EXECUTIVE TEAM
As Chief Executive Officer of Carlyle Development Group, Mr. Mahamedi provides strategic guidance and leadership for all aspects of the firm’s operations. Following more than 32 years of experience, Mr. Mahamedi has established himself as an astute investor, identifying undervalued assets and emerging real estate trends, and successfully execute on the formulated strategy.
Mr. Mahamedi is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in Civil and Structural Engineering (B.S.E 1983, M.S.E 1984). He began his construction career in the United States with Hartz Mountain Industries as a civil engineer for construction of commercial properties. He then moved on to create his own property acquisition and development entities including North American Development, and Emanuel Land Company, a property management and development company, and a subsidiary of Emanuel & Company, a Wall Street investment banking firm. His responsibilities at Emanuel were to assess the engineering and financial feasibility of investment grade development projects, and syndication of real estate partnerships. In late 1987, he joined CDG as a partner, where his responsibilities included the evaluation and supervision of all investment activities.
Moreover, Mr. Mahamedi has also been an active Private Equity investor in the science and technology sector, which in 2005 led him to a large investment in Liquidmetal Technologies (OTC:LQMT), a former NASDAQ listed company (Market Cap of $800,000,000 in 2001), and a leading force in the research, development and commercialization of a revolutionary class of patented alloys and processes with applications in a broad range of medical, military, consumer, industrial, and sporting goods products. Mr. Mahamedi has served on the board of directors since May 2009 in various roles, including Chairman and Vice Chairman, during which the company’s market capitalization has increased from less than $3,000,000 to more than $220,000,000 in 2017.
Chairman
Carlyle Development Group
Phone: 914-694-6760
Location: New York, New York
john@carlyle-usa.com
Chairman, John has twenty-five years of experience in construction and real estate investment in the Middle East, France, and the United States. He holds a civil engineering degree (B.S.C.) from London University, 1965. He began his career in the Middle East representing manufacturers of construction equipment including International Harvester. He was also contracted to build roads for the Air Force in Iran. In 1979, he moved to France and through a joint venture with BPGF (French Bank), he invested in and built mid-rise apartment buildings and condominiums in Paris and Fountainbleu. He also developed two recreational mobile home parks in the south of France. At the same time, he invested in land and development projects in the United States, including Houston, Nashville, Florida and Canada. He is one of the founders and principals of Carlyle Development Group. His responsibilities include the supervision of the group’s Land Development Projects in North America, as well as evaluation of investment decisions and arranging equity capital through partnerships with local and foreign investors.
Director of Acquisitions
Carlyle Development Group
Phone: 914-694-6760
Location: New York, New York
tom@carlyle-usa.com
Thomas Fear joined Carlyle in November 2007 and is responsible for all aspects of management, leasing, acquisitions and development for the firm. Tom has 20 years experience with a broad range of responsibilities as a real estate professional. Most recently, he was a senior vice president with Savills Granite, LLC where he was an integral member of the very successful real estate investment banking firm. At Granite, Mr. Fear was integral in the disposition and financing of over $2 billion of retail, office, and industrial properties encompassing over 30 million square feet. Prior to joining Granite, Mr. Fear served as a residential broker for two years in Manhattan’s Flatiron district. In addition to Mr. Fear’s duties as a broker, he also served as a residential acquisition analyst. Mr. Fear graduated from Roger Williams University in 1991 and received a Masters from New York University with a specialty in Real Estate Finance in 1999.
Senior Asset Management Advisor
Carlyle Development Group
Phone: 212-461-4274
Location: New York, New York
edlagrassa@earthlink.net
Mr. LaGrassa has had a distinguished career in the real estate industry holding senior positions at major financial service companies and corporations. He is currently president of Chilton Realty Inc. which is a real estate investment, advisory and brokerage company that provides a broad range of commercial services to investors and developers. At Arrow Electronics he headed their global real estate organization with employees 14,000 in 300 locations in 40 countries.
While at Citicorp Ed was the Director of Global Real Estate and was involved in the strategic overview of the banks largest assets. He was co-head of Asset Management and responsible for a varied portfolio of 80 large troubled properties. Prior to Citicorp Ed ran a large diversified portfolio of investment-grade properties at Merrill Lynch Hubbard. He began his real estate career at Allied Stores and during his tenor there he acted as a developer, tenant and landlord for their retail properties and shopping centers.
At the real estate investment firm of Emmes he headed Asset Management, where he oversaw an extensive portfolio of office buildings, shopping centers, industrial properties and raw land. Mr. LaGrassa is a licensed real estate broker and architect. He is an active member of The Urban Land Institute (ULI) at the local district council and with Urban Plan, International Real Estate Group and The Real Estate Board of New York. Ed also chairs the Asset Management Roundtable that BOMA sponsors. He teaches at NYU at the Schack Institute’s masters degree program. He is a member of the board of directors at a NASDAQ listed company and numerous non-profit organizations.
Atlantic Realty Group
Phone: 858-459-9922
Location: Lo Jolla, California
JChitayat@gmail.com
Jack began his real estate career in 1992 when he founded Atlantic Realty Group to acquire, own, develop and manage commercial and residential properties in North America. In 1996, Jack Chitayat and Atlantic Realty Group teamed up together with Carlyle Development Group to acquire and manage real estate portfolios in excess of $250 million with over 4 million square feet in the North East, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Texas and Canada. Prior to and in parallel to founding ARG, Jack was a Founding Partner of J. Holdsworth Capital Limited, a private investment and management group engaged in the acquisition and subsequent operation of middle market manufacturing, distribution and service businesses, as well as venture-backed start-ups since 1987. His responsibilities at CDG include the evaluation of investment activities in addition to the financing aspects of the acquired portfolio properties. Prior to establishing J. Holdsworth Capital, Mr. Chitayat was a management consultant at Bain & Company. Jack graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and International Relations in 1985.
Director of Construction and Development Management
Carlyle Development Services
Phone: 212-461-4276
Location: New York, New York
amohamedi@carlyledevelopment.com
Director of Construction & Development Management, Ali is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in Architecture and Civil Engineering (B.A , M.S.E 1985). He began his career in the United States with Brewran Development Corporation, as both in-house Architect and Development Manager. He progressed to Bovis Lend Lease Inc., where during a ten year tenure, became an Assistant Vice President, and as a Project Executive supervised more than $500,000,000 in high profile construction projects, including the Grand Central Terminal’s main concourse in New York. He then held various senior executive positions at JA Jones, Inc., Structure Tone, Inc. and Tomasso Brothers, during which period supervised a staff of more than 35 employees, and was responsible for more than $500,000,000 in private and public projects. Ali was also a first senior executive member of eBricks.com, where he supervised the development of one of the first construction project management internet portals in U.S., backed by major institutional investors such as Bechtel and GE Capital. He is currently a Managing Partner of AEC Partners, LLC,www.aecpartnersllc.com, an affiliate of Carlyle Development Group. His responsibilities for CDG include the planning and supervision of all pre-development and construction activities.
President, Carlyle Group Europe
Carlyle Development Group
Phone: 914-694-6760
Location: New York, New York
alex@carlyle-usa.com
Alex has fifteen years of experience in real estate finance, development and construction in Europe and Latin America. He holds a BA in Economics from Brown University and an MBA from The Wharton School of Finance. Alex began his career as an investment banker, initially at Morgan Stanley in New York and subsequently at Merrill Lynch in London. Over the course of eleven years, he advised on a number of real estate acquisitions and financings. In 2005 he moved to Spain and together with CDG invested in, and began developing residential projects, including an abandoned XII century village which he purchased in 2006. He is one of the founding partners and principals of CDE. His responsibilities for the company include the evaluation and supervision of all investment activities across Europe, with a particular focus on activities in Spain where he is based. Alex speaks fluent Spanish, Portuguese, French and English.
Vice President; Property Management Division
Carlyle Development Group
Phone: 410-727-2600
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
melainie@carlyle-usa.com
Melainie has over 10 years of experience as a Real Estate professional in Asset Management. She began her career with Trammell Crow Company in 2003 and joined CBRE in 2006 as a result of the acquisition of Trammell Crow Company. During her tenure with CBRE, Ms. Eifert held a Asset Manager position and collaborated with the Asset Services team by maintaining positive tenant, vendor and client communication for a varied portfolio of office and retail properties totaling approximately 517,000 square feet. During her 3 years with Carlyle Development Group, Melainie has managed all aspects of Redwood Tower.
Ms. Eifert holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Goucher College in Towson, MD and holds the following industry designations: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Associate, Real Property Administrator (RPA). Ms. Eifert is a licensed Real Estate Salesperson in Maryland and Virginia.
General Manager
Carlyle Baltimore Holdings, LLC
Phone: (443) 438-1479
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
gary@carlyle-usa.com
Gary brings over 30 years of diversified real estate experience in property and asset management to Carlyle Development Group. He started his career as the Director of Property Management for over 4,100 luxury apartments in central New Jersey. He later transitioned into commercial real estate as an Asset Manager for Enterprise Group Development Corporation and also Mutual Benefit Life in New Jersey and Michigan and managed various kinds of commercial assets in New Jersey, South Dakota, Michigan, Florida and Ohio.
He most recently worked for Cushman and Wakefield as an Associate Director in Washington, DC managing a portfolio of office, retail and industrial assets in Northern Virginia and DC. He also worked for Transwestern as a Vice President managing a portfolio of office and industrial assets next to the Port of Baltimore.
Gary has managed all kinds of assets over the years including subsidized and luxury apartments, Class “A” office buildings, historical, a governmental warehouse storage facility for artifacts, light and heavy industrial, medical office, retail shopping centers, flex buildings and R&D research.
Gary holds a B.A.in Business Administration from William Paterson College in Wayne, New Jersey. He has earned the Real Property Administrator (RPA) designation by the Building Owners and Managers Institute (BOMI), and holds the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation from the CCIM Institute. He also has a Maryland Real Estate Salesperson’s license and is a member of BOMA Baltimore.
Director – Planning & Residential Construction
Carlyle Development Group
Phone: 914-694-6760
Location: New York, New York
manu@carlyle-usa.com
Director of Planning & Residential Construction, Manu is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in Architecture (M.S. Arch – 1955, B.S. Arch – 1953). He was a partner and majority owner of one of the largest architectural, engineering, and consulting firms in Middle East. His firm designed numerous public works projects including three military bases, three universities with 12,000 students each and an international airport terminal. Mr. Mahamedi’s private and public projects in Iran totaled more than two hundred million dollars in construction costs from 1964 to 1979. Since 1980, he has conducted business in the U.S. as a partner of Brewran Development Group and Empire Homes. Brewran and Empire are builders and developers of luxury condominiums, single-family residences, and commercial buildings.