ACG 101 2023 Real Estate Conference

Mark Cianciulli is a real estate broker and founder of The CREM Group. Mark leads a highly proficient Los Angeles team that has successfully closed some of the most difficult real estate transactions in the probate and trust space. He routinely handles both residential and commercial court-confirmed real estate transactions as well as sales that require an unlawful detainer (evictions) prior to sale, which he handles in-house. Mark is fortunate enough to work alongside some of the most well-respected attorneys in Los Angeles and surrounding areas.

Mark’s background as an attorney and CPA has allowed him to leverage his prior experiences for the benefit of his probate and trust clients and their trusted attorneys and fiduciaries. Mark places special emphasis on attention to detail, consistent communication, and solving any and all obstacles that may come up in a given transaction.

ASSOCIATIONS

Beverly Hills Estate Planning Council (Board Member), Los Angeles County Bar Association, Santa Monica Bar Association, Beverly Hills Bar Association, South Bay Bar Association, Provisors, CAR, NAR, and CalCPA’s

Aaron Levy is the Co-Managing partner of the firm's Woodland Hills, CA office and delivers over 18 years of experience in accounting and taxation to his clients.  He specializes in the real estate, manufacturing, and professional services industries by providing tax consulting services to clients operating in these areas.  Aaron became a CPA in order to help people find ways to position themselves in an optimally, tax-advantaged way and in order to serve as a close advisor to friends and family. Over the course of his career, Aaron has combined his passion for listening closely to his clients’ individual situations to offer much-valued direction so that they can meet their unique goals.  This ability, coupled with his finely-honed analytical thinking skills and technical acumen, have served him very well as a trusted advisor to his clients.  As Office Co-Managing Partner of the firm’s Woodland Hills location, Aaron has made a significant contribution to client and staff development with the ultimate aim of impacting the firm’s growth. Aaron spends his time outside of work coaching his two boys in baseball and basketball. He is also heavily involved in the Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters, for which he served as a big brother mentor for many years.

Larry Jacobson became the President and CEO of Norman Jacobson Realty Resources, Inc. in 2012 when Norman Jacobson, Larry’s father and founder of NJRR, passed away. Mr. Jacobson rebranded NJRR as Jacobson Equities and expanded the Company’s holdings (previously in California only) to Colorado, Washington, and Texas. Under Mr. Jacobson, the Company also began acquiring student housing, in addition to continuing its focus on conventional multifamily. Previously, Mr. Jacobson had served as an officer of NJRR and co-general partner of limited partnerships, sponsored by NJRR for more than 20 years. Prior to becoming CEO, Mr. Jacobson also served as legal counsel to NJRR and Norman Jacobson.

Formerly, Mr. Jacobson practiced as a real estate attorney at Buchalter Nemer Fields and Younger, a prominent Los Angeles law firm, where he represented a broad array of both institutional and entrepreneurial clientele including developers, owners/operators of commercial real estate, investor groups, and lenders.

Mr. Jacobson has worked with all property types including multifamily, office, retail, golf course, studio, and mixed-use. His legal transactional experience includes purchase and sale, leasing, development, real estate finance, loan workout and restructuring, and multi-state leveraged buyouts.

Mr. Jacobson was General Manager and Partner in Giant Records prior to its sale to AOL Time Warner, and second in command at Capitol Records. He is the owner of management company, World Audience.

Mr. Jacobson is a licensed real estate broker, CABRE # 01923090. Mr. Jacobson did his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley and received his law degree from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

Paras Shah is a Principal and Co-Founder of GSC Investments. He is responsible for sourcing equity and debt capital and directing GSC’s operations and asset management processes. Prior to beginning his real estate career, he worked at a top tier national bank where he managed and underwrote over $1 Billion in commitments to companies in a variety of industries, including: real estate, retail, manufacturing, metals/mining, healthcare, and media. Paras has both a Masters in Real Estate Development and Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.

Mr. Tiano is responsible for Hyperion Realty Capital’s long-term corporate and asset management strategy, along with spearheading all equity and debt relationships. Prior to HRC, Mr. Tiano founded JS Western in 2013 to acquire core plus and value add investments on behalf of private investors and family offices. From 2013 to 2018, JS Western’s portfolio grew to a total value of approximately $325 million. Previously, from 2011 to 2013, he was a partner at LS Capital where he was involved in acquiring retail shopping centers and distressed debt throughout the Western US. Prior to joining LS, from 2004 to 2010, Mr. Tiano was one of the leading real estate investment brokers in Southern California and eventually co-founded Wilson Commercial Investment Sales Group (which was subsequently acquired by Jones Lang LaSalle). Mr. Tiano holds a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA in International Economics.

As someone committed to both family and philanthropy, Mr. Tiano balances his time with his wife and two children living in Agoura Hills, CA. Mr. Tiano serves on the boards of The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and has also been an active “big brother” since 1998. In his spare time, Mr. Tiano plays the drums, travels, and enjoys hiking, kayaking, and simply being outdoors.

Michael Treiman is the President and CEO at Standard Management Company, a private real estate investment and management firm founded in 1961. SMC’s current investment portfolio encompasses more than 3,200 multi-family units, 1 million square feet of retail/office and industrial space and land for future development.

Mr. Treiman has more than 25 years of real estate, working with multiple important firms in the industry. Mr. Treiman earned his B.S. in Economics from the University of California, Davis, a J.D. and an L.L.M from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA. Mr. Treiman has also been an adjunct professor of Tax Law at Loyola Law School and frequent speaker on Real Estate and Real Estate related tax issues for over 14 years.

Mr. Kjellson is our Executive Vice President and also the Chief Capital Markets Officer of Versity REIT. Mr. Kjellson’s capital markets career spans over 25 years of sales, sales management, investment banking raising over $2 billion of investor equity, including traditional equity markets (i.e., stocks, bonds, mutual funds, guaranteed investment contracts, separately managed accounts) and alternative asset classes with a real estate focus (LLC’s, Delaware Statutory Trusts, Tennant in Common, REIT, mutual fund). In the real estate category, he has substantial experience with traditional and non-traditional asset classes (i.e., multifamily, office, homebuilding, land banking, senior housing, student housing).

In his early 20’s Mr. Kjellson made his first investment banking deal negotiating a multi-million transaction of his family business. As Executive Vice President of Versity, he assists underwriting, market selection, and asset identification of the firm’s portfolio and manages sales and business development teams nationwide. Prior to joining Versity, Mr. Kjellson held senior positions with NB Private Capital, Nelson Brothers Professional Real Estate, head of investment banking at Arque Capital and as national sales manager at New York’s Time Equities.

Prior to his career in finance Mr. Kjellson served 7 years in the United States Army earning numerous awards before being honorably discharged. Mr. Kjellson studied at the University of South Carolina, DePaul University and the University of Colorado and has a B.S. in Finance as well as FINRA 7, 22 and 63 securities licenses.

Mr. Hebner joined Arixa Capital in 2012 and serves as Managing Director and Portfolio Manager. In this capacity, he has primary responsibility for investment strategy, originations and operations of the Firm’s vertically integrated lending platform.

Mr. Hebner has over 20 years of real estate experience. During his tenure at Arixa, Mr. Hebner has deployed over $3.3 billion in capital, across more than 1,700 real estate transactions. He is the driving force behind the Firm’s unique client experience model, driving Arixa’s best-in-class client satisfaction, retention and origination growth.

Prior to joining Arixa, he was Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Community Rebuild Partners (CRP), a California-based real estate development firm that acquired, renovated, and sold residential real estate properties. Prior to CRP, Mr. Hebner was President of NuView Financial Services, a provider of loss mitigation services for the residential mortgage industry, and served as Chief Operating Officer of NuView’s parent company, Sorento Capital, a private asset management firm focused on consumer-related financial services. Previously, he held senior leadership roles with web-based moving and relocation companies including as CEO of Relocation.com and as Senior Vice President of Consumer Media Services at Move, Inc. Earlier in this career, Mr. Hebner worked in financial, strategic and operational roles for The Walt Disney Company, Premark International and PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

Mr. Hebner received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois and his Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University. He is a frequent contributor and speaker on real estate investing and mortgage lending at various industry events and regularly teaches residential real estate investing courses at UCLA Extension’s Real Estate Program. Mr. Hebner is a California licensed real estate broker and holds the NMLS mortgage broker designation.

Christian Wenger is CEO and Managing Principal of Clairmont Capital Group and is Chairman of the Investment Committee. Mr. Wenger has over 15 years of experience executing investments in real estate (most notably spending the past 8 years focused solely on sourcing, structuring and executing GP co-investment opportunities for his current and prior Funds) and publicly traded securities and has sourced and negotiated more than $1.85 billion in structured capital for owners and operators throughout the United States and abroad. Mr. Wenger is also a Principal of a Los Angeles-based real estate company focusing on entitlement and development of Small Lot Subdivisions and multifamily communities in Southern California. In that capacity, he has overseen over $115 million worth of successful acquisition and development initiatives.

Prior to Founding Clairmont Capital Group, Mr. Wenger Co-Founded and served as President and Investment Committee member of Township Capital and portfolio managed thirty-seven (37) GP equity co-investments across four (4) investment vehicles with approximately $2.5 Billon of notional real estate exposure and fourteen (14) unique operator partnerships. Prior to that, Mr. Wenger held senior positions within the Private Wealth Management divisions of JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch and Jefferies & Co. Mr. Wenger received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles,

He currently resides in Bel Air, California, is a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO), and, as an Eagle Scout, maintains active involvement with the Boy Scouts of America organization.

Stephanie Klasky-Gamer leads LA Family Housing with nearly 30 years of experience in social and economic justice work and an in-depth knowledge of housing policy, finance, and development. Stephanie leads this nationally recognized and award-winning organization with oversight of its real estate development and comprehensive homeless services departments. Under her leadership, LA Family Housing has transformed into one of the region’s largest homeless service providers and a premier developer of environmentally sustainable affordable housing in Southern California.

Stephanie is a passionate advocate and is considered an expert in the field of community development, serving in many leadership roles that shape and promote housing and homelessness policy. She currently sits on the Governor’s Council of Regional Homelessness Advisors, the UCLA Ziman Center Affordable Housing Advisory Council, and US Bank’s Advisory Board. Stephanie is active with Women Presidents Organization and was an Affordable Housing Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles for four years.

She is the proud graduate of the University of Michigan and earned a Masters in Urban Planning from UCLA.

Mr. Taylor is the Founder and Chairman of Christina. He is responsible for vision, strategy, and leadership. Mr. Taylor is a seasoned investor with nearly 50 years of real estate experience in the Westside region of Los Angeles. His notable projects include the introduction of high-rise residential development in North Century
City, the development of the Montana Avenue Shopping District in Santa
Monica, the revitalization of the South Beverly Hills Retail Shopping District, and the re-development of Westwood Village. He started his career with Ernst & Young (formerly Kenneth Leventhal & Company). Mr.Taylor received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern California in 1975.