The State of the Greater Phoenix Multifamily Market

Ken Abrahams has been an owner, principal, investor, and founder of multiple business enterprises over 35 years. As a real estate professional Abrahams was a founding partner of Diamond Ventures, Inc., one of Arizona’s largest real estate firms with over $1.3 billion in assets. He directed real estate portfolio activities for the firm including land acquistion, planning, entitlement and development of a wide range residential, commercial and industrial real estate assets in diverse geographic markets. Through the practical integration of team building and keen implementation skills, he has consistently and successfully executed the project vision and delivered strong financial results. By nature, Abrahams is a “builder” who recognizes the importance of strategic thinking tempered by practical realities, forging market based solutions that can adapt to changing conditions. He is a strong leader, skilled in the assembly and management of highly qualified teams of professionals capable of efficiently implementing the plan and reaching established goals on a timely basis. Abrahams is a member of the Urban Land Institute and numerous other industry organizations committed to real estate industry best practices.

John Kobierowski has always had a passion for real estate, development and construction. For over 30 years, John has focused that passion to become a leader in the multifamily industry. His experience includes having brokered over 1,400 multifamily transactions, developed and sold over 800 condominium units, and owned/managed over 1,000 apartment units, homes and condos. In brokerage, John has co-founded and built three successful regional and national brokerage firms and has had the privilege of working with some of the most innovative and successful people in the multifamily industry. What John loves most about this industry is watching, and helping, people grow in their understanding of owning and operating smaller complexes and building it into a portfolio of multifamily assets. The keys to success are rooted in hard work, luck (timing) and a solid strategy (evolving skill set). John is the Senior Managing Partner of ABI Multifamily, a Phoenix-based multifamily brokerage and advisory firm. ABI represents the next generation of the brokerage business with its focus on cooperative-brokerage. Unlike brokerage of old, cooperative-brokerage focuses on the building and development of teams of seasoned and hardworking professionals/brokers. Each member of the team possesses their own unique skills-sets, knowledge and experience; by embracing individual skillsets, and understanding how it best compliments/serves the group, maximizes the efficiency and effectiveness of the whole. This is further strengthened by a strong technological platform and a dedicated support staff team. Since its launch in 2013, ABI Multifamily has grown into a widely-respected and sought regional brokerage company with teams servicing Arizona, California and growing into the Texas market. In 2018 alone, the Phoenix team has closed over 120 multifamily transactions and expects to round out 2019 with over 130 total sales.

Dusty Eddy is a Vice President of Acquisitions for 29th Street Capital. Living in Phoenix, Mr. Eddy is the local market expert in charge of all multi-family acquisitions in Arizona as well as in Las Vegas, Nevada & San Diego, CA. He currently manages over 800, value-add, units across those markets. Mr. Eddy has over 14 years of real estate investment, development and asset management experience in various property types including multi-family, retail and medical office. He has participated in transactions valued at more than $1.2 billion in that time. Immediately before joining 29th Street Capital, Mr. Eddy was the Acquisition Manager with Healthcare Trust of America where he closed $455 million in investments. Mr. Eddy obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Entrepreneurship and Finance from the University of Notre Dame where he graduated magna cum laude. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics and Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he graduated with honors.

Lee Scott is a Loan Officer with PGIM Real Estate Finance. In this role, Lee is responsible for direct lending relationships across the United States with a focus on sourcing multifamily debt on behalf of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, Life Company, and PGIM REF's proprietary Balance Sheet / Bridge Lending programs. Lee opened the PGIM Real Estate Finance San Diego, CA office in 2018 after previously working for the firm in Washington, DC. Lee holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a member of the Urban Land Institute, San Diego Apartment Association, Virginia Tech Pamplin Recent Alumni Board (RAB), and the CFA Society San Diego.

Neil Beldock has over 30 years of experience as a real estate finance professional. Over those 30+ years Neil has held positions at Citigroup, Coast Federal Bank of California, Independence Bank of Los Angeles, Family Savings Bank of Los Angeles, Hamburg Savings Bank of New York, Interbay Funding and Velocity Commercial Capital. Neil has held executive and senior level management positions covering loan originations, loan operations, loan servicing, secondary marketing, loan securitization and joint venture operations. Neil is also a published author having written articles for numerous mortgage industry publications including the Scotsman Guide, Commercial Mortgage Insight, The Mortgage Press and National Mortgage Broker Magazine. Currently, Neil serves as a Senior Executive at Pender Capital Funding in Dallas, Texas.

Matthew Frank is a Vice-President at Hunt Real Estate Capital and is responsible for originations and structuring of commercial mortgages in Arizona and the Southwest. Mr. Frank is primarily focused on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac small balance loans. Mr. Frank has more than 15 years commercial real estate experience. Prior to joining Hunt Real Estate Capital in 2017, Mr. Frank was a Commercial Loan Officer with Alaska USA Federal Credit Union, where he opened the Phoenix market for the credit union, and helped to grow their portfolio to $100 million in less than two years. Mr. Frank previously held commercial banking positions with Unison Bank, and Union Bank in Phoenix. Mr. Frank received an B.A in History from Arizona State University.

Brett Polachek joined Newmark Knight Frank Multifamily as senior managing director in April 2018 with 20 years of multifamily sales experience. He is currently involved in all aspects of the sales process including originating and managing investment sales transactions, new business development, valuation analysis and pricing strategies, marketing, and negotiating and closing transactions. Throughout Mr. Polachek’s career, he has sold over 30,000 units with a value of over $2 billion. Prior to joining Newmark Knight Frank Multifamily, Mr. Polachek was senior director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Multifamily Investment Sales Group where he was consistently a top producer, advising clients of multifamily properties with acquisition and disposition strategies through the Southwestern U.S. Before his time there, Mr. Polachek worked at CBRE where he began his brokerage career. Mr. Polachek holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Arizona State University and a finance degree from the University of Arizona.

Melise has been with MG Properties since June 1998 and has over 25 years of experience in multi-family property management and condominium conversion. She has managed and overseen multifamily portfolios of up to 12,000 apartment homes throughout the western United States, which included properties as large as 1,100 units. Melise is a Certified Property Manager with the Institute of Real Estate Management. She is a member and instructor with the San Diego County Apartment Association, the California Apartment Association, the National Apartment Association and the North County Managers Association.

Mr. Cornelius is a Partner and Vice President at Fore Property Company (Fore) and is responsible for new development and acquisition activities in Arizona, California, and Texas. Mr. Cornelius was previously Vice President of Development with Colonial Properties Trust and prior to Colonial, Director of Land Acquisition with Fore. He began his professional career with Rhodes Design and Development. Mr. Cornelius has developed approximately 4,000 multifamily units including conventional apartments, affordable housing, and condominiums. Mr. Cornelius holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and an M.B.A from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Sustainable Development Council of the Urban Land Institute and the National Multifamily Housing Council.

Bryce Hall is an accomplished architect and executive with more than 20 years of experience in residential architecture. As the President of KEPHART, he guides the strategic vision and direction of the firm, providing support for eight additional Principals who help drive KEPHART’s success. Bryce’s contagious passion and deep knowledge of the industry inspires his peers to pursue continuous growth and education. Bryce attended the University of Colorado, where he earned master’s degrees in both architecture and business administration, allowing him to understand the industry more comprehensively, from the perspective of both an architect and a developer. His enthusiasm for these two interests, combined with his deep understanding of client needs throughout the duration of a project, have helped solidify KEPHART as the architect of choice for many national developers. Bryce’s exemplary leadership has earned him recognition as one of ENR’s Top 20 Under 40 AEC Professionals in the Mountain States Region and President of one of Denver’s Best Places to Work. He also represents and shares KEPHART’s thought leadership on a national stage at events like the National Multifamily Housing Conference and the Pacific Coast Builders’ Conference.

As a Regional Manager for Polaris Pacific, Mike leads the firms’ efforts in Southern California, Arizona, and Hawaii to support strategic growth and provide exemplary service to industry leading development clients. His extensive consulting, project management, and sales experience spans the complete arc of the development process from pre-planning to sell out. By keeping abreast of constantly changing market and demographic trends, he has gained a reputation for being an essential resource in his clients’ efforts to maximize value, overcome obstacles, establish successful projects and forge new markets. Mike earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California (USC) and his Juris Doctor with concentrations in real property and corporate law from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He is licensed in multiple states including CA, NY, MA, and WA and is a member of the Urban Land Institute. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the NY Times, the NY Post, The Observer, The Real Deal, Real Estate Weekly, and Habitat Magazine and his original writings have been widely published in the trades including a column on Business Insider.

Brian Cassidy, AIA is the President of CCBG Architects, Inc. with studios in downtown Phoenix and San Diego. He has been involved in many adaptive reuse, and mixed-use high-density housing projects in greater Phoenix, including more than 12,000 new apartment units. This work includes a diverse body of warehouse renovations that are breathing new life into our city. Brian passionately advocates to build Phoenix into a world class city in which to live, work, worship and play. He is a graduate of Arizona State University, and is the Chair of the Phoenix Warehouse District Council, which promotes and brands the District in concert with a series of creative volunteers and businesses.