Multifamily real estate investment firm Casoro Group is welcoming the return of its founder and former executive chairman Monte Lee-Wen as CEO. Resuming active management of the firm that has acquired, managed, renovated, and repositioned more than $1 billion in properties across the Sun Belt, Lee-Wen also is joined by a new leadership team. "I'm excited to be leading the firm as we move forward with a new team and new strategies," says Lee-Wen.
Laura Klein, who served as Casoro's vice president of asset management and chief operating officer until 2020, has returned as COO. Mehul Chavada joins as chief investment officer and Doug LoPinto as managing director of capital markets.
"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,” Lee-Wen adds. “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."
Lee-Wen founded Casoro in 2002 and served as CEO until 2019 before overseeing the firm as executive chairman until 2022. In his resumed active management role, Lee-Wen will aim to strengthen Casoro’s capabilities as a vertically integrated multifamily owner and operator. He will focus on multifamily acquisitions, developing funding sources, building out the firm's capital markets platform, and leading the leadership team in a range of restructuring initiatives.
With more than 20 years of multifamily asset management experience for both new developments and acquisitions, as COO, Klein will lead operational controls; financial strength and operating efficiency; administrative and reporting procedures and people systems to ensure growth; ensure policy and procedural compliance in all investment-related activities; and oversee the asset management division.
As chief investment officer, Chavada will be responsible for strategizing and executing Casoro’s growth strategy in investing in real assets that meet or exceed performance goals for its institutional, family office, and high-net-worth clients, and its discretionary non-traded multifamily income REIT, Upside Avenue. In the new position of managing director of capital markets, LoPinto will use his 15 years of commercial real estate financing and capital-raising experience to work closely with Lee-Wen in business development and investor relations.
