Who We Are
Blacklion is a private real estate investment company founded by two experienced industry professionals whom have enjoyed a working association of nearly twenty years and an operating/investment partnership since 2011. We focus on multifamily and industrial properties in targeted secondary and select major U.S. Cities. We are a proven sponsor whom is committed to deliver best-in-class investment services to our clients. Our senior team has many years of experience investing across multiple real estate cycles and our operating platform ensures local expertise and timely execution.
Our Numbers
18 Years
Length of founding principals professional relationship
7 Years
Executing the investment strategy since inception with our senior team
27%
Realized portfolio average IRR (net) executing the investment strategy since inception with our senior team
55,000
Number of multifamily units acquired by senior team
$1 Billion
Aggregate value of industrial assets acquired by members of senior team
$275 Million
AUM since inception with our senior team
Our Track Record
- Investment returns produced by Senior Team since inception and as of March 31, 2019.
- There can be no assurances that future acquisitions will achieve comparable results.
- Endnotes for Track Record are contained in a Summary Appendix that may be shared upon request with qualified investors, lenders or other interested parties.
- Net of all fees, transactional costs and carried interest.
- Includes total projected contributions and total projected distributions for unrealized investments.
- Investments being held-at-cost until further into execution of business plans.
Our Performance
Our business begins and ends with performance.
- Investment returns produced by Senior Team since inception pertaining to 20 full-cycle transactions
- There can be no assurances that future acquisitions shall produce similar results
- Y-Charts and S&P data (average return between 2012-2018)
- MSCI World Index (average return between 2012-2018)
Our Mission
Our Values
Do the Right Thing:
Every person at every level of the organization is expected to act with integrity. Integrity is our most essential and fundamental core value.
Accountability:
Take personal responsibility and deliver on commitments.
Teamwork:
Create a vibrant and positive culture to promote collaboration and fellowship.
People:
Respect one another, encourage professional development, acknowledge personal contributions and reward effective performance.
Citizenship:
Be responsible investors and citizens in the communities where we work and reside.
Determination:
Display a will to win in every aspect of our business.
Entrepreneurship:
Differentiate the company via innovative thinking and accomplishment.
Jim Gatlin co-Founded Blacklion, and oversees all phases of the Company, including leading the management team in all aspects of property acquisition, disposition, financing, asset management, and investor relations. He also chairs the firm’s Investment Committee. Jim has 20+ years of industry experience, and has acquired in excess of $1 billion in multifamily assets, comprising 30,000 units. Jim was formerly a senior investment officer at L&B Realty Advisors where he headed multifamily investments. Based in Dallas, L&B provides real estate investment services to institutional investors. After L&B, Jim joined Cypress Real Estate Advisors in Austin, Texas, where he was responsible for investments and the company’s asset management team. Since its founding, Cypress has invested over $2.5 billion across seventeen major market of the U.S. After receiving his accounting degree from the University of Texas, Jim began his career as a portfolio manager for a national apartment developer.
Ceclie Fernandez oversees third-party multifamily management efforts for multiple properties. Ceclie is tasked with optimizing asset performance, and leads department initiatives to better enhance processes and procedures for the organization, including monitoring monthly cash flows, loan maturities, multiple expense reduction projects, and top-line revenue growth. She is responsible for communicating changes in market and property conditions to executive management, and also performs analytical and research support for new acquisitions. Ceclie was previously a senior financial analyst with an energy company, and was responsible for running the analyst team. She also has Bloomberg terminal experience. Ms. Fernandez is a graduate of Texas State University, with a BS in Finance. Ceclie joined a Blacklion affiliate company in 2016.
Josh Sanders primarily focuses on origination of multifamily investments in targeted Texas markets, but also is involved with sourcing investments in select Southwest and Midwest markets. In this capacity, he primarily focuses on strategic value-add and story-driven multifamily opportunities. Josh has ten years of experience in the real estate industry. He began his career in the oil and chemical refinery industry, before relocating to Australia where he developed two wellness clinics, one which grew to be the largest clinic in the state of Queensland. After returning to the US, Josh furthered his education in finance at University of Texas and focused on commercial real estate investment. He joined Blacklion’s affiliate in 2012.
Timothy Young co-Founded Blacklion, and provides strategic direction for the Company, including building the current management and investment teams and creating the Company’s fiduciary and entrepreneurial culture. He also co-chairs the firm’s Investment Committee. Tim has 37 years of investment experience encompassing investment banking, investment management and commercial real estate. He has acquired, developed and financed nearly $4 billion of commercial property transactions during his career. He previously co-founded Harbour Realty Partners, a national multifamily investment platform, founded Blackpoint Capital Advisors, a Honolulu-based merchant banking firm, managed the real estate group at the Bank of Hawaii, and was formerly an investment banker with Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, J.P. Morgan and Drexel Burnham. Mr. Young majored in Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
Todd Pirtle oversees Constructions Services. He began his professional career as a Construction Cost Analyst with a Fortune 500 engineering and construction firm in Houston, Texas. He was soon promoted to Project Field Engineer where he was assigned to multi-million dollar construction projects both nationally and internationally. In 1997, Todd joined a nationwide multifamily general contracting firm and relocated to Austin, Texas. While there he served in many key roles, including Estimator, Supervisor, Project Manager, General Manager, VP of Operations and EVP of Sales and Marketing. In 2011 Pirtle joined Delphi Affordable Housing Group as the Executive Director of Construction Services. There, he was responsible for the oversight of major property capital expenditures. Todd also co-founded The Ironwood Group, which provides renovation and catastrophe restoration services to the multifamily industry. Todd has a degree in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin.
Dorota Applebaum heads the Company’s capital markets activities, as well as manages investor relationships. She is also an Investment Committee member. Prior to joining Blacklion, Dorota served as a Principal of Gemma Capital Group since its founding in 2007. Dorota holds a Master of Business Administration from NYU Stern School of Business. She started her real estate career in the mortgage industry with over $2 billion in transaction volume and has focused solely on commercial real estate transactions since 2004. Dorota has leveraged her extensive international investment network to create multiple joint venture relationships between real estate firms in the US, Europe and Israel and financial partners seeking investment opportunities providing various risk-return scenarios.
Jennifer Bolan oversees the firm’s overall operations, including investments from due diligence during the acquisition process, to the creation of operating procedures, budgeting, forecasting, leasing, as well as direct supervision for the execution of portfolio business plans and operating strategies. In addition to overseeing relationships with third-party property managers, Ms. Bolan provides value to our lenders and investors via her quality control oversight program. She is a voting member of the Investment Committee. Jen possesses over 20 years of experience in accounting/finance, with a strong focus on financial analysis. She also worked in the energy sector for nine years gaining vast experience with structuring and analyzing MLPs, project management and leadership training. Jen joined Blacklion’s affiliate, Austin Capital Advisors, LLC, in 2016. She holds a B.S. in accounting from Kansas University.
Matthew Hood leads investment origination for Blacklion’s affiliates, Western States Real Estate Advisors and Midwest Advisors. In such capacity, he is sourcing and evaluating strategic value-add, core-plus, opportunistic and other story-driven opportunities in multiple U.S. markets. Mr. Hood also supports underwriting and due diligence for the Acquisition Team and Investment Committee. He is a voting member of the Investment Committee. Matt began his career in 2005 with L&B Realty Advisors where he focused on multifamily acquisitions and asset management across the United States. He has been responsible for the sourcing, underwriting, closing, managing, and selling of commercial properties exceeding $1 billion in value. Matt received his BBA from The University of Incarnate Word (San Antonio) in 2002 and an MBA from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2003. Matt has a prior and long-term professional relationship with senior Blacklion principals prior to joining the company in early 2018.
An integral part of the Asset Management Team since joining a Blacklion affiliate in 2016, Kelcie Stockton oversees numerous multifamily assets and identifies business strategies for her portfolio. Her duties involve managing property management staff, budget coordination and oversight, execution of leasing and marketing strategies, as well as developing and implementing outreach and performance initiatives at the property level for internal employees. She is also involved with design concepts and related construction projects for her portfolio, and assists with investor communications and relations. Kelcie is a graduate of Texas State University, with a BS in communications.
Our Approach
Blacklion’s centralized operating platform seeks to:
– Unite external investment goals, and our capital partners, with its local business units;
– Effectively and efficiently both meld and leverage internal resources, pipeline and capital with local knowledge and expertise.
Our Advisory Board
Our Advisory Board is comprised of a diverse and highly successful group of professionals to support Blacklion’s management team in their goals and objectives while promoting and supporting the company’s mission and values.
Robert C. Cavanaugh 
Chief Executive Officer of RFC Enterprises
Darryl Myrose
Managing Director of Resource Real Estate Funding, Inc.
Ronald J. Silverman
Senior Managing Director, Bel Air Advisors
Mickey Segal
Managing Partner of Nigro Karlin Segal & Feldstein LLP
Capital/Transactional Partners
Collaborators
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