Our People

Lisette Almedina is the General Manager for LCP. She has been with LCP for more than 21 years and manages all administration, human resources, and operational activities. Ms. Almedina is an alumnus of Pace Business School.

Matthew Barnello is the Analyst, Hotel Acquisitions of LCP. He is responsible for researching, underwriting, and conducting due diligence on prospective equity and debt transactions.

Prior to joining LCP, Mr. Barnello was an Analyst at SteepRock Capital, a privately owned real estate investment firm investing in both real estate debt and equity investments favoring assets with durable cash flow or long-term intrinsic value. Mr. Barnello has a B.S. in Hotel Administration, concentrating on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate, from Cornell University.

Alec Billiet is the Vice President of Asset Management with the LCP Group, L.P. (LCP). He is responsible for overseeing the performance of the assets in the portfolio by analyzing and executing opportunities for operational improvements, monitoring capital expenditures and cash flow, financial benchmarking analysis, modeling, due diligence and market research.

Mr. Billiet has over 10 years of hotel operations, hotel finance and real estate advisory experience. Prior to joining LCP, Mr. Billiet was a Senior Director at hotelAVE. In his role, he conducted analysis and executed operational asset management initiatives for a portfolio of hotels. He benchmarked revenue and expenses to identify opportunities. In addition, he completed underwriting to support asset positioning opportunities and ROI analysis.

Prior to joining HotelAVE, Mr. Billiet was a Senior Manager, Strategy & Analytics at Club Quarters Hotels, reporting directly to the CEO. He provided strategic analysis and asset management services for Club Quarters hotels and related business activities through data review, benchmarking and business modeling to optimize operational & financial results. Prior to joining Club Quarters, Mr. Billiet was a Senior Associate at Duff & Phelps in their Real Estate Advisory Practice in New York.  In this role, he provided institutional clients with valuation analysis for their hotels and other commercial real estate assets. Before attending Cornell University, he worked as a Deputy Hotel Manager for the Ibis hotel in Antwerp, Belgium.  His other operations experience includes opening 2 Park Inns (Rezidor) in Belgium and working in various sales and marketing positions for Accor Hotels.

Mr. Billiet holds a Master of Management in Hospitality (MMH) from Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and a Master & Bachelor Degree in Business Economics from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

Benjamin Borin is the Vice President, Hotel Acquisitions of LCP. He is responsible for researching, underwriting, and conducting due diligence on prospective transactions. He also manages assets for existing hospitality and multifamily properties, including overseeing capital expenditures, budgeting and reporting, investor relations, and dispositions.

Prior to joining LCP, Mr. Borin was an Associate at Morgan Stanley in the Institutional Securities Group Fixed Income Division, the group responsible for hedging exposure on uncollateralized derivative positions using options, swaps, and other fixed income derivative products. While there, Mr. Borin built an integrated financial model that forecasted capital implications of acquiring a separate legal entity for fixed income derivatives that mitigated $5 billion in regulatory capital charges. He also created a pro forma for capital-intensive trades using ROI and IRR metrics, enabling the ability to analyze profitability on a trade-by-trade basis. He also developed a financial model to productize the firm’s methodology for pricing collateral on Interest Rate and FX derivatives, which the firm implemented across the fixed income division.

Prior to Morgan Stanley, Mr. Borin was at GFI Group in the Latium Capital division which trades as principal in ethanol, natural gas liquids, and other energy and agricultural markets.

Mr. Borin has a B.S. in Business Administration, Finance and Real Estate, from Lehigh University. He has been actively participating in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program since 2014.

Roger Clark is the Executive Vice President, Acquisitions, Hospitality Group of LCP. He oversees deal sourcing through LCP’s network of off-market intermediaries, brokerage firms, hotel consultants, and owners. He is also responsible for contractual negotiations, underwriting, and transaction closing activities.

Mr. Clark has more than 35 years of experience in the hotel business and has personally closed more than $2 billion in hotel real estate transactions. Throughout his career, he managed all facets of hotel real estate including acquisitions, dispositions, construction, conversions, and management agreements.

Mr. Clark was instrumental in the formation of several notable hotel firms including HEI Hotels & Resorts, a $2 billion hotel portfolio, where he was the Senior Vice President of Hotel Acquisitions and served on the firm’s Investment Committee. He was also a founder and Partner at New Castle Hotel & Resorts, a hospitality manager, owner, and developer, where he was responsible for the growth of the firm. Prior to New Castle, Mr. Clark held positions at Interstate Hotels & Resorts and Promus Corporation.

Mr. Clark has a Master of Professional Studies from Cornell University and a B.A. from Bates College.

Maurice Cummings is the Vice President, Finance of LCP. He leads LCP’s accounting and finance functions with an emphasis on maintaining effective controls for cash management and overseeing financial reporting for the firm’s various platforms.

Prior to LCP, Mr. Cummings was Assistant Controller, Family Office, for Structure Tone, a global leader in construction management and general contracting. He managed general accounting, reporting, and analysis for 35 entities, 24 family trusts, and a real estate investment management company.

Prior to Structure Tone, Mr. Cummings was a Senior Accounting Analyst at the New York Liquidation Bureau (NYLB), the state’s entity that manages the affairs of insurance companies deemed insolvent or impaired by the State Department of Insurance. During his tenure at NYLB, Mr. Cummings led the project team charged with auditing current and historical general ledger data for 60 insurance companies across 20 years. He also prepared and analyzed quarterly financial statements and monthly reconciliations of a billion-dollar investment portfolio.

Earlier in his 24-year career, he held accounting manager, controller, and auditor roles at Ziff Brothers, Loeb Capital Partners, Quantitative Financial Strategies, Offitbank, McGladrey & Pullen, and KPMG Peat Marwick.

Mr. Cummings has an M.S. in Accounting from Pace University and a B.S. in Business Administration from Boston University.

Justin Frankel is Executive Vice President of Ventures for LCP. He is responsible for sourcing and managing early-stage investment opportunities.

Prior to joining LCP, Mr. Frankel was the CEO of Bayside Corporation, a publicly traded crypto-asset and blockchain infrastructure company with locations throughout the United States. Prior to Bayside, he was a portfolio manager at RiverPark Funds, a private investment management firm founded by former Baron Fund executives, where he created and managed a low-beta hedged equity mutual fund. Prior to this, Mr. Frankel was a managing partner at Wavecrest Asset Management and was focused on liquid and risk-managed derivatives-based solutions for institutional and individual investors.

Previously, Mr. Frankel spent more than a decade in leadership roles at Morgan Stanley, UBS Wealth Management, Merrill Lynch, and Star Equities in structured investment sales, private wealth advisement, capital markets sales, and equity trading.

Mr. Frankel holds a B.A. in International Relations from Lehigh University where he was a Martindale Scholar.

Kevin Gebhard is the Marketing Content Strategist for LCP. He supports the marketing team with new content creation and writes LCP’s blog content geared towards LCP’s high net worth EB-5 investors.

Mr. Gebhard comes to LCP with more than 20 years of institutional sales experience in the financial industry, having worked at Lehman Brothers, FS Smithers, and Loeb Rhoades, where he was West Coast Institutional Sales Manager.

Mr. Gebhard is an alumnus of Trinity College, Hartford, where he majored in English.

Aneliya Georgieva is the Consultant of Digital Marketing for LCP. She assists with all digital capabilities for LCP’s global marketing efforts including marketing automation, SEO and SEM, lead generation campaigns, customer acquisition initiatives, and data analytics.

Ms. Georgieva has more than 10 years of digital marketing experience and has a solid track record of producing results across key digital components to drive sales revenue and a superior customer experience.

Prior to joining LCP, Ms. Georgieva was the Director of Marketing at CMDS, a marketing and design agency. While there, she managed a small team that oversaw 19 accounts and provided in-depth research and analysis and implemented growth strategies to ensure positive results on all digital campaigns. Before CMDS, Mrs. Georgieva held several digital marketing roles at Plymouth Rock Assurance Company, a leading property and casualty insurance company in the Northeast. She had a broad scope across digital capabilities including lead generation, affiliate partnerships, SEM, client acquisition, and data analytics.

Ms. Georgieva graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Graphic Design from Columbia College. She also started coursework for her M.A. in Data Analytics from Southern New Hampshire University. She is Google Adwords Certified and previously held a New Jersey state property and casualty insurance license.

Larisa Gitelman is the Accounting Manager for LCP. She supports LCP’s financial operations team and accounting team with analysis, budgeting, reporting, and general accounting functions.

Ms. Gitelman has more than 20 years of accounting experience in the financial industry. Prior to LCP, she was the Assistant Vice President of Accounting for Legg Mason Global Asset Management where she partnered with the mutual fund, hedge fund, and alternative investment product groups to support fund launches and budget reviews, Lipper reporting, annual prospectus filings, fee and NAV calculations, SEC filings, and the subscription and redemption process for investors. Prior to Legg Mason, she was a Senior Fund Accountant at Citigroup where she managed the accounting process for its mutual fund portfolios.

Ms. Gitelman graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Accounting from the National University of Trade and Economics in Kiev, Ukraine. She is fluent in Russian and Ukrainian.

Dila Gojcaj is the Office Manager for LCP, where she provides general administration to the broader team. Prior to joining LCP, Ms. Gojcaj spent more than 20 years at Lexington Realty Trust and was the Director of Human Resources for more than a decade.

Peter Guilfu is the EVP of Capital Markets and Debt Strategies of LCP. He is responsible for raising capital and placing debt investments for LCP’s debt platform through joint ventures and fund structures. He also oversees LCP’s capital markets function, including financing LCP investments throughout its portfolio. Additionally, he will assist in developing and executing LCP’s investment strategy and process.

Mr. Guilfu comes to LCP with more than 20 years of experience in originating, underwriting, closing, and asset managing commercial real estate mortgage loans. He has expertise in the acquisition and repositioning of institutional-quality real estate assets, primarily in the lodging, multifamily, and manufactured housing sectors.

Prior to joining LCP, Mr. Guilfu was Managing Director at SunTrust Bank, now Truist Bank, where he most recently led the bank’s agency efforts for their institutional clients. During his tenure, he managed a loan portfolio of $4+ billion and originated more than $3.1 billion in loans resulting in net revenue of more than $54 million. He had overall responsibility for sourcing, originating, evaluating, and structuring
complex real estate investments across the bank’s defined agency and bridge debt products.

Prior to SunTrust, Mr. Guilfu spent more than a decade at General Electric Capital Corporation and was most recently Senior Director, North America Debt. During his time there, Mr. Guilfu was responsible for all facets of the lending process for a variety of commercial real estate assets ranging from core to opportunistic strategies. He directly participated in more than $2 billion of transaction volume and worked across equity and credit investment teams.

Mr. Guilfu holds an M.B.A. in Finance and Financial Management Services and an M.S. in Finance from Boston College, and a B.S. in Hotel Administration from Cornell University.

Denis Karasev is the Director of Investor Relations, Russia for LCP. He oversees all investor relations and marketing activities in Russia for LCP’s EB-5 foreign real estate investor program. Mr. Karasev works closely with LCP’s EB-5 investors to guide them through the subscription, investment, and immigration process. He is based in our Moscow office and travels frequently throughout Russia, his native country, to meet with potential investors.

Prior to joining LCP, Mr. Karasev was the Founder and CEO of Pangaea Investment Company in Russia where he focused on U.S. investments in commercial and residential real estate, hospitality, and energy sectors. He also worked closely with foreign investors to invest in the U.S. EB-5 program and has a 100% approval rate for obtaining an EB-5 Visa.

Prior to establishing Pangaea, Mr. Karasev was a Managing Partner at SD Global Services, a Dubai-based consultancy firm focused on investment and business opportunities in the Middle East and CIS regions. Prior to SD Global, Mr. Karasev was the Director of Business Development at SBC Global Contracting in Dubai, and prior to that, he held director roles in the consulting and publishing industries.

Mr. Karasev has a B.S. in Economics from Tashkent State University.

Linda Lu is the Director of Investor Relations, China for LCP. She oversees all investor relations in China for LCP’s EB-5 foreign real estate investor program. Ms. Lu is based in Beijing and works closely with LCP’s EB-5 investors to guide them through the subscription, investment, and immigration process.

Prior to joining LCP, Ms. Lu worked for the Quebec Fund Company where she raised $130 million for the Quebec Provincial Government immigrant investor program. She helped hundreds of reputable Chinese investors migrate to Canada successfully, supporting new entrepreneurship across the province.

Ms. Lu holds an M.B.A. from Tsinghua University and a B.A. in Literature from Harbin Normal University.

Richard Marquard joined LCP in 2013 and serves as Executive Vice President, Investment Operations. He oversees LCP’s net lease and EB-5 foreign real estate investor program, where he is responsible for business development including originating and structuring investments, leading transaction execution, and portfolio management. Mr. Marquard also oversees the global investor relations team and works closely with investors through the subscription, investment, and immigration process.

Prior to this Mr. Marquard spent 10 years in the real estate finance division of Textron Financial Corporation, a commercial finance business of Textron Inc., a $14.2 billion multi-industry company. During his most recent role as Assistant Vice President at Textron, he had direct responsibility for all aspects of investment relations including origination and structuring, relationship management, credit and underwriting, closing, and ongoing portfolio management and servicing. Prior to this role, Mr. Marquard managed a $350+ million portfolio of commercial real estate loans through Textron Financial’s liquidation. And earlier in his career at Textron, he was responsible for commercial real estate loan origination and asset management within the hospitality segment.

Mr. Marquard has an M.B.A. from the University of New Haven, a B.A. in Economics from the University of Connecticut, and an Advanced Business Certificate in Real Estate from the University of Connecticut School of Business.

Scott Roskind is Managing Partner, Ventures for LCP. He is responsible for sourcing and executing new venture capital investment opportunities for LCP’s venture capital business.

Mr. Roskind has more than 20 years of experience in venture capital investing and in leading startup companies, bringing expertise in business development, strategic partnerships, marketing, and team development.

He is currently a partner at R3 Venture Partners, a venture capital fund that invests in a targeted range of early-stage companies, primarily in post-Seed to Series A rounds. Mr. Roskind’s startup portfolio includes LinkShare Corporation, a leader in online affiliate marketing, and other ventures including Marquis Jet, The National Basketball Retired Players Association, Reveal Designs, and Eleven James. He was instrumental in driving early-stage investing for LinkShare Corporation, Marquis Jet, Avíon Tequila, MiniBar, and WheelsUp.

Mr. Roskind has an M.S. in Sports Management from the University of Massachusetts and a B.A. in Economics from Lafayette College. He is also the co-chairman of the Babies Heart Fund at Columbia University Medical Center.

Poornima Vuppuluri is the Director of Capital Raising & Investor Relations of LCP. She is responsible for developing new client relationships, identifying growth opportunities, and raising capital for commercial real estate investments.

Prior to joining LCP, Ms. Vuppuluri was at Jonathan Rose Companies, a commercial and residential real estate owner and developer, where she worked in investor relations and helped to manage a portfolio of 36 real estate assets across 10 funds in affordable and multi-family housing developments. Prior to Jonathan Rose, Ms. Vuppuluri was the Commercial and Investor Relations Manager at Essar Steel Minnesota LLC, a subsidiary of Essar Group. Essar is a global investor and controls diversified assets across the Energy, Metals & Mining, Infrastructure, and Services sectors. Here, Ms. Vuppuluri played a pivotal role in the successful launch of a $450 million high yield bond offering and another $450 million in debt funding.

Ms. Vuppuluri has a B.S. from Cornell University and a Public Relations and Marketing Certificate from New York University.