Lou Cautero

Lou Cautero joined Ashcroft Capital in May 2022. As an Associate on the acquisitions team, Lou is responsible for sourcing and evaluating potential acquisition opportunities throughout the U.S. Prior to joining Ashcroft, Lou spent eight years with Azure Partners as a Senior Associate where he was involved in the acquisition of over $1.5 billion of institutional quality multifamily and retail assets. Prior to Azure, Lou was an acquisitions analyst at Magnolia Development, a boutique family office focused on multifamily assets in the tri-state area.

Lou earned his B.A. in Economics from Montclair State University, where he also played on the NCAA Baseball team.

Natalie Biondi

Natalie Biondi serves as Director of Acquisitions at Ashcroft Capital and is based in Dallas. Prior to joining Ashcroft, Natalie spent 6 years at DRA Advisors where she was an Associate Director in their Acquisitions group and worked on the acquisition of over $2 billion of institutional quality multifamily, industrial and office assets across the US. Prior to DRA she worked in acquisitions at Bluerock Real Estate, where she executed over $700 million of multifamily acquisitions throughout the Southeast. Natalie began her career in investment banking at Lazard Freres and then Bank of America’s real estate investment banking group, and she has over a decade of experience in the real estate industry.

Natalie holds a JD/MBA from NYU School of Law and NYU Stern School of Business, and a Bachelor of Arts from Washington and Lee University. She is a licensed attorney in the State of New York.

Mark Pietrogiacomo

Mark Pietrogiacomo serves as a Senior Associate of Business Intelligence at Ashcroft Capital, responsible for overseeing data analytics and the utilization of various systems and technologies to benefit the portfolio. Prior to joining Ashcroft Capital, Mark was a development analyst at Cohen Brothers Realty, an office developer in New York City. While there, he managed existing assets as well as underwrote potential land acquisitions. Before his time with Cohen Brothers, Mark was an investment sales associate at Eastern Consolidated, where he underwrote over $2 billion worth of properties across all asset classes in the 5 boroughs.

Mark graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Columbia University in 2017.

Katerina Shchipakina

Katerina Shchipakina is the Executive Assistant at Ashcroft Capital. Katerina provides executive support to Co-Founder and CEO, as well as administrative support to various members of the team. Additionally, Katerina is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Ashcroft office.

Katerina has over 15 years’ experience in a variety of industries, including fashion, finance, legal, real estate, and tax providing various levels of administrative and executive support.

Katerina hold a Bachelor’s degree if Fashion Merchandising from LIM as well as an Master’s degree in Business Management and Leadership from CUNY School of Professional Studies. Katerina is also a notary public for the state of New York.

James Driscoll

James Driscoll serves as Associate Director of Asset Management at Ashcroft Capital. He is responsible for executing renovation strategies and maximizing operating results across the portfolio. Prior to joining Ashcroft, James was an associate at Gaia Real Estate, where he was responsible for the asset management of a $750MM portfolio of multifamily properties. Before his time with Gaia, James was an analyst at GID, a real estate private equity and development firm, where he supported both the portfolio and asset management team in overseeing the firm’s co-investment joint ventures and property level operations. Prior to GID, James was an analyst at Boston Capital.

James graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance with a minor in Economics from The Girard School of Business at Merrimack College.

FRANCESCO CIMA

Francesco Cima is responsible for the capital markets activities at Ashcroft Capital, focusing on building equity relationships with institutional investors such as real estate funds, family offices, endowments/foundations/, sovereign wealth funds, pensions, and life companies. Francesco has 10 years of experience in finance and investing across the capital stack, having worked in corporate finance, bond trading, real estate acquisitions, real estate bridge & CMBS lending, and fundraising for real estate, private equity, and hedge funds. In addition to fundraising at Ashcroft, he also actively participates in investment analysis, asset management, and brand strategy across the firm.

Francesco has rejoined Ashcroft, after stepping away for 4 years when he served as Citigroup’s Senior Associate with dual roles in the (i) Large Lending team underwriting more than $50bn in balance sheet investments and Large CMBS loans, and (ii) the real estate primaries fundraising team. When Citi’s private equity primaries team was spun out independently, Francesco moved to the newly formed Spartan Advisors as a Vice president to continue raising funds for the existing clients as well as new private equity and hedge fund clients.

Francesco holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Finance and Financial Engineering from Wake Forest University, and a Master of Science (M.Sc.) from the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University (NYU).

Traci Wilhelm

Traci Wilhelm is responsible for the asset management of the Ashcroft Capital portfolio. Before joining Ashcroft, Traci oversaw the foundation of RXR Realty’s residential portfolio, eventually managing a $2.7B portfolio of assets in the Northeast. Between practicing real estate transaction law for 3 years and her time at RXR, Traci asset managed an additional $2.7B of assets while at CBRE Global Investors, JPI and Gables Residential.

Traci has a Bachelor of Arts from University of Colorado Boulder, a Juris Doctorate from Washington and Lee School of Law and a Master of Science in Real Estate Finance and Construction Management from the University of Denver.

Travis Watts

Travis Watts is a proven leader in the real estate industry, where he’s been investing since 2009 in multi-family, single-family and vacation rentals. He began investing with Ashcroft Capital several years ago and has taken part in more than 30% of the Ashcroft opportunities. After experiencing above-average communication, reporting, deal volume and performance, Travis expressed interest in joining the Ashcroft Investor Relations Team. Travis also has a background in traditional Wall Street investing and obtained a Series 7 and Series 63 license while working at a major brokerage firm with more than 400 billion in assets. He now dedicates his time to educating others in the world of investing and has made it his mission to share passive investment strategies in order to help others achieve and maintain wealth in real estate.

Chautaqua Collins

Chautaqua Collins joined Ashcroft Capital in April of 2016 and currently serves as Senior Managing Director, Business Operations. Ms. Collins has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, including investing in and development of residential and commercial properties, mortgage lending and consulting. She oversees Investor Relations, Marketing, and Investor Services departments. She is also responsible for reviewing, analyzing and evaluating operations, and implementing policies and procedures within those departments.

Chautaqua specializes in implementing systems and technical solutions to provide the tools needed for productive and successful operations.

Chautaqua has completed curriculum from the International Technological University, earning both an Accredited Consultant and Executive Assistant certifications in Real Estate.

Julien Lipps

Julien Lipps serves as an Associate at Ashcroft Capital in the acquisitions department. He is focused on continuing to expand our presence throughout the sunbelt and specifically covers markets throughout GA, NC, SC and TN. Prior to joining Ashcroft, Julien was an Analyst at Somera Road, a commercial real estate private equity firm. While there, he  participated in underwriting opportunistic real estate transactions across multifamily, office and retail asset classes throughout the United States. Before his time with  Somera, Julien was an analyst at Suzuki Capital, a commercial real estate private equity and development firm where he supported both the acquisitions and development team in underwriting transactions and property level due diligence.

Julien graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Law from Hofstra University in 2014 and earned his Master’s Degree at New York University with a focus on Real Estate Finance and Investment.

Ksenia Zaydfudim

Ksenia Zaydfudim is responsible for the finance and accounting functions at Ashcroft Capital and Birchstone Residential. Prior to joining Ashcroft, Ksenia spent four years at 60 Guilders, LLC as the Vice President of Finance responsible for the financial reporting, accounting, auditing and compliance functions of the firm. Prior to 60 Guilders, LLC, Ksenia spent three years at KPMG, LLP where she was tasked with performing audits for real estate clients and tax compliance services for REITs and private equity clients.

Ksenia has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Master of Science in Taxation from St. John’s University. Ksenia is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.

Mickelle Damassia

Mickelle Damassia is the Chief Compliance Officer at Ashcroft Capital. Prior to joining Ashcroft, Mickelle led investigations and regulatory actions involving global financial institutions’ compliance with Dodd-Frank, money laundering, embezzlement, terrorist financing, cybersecurity, consumer fraud and tax fraud. In addition, she  oversaw efforts to remediate complex compliance matters at global financial institutions as the Assistant Deputy Superintendent for Enforcement for the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS).

Mickelle obtained a Juris Doctorate from Touro Law. While in law school, she worked at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on the investigations and settlements of violations of securities laws and regulations.by FINRA, MSRB and SEC member firms and broker-dealers. Mickelle also served as a legal intern for the New York County District Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Mickelle proudly served in the United States Air Force and obtained a B.A. in Business Management from Monroe College and an MPA from Baruch College. Mickelle is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and before the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. She is also a member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists.

Bill Kay

Bill Kay leads the capital markets activities at Ashcroft Capital, focusing on equity relationships with institutional investors such as real estate funds, endowments/foundations, major insurers, sovereign wealth funds, pensions, and family offices.  Bill has over 20 years of experience across private real estate and private equity, with a deep track record of helping to build and scale world-class institutional investment management businesses. In addition to leading institutional investor relations and fundraising at Ashcroft, he also actively participates in the investment and asset management process across the firm.

Prior to joining Ashcroft, Bill held senior leadership roles at firms including Lubert-Adler Real Estate, Apollo Global Management, and Morgan Stanley AIP. As a client-facing member of the investment teams, Bill has extensive global experience advising investors in tactical and strategic portfolio construction, in a wide array of private strategies in fund, direct, and co-investment formats.  

Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from The Fox School of Business and Management at Temple University.
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Scott Lebenhart

Scott Lebenhart is responsible for overseeing acquisitions, as well as, developing and implementing the investment strategies at Ashcroft Capital. Since joining Ashcroft in 2018, Scott has spearheaded the acquisition of over 11,500 units and expanding the company’s presence throughout various growth markets in the sunbelt. Scott ensures that the acquisitions team is focused on acquiring well-located properties within markets that possess strong fundamentals while developing strong relationships in the real estate community.

 

Prior to joining Ashcroft, Scott spent 11 years at DRA Advisors LLC where he was a Director in their Acquisitions group. Throughout his career there, Scott was involved in approximately $4 billion of acquisitions of institutional quality multifamily, industrial, office, and retail assets throughout the country. Prior to DRA, Scott was an investment analyst for Northmarq Capital Inc.

 

Scott graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

Joe Fairless

Joe Fairless is the Co-founder of Ashcroft Capital which has over $2,700,000,000 of assets under management. In addition to his work with Ashcroft Capital, Joe created the podcast Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever Show, which is the longest running daily real estate podcast in the world

Joe is a proud Member of the Texas Tech Alumni Advisor Board for the College of Media and Communication. He has also been recognized as Outstanding Alumni at Texas Tech University where he served as an Adjunct Professor. Joe is currently a Junior Achievement Board Member and Volunteer for the Cincinnati chapter where he was recognized by the Junior Achievement’s Free Enterprise Society for his dedication. Joe also volunteers at Crossroads Hospice and in 2018 he was recognized as Multifamily Investor of the Year by Think Realty Magazine.

Frank Roessler

Frank Roessler is the co-founder and CEO of Ashcroft Capital, a real estate investment firm headquartered in New York City. As CEO, he is responsible for developing and executing the company’s long-term objectives, growth strategies, and initiatives as well as managing day-to-day operations.

As of 2023, Ashcroft Capital has acquired over $3.5 billion of assets and 20,000 units. The firm focuses on capital preservation while striving to return strong, risk-adjusted cash on cash to investors. Ashcroft is capitalized with high net worth, family office and institutional capital. Within the real estate industry, Ashcroft specializes in value-add real estate and exhibits an expertise in extracting maximum value from every asset it acquires. Rather than attempting to play cycle timing, the firm strives to acquire excellent apartment communities within well-located submarkets of large and growing U.S. metroplexes.

Frank has a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Bucknell University and an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.