm's National Agency Office Advisory Council, comprised of the top-performing landlord representation professionals in the U.S.  He also led the Greater L.A.-Orange County Region's Office Agency Advisory Practice-all focused on enhancing CBRE's service excellence for ownership clients.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Kruse led the L.A. South Region, with responsibility for the financial performance and service line growth of one of CBRE's most complex and diversified regions. Under his leadership, L.A. South ranked as CBRE's second most profitable region in the U.S.

AFFILIATIONS

• University of California at Los Angeles, Anderson School of Business,Ziman Center for Real Estate | Board Member
• City of Hope, Real Estate Group | Prior Board Member
• AIR Commercial Real Estate Association | Prior Board Member
• Los Angeles Commercial Realty Association (LACRA) | Member
• NAIOP, Commercial Real Estate Development Association | Member

EDUCATION

• University of California, Irvine, Bachelor of Arts
• University of Califronia, Irvine, Graduate School of Education

John D. Landau has more than 25 years of real estate expertise. Prior to forming West Coast Housing Partners, Mr. Landau was the Founding Partner and Chief Operating Officer of one of Southern California's leading home builders and land developers. At its height, the company employed over 200 people in four operating divisions and was ranked as one of the top 100 home builders nationwide.

From 1984 to 1996, Mr. Landau held a variety of management positions with Weyerhaeuser Financial Services (WFS). As Vice President/General Manager of WFS's home building subsidiary, Mr. Landau was responsible for managing the company's overall operations. As Vice President-Senior Portfolio Manager of the Real Estate Group, Mr. Landau developed and managed numerous residential and commercial projects worth in excess of $200,000,000 for Weyerhaeuser Financial Services.

Mr. Landau is a licensed California Real Estate Broker and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Building Industry Association of Southern California, Los Angeles/Ventura Counties Chapter. Mr. Landau received a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles Graduate School of Management. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Business lawyer and trusted adviser Sal LaViña represents entrepreneurs and companies on complex transactions and strategic advising. With more than three decades of experience, Sal serves as a fierce advocate who listens, performs and achieves client objectives, whether closing a complex multi-state marquee deal or a fixing a local problem.

Clients hire Sal as the go-to deal guy who has closed or supervised transactions totaling nearly $10 billion dollars over the past decade. He is skilled in virtually all areas of real estate, including acquisitions and sales, joint ventures, multifamily transactions, 1031 exchanges, real estate fund formation, development, public-private and multistate matters.

In the corporate realm, Sal focuses his practice on finance and capital raising, fund formation, syndications and private placements, and mid-market mergers and acquisitions, stock and asset transactions. Sal also counsels clients on complex workouts, crisis management, and investor and LLC disputes. He speaks regularly throughout the business community on real estate, finance, and business development topics.

Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, Sal has led law firms and businesses alike. After several years at O'Melveny & Myers, right after graduating from Columbia Law School, he later served as managing partner in a business law firm, as well as general counsel and a partner in a real estate development company. He also has a California broker's license, and works on his own deals. Sal knows, from first-hand experience, the pressures of running a business and brings this sensitivity to his practice at every turn.

After graduating magna cum laude from UCLA, before he went to law school, Sal worked as a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. This experience taught him early-on to be a concise, compelling communicator who asks pertinent and informative questions. He meets even the tightest deadlines while processing complicated information under pressure.
Sal is dedicated to giving back to the communities where he lives and works. He walks the walk, and exemplifies his belief that service is at the heart of being a well-rounded lawyer.

In the UCLA community, Sal recently served as a board member and general counsel for the UCLA Alumni Association, was nominated to the UCLA Order of the Golden Bruin in recognition of his valued individual service to UCLA, and was recently appointed to the advisory board of UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, a joint center of UCLA Anderson Business School and UCLA School of Law. For his beloved alma mater, Sal works with the UCLA Centennial Campaign, UCLA Real Estate Alumni Group, Wooden Athletic Fund (Coaches Roundtable Member) and UCLA Foundation Campaign of Champions, and he has hosted Dinners for 12 Strangers, participated in Interview With a Bruin, been an Alumni Mentor, and spoken at UCLA Extension courses on business and real estate law. He networks with Bruin Professionals as well as Provisors, where he was on the Executive Committee of the Brentwood Group, and Chair of the Investment Committee of the Real Estate Affinity Group.

Sal has been appointed to non-profit boards which focus on helping underserved children in communities where he grew up, including The Village Family Services, and was a board member for several years for Para los Niños. He also has worked on community redevelopment, representing several cities in South Los Angeles, and was Chief of Staff for Operation Hope, which focused on building businesses in South Central Los Angeles. He also volunteers for speech and debate tournaments, mentoring, and speaking on career development at inner-city high schools.  

Marianne Lowenthal directed all acquisition and development activity for Combined Properties. Since joining the Company in 2005, Ms. Lowenthal has been responsible for the development and redevelopment at over 1.6 million square feet of retail and mixed-use projects in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

Ms. Lowenthal has been in the development business for 29 years and has worked through complicated entitlements and design issues on numerous projects. In her previous position as Executive Vice President for Bond Companies in Los Angeles, she specialized in mixed-use development and was responsible for the first major mixed-use project in Hollywood CA, which contained 300 residential units and 100,000 square feet of retail.  Prior to holding that position, she had equity investment and management positions as principal of her own business where she completed the sale of 3.2 million square feet of office buildings in two high-rise mixed-use projects in Los Angeles, in addition to being project manager for the development of a 500,000 square foot mixed-use project in Burbank, CA.

Ms. Lowenthal began her career at The Prudential Realty Group where she started in the development division and rose to become manager of the Western Region portfolio, which included 6 million square feet of office and retail properties with a combined value in excess of $1.5 billion.

Marianne Lowenthal received a B.A. in Political Science and an M.B.A. with concentrations in Finance and Real Estate, from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is currently the Co-President of Congregation Kol Ami and serves on the Board of the Culver City Chamber of Commerce.

As President and Chief Executive Officer, Colm Macken is responsible for Shea Properties' strategic initiatives and operations. Mr. Macken oversees the management of the company's operating portfolio which includes more than 8,100 apartment units and nearly 5 million square feet of retail, office and industrial space in California, Colorado and Washington state. He also leads all development efforts for the company's strong pipeline of future projects.

Mr. Macken brings more than 30 years of experience to the company. He previously served as the Chief Operating Officer of Forest City Enterprises' West Coast Commercial Group. During his tenure, he successfully directed the development of projects costing in excess of $1 billion in its core markets, including Victoria Gardens, San Francisco Center, and numerous innovative work/live/play communities throughout the West Coast.

Mr. Macken earned his degree in mechanical engineering from University College in Dublin, Ireland and a master's degree in business administration from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Urban Land Institute (ULI), National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC). Mr. Macken is also a board member of the Ziman Center at the UCLA Anderson School of Business.

Jim joined the Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction practice of Ernst & Young LLP in 1998 and has spent over 22 years serving a wide range of real estate and asset management clients, including equity and mortgage REITs, asset managers, investment funds, homebuilders, land and resort developers, non-traded REITs, mortgage lenders, hospitality companies and resort concessions operators. As the Greater LA Real Estate Markets Leader, he helps oversee EY’s practice of over 130 assurance professionals in Los Angeles dedicated specifically to serving the real estate industry.

Jim has extensive experience with SEC registrants and capital market transactions, including mergers and reverse acquisitions, registered debt/equity offerings, IPOs, SEC Staff correspondence, and related projects. He also serves as a regional liaison/monitor to assist engagement teams undergoing PCAOB inspections and internal reviews and is a member of the firm’s Quality Network focusing on private equity and real estate.

Jim earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting at Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is a certified public accountant in both California and Colorado and a member of the AICPA.

Outside of the office, Jim enjoys traveling with his wife, Heather, and his two boys, Jack and Gavin, fly fishing, cooking, sampling the fantastic selection of local craft beers and rooting for his favorite teams, including the Los Angeles Kings and Denver Broncos.

Mr. McQueen is President of Tribune Real Estate Holdings, LLC, ("TREH"), the real estate subsidiary of Tribune Media (NYSE: TRCO). TREH is the ownership entity for Tribune Media's 7.3 million square feet of owned real estate and is charged with maximizing the long term value of these assets. This portfolio includes large urban-infill redevelopment sites in locations such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Costa Mesa, and Florida where TREH is in the process of implementing various levels of entitlement, adaptive reuse, joint-venture structuring, and overall value creation. The Company also oversees Tribune Media's diverse corporate real estate obligations as well as real estate aspects of the company's M+A activity.

Prior to Tribune Mr. McQueen was Managing Principal and Co-Founder of Channel West Group, a real estate investment and advisory firm based in Los Angeles. During his tenure there Channel West acquired and fully redeveloped a distressed property in Calabasas, California into the award-winning boutique hotel, The Anza. In addition Channel West Group provided strategic advisory services to multiple institutional clients.

Prior to starting Channel West Mr. McQueen was a Managing Director with Cerberus Capital Management where for 6 years he was the senior Cerberus real estate professional on the west coast and shared responsibility for oversight of many aspects of the national real estate portfolio. He was a member of the Real Estate Investment Committee and Co-Head of the company's real estate workout group.

Before joining Cerberus in 2005, Mr. McQueen was with DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners, the real estate private equity fund of Credit-Suisse First Boston, where from 1998 to 2005 he underwrote and asset managed deals in the western United States and Japan.

From 1991 to 1998 Mr. McQueen was with Citicorp Real Estate, responsible for underwriting, workouts, and asset management in the United States and Mexico.
 
Mr. McQueen received a BSC in Economics from Santa Clara University and an MBA in Real Estate Finance from the John E. Anderson School at UCLA.

Richard Pink’s real estate career spans 45 years holding senior executive positions in acquisitions, asset management, marketing and also the practice of real estate law. He retired in 2016 to focus on his family restaurant business. Richard’s last real estate position was Managing Director of Clarion Partners, a $50 Billion real estate investment firm, which is headquartered in New York, with regional offices around the US including Los Angeles. At Clarion Partners, Richard was responsible for opening and staffing the Los Angeles office and was directly involved in the acquisition of over $1 Billion of real estate in California including office buildings, industrial properties, apartment complexes and retail buildings. He also was the U.S. real estate representative of a major German fund.

Prior to joining Clarion in 2006, Richard was Vice Chairman of CBRE Global Investors for 10 years and primarily responsible for the acquisition of commercial properties in major U.S. cities. Richard also represented a major German real estate investment capital for 10 years while at CBRE Global Investors. Previous to CBRE Global Investors, Richard was a Senior Partner at TCW Realty Advisors for 10 years, a national pension fund real estate investment firm, which eventually merged into CBRE Global Investors. Prior to joining TCW, Richard held various positions as a real estate lender, leasing agent, acquisitions director, asset manager and general counsel for a development firm. 

Richard has a Bachelor of Science degree from UCLA and a Masters of Business Administration degree from USC, which was earned concurrently with a Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola University School of Law.

Richard is also President of Pink's Hot Dogs, Inc., which is famously located in Los Angeles. Pink’s has 18 other locations around the U.S. including four locations in the Philippines. Pink's was started in 1939 by Richard's parents, which operated Pink’s until 1985 when they retired. At that point, Richard, his wife and sister took over responsibility for operating Pink's. Pink’s began its expansion program in 2000 through licensing, a form of franchising, and is now located in shopping malls, amusement parks, hotels, county fairs and arenas. Pink's also has an active catering business.

James Rishwain, an accomplished Pillsbury Real Estate partner, is a preeminent legal adviser to global market leaders, Fortune 100 companies and corporate boards.

Jim has served more than a decade as Pillsbury's global chair and CEO. Before becoming the firm's chair and CEO, he served for a decade as the global leader of the Firm's real estate practice. Jim presently serves as the leader of Pillsbury's Real Estate and Construction Industry Team, with real estate and construction as core elements of the firm's strategic focus. He also offers strategic counsel to global developers, investors, lenders and property owners who set the pace in their industries. Leveraging his deep knowledge of capital markets and real estate, he advises on investments and acquisitions, development, finance, joint ventures, leasing, exchanges, multifamily tax-exempt bond transactions, syndications and REITs. His real estate transaction work has earned him distinction as the California Lawyer of the Year and a Deal of the Year award.

Jim also serves on numerous board of directors of for profit, civic and charitable organizations. Jim advises organizations on their strategic growth and development plans. Finally, Jim is active in many organizations in the City of Los Angeles, including those with respect to sports and entertainment, schools, parks and homeowners associations, and energy and infrastructure.

Jim is an active proponent of diversity in the legal profession and holds a CEO Diversity Leadership Award from Diversity Best Practices. In each of his years as Firm Chair, Pillsbury was named as a Working Mother Best Company, and was among the Top 10 best companies in the United States in 2008.

He received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and his J.D., cum laude, from Pepperdine University School of Law, where he graduated with high distinction and top ten in his class.

Sandy Sigal is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles and has been an entrepreneur in the real estate industry for almost 30 years. In 1997, Mr. Sigal founded and serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of NewMark Merrill Companies, which has grown to be one of the fast growing privately held developer and owner of shopping centers in Southern California, Colorado, and Illinois. He is also Chairman of BrightStreet Ventures, a company he co-founded to provide more opportunities to his tenants and other owners of centers by integrating on-line platforms with the traditional brick and mortar business. 

Mr. Sigal's first career started at the age of 12 as a programmer and software developer for personal computers in their infancy, learning accounting and project management while computerizing different businesses. Mr. Sigal started his career in real estate at the age of 20 by joining West Venture Companies, a Southern California-based homebuilder, first to computerize there business processes. While there he founded West Venture Commercial, the commercial retail division, where he built or redeveloped over 25 shopping centers as well as oversaw their management. In 1993, Mr. Sigal was promoted to President and CEO of the parent company giving him responsibility for the land acquisition, development and sale of over 700 homes, and oversight of the commercial and mortgage divisions. In 1997, Mr. Sigal left West Venture and co-founded NewMark Merrill Companies at which time he purchased the West Venture retail assets, including 15 retail centers and 4 development projects. 

Since NewMark Merrill's inception in 1997, Mr. Sigal has acquired and/or developed an additional 78 retail centers totaling over 8,000,000 square feet and in over 30 cities. In addition, his company, LandMark Retail Group has built over 50 CVS' throughout California. NewMark Merrill has been ranked one of Los Angeles' Fastest Growing Private Companies by the Los Angeles Business Journal for 7 years, Top 10 Property Management Firms & Top 10 Development Firms by the Los Angeles Business Journal and currently owns and/or manages 73 shopping centers throughout California, Colorado and Illinois representing almost 11,000,000 square feet with a collective value in excess of $1.2 billion dollars. The Company received "The Best Retail Project of 2013" by the Los Angeles Business Journal for a project it renovated and redeveloped in Baldwin Park, California. It credits among its tenants Wal-Mart, Meijer, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Ralph's, Albertsons, Toys R Us, 99c Only Stores, CVS, Walgreen's and other local and national retailers. The company has offices in Thousand Oaks, Norwalk, Anaheim, Oceanside, and Sacramento, Chicago and Colorado and a corporate office in Woodland Hills. 

Mr. Sigal is also active in community organizations serving on the Board of the Camp Max Straus Foundation, a camp for underserved children which Mr. Sigal attended when he was a child. He is currently serving as Vice Chairman of the Board and dinner chair since 2004 and was recipient of the William Shatner Humanitarian Award in 2007 for his work for the Foundation and the Camp. Mr. Sigal serves as a mentor for young adults interested in real estate through the Young Leadership Development Institute as well as the Real Estate Professional Organization through the Jewish Federation and mentors Olympic Athletes on transitioning from sports to private industry. Mr. Sigal is also an active member of the Young Presidents Organization of Santa Monica Bay (YPOSMB) currently serving as Chapter Chair as well as the Regional Education Chair for the Pacific Region. In 2013, Mr. Sigal's YPO Education program for his chapter won "Best of the Best" for all YPO Chapters Worldwide. Mr. Sigal received the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2016 Award in the Services category for Greater Los Angeles. Mr. Sigal has 4 children, and has resided in Calabasas for the last 20 years.

Ronald A. Simms has been extensively involved in all aspects of commercial real estate development for over 35 years, having acquired, developed and managed approximately 3 million square feet of commercial real estate.  Currently, the Simms property portfolio operates in 14 cities nationwide.  The portfolio consists of high-end retail, industrial and data centers.  Mr. Simms practiced as an attorney and CPA prior to his full-time involvement in real estate.

Mr. Simms and his wife Dr. Vicki Simms were instrumental in launching the Simms/Mann UCLA Center of Integrative Oncology and the Simms/Mann Health and Wellness Center at the Venice Family Clinic, both free to all patients.  Mr. Simms is currently active on the Board of Governors at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, The Wallis Annenberg for the Performing Arts, and serves on the National Board of the FIDF.  Additionally, Mr. Simms also serves on the Board of the largest producer of ethanol in Canada.  Mr. Simms is deeply concerned about environmental issues.  As such, he has joined the Board of Trustees for Alaska, a group concerned with preserving the environment.

Gary M. Tenzer is co-founding Principal and Managing Director of George Smith Partners Inc., ("GSP"); a Los Angeles based real estate investment banking, financing and consulting services firm. GSP represents many of the largest and most prominent developers and owners of real estate throughout the country.

With over 35 years of experience in originating, structuring, underwriting and negotiating sophisticated real estate financing transactions, Mr. Tenzer has been personally involved in the placement of over $8.0 Billion dollars of real estate financing throughout the country. In addition to arranging financing for his clients, Mr. Tenzer has had extensive experience as an expert witness and litigation consultant. He has been involved in over three hundred real estate litigation matters, representing both plaintiffs and defendants, and has testified over 100 times in state and federal courts at both jury and bench trials.

Mr. Tenzer is a member of the Sustaining Board of the UCLA Ziman for Real Estate and has been a frequent lecturer at undergraduate and graduate real estate finance classes at UCLA and USC; he is also a member of the Urban Land Institute.

Education

• Master of Science in Business Administration (MSBA) 1979: University of Southern California. Major in Real Estate Finance, with specific focus on real estate economics and financial feasibility and rate of return analysis.
• Master of Business Administration (MBA) 1978: University of Southern California. Majors in Finance and Entrepreneurship and Venture Management. Emphasis on capital structure and creation of start-up enterprises in the real estate industry.
• Bachelor of Arts (AB) 1976: University of California, Berkeley. Degree in Economics with emphasis on Urban Land Economics and quantitative analysis; minors in Psychology and Astronomy.

Alex Valner is President and Managing Partner of Center Capital Partners LLC and is responsible for overseeing investment opportunities and day-to-day management of the firm. He previously served as Vice President at Northwood Investors and was responsible for sourcing and executing real estate equity and debt investment opportunities, with a focus on the Western United States. Prior to joining Northwood Investors, Mr. Valner was an Analyst at Canyon Partners working in the Real Estate group on both equity investments in Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund III and debt investments in Canyon Value Mortgage Funds underwriting and executing real estate investment opportunities. Throughout his career, he has concentrated on the development and acquisition of all property types with a focus on mixed-use, residential, office, retail, industrial and hospitality.

Mr. Valner received a B.S. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated cum laude. Mr. Valner is also a member of the Urban Land Institute and UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate in addition to his involvement in Rett Syndrome Research Trust.

Rob Wasserman, UCLA Anderson/UCLA Law MBA/JD '98, is the President of Huntington Community Development Corporation.

Rob previously served as the Senior Vice President at U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation focusing on Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) investments. Prior to that role, he was Managing Director of Tax Credit Syndications division and managed the West Coast office for originations and acquisitions of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) and Solar Tax Credits, both at US Bank Community Development Corporation. His experience includes originating, underwriting and structuring financial transactions, negotiating legal documents, investing equity, lending pre-development and mezzanine financing, underwriting tax-exempt debt, and asset managing the investments.

Rob has published several articles on the financing and structuring of LIHTC and NMTC investments. Rob was founding board member of Endeavor College Prep, a Los Angeles, K-8 charter school, and currently sits on the boards of KIPP St. Louis and Empower Now, a non-profit dedicated to job training and financial literacy in affordable housing communities. He is the founding chair of GAHAC, the Global Affordable Housing Advisory Council (GAHAC).
Additionally, Rob is a member of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate's Sustaining Board and serves as chair of the Center’s Affordable Housing Advisory Council (AHAC). He is also a member of the UCLA Real Estate Alumni Group (REAG) Endowment Circle.

Rob holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law.