Christopher Shiota
CEO & President
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Chris Shiota deployed approximately $900 million of capital through joint ventures with residential builders and developers in approximately 50 transactions while at Kennedy Wilson, Isles Ranch, and Lakebridge.
Chris manages the day-to-day operations of Lakebridge while acting as its President directly or indirectly managing originations, underwriting, due diligence, asset management, accounting, and reporting.
As a key member of the for-sale joint venture group at Kennedy Wilson and as the Director of Investment Management at Isles Ranch Partners, Chris designed and implemented the majority of key processes around deal selection, underwriting, due diligence, closing, asset management, and reporting. Chris was instrumental in the creation of both platforms and assisted in growing Isles Ranch Partners to 20 employees.
Through his education at University of Southern California and training at TriMont Real Estate Advisors (the asset manager for Lehman Brothers), Chris developed significant industry knowledge and contacts. Chris attended University of Southern California where he graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration. Chris also studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
R. JEFFREY SPINDLER
Partner
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As a Founding Principal and President of Land Advisors Organization-California Division, Jeff Spindler leverages his extensive experience in the real estate industry to broker and advise on residential land transactions throughout California. In his 30+-year career, Jeff has played an integral role in the sale of more than 130,000 residential units for consideration exceeding $5 billion.
In 1997, Jeff established Park Place Partners, Inc., along with Co-Founding Principals, Terry Ruckle and Brian Carricaburu. In March 2009, Park Place Partners, Inc., California’s largest residential land brokerage and advisory firm, merged platforms with Land Advisors Organization, based in Scottsdale, Arizona and created the California Division of Land Advisors Organization. The combined platform is the only national brokerage and advisory network dedicated to the residential land development industry with offices located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
Along with other panels, Jeff is an annual speaker at the Zelman & Associates Housing Summit held in Dallas, Texas. Jeff is a licensed California Real Estate Broker, and earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach.
Ilana Liauw
CFO & Vice President
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Ilana Liauw’s extensive experience in the homebuilding industry has spanned roles in finance and land acquisition for public and private builders. At Lakebridge, Ilana oversees all financial aspects of the company as well as asset management and due diligence in Southern California.
Previously as the Director of Finance and Market Analytics at The Olson Company, Ilana prepared proformas and investment packages, produced robust financial reporting, and oversaw analytics within the company including market analysis, pricing, and buyer segmentation.
Ilana managed Land Acquisitions at Beazer Homes and SummerHill Homes (the homebuilding subsidiary of Marcus & Millichap), where she was responsible for sourcing and underwriting new land opportunities, conducting due diligence, and obtaining corporate approval of target properties. During her time at Beazer, she spearheaded the acquisition of $110 million in land closings for the California Division.
Prior to Beazer, Ilana was a Financial Analyst at K. Hovnanian Homes, preparing business plan financial projections and assisting the Land Acquisition department in preparing feasibility books and deal underwriting.
Ilana attended Emory University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus in Finance and a double major in Mathematics. Ilana is a California CPA.
Mark Forster
Vice President
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Mark Forster leads Lakebridge’s expanded presence in Northern California. His experience includes roles with both public and private homebuilders, identifying new acquisition opportunities, and targeting new markets for expansion. Mark’s experience in the homebuilding industry includes performing site selection, due diligence, entitlements, underwriting, equity and debt sourcing.
Mark served as Northern California Vice President of Land Acquisition for MLC Holdings (a wholly owned subsidiary of publicly traded Meritage Homes) identifying, negotiating, underwriting, supervising due diligence and overseeing the entitlements of new projects. During his tenure, Mark revitalized the Northern California MLC platform, bringing in excess of 500 new units and $350 million in future revenue in under 18 months.
Prior to Meritage, Mark worked at the privately held Lafferty Communities as Vice President of Acquisitions helping source new real estate opportunities, identifying new equity partners, and helping secure new construction debt facilities. In this role, Mark was responsible for growing the platform into new opportunities in Marin, Napa, Alameda, Sonoma and Contra Costa Counties with project level revenues exceeding $200 million.
Mark began his career in real estate working in the custom consulting world reporting to Tim Sullivan and Jeff Meyers at The Meyers Group. Throughout his career and in different roles, Mark has performed work in over 400 municipalities covering 22 states.
Robert Shiota
Consultant
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Bob Shiota leads the firm’s underwriting, asset management, and operating activities. Prior to working with Lakebridge, Bob held senior management positions at major public homebuilders such as Standard Pacific, Richmond American, and Beazer Homes, as well as running his own private homebuilding company.
Bob ran the Southern California Division of Beazer Homes and became California Area President during his tenure. He oversaw offices in Sacramento and Brea with 75 employees and 600 annualized closings approximating $200 million in revenue. Bob was the Southern California Regional President for Richmond American Homes, with responsibility for three divisions with over 200 employees and managed the Salt Lake City office. He led the growth at Richmond to over 1,000 annualized closings and opened offices in Los Angeles and San Diego counties. Bob was a Vice President at Standard Pacific for over 9 years, performing land acquisition and project management on the Irvine Ranch and other Orange County projects as well Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire.
Bob received his Bachelors of Architecture and Masters of Urban Design degrees from the University of Southern California. Bob was a founding member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and began his career as a city planner at the cities of Lakewood and Irvine. He is also a licensed real estate broker and a general contractor in the state of California.
Kwame Do
Associate
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Kwame Do assists in financial underwriting, asset management, and market analysis for Lakebridge.
Prior to Lakebridge, Kwame interned at Land Advisors in the summer of 2013 where he helped the LA Infill team with Competitive Market Analyses and implementation of Salesforce. Kwame launched his professional finance career at Goldman Sachs, where he assisted with risk management and funding allocation for the equity derivative synthetic product group. He was elected to the junior board of the Black Network and participated in diversity recruiting.
Kwame attended Occidental College where he graduated with a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics and was a 4-year starter on the football team.
Elena Fish
Analyst
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Elena Fish is responsible for asset management activities including cashflow underwriting and market analysis on potential investment opportunities for Lakebridge.
Prior to joining Lakebridge, Elena attended the University of San Diego where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Finance. Elena also studied abroad at the London School of Economics where she earned her concentration in Marketing and Strategic Management.
During her time at USD, Elena worked as a Wealth Management Analyst at Morgan Stanley, where she was exposed to financial analysis and portfolio management for high net-worth individuals. She was also an active member of the Student Finance Association, where she held leadership positions utilizing her skills to network and interact with other students who shared the same passion for Finance as her.