ONWARD INVESTORS - Key Persons
As our Accounting Manager, Alyssa brings over ten years of real estate accounting experience to oversee our operational accounting, production, and review of financial reports. Her role includes many aspects of property transactions, acquisitions, dispositions, financial reporting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management, compliance, and tax and audit processes. Prior to joining Onward, Alyssa held positions at CBRE and IBM focusing on financial reporting, budget analysis and cash flow forecasting.
In his role as Director, Augie is responsible for supporting the asset management of our investment portfolio and performing analysis and due diligence on prospective investments. He joined our investment team in 2022, following an associate position on the acquisitions, development, and asset management team at The Excelsior Group. Augie also has experience in multifamily asset management group at PGIM Real Estate. He received a B.B.A in Finance and Real Estate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In his roles as partner and general counsel, Brad oversees Onward Investor's real estate transactions and mortgage conversions. Brad is responsible for structuring and articulating the complex deals our Onward team is accustomed to envisioning and implementing. For more than 35 years, Brad has focused his practice on providing general counsel, development, and transactional legal work. Prior to founding Onward, Brad served as General Counsel of Opus Northwest and Senior Counsel at General Growth Properties.
In his role as Director, Chris supports the company's real estate investment and development strategies, focusing on various positions in multi-family assets of all types throughout the country. This includes evaluating existing assets for acquisition or investment and reviewing and executing within all elements of development opportunities. Prior to joining Onward, Chris was Director of Development and Chief Operating Officer at Alatus. Chris began his career at Dominium Development and Acquisition.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director / Back
In his role at Onward, David primarily sources, underwrites and manages opportunistic credit-related real estate opportunities. He has significant experience investing across the capital stack in both traditional and more esoteric real estate asset classes and commercial specialty finance. Prior to joining Onward, David was a director at Castlelake, where he focused on private market opportunities in commercial and residential real estate as well as small balance commercial loans. David began his career at Lazard in the M&A and Strategic Advisory practice serving middle market clients in the industrials sector.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director for Onward
As Director for Onward, Francis oversees asset management for our local Minneapolis-St. Paul market, including the responsibilities of directing lease negotiations, capital improvement projects, tenant relations, and dispositions. Prior to joining Onward, Francis served as an asset manager for Principal Financial Group, where he was responsible for a portfolio of properties in the San Francisco Bay Area and the southeastern United States.
In his role as Director, Grant supports the company's real estate investment strategies, focused on leading the acquisition of existing assets, portfolios, and ground-up development opportunities in our key markets. This includes identifying, financing, securing future acquisitions and contributing to business plan execution over each investment lifecycle. Prior to joining Onward, Grant led the integration of new business units as a mergers and acquisitions analyst for ConAgra Brands, a Chicago based consumer packaged goods company.
In his role as Director, Harper is responsible for performing analysis and due diligence on prospective investments. He joined the Onward investment team in 2021, following a summer associate position in the acquisitions and asset management groups at Allianz Real Estate of America. Harper also has experience as a senior analyst in the residential mortgage-backed securities group at Fitch Ratings. He received a B.A. in Economics and German from Middlebury College and an M.B.A. from the NYU Stern School of Business in Real Estate and Finance.
Job Titles:
- Project Administrator
- Project Manager
As Project Administrator, Holly provides support to our investors as well as our team. She has intense knowledge of closing processes, construction draws and our corporate structure. Prior to joining Onward, Holly was a portfolio associate at Presidium Asset Solutions, a professional asset management and loan servicer to commercial banks and other institutional and portfolio lenders across the country.
In his role as Director, Jeff combines his expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and unique ability to build strong relationships to identify investment opportunities within our key markets. Prior to joining Onward, Jeff was a founding partner of 45 North Group, a commercial real estate firm focused on construction project management, renewable energy consulting and development in the industrial, office and retail sectors.
As a Founding Partner, Jim is responsible for leading the design and construction of commercial product types from concept through completion, spanning low-rise to high-rise office, industrial, retail, multi-family apartment, residential condominiums, parking garages, mixed use developments, and educational facilities. His expertise and insights into project feasibility, program management, due diligence, development management, and project management help make creative ideas executable. Prior to founding Onward, Jim served as Executive Vice President at Opus West Construction Corporation, where he led a six-state operation reaching $500 million in annual volume.
As a Founding Partner, John brings invaluable experience from successfully overseeing more than 100 million square feet of development, design, construction, and property management projects for some of the nation's top commercial development companies. Prior to founding Onward Investors, John was President and CEO of Opus Northwest, L.L.C. based in Minneapolis with a region extending west, including offices in Kansas City, St. Louis, Denver, Seattle, and Portland. Under John's leadership, Opus Northwest consistently delivered commercial projects of the highest quality while consistently exceeding the company's investment objectives.
In his role at Onward, Jon is responsible for sourcing, underwriting and managing opportunistic credit-related real estate opportunities. He has significant experience investing across the capital stack in both traditional and more esoteric real estate asset classes as well as structuring and managing joint-venture relationships. Prior to joining Onward, Jon was a Managing Director at Castlelake where he focused on private market opportunities in commercial and residential real estate as well as small balance commercial loans. Jon started his career in investment banking at Piper Jaffray.
In his role at Onward, Mark is responsible for identifying opportunities in our key markets and directing asset acquisition. In addition, he oversees asset management, including capital improvements, leasing negotiations, tenant relations, as well as the negotiation of loan documents, joint venture documents and partnership agreements. Prior to joining Onward, Mark held a leadership asset management position at Robert Muir Company, where he managed a 1.5 million square-foot retail portfolio and was responsible for property operations, including lease negotiations, tenant relations, and property maintenance. His real estate experience includes retail development at Opus Group and commercial development at Piper Jaffray.
In his role at Onward, Michael oversees finance and accounting for the funds and investments managed by Onward. He has extensive experience managing the valuation process, complex investment structures, and audit and tax engagements. Prior to joining Onward, Michael was a Director at Castlelake where he held roles focusing on fund accounting, risk management, and portfolio management. He has worked across many industries including commercial real estate, residential real estate, small balance commercial & industrial loan portfolios, specialty finance, oil & gas, and renewables. Michael started his career in public accounting at Boulay.
In his role at Onward, Ron is responsible for identifying opportunities in our Atlanta market and directing asset acquisition. Prior to joining Onward, Ron managed business development in the eastern region of the country for Guardian Investment Banking. He also served as Senior Vice President of the commercial real estate division at Marshall Group, where he sourced and originated CRE banking opportunities, and negotiated and structured CRE loans throughout the country with a transaction volume of over $2 billion.
As Managing Partner, Scott is responsible for identifying commercial real estate opportunities in target markets and overseeing Onward's investment and asset management activities. He brings over 25 years of commercial real estate expertise to his role, including experience in market analysis, leasing, acquisitions, financing, site planning, municipal approvals, design and construction. Prior to joining Onward, Scott's leadership roles included Vice President of Real Estate Development for Shingobee Builders and Principal at Clearwater Development Group. He began his real estate career with the commercial real estate division of Kraus Anderson Construction.
In her role at Onward, Stephanie is responsible for leading due diligence and closings of commercial real estate and note acquisitions, including complex financial negotiations and joint venture and partnership agreements. She also oversees asset management of our properties, as well as the servicing and collection of under-performing and non-performing real estate loans. Stephanie has extensive senior leadership and commercial finance experience in guiding organizations through periods of change by managing the development and implementation of pragmatic solutions. Prior to joining Onward, Stephanie led the asset management and loan workout of commercial real estate and gaming loans with an aggregate principal balance of over $2.5 billion as Executive Vice President of Presidium Asset Solutions.