Casoro Group Announces the Return of Monte Lee-Wen as Chief Executive Officer
Lee-Wen, Casoro Founder and former Executive Chairman, appoints Laura Klein as Chief Operating Officer, Mehul Chavada as Chief Investment Officer and Doug LoPinto as Managing Director of Capital Markets
AUSTIN, Texas, March 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Casoro Group, a multifamily real estate investment firm that has acquired, managed, renovated and repositioned more than $1 billion in properties across the Sunbelt, today announced that Founder and former Executive Chairman Monte Lee-Wen has resumed active management of the firm as Chief Executive Officer with a new leadership team. Laura Klein, who served as Casoro's Vice President of Asset Management and Chief Operating Officer until 2020, has returned as Chief Operating Officer. Also joining Casoro are Mehul Chavada, serving as Chief Investment Officer, and Doug LoPinto, as Managing Director of Capital Markets.
"I'm excited to be leading the firm as we move forward with a new team and new strategies," said Monte Lee-Wen, CEO at Casoro. "The addition of Laura, Mehul and Doug's operational and investment expertise are an important part of the changes underway at our firm that will enhance and evolve Casoro's reputation as a top-ranked, vertically integrated multifamily real estate investment firm. I'm confident that the very talented leadership we now have in place has made us well-prepared to grow successfully and develop new opportunities in today's challenging investment landscape."
Monte Lee-Wen founded Casoro in 2002. After serving as Chief Executive Officer until 2019 and overseeing the firm as Executive Chairman until 2022, Lee-Wen has returned to an active management role to strengthen Casoro's capabilities as a vertically integrated multifamily owner/operator. With deep investment experience in renovating and repositioning properties for success, Lee-Wen will focus on multifamily acquisitions, developing funding sources, building out the firm's capital markets platform, and leading the new leadership team in a range of restructuring initiatives.
Laura Klein brings more than 20 years of multifamily asset management experience for both new developments and acquisitions. As COO she will lead Casoro in executing the operational controls, administrative and reporting procedures and people systems to ensure growth, financial strength and operating efficiency, and also oversee the asset management division and ensure policy and procedural compliance in all investment-related activities. Klein originally joined Casoro in 2016 and served as the Chief Operating Officer before departing in 2020 to serve as an asset management consultant working with institutional lenders. Klein also brings decades of best practices to Casoro from past roles with several national multifamily industry leaders including CWS Apartment Homes, JPI, Trammell Crow residential and The Wolff Company. She holds a B.A. in Urban Studies from St. Cloud State University and has earned certificates from numerous postgraduate business courses.
Mehul Chavada, Chief Investment Officer, brings deep investing experience in the multifamily, retail, industrial and office sectors, as well as relationships with some of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and family offices. He is responsible for strategizing and executing the firm's growth strategy in investing in real assets that meet or exceed performance goals for Casoro Group's institutional, family office, and high net worth clients, as well as its discretionary non-traded multifamily income REIT, Upside Avenue. Prior to joining Casoro, Chavada was Vice President and Head of Investments at Nitya Capital, where he developed investment strategies for the firm's North America operations and investment products for retail and institutional investors. He also served as Director – Fund Management at Hines, one of the largest privately held global real estate investment, development and management firms, where he managed several opportunistic, value-add and sustainable income funds. He holds a Master of Science from Virginia Tech in Civil Engineering, a Master of Science from MIT in Real Estate Development, and is an adjunct Professor in Management - Real Estate at Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business.
Doug LoPinto joined Casoro in the new position of Managing Director of Capital Markets, with nearly 15 years of commercial real estate financing expertise and capital raising. LoPinto will work closely with Lee-Wen to oversee Casoro's business development and investor relations. Prior to Casoro, he was Director – Capital Markets at Aspen Heights Partners, a real estate development firm investing in multifamily, condo, senior and student living sectors, where he raised equity and debt for over $1 billion of new developments and led investor relations. In addition, he was an integral team member in originating the real estate portfolio for a Fortune 500 family office. He holds a B.S. in real estate from University of St. Thomas and is pursuing an Executive MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
About Casoro Group
Casoro Group is an award-winning vertically integrated multifamily real estate investment firm with an investment team that has more than 100 years of combined experience in multifamily acquisitions and asset management. The firm's deep expertise and ability to navigate a variety of business cycles means adding value and capturing the upside for investors. Casoro is committed to providing Better Homes for Better Lives®, with a resident-focused approach to improving its multifamily communities. To learn more please visit https://casorogroup.com/.
Media Contact
Lisa Baker
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SOURCE Casoro Group
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