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Laurus’s seasoned professionals have
over $7 billion in transaction, development services, and management
experience across all real estate and real estate-related asset
types.
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Long-established National and International
Relationships
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'Bottom-Up' Underwriting and
Valuation
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Capital Markets Expertise and Financial
Structuring
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Extensive Market Knowledge
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Andres Szita is a co-founder
and Chairman of Laurus Corporation. Since the inception
of Laurus Corporation in 1999, he has been successful
in providing accredited investors, developers, and high
net worth individuals a wide variety of real estate
investment vehicles and development services. Through
these operations, the company established and expanded
business relations and over $1 billion in real estate
transaction experience in the hospitality industry,
office, multifamily, mixed-use, and overall development.
Beyond that, the firm has over $3 billion in real estate
development service experience. Prior to Laurus Corporation,
Mr. Szita was an executive in a European apparel manufacturing
business, Tassio-Italy. During his tenure, he managed
the firm’s international distribution and franchising,
public relations and marketing, manufacturing, and product
development. Prior to this, Mr. Szita was a partner
in an apparel manufacturing corporation where among
his responsibilities he led the organization’s real
estate development. Later, in response to a changing
manufacturing environment, Mr. Szita led the strategic
merger of the company with a large publicly traded corporation
where he was also a Board Member. An entrepreneur at
heart, Mr. Szita has built a vast array of contacts
and strategic relationships with investors, developers,
lenders and overall active members of the real estate
community, both domestically and internationally.
Contact Andres at:
aszita@lauruscorporation.com
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JEAN PAUL SZITA
President &
Chief Financial Officer |
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Jean
Paul Szita is a co-founder and President & Chief
Financial Officer of Laurus Corporation. Since co-founding
Laurus Corporation with Andres Szita in 1999, he has
been involved with over $1 billion in real estate transaction
experience in the hospitality industry, multifamily,
office, mixed-use, and land development industries,
as well as over $3 billion in real estate development
service experience. Prior to Laurus Corporation, Mr.
Szita was Director of the Board in a European apparel
manufacturing business, Tassio-Italy, where he led
the internal re-structuring of processes, was key in
implenting cash flow management techniques, and was
involved in all aspects of budget and performance
control. Prior to this
experience, Mr. Szita was the Chief Operation Manager
in an upscale manufacturing plant, where he managed
over 100 employees in the areas of information systems,
warehouse operations, production, purchasing, and logistics
operations. The results of his efforts included a 38%
increase in production, reduction of costs, and overall
increase in the production cycle, which resulted in
a significant increase in profits for the firm. In response
to a changing manufacturing environment, Mr. Szita was
a key player in the strategic merger of the company
with a large publicly traded corporation where he was
also a Board Member advisor.
Contact Jean Paul at:
jpszita@lauruscorporation.com
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JASON CLOUET
Managing Director |
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Jason Clouet is the Managing
Director of Laurus Corporation. Prior to joining Laurus
Corporation, Mr. Clouet served as Managing Director
of Neptune Hospitality Advisors, where he led the originating,
marketing, and structuring of hospitality real estate
transactions, debt and equity placements nationally,
as well as soliciting and prospecting investors, negotiation
of offers, property valuations, and active business
development. During his tenure with Neptune he completed
in excess of $400 million in transactions. Prior to
Neptune, Mr. Clouet was President of Allegiance Hospitality
Corporation, where he oversaw all hotel acquisition,
operation, renovation, financing, and disposition activities
for the portfolio, as well as the development and implementation
of the corporate business models and equity capital
raise. He was also a member of the Allegiance Investment
Committee. Mr. Clouet was an active partner in the hotel
portfolio as well as several non-hospitality projects
including commercial real estate. Prior to Allegiance,
Mr. Clouet was Vice President of Operations for American
Property Management Corporation, where he oversaw and
provided direction for the portfolio of properties encompassing
over 2,400 hotel rooms and revenues exceeding $120 million.
He earned two bachelor’s degrees and substantially completed
his MS and PhD from Florida State University. Mr. Clouet
also holds the designation of Certified Hotel Administrator
(CHA).
Contact Jason at:
jclouet@lauruscorporation.com
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JOHN HAROUNIAN
Vice President
Business Development
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Mr.
Harounian serves as the Vice President of Business Development
for Laurus with over 22 years of experience, 12 of those
years focused in large-scale commercial real estate
investments. Mr. Harounian is responsible for establishing
strategic relationships, sourcing potential acquisition
and/or disposition opportunities, managing the pipeline,
and coordinating joint venture opportunities. Prior
to joining Laurus Corporation in 2009, Mr. Harounian
was Vice President at Maram Holdings, a real estate
investment management firm with a portfolio valued at
more than $2.5 billion, where he led the asset management
and acquisitions teams including entitlement and disposition
of the real estate portfolio. During his tenure at Maram
Holdings, he originated over $122 million in dispositions
and managed approximately $400 million in commercial
property assets. Prior to Maram Holdings, he was the
Managing Director for Brooks Fabric, the 4th largest
privately owned upholstery fabric distribution house
in the USA, where he led his team in streamlining operations
and identifying strategic growth opportunities which
increased annual sales by 400% within five years. Mr.
Harounian has extensive business experience in Asian
countries; he is fluent in English, Farsi, and proficient
in Indonesian.
Contact John at:
jharounian@lauruscorporation.com
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KONSTANTIN DASKALOV
Vice President of Development
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Konstantin Daskalov serves as Vice President of
Development for Laurus Corporation. He brings over
15 years of broad experience in real
estate development, construction management,
financial operations, and asset management and has
directed several major high-rise development
projects in Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Mr.
Daskalov directs the development process including
due diligence, asset evaluation, design development,
asset upgrades, project management, risk and cost
control and asset disposition. Prior to joining
Laurus Corporation, Mr. Daskalov was Director of
Investments & Development at Stoneleigh Companies in
charge of investments, strategic acquisitions, asset
management, optimization and development. Prior to Stoneleigh, Konstantin was
Vice President of Development at Fifield Realty
Corp. where he spearheaded the development and
construction operations for the firm’s West Coast
Operations, directing the development of several
high-rise projects with average development cost of
over $200 Million. Mr. Daskalov has an M.S./MBA degree from
Northwestern University, a Bachelor of Science in
Engineering and a Bachelor in Business Management
degrees from Calvin College. He is a member of a
variety of professional organizations
in Real Estate, Engineering and Finance and
participates actively in discussion forums for
numerous professional panels.
Contact Konstantin at:
kdaskalov@lauruscorporation.com
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STEVEN L SENFT
Vice
President Capital Markets |
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Steven Senft serves as Laurus Corporation's Vice
President of Capital Markets with over 13 years
experience in hotel operations, retail ownership and
real estate transaction and advisory work valued at
over $1 billion. Mr. Senft is responsible for
sourcing domestic and international equity, while
remaining keenly attuned to investor goals. Prior to
joining Laurus Corporation, Mr. Senft was a Senior
Broker at HREC Investment Advisors in Los Angeles,
representing sellers and buyers of hotel assets
primarily in the Pacific states. At HREC Mr. Senft
held integral roles at every stage of the
disposition marketing process, including property
valuations, marketing, strategy, investor outreach,
buyer selection, due diligence, and closings. And
prior to HREC, Mr. Senft was President of 1st Link
Financial where he performed real estate financial
analysis to create investor wealth in both
commercial and residential realty. As an
entrepreneur, he co-founded, developed and
successfully sold the Island Shades, Inc. retail
operation with over 20 stores nationwide. Mr. Senft
began his career with Hyatt Hotels and Hilton Hotels
where he has five years combined hotel sales
operation experience. He earned his Bachelor of
Science in Hospitality Management from the Collins
College of Hospitality Management and holds a Master
of Business Administration from California State
Polytechnic University, Pomona. Mr. Senft earned his
Certification in Real Estate, Development and Hotel
Investment from the Cornell University School of
Hotel Administration. He is a licensed Real Estate
Salesperson in California and is the current
president of the Collins Hospitality Society.
Contact Steven at:
ssenft@lauruscorporation.com
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BJ TURNER
Vice
President Capital Markets |
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BJ Turner is Vice President Capital Markets for
Laurus Corporation, where he is responsible for
sourcing domestic and international equity. Prior to
joining Laurus, Mr. Turner served as Vice President
at Fifth Avenue Real Estate. Mr. Turner is a
globally experienced business leader with a proven
track record across a wide range of hotel, resort,
residential, and mixed-use real estate segments. He
has built, trained, and led cross-functional teams
that successfully executed market entry strategies
into Canada, Southeast Asia, Mexico and the United
States, while partnering with many of the world’s
leading development and brokerage firms. In doing
so, he has worked with many of the industry’s most
prominent brands such as Hard Rock Hotels, Trump,
Raffles, Fairmont, Jack Nicklaus Design and Troon
Golf. Over the course of his career, Mr. Turner and
his teams have facilitated the sale of over $650
million of real estate and has collaborated with
development and real estate asset management firms
such as Intrawest, Kingdom Hotel Investments,
Tarsadia Hotels, and Boutique Hotels & Resorts Corp.
Mr. Turner’s educational background includes a
Masters of Business Administration (2012) from the
S.C. Johnson School of Business at Cornell
University, a Bachelor of Science and an Executive
Sales and Marketing Management Diploma from the
University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of
Business. He is also a licensed Real Estate
Salesperson in California and British Columbia,
Canada. Canada.
Contact BJ at:
bjturner@lauruscorporation.com
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CHARLES RUSSO
Asset Manager |
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Charles Russo serves Laurus Corporation as Asset
Manager, and comes to Laurus as an investment
committee member with over 9 years of institutional
real estate finance, acquisitions and investment
advisory experience. In his career he has
underwritten, acquired and managed aggregate real
estate transactions totaling over $1 billion. Mr.
Russo provides situational real estate advisory,
acquisitions and asset management services for
institutional and high net worth investors, as well
as, foreign funds. He is adept in distressed and
opportunistic situations directing asset management,
financial analysis and reporting, including
bankruptcy workout experience. Mr. Russo also has
developed significant expertise in solving complex
TIC ownership problems in the current cycle.
Previously he was an Associate Director with the
debt group of GE Capital Real Estate, in Los Angeles
as a member of their institutional commercial
finance originations platform. In this capacity, he
was responsible for the underwriting and financial
analysis of commercial mortgages and acquisition
debt financing for REIT’s and real estate
principals. Prior to joining GE Capital Real Estate,
Mr. Russo was an Associate at Thor Equities in New
York City and was responsible for originating and
identifying acquisition opportunities for the firm’s
$375 million private equity Urban Property Fund.
During his tenure at Thor, the high yield fund
successfully executed numerous key acquisitions
increasing their footprint across premier domestic
urban markets. Before Thor Equities, Mr. Russo was a
Financial Analyst with Morgan Stanley in New York
focusing on securities products. He has also
received FDIC clearance to consult on projects
through various FDIC subcontractors. Mr. Russo
earned a Certificate in General Business Studies
with an Accounting Concentration from UCLA and
completed a Management Development Program (MDP) at
USC’s Marshall School of Business. Mr. Russo also
holds a Certificate in Real Estate Finance and
Investment from NYU’s Schack Institute of Real
Estate and a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College
(CT). He is actively involved with the International
Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and ICSC NextGen.
Contact Charles at:
crusso@lauruscorporation.com
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THUONG LUONG
Finance & Underwriting Manager |
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Thuong Luong serves as a Finance and Underwriting Manager
with a wealth of experience in underwriting and structuring
investments. Ms. Luong participates in the underwriting
investment process and is also responsible for other
finance related matters. Ms. Thuong has experience working
on buy-side equity investments, sell-side advisory on
debt raising, private placement, IPOs, and leveraged
buyouts in the financial services industry. Prior to
joining Laurus Corporation, Ms. Luong was with a private
equity firm Asset Management Finance, LLC (“AMF”), a
New York based alternative investment subsidiary of
Credit Suisse Group that focuses on investing in both
traditional and alternative asset managers. At AMF,
Ms. Luong was responsible for company research, structuring
and underwriting, and monitoring of AMF’s 18 portfolio
investments with total invested capital of US$500 million.
Before joining AMF, Ms. Luong was an investment banker
at U.S. based Deutsche Bank Securities Group where she
assisted in the development of Deutsche Bank’s asset
management sector coverage and was involved in multi-billion
dollar capital raising and M&A advisory services
transactions. Ms. Luong’s philanthropic activities include
co-founding Vital Corporate Advisors, a non-profit organization
that focuses on providing financial advisory services
to microfinance institutions in South East Asia and
serving as an independent board member for an Asian
microfinance institution. She received her Bachelor
of Science in Finance & International Business from
Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business
with honors.
Contact
Thuong at:
tluong@lauruscorporation.com
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DASHA HOLUBEC
Associate Project Manager |
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Dasha
Holubec, Associate Project Manager, maintains Laurus Corporation's
development and investor relations efforts. Utilizing
her 10 years’ experience in real estate marketing, investment
and development, Ms. Holubec is an integral part of
Laurus’s team and a consummate client relationship expert.
She started her career in marketing at CB Richard Ellis
where she was part of a top producing industrial team
brokering sales and leases in Southern California. She
later transitioned into real estate investment with
Granite Peak Partners of Santa Barbara, presenting acquisition
and disposition opportunities to investors and brokers.
Most recently, Ms. Holubec was at Western National Group,
a premier multifamily real estate company, where she
was involved in the kick-off through completion of seven
multifamily new development properties comprised of
more than 200 units. With her considerable ability to
manage projects and communicate effectively with both
internal and external constituents, she played a lead
role implementing the vision and the timely development
of all residential amenities. Ms. Holubec earned her
Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California,
Santa Barbara and is fluent in Czech.
Contact Dasha at:
dholubec@lauruscorporation.com
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FREDERIQUE CALLUAUD
Marketing Manager |
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Frederique
Calluaud is the Marketing Manager and brings with her
over 14 years of marketing experience, with more than
13 of years in real estate. As Marketing Manager for
Laurus Investments, Ms. Calluaud manages the day to
day public relations, property image, brand equity,
and preparation of marketing materials for the fund
and individual assets. Prior to joining Laurus Corporation
in 2006, Ms. Calluaud was the Marketing Manager at Sleiman
Enterprises in Jacksonville, one of Northern Florida’s
largest commercial real estate developers. Her responsibilities
at Sleiman included the preparation of all marketing
materials as well as specialized marketing to corporate
real estate managers in order to increase credit tenancy
and reposition large commercial assets. Her experience
spans from working with small tenant needs, to marketing
to big-box clients, to hotels and resorts. Ms. Calluaud
received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree
in Information Systems and minors in French and Spanish
from Baylor University, and is a licensed Real Estate
Broker in California.
Contact Frederique at:
fcalluaud@lauruscorporation.com
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