Turning complex problems
into
investment opportunities
ABOUT US
What We Do
GKI Ventures is an opportunistic private equity firm that acquires, manages and repositions performing and nonperforming debt through a variety of strategies.
GKI has a proven track record of success navigating complex lender/borrower situations within the distressed debt environment.
Our Story
Founded in 2009, GKI Ventures has outperformed the market in all phases of the business cycle.
Having started the firm in the depths of the worst financial calamity since the Great Depression, GKI Ventures has demonstrated resilience, reliability and strength.
GKI Ventures continues to successfully close acquisitions during both economically challenging times as well as during periods of economic growth.
TEAM
We are a cohesive team of people with complementary skills who perform multiple complex tasks in concert to achieve superior results with great attention to detail, professionalism and passion for positive outcomes.
Richard Wood
Principal
Richard brings over 30 years financial and real estate experience as a founder and principal of GKI Ventures LLC, along with Ken Nagid. His focus is identifying distressed opportunities, analyzing and valuing these opportunities and assisting in planning how the investment may perform under various scenarios. He also develops new relationships with potential investment partners and helps maintain the existing relationships with these investors. Richard often maintains the relationship with borrowers in order to expedite the resolution.
Richard also works the day to day with the properties, leasing, sales, tenant management and negotiations and improvements. He feels it´s important to maintain a presence in the properties and this knowledge helps better evaluate new opportunities.
Richard has held numerous positions, including consultant for Price Waterhouse Coopers, as Chief Financial Officer for the Miami Beach Development Corporation and as Chief Financial Officer and for Majestic Properties.
Richard received a BS in Finance from Indiana University and an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology. He also maintains a Florida real estate license.
Mail: richard.wood@gkiventures.com
Phone: (305) 742-8864
Ken (Chen) Nagid
Principal
Ken, a Co-Founder and Principle of GKI Ventures, brings a keen vision and a dogged pursuit for opportunities, with his focus on developing and maintaining relationships with lenders of all types. Ken maintains strong ties with international investors who are interested in investing in US defaulted debt instruments. Ken further assists to both analyze and value these opportunities.
Ken’s also has primary responsibly to oversee some of our larger investments, including our 400+ room hotel in Doral, FL.
Ken previously worked in Israel for Siemens as a Project Manager in the R&D field.
Ken relocated to Miami in 2006 and served as Property Manager and Director of Operations for Majestic Properties, where he managed more than 30 properties, including both commercial and residential properties..His responsibilities included leasing, construction, financial strategies, insurance, and legal matters.
Ken is a graduate of Tel Aviv University with a BSC degree in Electronic Engineering and Business Administration. He also maintains a Florida real estate license.
Mail: ken.nagid@gkiventures.com
Mark King
Director
Mark focuses on the distressed debt and commercial real estate segments of the South Florida real estate market. Mark has worked for probate attorneys and US Bankruptcy courts in Florida and Colorado. He has also completed transactions with the Colorado US District Court and the New Jersey US Attorney’s Office. Mark has entitled retail land, turned around challenged multi-family and managed/leased core retail. This experience and Mark’s keen eye for good opportunities, along with a firm grasp of market fundamentals, has created a unique skill set that is very powerful in the realm of disintermediation.
Prior to joining GKI Ventures, Mark was with Lee & Associates national commercial real estate brokerage firm in Miami for 6 years and prior to that he was with New York City based Racebrook Capital, parent of Sheldon Good & Company. His work with Racebrook began in Denver in 2009 working with Sheldon Good as an Associate Director of business development bringing commercial properties to auction. His success in listing a Denver bank portfolio of OREO, a Chapter 11 mixed-use construction project in Aspen, CO and a Chapter 7 trustee’s sale of 7 resort condominiums spread across the United States lead him to be recruited to the Manhattan headquarters of Racebrook as a Director in order to focus on real estate related bankruptcy cases and other hard to value real estate in markets across the country.
With more than 23 years of experience in commercial and resort real estate transactions, serving in nearly all related functions, Mark’s analytical approach, comprehensive market knowledge and engaging personality adds value to any transaction.
Mark received a BA in Criminal Justice from Colorado State University. He also maintains a Florida real estate license
Personally, Mark is an avid cyclist and outdoorsman with 11 years of experience volunteering on a Colorado search and rescue team. When not focused on real estate, he is often planning his next adventure trip.
Mail: mark.king@gkiventures.com
Jenny Lobenberg
Commercial - VP
Jenny Lobenberg joined the GKI team as Property Manager in 2019 and brings over 25 years of property management experience to the company.
Jenny has worked with small and large scale residential communities, condominium and homeowners’ association and various types of commercial properties. Jenny manages all aspects of properties including rent collections, tenant and maintenance management, vendor relationships and government agencies.
Jenny holds a Florida Community Asset Management License and a degree in business administration.
Mail: jenny.lobenberg@gkiventures.com
OUR APPROACH
Our strategy for investing is based on taking advantage of opportunities as they come, otherwise known as opportunistic Investing.
The premise of this method of investing is focusing on the opportunity rather than any particular asset.
As such, we look for those opportunities which provide an opportunity for superior returns while mitigating the risks of the investment.
01.
GKI primarily invests in defaulted notes, though we will also consider other investments as long as they meet our investment criteria.
These notes can be payment defaults, maturity defaults or notes which are nearing a maturity or have other underlying concerns.
02.
GKI considers several factors when evaluating an opportunity, including the collateral, the terms of the note and mortgage, the borrower’s payment history, the risk of bankruptcy, the note rates (regular and default), the condition of the asset, the occupancy, the current rental rates vs the market rates and the potential purchase price.
03.
GKI, along with our attorneys, conducts the due diligence, the physical inspection of the asset, conducts a financial review of the asset (current vs. potential), completes an investigation of the borrower, assesses the likelihood of a payoff vs a completed foreclosure and other factors which may impact the investment.
04.
GKI seeks to maximize the investment return, whether that is a payoff, a completed foreclosure or an agreement with the borrower.
05.
In the event that any asset is gained via the foreclosure process, such as real estate, we will already have a plan in place, at the time of note acquisition, that will address the physical condition of the property, the rent roll and the path to turnaround the physical asset in order to realize the maximum asset value at the right time in the business cycle.
OUR EXPERIENCE
Our experience spans the entire range of the commercial real estate capital structure: from debt to equity and from simple to complex.
Typically our transactions involve purchasing defaulted or otherwise non-performing debt instruments from regional and national lenders.
Often they are first position mortgages secured by commercial real estate, but we have also purchased other types of debts secured by personal property.
Since our inception in 2009, GKI Ventures has closed on more than 140 transactions totaling in excess of $500MM in commercial notes and real estate and currently manages a portfolio of $125 million of income producing real estate and in excess of $25MM in distressed debt.
GKI has purchased distressed debt from a variety of sources and in varying ways. We purchase primarily from banks but also via private lenders, foreclosure auctions, distressed owners, heirs, bankruptcy court, via the IRS at auction and we have closed with the US Attorney’s Office involved in the transaction. We also have extensive experience in the US Bankruptcy Court system and are comfortable making debtor-in-possession (DIP) loans, stalking horse bids and 363 sales.
We have closed on myriad property types, including; residential, office, retail, industrial, flex, hotels and land. We have purchased performing and nonperforming notes, foreclosure judgments, bidder rights as well as purchasing the asset after the foreclosure auction but prior to issuance of the certificate of title. We seek value and opportunity; we will take on complex situations which also provide superior overall returns. Additionally, we have terminated existing condominiums to force reluctant owners to sell and we have converted properties to condominiums in order to maximize the sales value of the property.
We also manage the entire investment process. This includes identifying opportunities, valuations, negotiating with Sellers, due diligence, closing, communication with borrowers and serve as attorney-in-fact when possible. In the instances where we acquire title to the real estate, we then proceed to manage, improve, lease-up and ultimately sell the assets at the opportune time.
GKI Ventures has a demonstrably proven track record of success in the most complex and demanding of transactions!
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