Partners

DEAN PENTIKIS has 30 years of commercial real estate experience spanning both institutional and entrepreneurial ventures. Most recently, he formed P8 Capital, an investment and advisory firm, and is a Senior Advisor to Sixth Street.

Previously, Dean was Managing Director, Head of Commercial Real Estate and Portfolio Manager at Global Atlantic Financial Group. In this role, he led new investments, portfolio management and risk management for an $11 billion portfolio of debt, equity and securities. 

Dean has also held executive roles at Watt Companies and Apollo Real Estate Advisors. While at Watt, Dean held positions as Chief Investment Officer, Investment Committee Member and Founding Partner of Watt Investment Partners and led investments focusing on change-of-use, entitlement, and re-zoning of mixed-use office/retail/ residential investments in California, Colorado, and Utah.

At Apollo, Dean was a Partner and Head of the Los Angeles office leading equity investments totaling over $2.5 billion in capitalization and over $500 million of high-yield debt. Investments ranged from value-add multi-family, over one million square feet of mixed-use entitlement and 30,000+ acres of land for residential communities. Dean began his time at Apollo in a finance role overseeing Funds with over $12 billion in AUM and managing financial reporting, asset and fund level debt, valuations, budgeting and investor relations.

Additionally, Dean has been a partner in joint venture to develop net-leased properties and led investments in six different single tenant build-to-suit investments. 

Early in his career, Dean held junior roles in the commercial real estate areas at Bank of New York, Deloitte & Touche, and Nomura Asset Management. Dean holds a B.S. in Economics from James Madison University.

JIM ZANONI has been a principal with the former FMW Real Estate, and current Armitage Development Group, since 1998. During that time, Jim has assembled approximately 10 acres along Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC, in nine different blocks.  As part of that assemblage, Jim actively worked with numerous city officials and community groups to successfully rezone approximately 6 acres, entitling it for 460 multifamily units, 110,000 sq. feet of retail and/or 400,000 sq. ft. of commercial office space. For Phase I of the assemblage, Jim designed and permitted a 249-unit multifamily community and 10,000 sq. ft. of retail / commercial space named 927 W. Morgan. He then pre-sold the $50 million-valued project to Faison and its institutional partner, the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. At their request and on their behalf, Jim stayed on and developed the 927 W. Morgan to its completion.

Jim then went on to develop, brand, and own the “LiveOnHillsborough” boutique apartment communities along Hillsborough Street: (1) 2604 Hillsborough Street, a 14-unit, 36-bed community; (2) 1301 Hillsborough Street, a 41-unit, 67-bed community; (3) 2811 Hillsborough Street, a 30-unit, 66-bed community; (4) 109 Park Avenue, a 87-unit, 149-bed community; (5) 103 Park Avenue, a 15-unit, 27-bed community; and (6) 104 Ashe Avenue, a 17-unit, 31-bed community.  The 204-unit, 376-bed portfolio’s properties are located directly across from, next to, and near NC State University’s main campus and a 1/2 mile from Raleigh’s central business district. The 2604 Hillsborough Street community was the first development ever to use the City of Raleigh’s Pedestrian Business Overlay District zoning classification where no parking was required or provided. During Jim’s ownership, the LiveOnHillsborough communities consistently achieved 100% lease-up upon their initial stabilization. In the Fall of 2021, through Eastdil, Jim sold the LiveOnHillsborough portfolio to a Horizon Properties and Angelo Gordon joint-venture for $56.5 Million. 

During his tenure at FMW Jim also assisted his since-retired partner, Walker Wells, in assembling FMW’s 7.75 acre Midtown Charlotte, NC properties. Jim was the developer for the assemblage, including national and regional tenants Chipotle, Mattress Firm, The Vitamin Shoppe, Bojangles’, Circle K, the ABC Liquor Store and the Original Pancake House. To complete the development, Jim entitled, designed and then pre-sold to Lennar, a 260-unit multifamily community with 8,500 sq. ft. of retail space.

In addition, Jim worked with Walker representing of the City of Charlotte in assembling the four-block area for the Spectrum Center, home to the Charlotte Hornets. Jim and Walker also assisted the City of Charlotte in its acquisition and sale / leaseback of the Federal Court in Uptown Charlotte. Jim then assisted Walker in the “re-assemblage” of the 81-acre Eastland Mall site on behalf of the City of Charlotte.

Jim has also developed multiple infill projects, including a unique Office Depot in SouthEnd Charlotte, which includes a mezzanine level, the first of its kind in Office Depot’s then 1,000-store chain. The infill developments have comprised of residential, retail and office components and stand-alone credit commercial deals.

Prior to that, Jim was a commercial real estate attorney for approximately six years practicing, in Chicago, Illinois and then Charlotte, North Carolina. During his legal career, Jim focused on urban infill as well, and worked on such projects as Bank of America’s Gateway Village, at the time a cutting-edge large urban mixed-use project valued at approximately $450,000,000, which included over 1,000,000 sq. ft. of office space, 536 multifamily / condominium units, and the Johnson & Whales Charlotte campus. As a late twenty-something, Jim’s responsibilities included being the lead attorney in the assemblage of the five city-block area, and then the representation of the joint venture between Bank of America and Cousins in the development requirements for, and the sale of, the multifamily and condominium components. Jim also represented the City of Charlotte in its sale and lease-back transaction to Trinity Episcopal School in Uptown Charlotte.

Jim graduated from Illinois Wesleyan as an accounting major, and immediately thereafter received his CPA designation after successfully sitting for the CPA exam. Jim then graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law.