Apartment owner and developer Cityview has managed to find its footing amid the market dislocation. So far, rent collections and leasing activity has been healthy, and the firm has yet to drop rental rates for both renewals or new move-in leases. However, the company has increased up-front concessions to help drive new leasing activity.
Apartment owner and developer Cityview has managed to find its footing amid the market dislocation. So far, rent collections and leasing activity has been healthy, and the firm has yet to drop rental rates for both renewals or new move-in leases. However, the company has increased up-front concessions to help drive new leasing activity.
Market corrections are events that test the patience of investors, and the economic impacts of the current pandemic are no different. While impacts on certain real estate sectors like retail and industrial have been perhaps more obvious due to market activity, those in the multifamily sphere have had to hold their breath. For those at Cityview, an investment management and development firm specializing in multifamily housing, while the impacts of COVID-19 have not been as bad as predicted and the firm is looking for opportunities in the market, some uncertainty remains as the market begins to open up again.
Los Angeles-based apartment owner and developer CityView had 97% rent collection in April across its 6,000-unit portfolio. The company, which develops and manages apartment assets throughout California and other Western US markets, took a swift and proactive approach to mitigate rent loss and has been largely successful in partnering with tenants. However, it expects to see further dislocation in May and June as the unemployment rate continues to rise.
Although Los Angeles wasn’t among the top 5 markets for multifamily deliveries in 2019, developers were expected to complete a record number of units this year, according to Yardi Matrix data. But as California remains under lockdown, uncertainty defines development activity in the West Coast state. However, before the coronavirus outbreak hit the U.S., developers delivered five communities totaling 666 units in the first quarter, a significant decrease compared to the 1,860 apartments that came online in the first quarter of 2019.
Khalif Edwards, a veteran real estate fund raiser, has joined Los Angeles-based apartment development and investment shop Cityview.
Cityview was founded in 2003 and has generated more than $4 billion in investment across more than 100 projects.
Podcast with guest, Sean Burton, president of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, and a former member of the Los Angeles Planning Commission.
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Ms. Hunt joined Cityview in 2021 and is a Senior Associate on the Business Development & Capital Relations team. She is primarily responsible for relationship management, investor communications, and marketing collateral. Additionally, she works closely with internal functional teams on due diligence efforts and supports investor reporting and special projects. She is also a member of Cityview’s Sustainability Committee focused on communication of ESG initiatives to investors.
Ms. Hunt has over six years of real estate investment, capital formation, and investor relations experience. Prior to joining Cityview, she was an Associate with Chicago-based Magnolia Capital. During her tenure, she worked on equity capital raises for numerous real estate investment vehicles. Prior to Magnolia, Ms. Hunt was a Financial Analyst with LaSalle Investment Management where she oversaw the financial performance of assets with over $1 billion in value.
Ms. Hunt received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance, Investment, and Banking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Con Howe leads Cityview’s partnerships to finance, assemble and entitle land for development in the greater Los Angeles area. With over 40 years of experience in planning, entitlements and development, he assists all Cityview funds with acquisitions and development strategies. Prior to coming to Cityview he was the Director of Planning for the City of Los Angeles responsible for the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance and zoning to encourage infill housing. Previously he was the Executive Director of the New York City Planning Department.
Ramtin Esfandiari joined Cityview in 2018 and is responsible for managing acquisitions, including sourcing, underwriting and closing multifamily development deals. Prior to joining Cityview, Ramtin was on the Acquisitions team at The Bascom Group where he underwrote over $9 billion in multifamily acquisitions across the U.S. and supported all aspects of the acquisition process. Ramtin holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics from the University of California, Irvine.
Dana Gomez-Gayne manages the legal aspects of all project-related matters, including acquisition, development, management and disposition, and advises Cityview on corporate formation and maintenance, insurance, risk management and other legal matters. She was previously an Associate at O’Melveny & Myers LLP and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP where she represented a variety of clients in real estate, project development and finance transactions. Gomez-Gayne also has a background in fundraising development and worked at Teach For America raising philanthropic funds from regional and national corporations and foundations. She is a graduate of Pomona College and Pepperdine University School of Law.
Chris Brown is responsible for capital raising and investor relations at Cityview. Chris has over seven years of real estate investment and capital raising experience. Prior to joining Cityview, he was a member of the Fund Advisory team at JLL working on equity capital raises for private real estate investment vehicles. Prior to JLL, Chris worked on the Portfolio Management team at Clarion Partners and the Asset Management team at LaSalle Investment Management. Chris graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor’s Degrees in Finance and Real Estate. He is a general securities representative.
As Director of Development, Zory Grigoryan is responsible for the full cycle development of several of Cityview’s projects, which includes managing the due diligence, underwriting, entitlement, design engineering, construction processes and turnover to asset management. Prior to joining Cityview, Grigoryan worked for Oakmont Capital as a Project Manager overseeing the development and construction of several multifamily projects. Prior to that, he worked at Cobalt Construction as a Project Manager on the construction of numerous mixed use and multifamily projects. During his career, Grigoryan has been responsible for the development, preconstruction and construction of over 1,500 units.
Grigoryan holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Construction Management from the California State University of Northridge, where he was the top ranked graduate of his year. During his time at Cobalt Construction, Grigoryan was also selected as distinguished alumni by the CSUN department faculty and appointed as ambassador for alumni recruitment by CSUN construction management department’s board of governors committee.
Kyle Naye is Senior Director, Acquisitions of Cityview. As Senior Director of Acquisitions, he is responsible for managing acquisitions, including sourcing, underwriting, closing and developing comprehensive business plans for investors. Naye primarily focuses on non-California markets across the Western U.S., including Seattle, Portland, Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Dallas, and Austin. In his role, Naye works closely with the Cityview team to manage and expand strategic acquisitions across the firm’s vertically integrated platform.
Prior to joining Cityview, Naye was a vice president of originations at PGIM Real Estate, where he provided transactions and underwriting oversight for core-plus and high-yield debt vehicles. He also held a prior role at PGIM managing the underwriting, investment committee preparation and closing of $992 million in multifamily, retail and office assets across the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. At earlier stages of his career, Naye was a senior associate of acquisitions at Clarion Partners, senior real estate analyst at Northmarq and an officer in the United States Navy.
After 8 years in the construction industry managed complex multi-use development projects, Anh Le joined Cityview in 2018 as Director of Development. Le manages ground-up developments in Northern and Southern California and leads consultant teams through entitlement, design, permitting, budgeting, contracting, construction management and project turnover. She works closely with designers, neighborhood groups and Cityview’s in-house Asset Management team to deliver best-in-class multifamily projects. Prior to Cityview, Le worked as a project engineer and project manager at Cobalt Construction. Le holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Irvine.
Denise Katz manages Cityview’s core and development assets across multiple investment vehicles and is responsible for maximizing the operational and financial performance of the assets. Denise has over twelve years of experience in real estate. Prior to joining Cityview, Denise was Regional Vice President at CIM Group of a $2.4 billion portfolio in the Western US and Latin American markets. During her time at CIM, she managed end-to-end transitions of development projects, acquisitions, and dispositions of office, multifamily, retail, parking, condominium, and mixed-use projects. She holds a double major Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and Psychology from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Tina O’Brien, HR Manager, is a national and state-certified HR Professional (SHRM-CP, PHRca), overseeing all aspects of Human Resources for both Cityview and Westhome employees. Her experience spans the spectrum of the HR field, including recruitment, employee relations, performance management, benefits, compliance and employee development. She joined Cityview in summer 2021 from a telecom technology firm in Van Nuys, and previously worked for a private real estate investment and property management company in Beverly Hills. Tina is an LA native and she’s committed to helping grow our vibrant, healthy corporate culture here at Cityview.
Jonathan Anderson is the Controller of Cityview and provides leadership and oversight over the finance, accounting, and shared services departments. Prior to joining the Cityview team, Jonathan worked at CIM Group where he held several finance and accounting roles during his tenure, most recently as head of private fund reporting and prior to that as director of SEC reporting for one of CIM Group’s publicly traded REITs. Jonathan began his career in Ernst & Young’s assurance practice where he served both public and private clients in the real estate and asset management industries. Jonathan graduated from the University of Southern California with both a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in real estate finance.
