Neil R. Aaronson
Chief Executive Officer
naaronson@hilcorealestate.com
Neil brings nearly 10 years of merger, acquisition, disposition, investment and general deal-making experience to The Hilco Organization. During his career, Neil has been instrumental in the successful completion of over $4 billion in transactions.
Gregory S. Apter
President
gapter@hilcorealestate.com
Greg Apter is Principal and President. He runs the disposition and restructuring practice. His efforts are focused primarily on owned property disposition as well as leasehold acquisition, disposition and restructuring and mitigation. Prior to joining Hilco, Greg was a Senior Vice President and head of Retail Tenant Representation with Jones Lang LaSalle. In that role he was responsible for new business development as well as directing, managing and facilitating real estate related functions, such as Underutilized Lease Portfolio restructuring, bankruptcy, market analysis, site selection, asset management, consulting, acquisition and disposition services. He has over 18 years of experience in real estate, legal and finance. At Hilco, Greg has serviced such esteemed clients as Wal-Mart, WorldCom, Biomet, McDonald’s, Bally Total Fitness, Tanner and Haley, and Ahold.
Prior to joining Jones Lang LaSalle, Greg served as General Counsel for Syndicated Equities Corporation where he managed all corporate business and legal matters, including the evaluation of sites, negotiation of contracts, oversight of loan commitments and documents and the review of lease, zoning, title and environmental issues. In addition, Greg was one of the first to develop a syndication program to accommodate multiple individuals contemplating the purchase of investment real estate while satisfying tax-free exchange requirements of Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. His previous work experience also includes serving as President of Water Tower Bank in
Andrew S. Hochberg
Principal
ahochberg@hilcorealestate.com
Andy brings many years of experience and expertise in real estate development and retail management to Hilco. Before co-founding Hilco Real Estate in 1998, Andy served as CEO of Sportmart, a $450 million sporting goods retailer. In previous roles at Sportmart, Andy spearheaded the company's growth from 25 to 70 stores, successfully established the company’s real estate strategic direction and negotiated the merger of the company with Gart Sports and The Sports Authority. In addition to his role at Hilco, Andy is the Managing Principal of Next Realty, a real estate investment firm that owns retail shopping centers and parking properties valued at over $350 million. Andy earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and his Juris Doctor from Northwestern University.
Todd Haney
President, Valuations Services
thaney@hilcorealestate.com
W Todd Haney, MAI, has been President of Hilco Real Estate’s Valuation Group since 1999. Over his career, Todd has managed hundreds of valuation and consulting assignments involving a broad range of property types throughout the United States and Canada. Properties appraised, including some valued at more than $500 million for a single asset, include traditional industrial, retail office and multi-family residential properties, as well as complex properties evincing environmental concerns, historical status, easements, etc. He has also been involved in proposed project feasibility and economic analysis, portfolio valuation, as well as assessment appeals.
Joshua Joseph is a Senior Vice President with Hilco Real Estate and has been with the company since 2001. Josh leads Hilco Real Estate’s principal acquisitions business, which he began managing in January 2006. In his first year, Josh and his team closed on approximately $50.0 million worth of transactions in the retail, industrial and medical office fields. Josh has expertise in the acquisition and disposition of real estate assets both inside and outside of bankruptcy settings. While his primary responsibility is to focus on principal acquisitions, additional responsibilities include his continued focus and assistance on the business development and execution sides of the company’s real estate consulting and restructuring business. Prior to leading Hilco's principal acquisition business, Josh was one of the company's leading disposition specialists in the disposition of of owned real estate assets. Primary responsibilities included the development and execution of global disposition strategies related to owned and leased real estate portfolios as well as individual asset sales. Josh has worked with publicly traded companies, private equity firms, retailers, financial institutions, corporations, institutions, and traditional private real estate ownerships.
Prior to joining Hilco Real Estate, Josh worked at Mid-America Real Estate Corporation in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. While at Mid-America, he specialized in the disposition of retail properties throughout the Midwest. Prior to working in the investment sales arena, Josh served as an Asset Manager of several community/neighborhood shopping centers totaling approximately 750,000 square feet of rentable area.
Josh is a graduate of the University of Illinois and is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Illinois as well as a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Nina L. Kampler
Executive Vice President, Strategic Retail and Corporate Solutions
nkampler@hilcorealestate.com
Nina L. Kampler is Executive Vice President, Strategic Retail and Corporate Solutions. She spearheads retail business development and works with major national and international retailers and commercial companies to develop and implement real estate portfolio restructuring strategies.
Until 2004, Nina served as Vice President, Retail and Real Estate Counsel for Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, where she held various legal positions since first joining that company in 1998. In that capacity, she negotiated, drafted, implemented and supervised all store and corporate real estate transactions throughout the U.S. and Canada. Her accomplishments included opening over 200 new retail stores as well as corporate offices and distribution facilities. Nina also led teams responsible for closing the Polo Jeans Company division and its retail stores, closing the Lauren Outlet Store division, and restructuring the real estate portfolio of Club Monaco when it was acquired by and integrated into Ralph Lauren.
Prior to Polo Ralph Lauren, Nina practiced law at Coudert Brothers, a diverse, international law practice in New York, as well as with law firm, Richards & O’Neil, also in New York. She is a member of the ICSC Law Conference Committee, on the Advisory Board of the Georgetown University School of Law Advanced Commercial Leasing Institiute, past Associate Dean of the School of Retailing of the University of Shopping Centers, and a founding member of the Board of Governors of the National Retail Tenants Association. She is a frequent panelist and lecturer at ICSC and various Bar Association conferences and meetings. Nina is a graduate of New York University School of Law and the University of Pennsylvania, where she received both a B.A., summa cum laude, and an M.A. in International Politics.
Navin Nagrani
Vice President
nnagrani@hilcorealestate.com
Navin is responsible for new business development, establishing strategic joint ventures and deal structuring. Prior to joining Hilco's Real Estate group, he was a team leader in Hilco's asset valuation group where he managed a group of financial analysts and worked on dozens of debt restructuring transactions on behalf of equity sponsors, investment banks, lenders, and companies covering a vast variety of industries.
Prior to joining Hilco, Navin was a Strategy Consultant for Hewitt Associates where he worked on M&A assignments covering the financial services industry. Before Hewitt Associates, Navin was a Jr. Economist for the Federal Reserve Bank.
Navin is on the Board of Directors for the Real Estate Investment Association (REIA) where he will be serving as President in 2010; he serves as Director of Strategy for the Young Real Estate Professionals Association; he is an award winning member of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) and currently serves as Co-Chair of the group's Public Relations Committee. Recently, Navin served a term as Vice-Chairman of the Illinois Mortgage Banker's Commercial/Income Property Lending Committee.
Navin is the founder of The 21 Club, a private networking group that brings together M&A, restructuring, and other finance professionals together to discuss opportunities in the marketplace. He is a member of the Restaurant Leadership Advisory Council. A published author, Navin is frequently invited to speak at industry events. Navin is a licensed Real Estate Broker by the State of Illinois.
Ron Lubin
Managing Director - Debt Management Services
rlubin@hilcorealestate.com
Ron has over 26 years of commercial bank and private equity fund experience where he has directed activities focused on real estate debt structuring, asset management, troubled debt resolution, distressed debt portfolio acquisition and finance, high yield mezzanine debt investments and real estate workout and OREO.
Prior to joining Hilco, Ron had served as Managing Director at Crystal Capital Fund, LLC where he led the real estate debt and equity investment business, including the origination and structuring for the $1 billion fund.
Ron had been with the Bank of America and its predecessors for over 24 years. During that time he held various senior management positions including executive vice president and senior banker in the FleetBoston Financial, Real Estate Structured Finance Group where he focused on entity level, syndicated corporate real estate finance activity throughout the United States. While at FleetBoston, Ron also served as the business line executive for the Shopping Center Finance Group where he directed entity level and property finance lending activity to national REIT and private real estate development companies. Under his leadership FleetBoston originated and syndicated over $2 billion of debt and became recognized for its specialty focus on the shopping center development industry. At Shawmut Bank, N.A. Ron served as business line executive of Real Estate Workout, Restructuring and OREO where he managed the restructuring and disposition of a $1.3 billion portfolio and reducing the ratio of non-performing loans to total assets from over 10% to less than 2%. Ron went on to direct Shawmut’s Portfolio and REIT Finance Group, where he led the origination and structuring of debt products to buyers of distressed and under performing portfolios. At the Bank of America, Ron was senior vice president and region executive in the Home Builder Finance Group where he directed structuring land acquisition, land development and development lending activities.
Ed Terry
Managing Director - Debt Management Services
eterry@hilcorealestate.com
Pior to joining Hilco Real Estate, Matt spent three years at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in the Assurance & Business Advisory Services practice focusing on real estate and financial services clients. He holds a Bachelor of Science with honors in Accounting and a Bachelor of Science with honors in Business Administration – Management Information Systems from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the State of Illinois and is a member of the following organizations: International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Young Real Estate Professionals (YREP), Real Estate Investment Association (REIA), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and Illinois CPA Society (ICPA).
Andrew Becker
Senior Associate
abecker@hilcorealestate.com
Andrew is responsible for owned and leased property disposition, lease restructuring, and valuation of real estate portfolios throughout the United States. Clients served include Pep Boys, Neumann Homes, Lone Star Funds, Bank of America, Walgreens, Sears, Bally Total Fitness and Interstate Bakeries Corporation.
Prior to joining Hilco, Andrew was Senior Associate with Chicago-based real estate brokerage company, MJ Partners, where he focused on the disposition of retail and industrial assets throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. Andrew also served as a leasing associate at MidAmerica Real Estate Corporation, where he worked closely with both the landlord and tenant representation groups.
Andrew received his B.A. from of the University of Colorado and has taken continuing education courses at the Chicago School of Real Estate and CCIM Institute. He is a member of the International Counsel of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Young Real Estate Professionals (YREP).
Ross Block
Senior Associate
rblock@hilcorealestate.com
Ross has been with Hilco Real Estate since 2004. He is principally responsible for leasehold valuation, disposition and restructuring work throughout the United States. Some of the recent clients served by Ross include Bally Total Fitness, Movie Gallery, Tops Markets, Interstate Bakeries, Pep Boys and GameStop. Prior to joining Hilco, Ross was an associate with a Milwaukee-based asset appraisal company, where he focused on the appraisal of industrial assets of major manufacturers for large institutions throughout the country.
Ross received his B.A. from of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has taken continuing education courses at the Chicago School of Real Estate and CCIM Institute. He is a member of the International Counsel of Shopping Centers (ICSC).
Geoffrey S. Schnipper, CCIM
Associate
gschnipper@hilcorealestate.com
Geoffrey is responsible for single-asset & portfolio disposition of owned real estate, project management, and deal structuring for Hilco Real Estate. He has represented a diverse client mix of REITs, Fortune 500 Companies, Banks, Home Builders, and the US Bankruptcy Court handling the disposition of virtually every asset class of real estate. While the disposition of real estate is his primary responsibility, Geoffrey is also involved with business development activities. Prior to joining Hilco Real Estate, Geoffrey was a Project Manager with Sheldon Good & Company Auctions, structuring and executing accelerated marketing programs.
The National Association of REALTORS granted the CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) designation to Geoffrey after he completed a comprehensive educational program and demonstrated successful work experience in the investment and commercial fields.
Jay Lepselter
Senior Vice President
jlepselter@hilcorealestate.com
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Jay is a career retail real estate executive with over three decades of experience. He joined Hilco Real Estate in 2009 as Senior Vice President in the real estate consulting and restructuring group.
Jay most recently ran the real estate department at The Wet Seal. Prior thereto, he had similar department leadership roles at retail firms such as Charlotte Russe, Whitehall Jewellers, Zale Corp., and Nine West Shoes. In each of those roles as a senior retail executive, Jay led real estate/chain growth initiatives and restructuring (including concept disposition and bankruptcy restructuring).
Jay, a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., brings a unique comprehensive corporate retail perspective to enhance a deeper understanding of the total challenges facing retail organizations in today's challenging environment.
Andy Swiler
Senior Associate
aswiler@hilcorealestate.com
Andy is primarily responsible for retail portfolio restructuring, and distressed property disposition throughout the United States. Recent clients include: Staples, Papyrus, Swoozies, Barbecues Galore, Select Comfort, and Best Manufacturing. Andy is also involved in the portfolio analysis and market due diligence performed for various Hilco Real Estate clients.
Matt joined Hilco Real Estate as a key member of the principal acquisitions group during its inaugural year. He has played a vital role in the creation of an active and successful business unit with a portfolio of holdings. As a member of the principal acquisitions group, Matt’s primary responsibilities include the sourcing and underwriting of many of the groups pursuits, all property and market due diligence, financial analysis, deal structuring, as well as developing/managing relationships with strategic partners. Matt has played an instrumental role in the acquisition of fee and leasehold interests across virtually all commercial real estate classes, both inside and outside of bankruptcy, including transactions ranging from the acquisition of vacant “dark” real estate to raising capital for companies via sale-leaseback. He also serves as a team leader for Hilco Real Estate’s portfolio lease restructuring and valuation practice. In this capacity, Matt is responsible for overseeing a broad range of activities, including the underwriting and deal structuring for new pursuits, acting as a primary contact and quality control point for the group’s clients, leading of day to day operations and reporting, and deal making.Regarding Brokerage Activities
Unless otherwise noted, the individuals listed above are sponsored licensees of Hilco Real Estate, LLC, which is an Illinois-licensed real estate holding company. Mr. Greg Apter serves as managing broker of record for Hilco Real Estate, LLC.