ROBERT EASTON

Robert Easton has been working in commercial real estate for over 20 years.  At Ajax Mr. Easton focuses his time on identifying and acquiring value added and development opportunities for the company and its partners and then executing those investment strategies through property entitlement, property improvement and project development endeavors.  Prior to co-founding the Ajax companies, he spent five years with Nomura Securities Co., Ltd.’s Nomura Asset Capital Corp. and The Capital Company of America affiliates where as a managing director he co-ran the development finance and construction lending group after managing group formation and organization.  After leading over $1.5B of loan and investment originations in development and re-development projects, Mr. Easton was a lead banker and asset manager as Nomura unwound over 90% of its $16B real estate investment portfolio following Nomura’s 1999 decision to reformat its US commercial real estate investment operations.  Prior to Nomura, Mr. Easton spent four years as a senior underwriter at Victor Capital Group, LP, a private merchant banking group, which became the foundation of Capital Trust, Inc. in 1997.  He has also worked with LaSalle Partners as a research and management associate and five years as a development project manager and owner’s representative at Nexus Properties, a private real estate developer/owner/operator of over two million square feet of commercial real estate in central New Jersey.  Mr. Easton has an MS in Real Estate Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Lafayette College.

 

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GARTH GRANT

Mr. Grant has spent more than 20 years in the commercial construction and real estate development industry managing all aspects of project development, cost control and construction.  Prior to joining Ajax, Mr. Grant was the Assistant Project Director for Extell Development Company’s 500 Atlantic Avenue Project, a $300 million, 21-story, 700,000 SF, 424 Key InterContinental Hotel and 130 Unit Luxury Condominium Project.  Mr. Grant served as Project Manager for Commonwealth Development Group’s Providence Place Mall, a $420 million, 12-story, 4 million SF super regional mall and garage in Providence, Rhode Island.  Mr. Grant also worked for Amec Construction Management as Quality Control Manager for the Massport Authorities Terminal E Expansion and for H.E. Sargent, Inc., civil and environmental contractors, as Cost Control Manager and Marketing Director throughout the Northeast.

 

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PETER GULLA

Peter Gulla has more than 20 years of experience in real estate, finance, accounting, management and development. Prior to joining Ajax, Mr. Gulla was Chief Financial Officer for Commonwealth Development Group, where he was responsible for finance, accounting, human resources, lease administration and insurance and provided operational support for the company’s development projects. Previously, Mr. Gulla was Controller for The Finch Group, where he supervised the accounting and financial reporting for over 10,000 residential and condominium units and numerous office buildings, and was Senior Accountant for Edelstein and Company. Mr. Gulla has a BS in Accounting from Western New England College.

 

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SCOTT HUMPHREY

Scott Humphrey has extensive experience in all aspects of real estate gained from over 30 years. Scott managed rent controlled properties early in his career and worked his way up to oversee construction crews building high-tech labs in Cambridge, MA. He was the Director of Construction for Housing and Services and oversaw the construction of several nationally recognized projects for people with AIDS as well as over 1,000 units of affordable housing in the South Bronx, New York. Mr. Humphrey worked as a banker for Chase Community Development Corp. as well as Nomura Securities closing over $500 million in transactions. Scott has advised several investment banks on over $300 million in transactions. Most recently, he raised equity and developed numerous projects valued at more than $50 million in Brooklyn, New York, Winston-Salem, NC and the US Virgin Islands. Scott holds a Masters of Business Administration from NYU's Stern School and a Bachelor of Arts from Hobart College. Scott is a licensed Real Estate Broker in New York State.

 

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JASON MILLER

Jason Miller has more than 13 years of experience in real estate investment and finance. Prior to joinging Ajax, Mr. Miller worked at Loeb Partners Realty and Coastal Capital Real Estate Advisors, where he closed more than $250 million of acquisitions and $1 billion of advisory assignments, including financial advisory, mortgage brokerage and due diligence and underwriting assignments.  Prior to joining Coastal, Mr. Miller was a Principal with International Venture Partners, LLC, an investment banking firm with offices in New York and Buenos Aires.  Previously, Mr. Miller worked for CarrAmerica Realty Corporation, where he identified, evaluated and executed acquisitions of office properties and land for office development, as well as corporate acquisitions. Mr. Miller also helped underwrite and close several initial public offerings of real estate investment trusts at Kidder, Peabody & Co.  Mr. Miller received his Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Duke University and his Master of Business Administration degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

 

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CRAIG NICHOLSON

Craig Nicholson, LEED AP, serves as Director of Sustainable Development for Ajax Partners. Mr. Nicholson joined the Ajax team in June 2006, but had previously been working as a consultant to Ajax since 2004. Mr. Nicholson supports Ajax projects in general project oversight, as well as the integration of environmental conscious and energy saving building materials. He also supports the Ajax Investment team in assessing future development opportunities. Prior to joining Ajax, Mr. Nicholson served as Director of Operations at Paragon Environmental Services, Inc., a full service environmental consulting firm, with a focus on environmental site assessments, property condition assessments and site remediation. Mr. Nicholson, a LEED Accredited Professional in Building Design & Construction, recently served on the Massachusetts Zero Net Energy Task Force, a group convened by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to help the state’s public and private sectors design and construct super-efficient “green” buildings. Mr. Nicholson obtained his Master’s Degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University. He received his undergraduate degree (Bachelor of Science – Biology) from Providence College. Mr. Nicholson is a member of the American Planning Association, the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Urban Land Institute.

 

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STUART SILBERBERG

Stuart Silberberg brings 18 years of commercial real estate finance and investment experience to the Ajax team.  Mr. Silberberg previously served as Managing Directory at Loeb Partners Realty. Prior to his work at Loeb Mr. Silberberg managed Coastal Capital Real Estate Advisors’ east coast office. During that time, the office acquired $100 million of real estate as principal, advised on over $500 million of transactions ranging from mortgage financing, acquisition advisory, equity placement and mezzanine/debt restructuring and provided underwriting services for Wall Street firms on over $850 million of assets.  Prior to forming Coastal, Mr. Silberberg worked with several investment banking firms, including Nomura Securities and Kidder, Peabody & Co., in all aspects of the public capital markets as well as underwriting, structuring and placing debt, mezzanine and equity for both the public and private investors.  At Nomura Securities, he acquired over $2 billion of real estate.  Mr. Silberberg holds a Masters of Management from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

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KAREL STEINER

Karel Steiner has spent more than 20 years in the commercial construction and real estate development industry with extensive project management experience. With expertise in pricing, scheduling, subcontractor coordination and quality control on major projects and operations in North America along with extensive experience overseas, Mr. Steiner has overseen and directed over $3.0B of construction projects some employing crews of over 1,600 workers. Prior to working with Ajax, Mr. Steiner was the Director of Design and Construction for Commonwealth Development Group ’s Providence Place Mall, a $420 million, 12-story, 4 million SF super regional mall and garage in Providence, Rhode Island. Mr. Steiner was previously a Director and Senior Vice President of a $150 million subsidiary of Fru-Con Construction, an international general contractor (top 10 worldwide), President at both the Franki North America and Cogif (Paris, France) and worked for SAE (Societe Auxilliarie d’Enterprises) on a range of projects in the United States and overseas. Mr. Steiner has a MS and a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Clermont Ferrand, France.

 

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