James J. (Jim) Ablan
- William C. (Bill) Johnson
- Neal L. Gussis
Shawn R. Hill -
Devin S. Huber -
Tony L. Raimondi -
Michael L. Todd
Jeffrey R. Potter
- Kathryn E. Gremban
Beacon’s team members are
experienced real estate financing professionals with deep institutional
knowledge of commercial property asset classes nationwide. Through our
expertise and relationships with lending sources, we stay abreast of the
latest industry developments and help clients better understand lenders’
financing, underwriting and credit processes.
Whether you work with one Beacon expert or several team members during
your transaction, you can feel confident our firm has the size, depth,
resources and knowledge to guide you through every step of the lending
process. If your transaction requires a group of Beacon financing
experts, we collaborate as a team, sharing ideas and providing you with
the very best financing solutions.
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James J. (Jim) Ablan Principal |
Jim is a founding principal of Beacon Realty Capital, where he is
responsible for originating and placing all types of debt and equity
financing, initiating and maintaining correspondent and lender
relationships, directing the production staff, and chairing the
Executive Committee.
Jim delivers more than 30 years of diversified real estate
investment experience to Beacon clients. He began his career at The
Prudential Insurance Company, where his responsibilities included
mortgage lending, acquisitions, development and sales of
income-producing properties. In 1983, he was responsible for
acquiring and operating a portfolio of hybrid-debt and equity
investments on behalf of a pension advisory firm. He joined Grubb &
Ellis in 1988, where for three of five years he was the leading
producer in the Chicago office and led the national production of
Grubb & Ellis' Institutional Investment Group. Jim joined Smith &
Johnson, Inc. in 1993 as a Principal. The firm became known as Smith
Johnson Ablan, Inc., and in 1995 Jim co-founded Beacon Realty
Capital, Inc.
Jim earned a B.A. in Economics and an M.S. in Real Estate and Urban
Land Economics at the University of Wisconsin. While there, he
received Phi Kappa Phi for academic achievement. Jim is an active
member and past Director of the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni
Association, an active member of the Mortgage Bankers Association of
America, a licensed real estate broker in Illinois, and a licensed
loan solicitor in Wisconsin.
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William
C. (Bill) Johnson Principal |
Bill co-founded Beacon Realty Capital's predecessor firm in 1985 and is
a founding principal at Beacon, where he manages relationships with
capital sources, works with clients in structuring their capital
transactions, serves as Beacon’s primary contact in the Capital3
strategic alliance, and oversees our mortgage servicing operation.
Bill began his real estate career with Mutual of New York and served as
a vice president with Crocker Mortgage Corporation until he co-founded
Smith & Johnson, Inc., which subsequently became Beacon Realty Capital
in 1995.
Bill graduated from the University of Wisconsin Real Estate Program with
bachelor’s and master’s degrees in urban land economics and real estate
investment analysis. He is a member and past director of the Wisconsin
Real Estate Alumni Association and is active in the Mortgage Bankers
Association of America. Bill is a licensed real estate broker in
Illinois and Wisconsin, a licensed loan solicitor in Wisconsin, and a
past board member of Chicago Youth Programs, Inc., a non-profit
organization serving the comprehensive medical and educational needs of
at-risk children in inner city communities.
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Neal L. Gussis Principal |
Neal joined Beacon Realty Capital in 2000 as a senior vice president and
became a principal in 2003. He directs Beacon's self-storage
origination team, secures debt on all types of commercial property for
clients nationwide, and serves as Beacon’s primary contact in our
strategic alliance with Storage Investment Advisors.
Neal delivers 20 years of diversified financing and lending experience
to Beacon clients, as well as a background in corporate and asset
management, asset valuation, mortgage-backed securities bond
distribution and public accounting. He began his career as a public
accountant at Altschuler, Melvoin and Glasser, and then became a founder
and principal of First Security Commercial Mortgage, a Chicago-based
CMBS lender, before joining Beacon.
Neal is a frequent speaker at self-storage industry events, participant
in national and state self-storage trade associations, active member of
the Mortgage Bankers Association, and contributing author on real estate
financing topics for regional and national publications.
He was also appointed as a member of
the national Self Storage Association Vendor Committee for 2007. A
certified public accountant, he received a bachelor’s degree in
accounting from Indiana University.
 |
Shawn R. Hill Senior Vice President |
Shawn joined Beacon Realty Capital in 2002 and became a senior vice
president in 2007. He originates and places debt and equity financing
for all property types, with a primary focus on self storage and
multifamily.
Shawn’s diversified real estate experience includes previous analyst,
credit and financing positions with Duff and Phelps Credit Rating
Agency, Fitch Ratings, Cargan City LLC, and Wells Fargo Bank.
He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in urban and regional planning
from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with a core
emphasis on economic development and real estate finance.
 |
Devin S. Huber Senior Vice President |
Devin joined Beacon Realty Capital in 2005 and became a senior vice
president in 2007. He originates a full
spectrum of real estate financing transactions, including self storage,
multifamily, office, retail, single tenant and industrial. Devin is a
member of the Beacon Self Storage Group and is also a liaison in our
strategic alliance with Storage Investment Advisors.
Devin’s prior commercial mortgage experience includes positions with GE
Commercial Finance Business Properties and Heller Financial. He began
his career with Arthur Andersen’s Transaction Advisory Group.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Tony L. Raimondi Senior Vice President |
Tony joined Beacon Realty Capital in
2003. In addition to traditional fixed rate financing, Tony focuses
on transactions that require structured finance solutions that
incorporate non-recourse construction and interim first mortgages
with mezzanine and equity components. These financial structures
have been applied to all the core property types plus hotels and
mixed-use developments.
Tony has over 30 years of diversified real estate experience with a
concentration in finance, underwriting, and consulting. He began his
career in the consulting industry with Larry Smith & Company and
Real Estate Research Corporation, and then was a major loan producer
for the Balcor Company, Textron Financial (through his entity Belden
Partners) and ORIX USA (a subsidiary of the ORIX Corporation, an
international Japanese based company) before joining Beacon.
Tony is a graduate of Indiana University, where he received a
bachelor’s degree in finance and real estate administration.
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Michael L. Todd Senior Vice President |
Mike joined Beacon Realty Capital in 2005 to grow our multifamily
financing production programs, particularly those involving FHA loans
and housing tax credits.
His previous real estate and lending experience includes positions with
First National Bank of Chicago, Inland Steel Urban Development
Corporation, General American Equities, Balcor Company, The Equity Group
and the Illinois Housing Development Authority, where he was director of
its Multifamily Programs Department.
Mike is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a
master’s degree in real estate and finance.
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Jeffrey R. Potter Vice President |
Jeff joined Beacon Realty Capital as a Vice President in 2008 and offers diversified investment property finance expertise from his experience as a commercial mortgage banker, loan originator and workout officer. He originates debt and equity financing on all commercial real estate property types for Beacon clients, and during his career he has closed more than $400 million in mortgages.
Before joining Beacon, Jeff was a Vice President, Senior Commercial Real Estate Lender with Irwin Union Bank in Milwaukee. He has also worked at such Chicago-area financial institutions as Charter One Bank, Harris Bank and The Private Bank.
Jeff earned his undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also completed the Graduate School of Banking program. He earned an MBA degree in real estate from Southern Methodist University.
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Kathryn E. Gremban Senior Real Estate Analyst
|
Kathryn joined Beacon Realty Capital in 2004 and is responsible for
financial analysis, cash flow underwriting, and market and property due
diligence of client projects. She also supports our firm’s marketing
efforts.
Kathryn is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a
bachelor’s degree in real estate and urban land economics.
