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Justin Holtzman Co-Founder

Justin Holtzman is a Principal at The Blackstone Group where he is involved with the asset management of investments in the hospitality and self-storage sectors. Previously, he was a Senior Vice President at The Related Companies in New York where he led the acquisition and development of residential, commercial and hotel projects, including 35 Hudson Yards, a 1.1 million square foot mixed-use development. Previously, Justin was an Associate in the New York office of Lubert-Adler Partners, where he was responsible for evaluating and executing residential, hotel, office, retail and corporate buyout investments on behalf of a $2.5 billion opportunity fund, as well as the asset management of existing investments. Prior to joining Lubert-Adler, Mr. Holtzman was an Analyst with Deutsche Bank’s Real Estate, Gaming, Leisure & Lodging Investment Banking Group in New York. Mr. Holtzman received a B.A. in Political Science from Amherst College.

Drew Popkin Co-Founder

Drew Popkin is Founder & Principal of Highpoint Property Group. Prior to forming Highpoint, Drew was the Head of Acquisitions & Development at the Naftali Group. Mr. Popkin has completed approximately $500 million of real estate acquisitions and has been actively involved in the execution of nearly $1 billion of debt and equity transactions. Prior to the Naftali Group, Drew worked for Elad Properties in the Acquisitions & Development group. Drew has a Masters degree in Real Estate Finance from New York University and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Spencer Pariser Co-Founder

Spencer Pariser is a Vice President at Taconic Investment Partners, where he works primarily on the investments side of the business. Mr. Pariser's responsibilities include acquisition sourcing, underwriting, due diligence coordination and evaluation, debt and equity financings and market research. Prior to joining Taconic, he was an analyst in the Investments group with SL Green Realty Corporation where he was responsible for the financial analysis, valuation and general coordination of acquisitions, dispositions and financings for the firm. Mr. Pariser earned a BA (Economics) with a minor in Business Administration from The George Washington University.

Andrew Wolff Board Member

Andrew Wolff is Founder & Principal of Edge Investments. Mr. Wolff has worked on more than $6 billion of transactions across the U.S. His transaction experience includes equity and debt investments in connection with residential, office, industrial, retail, hotel, and gaming properties. Prior to forming Edge, Mr. Wolff served as Vice President of acquisitions at Silverstein Properties and Witkoff, and served as the Vice President of the Related Companies’ Shanghai office where he covered fundraising in the Asia Pacific region for Related's U.S. projects. Mr. Wolff is business proficient in Mandarin Chinese, and has developed a deep understanding of Chinese culture by living and working in Shanghai. Mr. Wolff started his career in acquisitions at Square Mile Capital after obtaining a B.B.A. with a concentration in finance from The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan where he graduated with high distinction.

Jake Misisco Board Member

Jake Misisco is a Senior Associate at Lionheart Strategic Management, a Fisher Brothers sponsored fund. Prior to joining Lionheart, Jake worked on the CMBS origination desk at Morgan Stanley, for two years. At Morgan Stanley, Jake assisted in the origination of over $1 billion of fixed and floating rate commercial mortgages to be held on balance sheet and for securitization. Jake received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Lehigh University.

David Zussman Board Member

David Zussman is Chief Financial Officer of Related Companies where he oversees Related’s finance, accounting and treasury groups and is actively engaged in the company’s financial planning and capital markets initiatives. He is a member of Related’s investment committee and the investment committees for several of the funds managed by Related Fund Management. Mr. Zussman joined Related in 2010 and has played a vital role in more than $18B in transactions across the company, and was intimately involved in the capital strategy, fundraising and financial management of Hudson Yards. Mr. Zussman joined Related from Lazard’s Real Estate Investment Banking group and earned a BBA with High Distinction from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He was a member of the Partnership for New York City’s 2016-2017 class of David Rockefeller Fellows.

Jeremy BasloeCo-Head, Empire West

Jeremy Basloe is Assistant Vice President of Acquisitions for Equity Residential (S&P 500: EQR) where he oversees direct acquisitions, joint venture and preferred equity origination for institutional-quality multifamily assets in Southern California. He previously spent three years in Europe working for various real estate owners/operators in both London and Madrid. Jeremy started his career in New York City with Rialto Capital working within distressed debt and CMBS acquisitions. He has an MBA from IE Business School in Madrid and a BBA from CUNY Baruch College - Zicklin School of Business in NYC. He sits on the board of Acumen+LA Impact Circle, and Chrysalis' Kaledioscope Leader group and is involved with the ULI Housing Council and Jewish Federation Real Estate Cabinet.

Adrian BergerCo-Head, Empire West

Adrian Berger is Senior Vice President of Acquisitions for Cypress Equity Investments, and is responsible for sourcing and analyzing new investment opportunities, including real estate acquisitions and equity co-investments across the US. Adrian has over 15 years of business development experience in roles in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia. Prior to joining CEI in 2015, Adrian lived in New York where he grew a successful real estate brokerage business focused on investment sales and retail leasing. Adrian is originally from Sydney, Australia and completed his MBA at the Macquerie Graduate School of Management in Sydney, and also has an Advanced Diploma in Telecommunications Engineering from the Lidcomble College of TAFE in Sydney.