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.

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 the EVP of Acquisitions and Asset Management of CCI, Ms. Hastie has a part in all phases of the business dealings in which CCI participates.  With over 15 years of transactional real estate experience, she is responsible for structuring all of CCI’s acquisitions, dispositions and refinances and has 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.

She is also responsible for CCI’s Asset Management including high level budget oversight and strategy, asset management, strategic planning and investor relations.

Ms. Hastie has worked with lenders, HUD offices, housing authorities and various other local, state and federal agencies and stakeholders around the country in the course of her ever day business and thus, has a keen understanding of the intricacies of complicated, multi-tiered transactions.

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

Ms. Siegert oversees the accounting department as well as corporate operations for CCI. Ms. Siegert’s team is made up of staff accountants, acquisitions accountants, asset managers and a Controller. She is a key decision maker in all major financial decisions of the company and its related parties. She is responsible for ensuring that all financial compliance is met with regards to HUD and lender guidelines for some fifty five HUD subsidized properties. This includes day to day operations, monthly/quarterly/annual financial statement preparation and annual financial audit preparations. In addition, she supervises the oversight of approximately seventy ownership entities including all financial reporting and income tax preparation. She works closely with CCI’s contracted CPAs with regards to tax planning and strategy.

Kim Siegert graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from California State University, Northridge and subsequently worked in the tax department of BDO Seidman, LLP in Los Angeles prior to becoming the Controller for CCI in August of 2001.

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.

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 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 10 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 and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with a major 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 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.

Scott began his career in affordable housing as a Property Manager for a 195-unit tax credit property in the year 2000. After joining CCI as a Property Manager in 2011, he quickly rose to a Regional Property Supervisor role, where he honed his talent for building cohesive site level teams while overseeing a portfolio of project-based Section 8 buildings in five different states. During this time, he also oversaw several tax credit renovations and worked with a myriad of agencies at the local, state and federal levels in order to facilitate regulatory compliance as well as ensure the completion of complicated tenant-in-place renovations. In 2018, Scott was promoted to the position of Vice President in CCI’s Property Management Division, where he works directly with the Executive Team and Owners.

After nearly two decades in property management, Scott is focused on providing mentorship and training of his regional property supervisor team while working closely with the EVP of Property Management to ensure superior property performance at every level, including but not limited to budget achievement, long term preservation of each asset, resident satisfaction and the development of sensible policies and procedures.

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.