The Chicago office of 90 North Real Estate Partners, a London-based, international real estate investment management and advisory firm, has announced the promotions of Martin Ahern to vice president – investments, and Jay Pacelli to vice president – transactions.
“We continue our work toward building and managing a dynamic property portfolio, acquiring and managing assets that will help us achieve the objectives we’ve established for 90 North and our investment partners,” said Dan Cooper, head of North American operations for 90 North. “Marty and Jay are contributing greatly to that success, with their individual skill sets, and the contributions they make to the broader team.”
Ahern was hired as an associate vice president in late 2014. He has 10 years of experience in commercial real estate and has been involved in the acquisition and disposition of industrial, office, medical office and land assets. He also has experience in commercial real estate leasing and development.
Ahern previously was vice president of property operations for Tandem Development Group in Schaumburg, IL. In that role he oversaw underwriting and analysis of new acquisition opportunities across multiple property types. He also managed lease negotiations and office property operations. Ahern graduated with a BS in business administration from the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University in 2005.
Pacelli was hired as an associate vice president in early 2015. He also has 10 years of commercial real estate experience and focuses on the legal and transactional aspects of identifying, analyzing, structuring, financing, closing, managing and profitably exiting investments for 90 North. He has an extensive educational and professional background covering all phases of the real estate investment life cycle.
Before joining 90 North, Pacelli worked on asset management and legal matters at Cohen Financial, a national real estate capital services company and originator of commercial real estate debt and equity transactions. During his tenure at Cohen Financial, he held a variety of roles within the asset management and investor services platforms of the firm. Pacelli holds a BBA in business management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MBA in finance from the University of San Francisco and a JD with a focus in real estate finance and development from Marquette University Law School.
In their roles at 90 North, Ahern and Pacelli will review investment opportunities, develop business plans and execute closing transactions. The firm’s acquisition strategy for North America targets office, industrial, senior living and student housing properties, among other property types, in the $50 to $200 million range. The firm is also evaluating property with excess land for additional development.
Most recently the 90 North team completed the $135.3 million disposition of the Lenovo Office Campus in Raleigh, NC. In the previous 12 months the firm completed the acquisition of corporate and regional headquarters facilities in two secondary U.S. markets—Cincinnati and Columbus—totaling more than $140 million. The Class A properties acquired by 90 North include the 368,447-square-foot corporate headquarters for Mercy Health in suburban Cincinnati, OH and a 215,000-square-foot, Class A corporate headquarters for Abbott Laboratories facility at 2900 Easton Square Place in suburban Columbus, OH.