Real Estate Professionals

Griffin Capital Real Estate Expertise

Griffin Capital has assembled a team of expert professionals in acquisitions, dispositions, due diligence, asset management, and property management. All of our professionals have come to Griffin from some of the most well-known and respected commercial real estate enterprises on the globe. Our team is versed in the intricacies of Real Estate Investment Trusts, Limited Partnerships, Tenant-In-Common and other similar investment structures.

Griffin Capital real estate professionals have experience with complex deal structures ranging into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and our expertise attracts the interest of institutional co-investors throughout the United States.

Acquisition Professionals

Michael Escalante,
Chief Investment Officer

Role at Griffin
Mr. Escalante is the Chief Investment Officer of Griffin Capital and is responsible for overseeing all acquisition and disposition activities of the firm.

Career Summary
Mr. Escalante has been a prominent player in North American institutional property acquisition and asset management since 1987. With 20 years of real estate related investment experience, he has been responsible for completing approximately $3.9 billion of commercial real estate transactions throughout the Western United States. Prior to joining Griffin in June 2006, Mr. Escalante served eight years at Trizec Properties, Inc., one of the largest publicly traded U.S. office REITs, with his final position being Executive Vice President – Capital Transactions and Portfolio Management. While at Trizec, Mr. Escalante was directly responsible for all capital transaction activity for the Western U.S., which included the acquisition of such prominent office projects as: Bank of America Plaza, Ernst & Young Plaza, and Landmark Square in Los Angeles, California; One Concord Center in Northern California; Dallas Gallerias in Dallas, Texas and Metropolitan Square in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to joining Trizec,

Mr. Escalante was employed for approximately 10 years in various acquisitions, asset management and portfolio management positions with The Yarmouth Group, an international investment advisor. Prominent acquisitions during his tenure at The Yarmouth Group included Murdock Plaza in Westwood, California and the mixed-use projects of Symphony Towers in San Diego, California and Tabor Center in Denver, Colorado.

Education
MBA, University of California at Los Angeles, Anderson Graduate School of Management

BS, University of Santa Clara

Don Pescara,
Managing Director of Acquisitions

Role At Griffin
Mr. Pescara serves as Griffin's Managing Director, Acquisitions, heads the firm's Chicago office, is a member of the Investment Committee, and assists in equity capital raising.

Career Summary
Mr. Pescara's 20-year real estate career includes more than $500 million of transactions. His career began in 1985 at Cushman & Wakefield where he became a successful broker of office and industrial properties and was promoted to the Financial Services Group where he focused on institutional property sales and acquisitions. In 1990, Mr. Pescara joined Republic Realty Mortgage (now GMAC) as a Vice President of Production where he established an institutional sales force and developed relationships with various lending institutions including Mass Mutual, New York Life and Met Life. Mr. Pescara joined CB Commercial as a Regional Director in their Mortgage Banking Group in 1993 where his responsibilities included placement of debt on behalf of their exclusive conduit relationship with Merrill Lynch, representation of CB Commercial's Real Estate Mortgage Fund, and broker training for the Midwest region.

Mr. Pescara's relationships with CB's top broker colleagues and trainee graduates continue today and lead to extensive acquisition opportunities. Mr. Pescara joined Cohen Financial, a leading financial services firm headquartered in Chicago, in 1996 as a Senior Director. Mr. Pescara joined Griffin Capital in 1997 when Griffin acquired an asset he was selling. Mr. Pescara's clients have included some of the largest and most active institutional investors and lenders including ABB, Computer Associates, Prudential, Household International, Oaktree Capital, and ITW. While at Griffin, Mr. Pescara's responsibilities have focused on sourcing acquisitions directly from corporations, institutions, and from the brokerage community.

Education
BA, Economics and Finance, University of Illinois

Louis Sohn,
Vice President of Acquisitions

Louis Sohn joined Griffin Capital in 2006 as Vice President–Acquisitions. Mr. Sohn is
responsible for sourcing and underwriting acquisition opportunities for Griffin Capital. During Mr.Sohn’s 10-year career in real estate he has been responsible for over $2 billion of transactional volume including participating in numerous debt placement, investment sales and note sale assignments. Most recently and prior to joining Griffin Capital, Mr. Sohn was an Associate Director with Holliday Fenoglio Fowler where he was instrumental in launching the firm’s note sale advisory business. Prior to Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, Mr. Sohn was an Associate with Secured Capital Corp. in Los Angeles. Mr. Sohn began his real estate career as an Analyst with Column Financial, a securitized lender, in 1997.

Education
BS, Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business
 

Shawn Carstens,
Acquisitions Associate

Shawn Carstens joined Griffin Capital in 2006 as an Associate – Acquisitions. Mr. Carstens is responsible for sourcing and underwriting acquisition opportunities for Griffin Capital. During his eleven year career in real estate, Mr. Carstens has been involved in the acquisition and due diligence of over $300 million of commercial real estate transactions throughout the United States. Prior to joining Griffin Capital, Mr. Carstens served as Manager for Realogic Analytics, a real estate consulting company specializing in acquisition, financing and disposition due diligence analysis and review.

Education
BA, Finance and Real Estate and Urban Development, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee

Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM)

Asset Management
 

Asset Management Professionals
The Griffin Capital asset managers are seasoned real estate professionals that bring an extensive array of skills and expertise to Griffin. The majority of the senior managers hold at least one professional designation, and the team includes specialists in real estate tax management, insurance risk management, construction management, engineering, and other disciplines.

Asset Management has the primary responsibility of managing risk, increasing returns on investment, and enhancing value for our investors. The Griffin Capital asset managers are seasoned real estate professionals that bring a wide variety of experience and relationships, both nationally and in local markets throughout the country.

Julie Treinen,
Managing Director of Asset Management

Ms. Treinen joined Griffin Capital in 2004, is based in the firm's headquarters in Los Angeles, CA, and is responsible for all of the firm's asset management activities. Before joining Griffin, Ms. Treinen was a Vice President at Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, Inc., a Hartford-based, SEC-registered real estate investment and advisory firm with $4.6 billion of assets under management. During her five years at Cornerstone, Ms. Treinen managed the acquisition diligence of approximately 1.2 million square feet of existing assets totaling $238 million, the development of five apartment joint venture projects totaling $152 million, and the disposition of five properties totaling $125 million.

Ms. Treinen was also the senior asset manager for a $400 million portfolio of office, industrial and apartment investments, and her responsibilities included developing ownership and value maximization strategies, implementing capital programs, establishing and coordinating budgets, and both selecting and reviewing third party leasing and property management teams. Prior to joining Cornerstone, Ms. Treinen was Director, Field Production at Northwestern Mutual Life in Newport Beach. During her three years at Northwestern, Ms. Treinen initiated, negotiated, and closed three development projects totaling over $100 million and three mortgage originations totaling over $100 million, and acquired four existing assets totaling over $50 million. Prior to joining Northwestern, Ms. Treinen was a Vice President at Prudential Realty Group in Los Angeles.

Over the course of her seven year tenure at Prudential, Ms. Treinen originated over $235 million in new commercial mortgage loans, structured and negotiated problem loan workouts, note sale and foreclosures totaling over $140 million and managed a portfolio of office, industrial and apartment investments totaling approximately $500 million. Prior to attending graduate school, Ms. Treinen worked at GM Hughes Electronics as Head of Finance and at Deloitte, Haskins & Sells as a Senior Accountant in the Audit Department.

Education
MBA, University of California at Berkeley, Graduate School of Business

BA, Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Travis Bushman,
Vice President, Asset Management

Travis W. Bushman joined Griffin Capital in 2008 as Vice President–Asset Management. Prior
to joining Griffin Capital, Mr. Bushman served as Vice President and Associate-Acquisitions for Argus
Realty Investors, a real estate investment management company specializing in tenant-in-common
investments, private exchange programs and real estate funds. During his four years at Argus, Mr.
Bushman was involved in the acquisition and due diligence of over $800 million of commercial real
estate transactions throughout the United States. Prior to Argus, Mr. Bushman was the Senior
Information Manager for CB Richard Ellis in Orange County, California for five years.

Education
BA, Economics, University of Southern California

Acquisition Criteria

View Core Properties Acquisition Criteria