As Managing Director of Development for Western National Properties, Brian is responsible for all aspects of the development process in the region, including sourcing new investment opportunities, planning and design.
Prior to joining WNP, Brian was Vice President of Development at Morgan Group and was responsible for all development activities in the West – with a focus on the southern California and Phoenix markets. He spent four years managing the Los Angeles market for UDR, Inc. including the design and execution of three high-rise apartment projects with a total investment of over $350 million.
Brian was born and raised in southern California and started his career with Webcor Builders before joining John Laing Homes Urban on the development team with a focus on entitlements in the City of Los Angeles. He then spent 6 years at Archstone as Assistant Vice President of Development where he sourced, designed and managed the execution of numerous projects from ground-up construction to substantial renovation projects encompassing all product-types.
Brian attended Whittier College where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and lives with his wife and three daughters in south Orange County, CA.
Spencer H. Arnold, Senior Vice President of Resident Group Services, the landscape and tree division of Western National Group, is responsible for all operations. Mr. Arnold has over 25 - years of experience in the landscape and construction industries.
RGS Landscape & Arbor provides a wide range of services to the commercial real estate marketplace throughout Southern California from landscape maintenance, construction and design services to arbor care and plant health care services. Clients served range from WNG to a blue chip roster of publicly traded and privately owned real estate organizations.
Mr. Arnold holds a B.S. degree in Agribusiness Management from Cal Poly Pomona and a MBA from the University of California. Mr. Arnold is a licensed California Contractor and is active in various professional trade and community organizations. Mr. Arnold and his two children reside in South Orange County.
Cherie Turner leads the development and implementation of long-range and immediate learning, performance and career development initiatives for Western National Group (WNG). Ms. Turner establishes and executes strategies to address learning needs and professional development to include a robust core curriculum for each job role, compliance training, and leadership development. Ms. Turner also oversees the implementation of policies and procedures.
Ms. Turner is a 25-year multifamily industry professional, who prior to joining WNG, was a highly sought out multifamily trainer and leadership strategist. Prior to that, Cherie served as Director of IAC Suites and Information Center for the Irvine Company Apartment Communities and as National Sales Manager/Trainer for Oakwood Worldwide in Los Angeles CA.
Ms. Turner is a professional Leadership and Executive coach. She holds several certificates from the Association for Talent Development (ATD). She is a certified DISC trainer and a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) candidate, a designation that has been earned by only 1,600 individuals nationwide. Cherie is a native Californian and resides in Orange County with her husband and daughter.
Patrick S. Simons serves as Managing Director responsible for all land acquisition and development activity for the company in Southern California. In prior executive positions over 20 years, Mr. Simons personally performed or supervised the performance of all facets of real estate acquisition, development, and asset management for more than 10,000 residential units nationwide, in a broad range of urban and suburban locations, valued in excess of $1 billion (not inflation adjusted) with such companies as JPI, LNR Property Corporation, and the Kaufman and Broad Multi-Housing Group.
Mr. Simons is a licensed Real Estate Broker in California, and a graduate of the University of Southern California, with a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering and a Master's Degree in Real Estate Development. He is a full member of the Urban Land Institute, and is currently active on its national Urban Development/Mixed-Use Council and local Multifamily Council.
H. Jon Paynter, as Vice President, is responsible for all land acquisition and development activity for the company in Northern California. Mr. Paynter has over 30 years of residential development in both multifamily apartment and for-sale housing.
Prior to joining WNP in 2016, Mr. Paynter was Vice President of Development for The Irvine Company for Northern California operations, and during this tenure was responsible for the oversight of the design, entitlement, and project management of approximately 8,000 apartments in the Silicon Valley. These apartment projects included over 150,000 sf of retail mixed use.
Mr. Paynter's prior work history included eleven years at Toll Brothers Homes acting as President of the Northern California Bay Area and responsible for all operations and the completion of approximately 7,500 homes. Mr. Paynter has prior extensive experience in the design and development of master planned communities, including student and faculty housing, senior oriented, and golf course residential communities.
Mr. Paynter earned a BS in Construction Management from Colorado State University.
Jerry LaPointe, as Managing Director, Acquisitions and Dispositions, has been with Western National Properties for over twelve years and is responsible for sourcing all acquisitions of existing apartment projects. Mr. LaPointe has more than twenty nine years of experience in acquisitions, development and finance.
Prior to joining Western National Properties, LaPointe was a Senior Vice President for Capstone Development Corporation, a company focused on the acquisition and development of college and university housing. In this role, Mr. LaPointe led the operations of the West Coast office and was directly responsible for acquisitions and development for all on and off-campus housing projects. Mr. LaPointe also held the positon as the Southern California Acquisitions officer for ConAm Management, a San Diego based owner and operator of multifamily. Prior to ConAm, Mr. LaPointe was with Newport Beach based PM Realty Advisors and was responsible for all portfolio and market analysis. Additionally, Mr. LaPointe performed national acquisitions and dispositions of office, industrial, retail and multifamily.
Mr. LaPointe holds a B.S. in Finance and Real Estate from the University of Southern California.
Mr. LaPointe also serves as a Board Member for the National Multifamily Housing Council.
Rex F. DeLong, as President of Western National Properties, is responsible for the company's development, acquisition, dispositions and asset management functions. Since joining WNG in 1994, he has spearheaded the growth of the development and acquisition functions and played an integral role in the development of key property owner relationships in Southern California, which has been the source of many new projects.
Mr. DeLong has over 40 years of extensive real estate experience in various areas, including over 12 years with financial institutions such as Wells Fargo, Crocker Bank, Union Bank and Security Pacific/Bank of America. Mr. DeLong's responsibilities included various senior management positions in the areas of construction loans, permanent loans, property dispositions and loan workouts.
Mr. DeLong earned a BS in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach. He is a licensed California Real Estate Broker and is currently active in various trade and community activities. Mr. DeLong is a full member of the Urban Land Institute and is an active member of their Multifamily Council.
As Senior Vice President with Western National Group, Cyndy Breit is responsible for providing oversight and support for all aspects of the Risk Management, Human Resources and the Investor Relations departments.
Ms. Breit has more than 23 years of experience in Risk Management with 17 of those years spent directly in the multifamily industry. Having joined Western National Group in 2001 as an Environmental Health and Safety Manager, Ms. Breit was promoted to Director of Risk Management in 2004 and to Vice President of Risk Management in 2007. Her tenure and experience provides a framework for an in-depth understanding of the company's business environment, allowing Ms. Breit to serve as a partner to our senior management to facilitate the delivery of the company's strategic goals by identifying, preventing and analyzing loss exposures. Ms. Breit is a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors.
Ms. Breit holds a BS in Applied Ecology and a Certificate in Human Resources Management from the University of California, Irvine, is an EPA Accredited Management Planner and Building Inspector for Asbestos and is a Certified Safety Playground Inspector. She is a member of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS), American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), Professional in Human Resources Association (PIHRA) and Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).
As Vice President of Operations Mr. Kennedy is responsible for Construction Operations in both Northern and Southern California Regions. He provides leadership and direction for project teams through all phases of the project. Mr. Kennedy has been in the industry for over 14 years and has spent the last 10 years focused exclusively on high density multifamily projects. He has built over 8,000 multifamily units and managed over 2 Billion in hard costs.
Mr. Kennedy joined Western National Contractors in 2007 and is a licensed General Contractor.
Mr. Kennedy attended California State University, San Marcos earning a BS degree in Criminology.
Mr. James Gilly, as President of Western National Builders (WNB) and Western National Contractors (WNC), is responsible for all of the construction activities for WNG. WNB and WNC are full service companies that build for the Western National Group and for third party Owners. Irvine Apartment Communities and Lewis Apartment Communities are just two of the prestigious Clients that have utilized their services. Over the past 24 years, Mr. Gilly has constructed over 28,000 apartment units nationally.
Mr. Gilly graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1972. He served in the United States Army and was a Captain when he completed his service obligation. He has experience in managing both construction and development activities for large apartment developers and brings a depth of multi-family experience to the company.
At Western National Properties, Mr. Reynolds is responsible for building and maintaining capital relationships while coordinating the firm's various investment strategies and opportunities with domestic and foreign investor clients. Previously, he was Head of Client Capital at Blue Vista Capital Management and Managing Director of LaSalle Investment Management's Global Client Services group, both based in Chicago.
Mr. Reynolds has over 28 years of experience in investment banking, structured finance and capital formation and has worked with many of the top organizations in the investment industry, including major public and corporate pension funds, global financial institutions and insurance companies, foundations and endowments and public REITs. Since 1993 he has focused primarily on the real estate industry, representing institutional and commercial real estate owners in developing and implementing their capital and investment strategies.
Mr. Reynolds graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelors of Business Administration (concentration in Finance) from the University of Notre Dame.
Jeffrey R. Scott, as Chief Financial Officer of Western National Group, is responsible for corporate finance, project finance, accounting and financial reporting, taxation compliance and strategy, investor relations and reporting, as well as information technology. Mr. Scott has been responsible for overseeing the design, implementation and operation of virtually all of WNG's financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and software systems. In addition, he has been responsible for the negotiation and placement of more than $1.2 Billion of project and corporate financings for WNG's varied interests. This financing has in the past included conventional term debt, tax-exempt multifamily housing bonds, housing agency debt, tax credit equity, as well as private-placement financings and corporate lines of credit.
Prior to his appointment as Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Scott was Senior Vice President and Controller for WNG. Prior to joining WNG in 1985, Mr. Scott was employed by Touche Ross (now Deloitte & Touche).
Mr. Scott earned a BA from University of California, Santa Barbara and is a Certified Public Accountant. In addition, he is a licensed California Real Estate Broker and a licensed General Contractor.
Vice President, Construction
Western National Contractors, Northern and Southern California
Jonathan Collins, as Vice President of Western National Contractors, is responsible for all construction activities and client relations for WNC in both Southern and Northern California. Mr. Collins has more than 15 years of experience in Multi-family construction. He and his teams have played a significant role in maintaining the continued relationship with one of the most prestigious developers in the market, which has led to many years of continued business with them as well as other large developers.
Mr. Collins joined Western National Contractors in 2005 and has since been responsible for overseeing the construction of more than 10,000 units with the company.
Mr. Collins earned his Bachelors of Science degree in Construction Management from Brigham Young University and is a licensed General Contractor.
As Vice President of Information Technology, Kenneth W. Hodges is responsible for the overall strategic direction, systems development and day-to-day operations of Western National Group and its affiliated companies including Property Management, Acquisitions and Development, Landscaping and Construction. Mr. Hodges expertise includes Financial/Accounting systems' design and implementation, network security and business continuity.
With over 16 years of Information Technology experience, Mr. Hodges began his career in 1993 with Symantec Corporation as a Technical Writer, and has since held both technical and leadership positions with several diverse national and local based companies including American Greetings and Productivity Enhancement Products. Mr. Hodges joined Western National Group in 2000 as Manager of Technical Services where he was responsible for the design and management of the enterprise network infrastructure. He was promoted to Director of Information Technology in 2005, and later promoted to Vice President in 2007.
Mr. Hodges is a veteran of the United States Air Force and holds a BS in Computer Science with a minor in Criminal Justice from California State University, Fullerton. He is a member of the Southern California Chapter of the Society for Information Management and currently resides in South Orange County with his wife and two children.
Annie McClinton is serving as the Vice President of Business Development for Western National Group (WNG) and Multifamily Ancillary Group (MAG). Prior to joining WNG, and with over 30 years of experience in all aspects of real estate management, Annie served as the Vice President of Training and Vice President of Operations with the Irvine Company Apartment. Prior to the Irvine Company Apartment Communities, Annie served as Vice President of Operations for BRE Properties out of San Francisco. She was responsible for over 6,000 units and operated in 5 western states. Additionally, Annie served as Vice President of Training and Development, opening the training department for BRE and being responsible for the creation of all curriculum and career development of over 600 associates. Annie also served in numerous capacities for VMS Realty out of Chicago, Illinois where she was responsible for all lease-ups coast to coast (4,500 units) as Vice President of Marketing and Lease-Up Operations, Regional Manager, Regional Manager Human Resources and Training, Area Manager Specialist for challenging assets and Leasing Manager for 1,200 units in Florida.
Ms. McClinton has been published in several periodicals and is a nationally recognized speaker having participated in both individual and panel presentations for the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) and the California Apartment Association (CAA).
Ms. McClinton holds certifications in Customer Service, Coaching, Sales and Leadership from Langevin Learning Center, Zinger Miller, Achieve Global, American Society of Training & Development (ASTD) and Development Dimensions International (DDI.)
Mr. Kennedy is responsible for overseeing all aspects of pre-construction operations in both Northern and Southern California. Leveraging his 15 years of construction experience he leads the pre-construction group in creating preliminary budgets from early acquisitions through design completion. His operation provides the owner with detailed analytics in an effort to enhance project viability. He collaborates with the construction group to ensure a seamless approach to budget management, procurement, historical cost maintenance, project scheduling and logistics. He also directs the integration of new technologies such as building information modeling. Mr. Kennedy joined Western National Group in 2013 as a Director of Construction successfully managing multiple luxury apartment developments.
Mr. Kennedy received a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from Brigham Young University - Hawaii and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California - Irvine. He currently serves on the board of Innovative Housing Opportunities as Vice-Chair of the Project Review Committee. Mr. Kennedy is a Licensed General Contractor.
Ms. Meute serves as Vice President and Corporate Controller for Western National Property Management (WNPM), Western National Properties (WNP), and for the WNPM owned and fee-managed portfolios. Before joining Western in 1999, Ms. Meute was responsible for coordinating all financial reporting for fee-managed properties with Legacy Partners Residential, Inc. She has also served as Controller for PSB Realty Corporation, Trammell Crow Management Services as well as Legacy Partners Residential, Inc. Ms. Meute began her professional accounting career as an Audior at Deloitte, Haskins & Sells and is a Certified Public Accountant. In addition, she is an active member at the Orange County Chapter of the American Payroll Association (OCCAPA) and is a Certified Payroll Professional (CPP). Ms. Meute graduated from Lamar University in Texas with a degree in Business Administration/Accounting.
Laura Khouri is President of WNPM, which currently manages nearly 25,000 apartments located throughout Southern California and Nevada. Ms. Khouri is responsible for the operations of the property management division and provides strategic direction to the company relative to all the multifamily assets in the portfolio.
Ms. Khouri joined WNG in 1985. Prior to assuming the position of President, she held numerous leadership positions within WNG, most recently as the President of the Multifamily Ancillary Group (MAG). Ms. Khouri also held the position of Senior Vice President for WNG, in which she was responsible for all aspects of Human Resources, Training and Development, Risk Management, and Investor Relations. Additional positions also held during her 31-year tenure with Western National include Vice President, Human Resources, and Vice President of Operations. Ms. Khouri is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of California and Utah, was certified by the HR Certification Institute as a Senior Professional in Human Resources of which there are only 3,700 such certifications in the state of California, and was previously a licensed Insurance Agent/Broker in six states. Ms. Khouri is a member of the Executive Committee, which governs WNG as well as the WNG Investment Committee.
Ms. Khouri is an active member of the Board of Directors of the California Apartment Association, having served as the President of the Board in 2012 and 2013. She is also an active member of the local division of the California Apartment Association-Orange County. Philanthropically, Ms. Khouri served as the President of the Board of Directors for the Prentice School, a non-profit school for dyslexic children from 2010 to 2016, is a member of the Alexis De Tocqueville Society of the United Way of Orange County, serves on the Board of Directors as the Chairman of the Board of Laura's House, a non-profit organization assisting women and children of domestic violence, and served as Board Trustee of Chapman University in Orange, California.
As Chief Executive Officer, Michael K. Hayde is responsible for the operations and organization of Western National Group, one of the Western United States larger privately held apartment owner/developer companies. Having joined the firm in 1971, he became president of Western National Properties, the development arm of WNG, in 1981. He became CEO of the Group in 1994 and since that time has led the Western National Group, which now owns, develops, manages and constructs apartment communities throughout California and the western United States. Mr. Hayde has been involved in the development and construction of over 40,000 multifamily units since joining WNG.
Mr. Hayde is former chair of the California Housing Council, Trustee of the Urban Land Institute and the ULI Foundation, and a Member of the Board of the California Business Roundtable.
Mr. Hayde and former Orange County Sheriff, Brad Gates, have been honored locally and nationally for their efforts in founding and supporting the "Drug Use Is Life Abuse" program. Mr. Hayde is a member of the Ten Million Dollar Roundtable of the Tocqueville Society of the United Way. He is a Founding member of the United Way in Paris, France and Madrid, Spain. He was the 2013 recipient of the National Tocqueville Society award. He is a member of the Board of Directors of United Way Worldwide. He is also involved in a number of local charities including Sisters of the Sacred Heart and the Orange County Sheriff's Advisory Council and the Medical Center Hospital at the University of California, Irvine.
Ms. Nancy VanderZwaag, as Vice President and Controller, is responsible for all financial reporting for both Western National Builders and Western National Contractors, as well as Resident Group Services, Inc and Multifamily Ancillary Group. Ms. VanderZwaag joined Western National Group in 2003.
Ms. VanderZwaag has over 20 years experience in the real estate industry. Prior to joining Western National, she has worked as Controller for such companies as The Lusk Company, Clayton, Williams and Sherwood, and Irvine Apartment Communities. She graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona with a degree in Business Administration/Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Mr. Alicastro joined Western National Property Management in 2003 and is currently responsible for 46 properties and more than 6500 units. Mr. Alicastro has been in the real estate industry for over 21 years and has worked for many nationally recognized real estate firms in Southern California such as The Irvine Company and Fairfield Residential Property Management. Mr. Alicastro has real estate knowledge from a variety of markets and conditions including Southern California, Northern California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado. He has proven experience with acquisitions, dispositions, redevelopment, repositioning, and new product development. Mr. Alicastro also has extensive experience with Section 42 management and development.
Mr. Alicastro is a graduate of Chapman University with a B.S.B.A in Finance. Nick holds a Certified Property Manager designation from the Institute of Real Estate Management. He is also a licensed Realtor in the state of California and he also is a Housing Credit Certified Professional (HCCP). He is active in the South Coast Apartment Association.
Mr. Peter Rocereto joined Western National Group in 2012 and is responsible for our 3rd party construction operations and business development in our Northern California office. Mr. Rocereto has been in the construction multifamily business for over 25 years with extensive experience in pre-development, preconstruction and construction management for third party contracting and in-house contracting, along with asset preservation and rehab.
Prior to joining WNG, Mr. Rocereto was a Senior Vice President of a public REIT, BRE Properties, Inc. where he was responsible for overseeing multiple markets across the U.S. completing over 16,000 multifamily units. Prior thereto, Mr. Rocereto served as Vice President of Construction for Trammell Crow Company, overseeing multiple projects in Salt Lake City, Seattle and Denver markets. Mr. Rocereto was also a licensed General Contractor for 7-years operating in San Francisco Bay Area, developing and building residential projects.
Mr. Rocereto attended California State University, Long Beach and has a BS in Construction Engineering Management.
Mr. Randy Avery joined Western National Group in 2001. Since that time he has been responsible for the construction of over 7,000 apartment units. His responsibilities include developing budgets and schedules for third party clients as well as in house projects in the pre-construction phase. He then continues to work with clients during the design phase to assist in maintaining costs through efficient construction techniques.
Mr. Avery has been in the industry for over 40 years with a background in development and construction allows him a broad perspective for clients to utilize in the design and construction of projects.
Vice President of Human Resources with Western National Group, is responsible for all facets of Human Resources including, employee relations, pre-employment testing, new hire orientation, internal services and benefits administration for approximately 1,000 associates.
Ms. Busby joined WNG in 2002 as Director of Human Resources and later promoted to Vice President in 2007 bringing over 15 years of experience from Security Pacific Bank/Bank of America where she was Vice President for the Commercial Real Estate and Investment Banking groups.
Ms. Busby holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Ms. Busby is a member of the Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
