New York, NY—February 5, 2020—Basis Investment Group LLC (“Basis”), a leading national commercial real estate investment platform, announced today that Founder and CEO Tammy K. Jones has been appointment as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Real Estate Executive Council (REEC), a professional trade association formed to promote the interests of minority executives doing business in the commercial real estate industry. Ms. Jones is the first female chair of REEC.
“I’m honored to follow Kirk Sykes, Quintin Primo and some of the brightest minds in the commercial real estate industry who have led the board of this pivotal organization,” said Ms. Jones, who joined REEC in 2011, serving as a Board member in 2014 and Co-Vice Chair in 2019. “I’m proud to work with such an esteemed Board to continue the critical work of REEC, which includes providing access to opportunity coupled with a powerful network for African American and Latino Executives in commercial real estate, a field that continues to have significant diversity challenges.”
“REEC is committed to being a change agent for our industry by providing leadership development, mentorship and other resources for senior executives, rising stars and other qualified professionals,” added Ms. Jones.
Since its inception in 2003, REEC has grown to include over 110 members with varying backgrounds made up of the most senior executives throughout the nation, along with the rising stars in the commercial real estate industry with at least ten years of experience. Members are professionals with careers allied to investment, management, leasing, financing and property development. REEC meets for retreats, roundtables and other networking events across the country several times throughout the year, and awards grants to local and regional real estate organizations that advance values in line with the mission of the association as well as providing scholarship funding and job opportunities to industry programs nationwide. The REEC organization is comprised of a broad swath of the real estate industry with a commitment to diversity.
The REEC Board includes 9 Board members, each of whom serves a maximum of two consecutive three-year terms. Beginning February 1, Jones will succeed Accordia Partners Managing Partner Kirk Sykes as Chair of the Board. James H. Simmons III, CEO & Managing Partner of Asland Capital Partners, will serve as Vice Chair.
“The leadership of REEC continues to be in good hands with Tammy ascending to Chair of the Board,” Mr. Simmons said. “As Vice Chair, I look forward to continuing to work with Tammy towards achieving REEC’s mission to pursue and promote the success of minorities in commercial real estate.”
Mr. Simmons, as CEO and Founding Partner, serves as head of Asland Capital Partners’ investment committee and manages the day-to-day operations of the firm. With more than two decades of real estate investment experience, Mr. Simmons focuses on sourcing and structuring transactions through his deep relationships across the public and private sectors. Prior to founding Asland, he was a Partner at Ares Management, AREA Property Partners and Apollo Real Estate Advisors. Prior to his private equity fund management career, he was President and CEO of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation. He held previous roles at Salomon Smith Barney, Bankers Trust and General Electric.
Ms. Jones has worked in the industry for more than 25 years and founded Basis in 2009. A diversified commercial real estate investment platform, Basis invests and lends debt and equity across the capital stack. After a series of JVs and Separate Accounts, Basis launched its first commingled fund, BIG Real Estate Fund I, to capitalize on bridge and mezzanine debt, preferred and structured equity and B-piece investment opportunities in the US middle markets. Basis completed the final close of its first fund in May 2019, oversubscribed at $410 million.
Over the past decade, Ms. Jones has been recognized multiple times in the industry for her exceptional performance and leadership. In 2019, she was selected by the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) as a 2019 Finance Catalyst award winner and named by Connect Media as one of the Top Women in Commercial Real Estate. Jones was formerly an Independent Director for Monogram Residential Trust (NYSE:MORE), is Vice Chair of Basis Impact Group and is a member of on the Board of Directors and Chair of the Real Estate Committee of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF). She has been recognized as one of The Network Journal’s 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business.
Ms. Jones received an MBA with a concentration in Real Estate Finance from Georgia State University and is currently a Trustee of The Georgia State University Foundation, sits on the university’s investment and real estate committees, and was honored as a Distinguished Alumni in 2017. She received her BA in Economics from Cornell University and is a member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women.
Mr. Simmons received an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, an MS from the Virginia Tech and a BSE from Princeton University.
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About Basis Investment Group
Basis Investment Group is a diversified commercial real estate investment platform investing across the capital stack throughout the United States. With offices in New York, Chicago, and Irvine, CA, Basis has successfully closed over $4 billion in transactions across multiple strategies and asset classes. Basis Investment Management Group is registered as an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Basis, a certified Minority and Woman-Owned Business (MWBE), focuses primarily on investments in the middle markets where it has deep relationships. Basis originates and acquires fixed rate senior mortgage loans, bridge loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, structured equity and B-piece investments. For more information please visit www.basisinvgroup.com.
About Asland Capital Partners
Asland Capital Partners invests in residential and commercial assets in emerging submarkets within major U.S. growth cities, including New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, DC. Specializing in multifamily, mixed-use and retail assets, the firm is focused on the revitalization of communities through the rehabilitation and repositioning of undervalued and underinvested assets. Asland’s principals have invested over $700 million of equity into workforce and affordable multifamily housing developments over the past decade, repositioning approximately 180 assets consisting of 11,200 multifamily units, 2 million square feet of mixed-use space and 170,500 square feet of retail space. For more information, please visit www.AslandCap.com.