OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Seasoned real estate and hospitality executive and investor Gary Beasley has signed on as a managing director for Waypoint Real Estate Group (www.waypointhomes.com), a rapidly-expanding Bay Area-based real estate investment company focused on purchasing, renovating and leasing out distressed single family homes, while providing a path to homeownership for potential buyers.
Beasley, who most recently served as a partner with Geolo Capital and CEO of boutique hotel chain Joie de Vivre Hospitality, brings more than two decades of experience in real estate, finance, private equity and general management in private and public enterprises to the Waypoint team. In his new role, in addition to general management responsibilities, he will be actively involved in both the raising and deployment of capital, developing direct buying channels and borrowing relationships with lenders, and helping plan and execute the company’s rapid growth strategy.
“Gary has a consistent track record of successful leadership and building high-growth companies and brings extremely relevant domain expertise and an entrepreneurial spirit to our company that we are very excited about,” said Doug Brien, co-founder and managing director, Waypoint Real Estate Group. “As Waypoint continues to expand into new markets and bring our innovative leasing programs to communities in need of revitalization, we are confident that Gary’s leadership and expertise will be instrumental in helping us achieve our goals.”
Since late 2009, Beasley served as a partner with Geolo Capital, the private equity arm of the John A. Pritzker family, where after helping orchestrate the firm’s investment into Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second largest boutique hotel chain in the U.S., he served as its CEO for a year prior to its successful merger with NY-based Thompson Hotels in October of this year.
Beasley spent over five years earlier in his career successfully growing the pioneering Internet-based residential brokerage ZipRealty, which now ranks as one of the largest residential brokers in the U.S. During his tenure with the company as CFO, and later President, he helped architect and execute its successful national expansion, growing the company from 40 to over 2,000 employees and leading it through its successful IPO in 2004. Other past positions include key roles with GreenVolts (a solar technology start-up); KSL Resorts (a $2 billion KKR-backed resort/leisure enterprise); Security Capital Group (REIT pioneer); and LaSalle Partners Limited (predecessor company to Jones Lang LaSalle).
Beasley received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University and his master’s in business administration from Stanford University. In addition, Beasley serves on the regional Board of Directors for BUILD, a Bay Area-based nonprofit organization that seeks to build entrepreneurial skills in low-income students to encourage high school graduation and future college success.
“Having been involved as an investor and member of the Waypoint advisory board since 2009, I see tremendous potential at this point in time to help create much needed liquidity in the housing market,” said Beasley. “Waypoint is helping to create a completely new asset class for institutional investors, specifically a rental stock of single family homes held for both attractive current yield and future appreciation, and I believe we are extremely well positioned to effectively deploy significant amounts of capital in this sector. I am honored to join Doug and Colin and the rest of the Waypoint team to help address the housing crisis in a constructive manner and build a significant enterprise along the way.”
About Waypoint Real Estate Group
Based in Oakland, Calif., Waypoint Real Estate Group (www.waypointhomes.com) was founded by Colin Wiel and Doug Brien in 2008 and has developed into a next-generation real estate company providing an innovative and effective solution to the current U.S. housing crisis. The Waypoint solution centers on buying distressed single-family houses, renovating them, and then leasing them to high quality residents via innovative leasing programs. Affiliate Waypoint Homes provides ongoing coaching to help residents improve their financial fitness and prepare for home loan qualification. The Waypoint business is run via a sophisticated proprietary technology system that allows for the efficient buying and management of high volumes of houses. Currently, Waypoint owns nearly 800 homes in California, primarily in the Bay Area communities of Antioch, Bay Point, Brentwood, Concord, Fairfield, Martinez, Oakley, Pittsburg, Richmond, San Pablo, Suisun, Vacaville and Vallejo, as well as Southern California’s Inland Empire.
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