The California Commercial Investment Team

Garry Collett has been a significant presence in the California, national and international real estate arena for over 40 years. His career as a principal began with the acquisition of apartment buildings, condominium conversions and land development. Over the span of his career, Mr. Collett has owned and managed several thousand apartment units, office buildings, shopping centers, large land developments, new condominium developments as well as condominium conversions including high rise and garden style apartment buildings.

During the last ten years, Collett’s main focus has been the acquisition, ownership and management of affordable properties that participate in HUD and/or LIHTC programs. After 15 years of involvement with affordable properties, his knowledge of the many intricacies of government subsidized housing have garnered him the reputation of being an expert in affordable housing.

Under the umbrella of his main business unit, California Commercial Investment Group, Inc., Collett currently owns a portfolio of approximately 7,000 apartment units located in over 30 states. In conjunction with his real estate assets, he owns and controls over 70 corporate entities and employs over 300 people.

Graduating with honors in 1985, Mr. Mellman received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with emphasis on real estate and finance from California State University, Northridge. He then began his career in real estate brokerage where he had the opportunity to hone his skills in the multi-family band of investment, diving in to onsite operations and sale negotiations. After a decade of first-hand experience in multi-family real estate transactions, he moved to the ownership side, where he began building a portfolio of local apartment complexes, specializing in value added real estate transactions. Thirty years later, Mellman has purchased, sold, and developed over $395,000,000 in real estate and owns and operates more than 7,000 units.

For the last ten years, Mellman has focused on Project Based Section 8 properties. Along with his partner, Gary Collett and their investors, he now owns and operates approximately 56 senior Section 8 properties across the country. They are all successfully managed by California Commercial Investment Group, Inc. His projects maintain a near 100% occupancy rate and receive consistently high REAC property inspection scores, MOR management reviews and garner various HUD accolades.

Upon submerging himself within the real estate industry in 2002, Mr. Lungin has been involved in the acquisition of over $200,000,000 worth of commercial real estate. His primary emphasis has been affordable housing for the elderly.

With CCI, he has undertaken the responsibility of identifying suitable properties, underwriting them, negotiating the purchase and sale agreements, putting the properties under contract, helping to ensure a smooth and successful closing, as well as staying on in a consultant capacity to oversee the management of the aforementioned properties. With a portfolio of over 5,000 properties to date, every property that Mr. Lungin has underwritten and participated in continues to cash flow positively as projected.

It has been his personal mission to preserve and promote affordable housing and to provide added services while enhancing the tenant’s personal wellbeing as they continue to age in place. He continues to pursue this effort by serving as President of several Non-Profit entities that offer affordable housing throughout the Los Angeles area.

Mr. Lungin graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in International Business from San Diego State University.

As the Chief Executive Officer of CCI, Ms. Hastie has a role in all parts of the business dealings in which CCI participates.  With almost 20 years of transactional real estate and asset management experience, she now focuses on strategic planning as well as the growth and development of CCI while ensuring that the company adheres to its core operating philosophies.   During her tenure at CCI, she has been an integral part of its expansion, helping to grow CCI from a smaller regional company to a national organization reaching 30+ states and hundreds of employees.

Ms. Hastie moved into the CEO role after spending 18 years leading all of CCI’s acquisitions, dispositions and refinances, having managed the closing of hundreds of real estate transactions around the country, including project-based Section 8, FHA insured loans and countless other transfer of physical asset packages, HAP Assignments, grant applications, debt/equity structures, LIHTC and Bond applications/transactions and ground up development.  In her previous role, she was also responsible for CCI’s Asset Management division, including high level budget oversight, portfolio performance metrics and investor relations.

While her experience spans a variety of asset classes including hotel, industrial, multi-family and office, she has a soft spot for providing housing to our country’s expanding senior population.

Ms. Hastie graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric.

As chief financial and operations officer, Kim is responsible for the company’s financial functions, including accounting, audit and tax, and corporate finance for CCI and its related parties.  She also manages human resources, IT, and general company operations and all of CCI’s external financial relationships and cash demands.

Kim transitioned to CFOO after 20+ years with CCI where she was an essential part of the development of CCI’s internal policies, procedures and organizational structure.  She also led the company as it adapted from a small real estate investment company to a multi-faceted corporation with several lines of business.  Her varied experience includes company operations, accounting and financial management, corporate strategy and leadership.  She is a key decision maker for CCI, and strategic partner to the CEO and Founders.

Kim began her career in the tax department of BDO Seidman, LLP in Los Angeles after obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from California State University Northridge.

With more than 40 years of experience in the real estate world, Scott has been an integral part of CCI’s management team since 2000. Beginning in the early 1980’s, Scott had the advantage of working in a wide variety of industry segments, including title insurance, escrow, mortgage lending, syndication, development, entitlement processing and property management. Honing his technical skills as a Title Officer, Scott first worked with Gary Collett in 1987 to develop residential and industrial land in Ventura County. Since then, Scott has also worked as a consultant for various companies focusing on operating efficiencies and revenue growth.

In 1999, Mr. Heaton formally began working with CCI as a property management consultant. Since then, he has steadfastly focused his energy on the HUD management world, developing and implementing a wide variety of policies, procedures and protocols used across the CCI portfolio. Scott now oversees more than 300 employees and 7,000 affordable and conventional apartment units across more than 26 states. He is responsible for day-to-day oversight of the CCI property management division, including revenue goals, HUD compliance, REAC & MOR inspections/audits and property maintenance, including building rehabilitation and various other HUD initiatives and guidelines.

As Executive Vice President of Property Management, Chris is responsible for day-to-day management of CCI’s 7,000 affordable and conventional apartment homes across the United States. Chris leads a team of more than 300 associates who are responsible for all on-site service delivery as well as property revenue goals, maintenance & rehab and HUD compliance.

Chris joined CCI in July 2023 with over 20 years’ international experience in property, project & operations management across the private, public and non-profit sectors. Prior to joining CCI, Chris led Strategy & Corporate Transformation for Prime Group, a leading West Coast real estate equity, debt, investment and operating platform based in San Francisco, CA. In this role, Chris was responsible for the company’s annual strategic planning process, as well as all cross-departmental transformation and process improvement initiatives, with a particular focus on budgeting, procurement and Human Resources processes, systems & tools. In a prior role with Prime, Chris led the Project Management & Optimization group within IT.

Before relocating to California in 2018, Chris led the establishment of the property management division of Be Living Ltd (now part of Apo Ltd) in London, UK. In this startup environment, Chris was responsible for designing and implementing all property management staffing plans, budgets, technology, and investor/client reporting. Chris also previously led the property management and maintenance divisions at Wandle Housing, a 7,000 unit London-based affordable housing provider. His first role in property management was with Notting Hill Housing Trust (now Notting Hill Genesis), one of the oldest and largest London-based affordable housing providers.

Chris graduated from American University in Washington, DC with a BA in Political Science and holds a Masters in European Integration and Development from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Brussels, Belgium. Before he began his career in real estate, Chris served as a diplomat with the United States Department of State, with assignments in Luxembourg, Vietnam, Iraq and Algeria.

As the EVP of Acquisitions and Asset Management, Mr. Crowder is responsible for overseeing all acquisitions, dispositions, refinances as well as the performance of all real estate assets for CCI.  Mr. Crowder actively participates in identifying and structuring new investment opportunities through underwriting the development process, working with lender and equity partners, while ensuring long-term viability and financial returns.  Mr. Crowder has over 15 years of experience in market rate and affordable housing and has closed over $2 billion in real estate transactions throughout the United States and its territories.

Prior to joining CCI in 2023, Mr. Crowder was the Chief Operating Officer for LEDG Capital, LLC, an affordable and workforce housing owner and operator with assets throughout the United States.  In his role as COO, Mr. Crowder was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company. Prior to LEDG Capital, Mr. Crowder spent nearly 10 years at Hunt Capital Partners, a national LIHTC syndication firm. At Hunt Capital he led and directed over 70 projects through acquisition, construction, lease-up, and stabilization, playing a critical role in Hunt’s growth for a decade.

Prior to Hunt Capital Partners, Mr. Crowder was an Analyst and Underwriter with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. While at Bank of America, he was responsible for underwriting and structuring a variety of credit facilities, primarily taxable and tax-exempt loans for affordable multifamily transactions.

Mr. Crowder graduated from Indiana University, Kelly School of Business, with a Bachelor of Science in Finance – Real Estate and a minor in Norwegian.

As EVP and General Counsel, Mr. Weinstock handles all of the day to day legal issues that arise in connection with the real estate and business activities of the company, including structuring and negotiating contracts and transactional documents, conducting due diligence and advising on business, operational and legal strategies facing the company. He also manages outside counsel in matters relating to real estate and corporate transactions, tax, HR, litigation, and compliance issues.

Prior to joining CCI in 2017, Mr. Weinstock was a member of the senior executive team at The Decurion Corporation, a portfolio company that owns and operates Robertson Properties Group, ArcLight Cinemas, Pacific Theatres and Hollybrook Senior Living. In his 12 years at Decurion, Mr. Weinstock served in various roles, including Vice President and General Counsel of Robertson Properties Group (RPG), the company’s commercial real estate development, acquisition, and property management company and Vice President of Real Estate and Senior Counsel of ArcLight Cinemas. At RPG, Mr. Weinstock was responsible for drafting and negotiating leases, purchase and sale agreements, tax-deferred exchange agreements, construction contracts, development contracts, business agreements, and operational contracts. While at ArcLight Cinemas, Mr. Weinstock was responsible for negotiating all ArcLight real estate and corporate transactions and had primary responsibility for sourcing, underwriting, acquiring, and developing new sites for ArcLight Cinemas as part of its national expansion.

Prior to Decurion, Mr. Weinstock was a partner at Jeffer, Mangels, Butler and Marmaro, where he was a member of the Firm’s Global Hospitality Group and Real Estate Department, handling numerous real estate matters for clients, including commercial, industrial, hotel and multi-family sales and acquisitions as well as drafting and negotiation of commercial, office, retail, and industrial lease agreements, construction contracts, management contracts, financing, and security agreements.

Mr. Weinstock graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and earned his JD degree from Northwestern University School of Law. Mr. Weinstock also holds a MBA degree from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

After earning a Master of Forensic Psychology degree from Argosy University in Arlington, VA, Erica began her social services career at a restorative justice non-profit organization. Since then, she has worked in a variety of social service environments, expanding her case management and leadership skills, while becoming an expert in HUD supported programs. In 2012, Erica joined CCI as a Service Coordinator.

Since that time, Erica successfully took on many of the department’s special projects, including developing and implementing an intern program, mentoring new service coordinators, leading department forums to facilitate the sharing of ideas, best practices and conflict resolution, as well as developing portfolio-wide data standards and procedures. Erica understands the importance of working as a team and constantly pursues opportunities to strengthen the relationships between property management staff, service coordinators and company leaders.

Erica now leads a team of over 40 service coordinators to achieve the highest quality long-term, community based supportive services in the industry. With her excellent leadership skills, creativity, passion and determination, she ensures our residents receive the necessary support vital to their successful, independent living.

As Vice President of Tax Credit Development, Ryan Carl is responsible for the Asset Management functions of CCI’s LIHTC (Tax Credit) projects. This includes oversight of investment performance, budgeting, audit and tax preparation as well as project management and investor relations/correspondence. Ryan works closely with all internal departments at CCI (acquisitions, operations, construction/maintenance, accounting) to ensure full circle coordination and efficiency in management of the project portfolio. Ryan joined the CCI Team in 2017.

Ryan has 20+ years of experience in Real Estate management of diverse asset classes ranging from Affordable Housing Multi-Family and Tax Credit projects, to Industrial/Office/Commercial management and Construction including ground-up builds, rehabilitations and tenant build-outs. He has filled multiple roles during his career including as Auditor, Corporate Controller and Asset Manager. Ryan’s education and background is in accounting, and he holds a CPA license with Big-4 experience.

Ryan graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a degree in Business Economics and an Emphasis in Accounting. He also holds a Masters Degree in Business Economics.

Ben began his career in multi-family property management in 2000 after graduating Summa Cum Laude with a BA degree in Business Administration.  Starting in 2004 and over the next 7 years he held manager and regional manager positions in the non-profit affordable housing arena.  Ben had oversight of HUD Section 8 senior buildings in addition to several large supportive housing properties utilizing LIHTC and HOME funding combined with Section 8 subsidy targeting special populations.  Ben held the lead management position for an urban $12 million tax credit rehab project and the construction, lease-up, and management setup of a “first of its kind” affordable assisted living building.  His partnership with local social service agencies was key to achieving stability in the lives of hundreds of residents, particularly those formerly homeless.

In 2012, Ben took a senior living consultant position with a national healthcare services & housing provider.  He proved influential in developing creative strategies at large retirement communities to improve outcomes and resident satisfaction.  Ben implemented a comprehensive policy and procedure manual across his portfolios and provided daily operations support for housing and services.  He was responsible for manager training and mentorship, financial planning, turning around struggling service lines, and regulatory compliance of assisted living facilities and independent living buildings across the country.

With over two decades in property management with a specialized focus on senior populations and needs across the spectrum, Ben is an exciting addition to CCI’s leadership team.

As Senior Vice President of Asset Management, Mr. Delson is responsible for oversite of budgeting, HAP renewals, investment performance and risk management for CCI. With over ten years’ experience in the multi-family investment real estate world, Mr. Delson uses his industry know -how to focus on streamlining operating efficiencies at a portfolio level while maximizing rental income in order to maintain stable building performance. Additionally, he works with property management and accounting colleagues to oversee portfolio incidents to ensure active risk management, minimizing portfolio wide insurance claims.

In his 5+ years at CCI, Mr. Delson has spearheaded several company initiatives to enhance budget understanding at the property management levels, facilitate consolidated report ups to aid in comprehensive understanding of property operations as well as overseeing vacancy management, all with an eye toward enhancing portfolio performance.

Mr. Delson graduated from Pepperdine University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration.

With over 12 years’ experience in marketing, training and sales, Katie brings exceptional skills to her role as Leasing & Marketing Manager.  Since joining CCI, Katie has made a name for herself as our “go to expert”, leading our efforts on leasing/marketing strategies for CCI’s entire portfolio. Working with a wide variety of properties in different regions, Katie has gained a deep understanding of the industry and a wealth of experience and knowledge in both conventional and affordable housing.

Additionally, Katie’s focus on website and reputation management, technology advancements and ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking in the area of leasing strategies, continues to keep us out in front of the competition when it comes to meeting occupancy goals. Katie’s commitment to incorporate real-time resident feedback in the development of her leasing & marketing programs is the benchmark of our goal to make good investments in our tenants and our company.

Katie attended the College of Southern Nevada with a focus in Marketing. In her free time, Katie thoroughly enjoys traveling and exposing her family to cultures of all kinds. Getting married in a chateau on the outskirts of Paris is one of her favorite memories.

As the Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Susan Heck is responsible for overseeing People Operations and Strategy. She, along with her team, work to ensure they are focused on continued Human Resource excellence and improvements in the areas of employee relations, human resources policies, training programs and payroll and benefits administration. She is responsible for ensuring legal compliance with federal and local law in over 30 states, evaluating employee programs and policies to ensure alignment with company objectives and leading company-wide recruiting efforts.

Susan graduated with her MBA from California Lutheran University. She has over 30 years of human resource experience in many different industries and although she has been in leadership roles for over 25 years, she continues to think of herself as a strategic generalist who continues to learn something new from everyone in the businesses she supports. She is a self-proclaimed “educationaholic” with certifications in different areas of HR and most recently spent time in 2020 attaining her SHRM-SCP.

Susan believes that people are a critical component of any organization and that HR’s role is to balance the need of the business with the needs of the people who drive the results. With an HR philosophy of “transparency and investment in people”, she is focused on process improvement, cultural excellence, a positive and inclusive workplace, mentorship and finding the joy in what we do.

Lisa joined the CCI Team in October, 2022 with over 20 years of property management experience including affordable, market rate and mixed-income multi-family properties. This experience allowed her to develop a depth of knowledge with respect to the intricacies of leading property management staff while also directing strategy on the daily complexities related to multi-layered affordable housing properties including LIHTC, HUD, HOME, and RD programs.

After a wide variety of roles including property manager, regional property supervisor and regional vice president, Lisa most recently served as the Senior Vice President of Property Management for a widely recognized management company serving over 10,000 units across the country. There, she was responsible for the overall strategic and tactical direction of property management operations and she oversaw an expanding portfolio of affordable, mixed-income, and market rate multifamily housing throughout the eastern United States.

In addition to being a leader in the property management field, Lisa is also a Blended Occupancy Specialist (BOS), Tax Credit Specialist (TCS), Certified Housing Asset Manager (CHAM), Certified Property Manager (CPM), and has Rural Development Certifications. She is a member of IREM, and a licensed Real Estate agent in Georgia.

Lisa earned an Associates of Applied Science in Business Management from Columbus State Community College.

Raychel began her career with CCI in 2006, where she oversaw CCI’s insurance portfolio and gained a strong understanding of risk evaluation and the importance of policy and procedure. She then moved into CCI’s accounting department where she took on implementation of our property management/accounting software and as such, began working on creation and application of work flows, guidelines and protocols. In 2011, she became the Manager of CCI’s Compliance Department where she has integrated accounting and property management policies and procedures with compliance.

After a decade with CCI and with multi-departmental exposure and experience, Raychel now directs a team of compliance professionals to ensure that CCI’s internal workflows remain in compliance with LIHTC regulations and all regulatory issues as they relate to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She is responsible for remaining up to date on HUD’s constantly changing guidelines as they pertain to Fair Housing, EIV and MORs for over 7,000 units while also managing LIHTC and investor reporting for CCI’s tax credit portfolio.

Ryan Nadler joined the CCI team in 2022 bringing with him 20+ years of experience in construction and property maintenance. In his role as VP of Building Maintenance and Facility Services, Ryan is responsible for development, implementation and oversight of various maintenance related protocols portfolio wide, including building systems, rehabilitation, scope of work requirements and enforcement, capital planning, REAC/NSPIRE and preventative maintenance best practices, maintenance technician training and onsite safety.

Prior to joining CCI, Ryan led maintenance teams at various types of senior housing including independent & assisted living and memory care facilities in multiple states.

Mr. Nadler holds OSHA 10 Construction Certification; OSHA 30 General Industry Certification, and he holds his Master of Business Administration from Western Governors University.

As Accounting Department Controller, Mr. Wilde is responsible for the financial activity of CCI’s property management division. Leading a team of Accounting Managers, Property Accountants, and Support personnel, Mr. Wilde works closely with Property Management and Compliance to accurately process, report and monitor the operations of the HUD Section 8 and LIHTC portfolio.

Prior to joining CCI and while earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from California Lutheran University, Mr. Wilde developed leadership and law enforcement skills serving in the US and abroad during a 10-year military enlistment. His career at CCI began in 2006 in the Accounting Department, where Darren gained operational insight by handling the daily processing for multi-family affordable properties. As CCI grew, Darren expanded his focus to accounting procedures by directing the development of formalized policies, procedures, and internal controls, resulting in a low number of findings during the required annual financial audits as well as low incidences of fraud compared to industry. He has advocated for the expanded use of technology to connect CCI offices and employees together, minimizing the risk to company assets and allowing for a high-degree of real-time analytics and reporting while keeping overhead to a minimum.

With an emphasis on responsiveness and positioning the company for future growth, the security of the residents, employees and stake-holders is the top priority from Mr. Wilde as he continues to leverage CCI’s substantial resources to deliver an exceptional product.