Karl Slovin is President of M West Holdings and managing principal of the Firm. Mr. Slovin is responsible for directing all business activities for M West, which currently operates more than one million square feet of multi-family, office, industrial and retail property in four states. One of the three initial equity investors in M West Holdings, Mr. Slovin took control of day-to-day operations in 2003. Prior to that Mr. Slovin's company, Sparrow Realty successfully redeveloped multi-family properties in Los Angeles. After achieving 2X return of the initial equity investment, Slovin closed Sparrow in 2003 to open the West Coast office of M West Holdings in order to expand the company's acquisitions nationwide and create a world-class asset management organization. Through careful talent acquisition since 2003, Mr. Slovin has been able to achieve this goal and has more than doubled the company's NOI, and laid the foundation for future aggressive growth and vertical integration. As President of M West, Mr. Slovin oversees acquisitions, dispositions, asset management, financings, marketing, leasing, banking relationships and legal matters pertaining to the company's portfolio as well as its daily operations. Mr. Slovin is a graduate of Wesleyan University. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their three children.
Bruce Slovin has served as founder and principal of Milan Properties and M West Holdings since 1991. He has over 50 years of experience in corporate mergers and acquisitions, finance and real estate investment. Mr. Slovin began investing in real estate in New York City and expanded the company portfolio into Florida, Texas, Minnesota, Nevada and California. From 1985 until 2000, Mr. Slovin was the President of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. and Revlon Group, Inc. Mr. Slovin is currently a Director of M&F Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: MFW) and Cantel Medical Corp. (NYSE: CMN). He earned his B.A. in Economics from Cornell University in 1957 and attended the Columbia University School of Business. Mr. Slovin also received a J.D. in Corporate Law and Taxation from Harvard University Law School. Mr. Slovin is currently active in a wide range of philanthropic endeavors.
Matthew Ellis currently runs the Acquisition & Capital Markets group at M West Holdings, LLC where he is responsible for the acquisition, disposition and financing of the firm's portfolio. Since joining M West, Mr. Ellis has successfully sourced property and debt opportunities. These efforts have resulted in the Firm closing on twenty-five million dollars worth of off-market transactions.
Prior to joining M West in early 2009 Mr. Ellis worked for Wachovia Securities for eight years. During his tenure at Wachovia Mr. Ellis served in several roles in structured finance and headed the multi-family capital group for the Pacific Northwest in which capacity he made equity investments in multi-family assets co-owned by Wachovia and local operators. At Wachovia, Mr. Ellis originated over $5 billon in first mortgage, bridge, mezzanine, preferred equity and equity solutions for clients. Mr. Ellis received a B.S. in Geography & Economics and a Masters in Economics & Finance from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Andrew Paulson is responsible for leading the Asset Management Team that overseas all property management, leasing, budgeting and the analysis of overall performance of the portfolio. In addition to his portfolio management duties, he is tasked with directing the property level activities, operations, construction projects and marketing services for the California, Florida, New York and Texas portfolios. Mr. Paulson is responsible for refining, maintaining and enforcing company policies and procedures for all property managers.
Prior to joining M West, Mr. Paulson was an Asset Manager with American Realty Advisors, Domino Realty Management and Trammell Crow Company. During these tenures Mr. Paulson managed over a billion dollars in real estate assets, successfully negotiated over a million square feet of office, industrial and retail leases, and managed over 10,000 multi-family units. Mr. Paulson is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara, received an M.B.A. in Finance from Loyola Marymount University and holds a Masters of European Business from EDHEC in Lille, France. Mr. Paulson lives in Pasadena, California with his wife and two children.
As M West Controller, Mr. Gulick is responsible for the leadership and coordination of all day-to-day accounting activities including property and portfolio budgets, preparation of financial statements, managing tax liabilities and ensuring M West follows industry standard accounting practices, principals and procedures. In addition, Mr. Gulick oversees all A/R, A/P and G/L duties for the directly managed properties and directs the third party accounting teams to optimize the investment cash flows through efficient cash-management, streamlined financial processes and transparent financial reporting. Mr. Gulick directly supervises the Asset Accounting Team, works with the firm's outside CPA on the preparation of the annual income tax returns, and reviews the final returns before they are submitted to the outside government agencies.
From 1999 to 2007, Mr. Gulick served as Vice President of Finance at Countrywide Bank. Prior to his time with Countrywide, Mr. Gulick held financial management positions at major developers such as the Anden Group and Calmark Properties. As a Certified Public Accountant, with experience in all facets of finance, he brings a unique combination of skills to the Management Team. Mr. Gulick holds a B.S. in Business Administration with an Accounting specialization from California State University, Northridge and has been a licensed CPA since 1986.
As Asset Accounting Manager, Mrs. Reyes maintains the full financial reporting cycle for the firm’s portfolio of properties. She works closely with property management teams and assists the Controller with all other company financial duties. Previous to her employment with M West Holdings, she was with Fields Investments as Property Accountant with a focus on expense reconciliations for multiple office buildings in Texas and Florida. She earned her B.S. degree in Business Administration, Accounting in 1989 and acquired her Real Estate Broker’s license in the Philippines.
As Associate Asset Manager at M West, Ms. Sells works closely with the Asset Manager on all leasing and construction for every property in the Company’s portfolio. She coordinates leasing activity for every state for corporate headquarters and works with the Company’s individual leasing teams and local counsel to secure the completion of new deals. In addition, she manages the firm’s 50,000 sq. ft. office building located in Sherman Oaks, CA, as well as the corporate office itself. She joined M West in 2008 as Office Manager and provided valued assistance in growing the Company through several acquisitions.
Ashly graduated from the University of Southern California, where she obtained her B.S. in Public Policy, Planning and Development with an emphasis in Real Estate Development. Prior to joining M West Ashly worked in legal bankruptcy administration and commercial real estate sales in the central Los Angeles. Ms. Sells also holds her California Real Estate Salesperson License.
Our newest addition to the team, Jack serves as our Financial Analyst. He supports senior management with performance metrics of the existing portfolio, and analytical support during the of acquiring commercial real estate assets, including, underwriting, due diligence review, market research, asset financing, operating and capital expense budgets and closing. Mr. Minassian was formerly with Adler Realty Investments and Re/Max Commercial. Currently working to obtain his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Business, Jack holds his Bachelors in Information Technology from California State University, Northridge. Jack is a native of Los Angeles, and is fluent in three languages.
As Executive Assistant at M West Holdings, Chelsea assists with the daily operations of the firm. Chelsea graduated from the University of Southern California, where she majored in Policy, Planning and Development with an emphasis in Real Estate Development. During her tenure at USC, Chelsea served on the board of the Trojan Real Estate Association, interned with a broker at Marcus and Millichap, and in property management at the USC office of Real Estate and Asset Management.
Before joining the M West team, Chelsea lived in New York City with her husband, where she earned a Professional Certificate in Real Estate Finance and Investment from the Schack Institute of Real Estate at NYU and taught and mentored middle school students with special needs at a private school on the Upper West Side. Chelsea is passionate about real estate and design, and is thrilled to be a member of the M West team!
Nedda is a recent graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to joining the M West team, she worked for Bank of America, as a Teller Operations Specialist and for Niaki and Associates, a Structural Engineering Firm in Santa Monica, as an executive assistant. Nedda has lived and studied in Canada and Italy; she speaks Italian, Farsi, English, French and Spanish. Nedda has a keen interest in Real-Estate investment and management, and she looks forward to furthering her career in this field at M West Holdings. Nedda enjoys traveling, spending time with her friends and family, and her dog, Belle.
Rafael is the Accounts Payable and Receivable Clerk at M West Holdings, assisting the accounting department in all respects. He brings six years of accounting experience to the position. Prior to joining M West, Rafael worked as an assistant community manager for Prime Group at Park La Brea, as a book keeper for Sunrise Management, and as a property supervisor at Commercial Property Management. Rafael is a graduate of Don Bosco Technical College in the Philippines, where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering and he holds a Basic Accounting Certificate from Los Angeles Community College.
Sue Ellen Sexton currently manages the M West Holdings, LLC portfolio in Florida where she is responsible for a diverse assemblage of properties. Immediately prior to joining M West, Ms Sexton managed a 19-story Class A building in Tampa’s CBD owned by a private family trust. Ms Sexton has experience working directly for ownership in addition to extensive third party management through such companies as CB Richard Ellis and Taylor & Mathis. Ms Sexton completed the RPA designation in 2009. She also holds a Florida Real Estate License. Ms Sexton attended Marshall University.
Hardage McAree is the Regional Property Manager for M West Management, Western District. She is responsible for the supervision of our on-site staff in our Southern California multi-family properties and the implementation of solid operating standards. Having been in the industry since 1993, she has extensive knowledge of multi-family property management. Hardage’s background includes Marketing, Leasing, Management and Corporate Training positions at R.W. Selby & Company, Western National Group and Greystar Management. She has an extensive knowledge of California and Federal Fair Housing compliance, California landlord/tenant laws and resident relations. Hardage is a graduate of Tulane University and currently lives in Sherman Oaks with her family.
Patrick McAree is our Project Manager, Construction and Maintenance. He is responsible for planning, bidding, and oversight of all property improvements made on the west coast. Patrick is an active duty Los Angeles Police Sergeant II/Detective with 23 years of service. He has worked throughout the City of Los Angeles in a variety of patrol/investigative assignments. For the last 12 years, he has been the Officer-in-Charge of the Facilities Management Division, Construction Section. He has been the LAPD’s project manager for construction projects valued in excess of $500M and has successfully delivered over 800,000 square feet of space for the LAPD. Patrick was the architect and project manager of the first LAPD Security Master Plan. He is a City of Los Angeles certified Project/Construction manager. Patrick is a USMC veteran and a graduate of UCLA. He lives in Sherman Oaks, California with his wife and two sons.
