CA, a Chicago-based real estate investment management company, expanded its medical office and life sciences division with the appointment of Jimmy Hwang, who joins the firm as executive vice president of investments, and Jesse Ostrow, who will serve as senior vice president of investments.
“Since launching our medical office and life sciences division earlier this year, CA has maintained a bullish approach to acquiring, developing and operating best-in-class healthcare, lab and research facilities in markets across the U.S.,” said Russell Brenner, president of the division. “The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the dearth of quality medical and life sciences real estate nationally, which only strengthened our commitment to these burgeoning sectors. Through strategic hires like Jimmy and Jesse, CA is positioned to quickly scale its portfolio by leveraging longstanding relationships with capital partners, expanding the platform’s deal sourcing network and creating further synergies with our existing verticals.”
As executive vice president of investments, Hwang is responsible for investment management activities across the medical office and life sciences division, as well as CA’s industrial and residential verticals. Prior to joining the company, Hwang served as a director in the equity advisory team at Jones Lang LaSalle. Before JLL, Hwang was a vice president at Evercore Partners in the real estate private capital advisory group. Throughout his career, he has been involved in medical office portfolio monetizations totaling more than 4 million square feet and valued in excess of $1.5 billion.
Hwang holds a bachelor of science in finance from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and MBA from Harvard Business School.
Ostrow, the newly appointed senior vice president of CA’s medical office and life sciences division, is responsible for defining and implementing the vertical’s investment activities and overseeing acquisition, financing and sale transactions. Before coming to CA, he was chief investment officer at MedProperties Group, a medical real estate investment, development and operating platform. In that role, Ostrow led the firm’s property acquisition process and managed transactions including sourcing capital, closing debt and executing sales and recapitalizations. He previously served as founder and managing principal of a boutique real estate investment consulting firm and, before that, held positions in real estate investment banking and private equity with Equibase Capital Group, Security Capital Research & Management (now a subsidiary of J.P. Morgan Asset Management) and A.G. Edwards & Sons.
A graduate of the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with high distinction, Ostrow also holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
CA launched its medical office and life sciences division in early 2020 and is targeting $500 million of investments per year through development and value-add acquisitions across the U.S. By leveraging the firm’s experience in dozens of markets and synergies with CA’s existing senior housing and student housing verticals, CA is uniquely positioned to build and scale a platform dedicated to delivering compelling solutions to healthcare users and high-quality investment opportunities with attractive, risk-adjusted returns to its capital partners.