Real Estate Capital Markets Team
Zions Capital Markets consists of a highly experienced management team with extensive expertise in all aspects of the commercial real estate industry.
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David Auerbach
Head of Real Estate Capital Markets
David oversees all Real Estate Capital Markets activities at Zions Bancorporation, N.A., bringing over 25 years of expertise in commercial real estate finance and capital markets. Prior to establishing and building out the platform within Zions, he was a founding member of Archetype Mortgage Capital, a conduit loan origination platform within LNR Property, which became Starwood Mortgage Capital following Starwood Property Trust’s (NYSE: STWD) acquisition of LNR Property in 2013. Prior to Archetype, David held various positions in commercial real estate finance including senior roles at Wachovia Securities and Deutsche Bank. David holds an MBA from the University of Miami and a BBA from Florida International University.
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John Schellpfeffer
Head of Credit, Real Estate Capital Markets
John is Zions’ dedicated senior credit officer supporting Real Estate Capital Markets, reporting to the Bank’s Chief Credit Officer. John spent the past 24 years at Wells Fargo, where he was most recently Wells’ Real Estate Capital Markets Senior Credit Officer and Head of CRE Underwriting for the Southeastern and Midwestern regions for 12 years. Prior to his credit officer role, John was in various leadership roles in asset management and loan workouts following Wells’ acquisition of Wachovia during the financial crisis, where he had been the head of CRE underwriting for Wachovia’s CMBS platform. John holds a BS from Fairfield University.
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Ryan Frank
Managing Director, Head of Securitization
Ryan is responsible for managing securitization contributions, issuer partner relationships and rating agency execution for Real Estate Capital Markets. Prior to joining Zions in 2022, Ryan spent 20 years at Fitch Ratings, most recently as a Senior Director where he managed a CMBS rating team with coverage across conduit, agency and single-borrower product types. Ryan serves as co-chair of CRE Finance Counsil’s Education Committee and holds a BA in Finance and Real Estate from the University of Wisconsin.
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Brian Bokor
Managing Director, Head of Contract Finance
Brian is responsible for the negotiation, documentation, and closing Real Estate Capital Markets loans. Brian has over 23 years of experience in commercial real estate, including in-house counsel at Wells Fargo supporting CMBS and balance sheet originations. Prior to Wells Fargo, Brian was an attorney for BNY Mellon, supporting the bank’s conduit program, and spent over 10 years in private practice focusing on CRE debt and equity transactions. Brian holds a JD from the University of Florida and a BA from Davidson College.
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Laurie Sutherland
Director, Contract Finance
Laurie manages key aspects of loan closings within Real Estate Capital Markets, drawing on over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate, including closing CMBS and balance sheet loans at Wells Fargo and served as a senior closing paralegal supporting external counsel on CMBS and balance sheet commercial real estate loans at Holland & Knight, Winstead PC, and Cadwalader. Laurie holds a BS from Appalachian State University and is a North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal.
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Paul Cabot
Director, Originations
Paul is responsible for internal originations across affiliate banks in the western region for Real Estate Capital Markets. He has over 12 years of experience in commercial real estate finance, focused on conduit loan originations with Starwood Mortgage Capital in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Miami offices. Before joining Starwood, he graduated LNR’s rotational analyst program. Paul holds a BA in economics from the University of Chicago.
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Spiridon Mitsis
Director, Originations
Spiro is responsible for Real Estate Capital Markets loan originations. He has over 12 years of real estate capital markets experience, including most recently Citigroup, where he focused on Southeast and Mid-Atlantic loan originations. Since 2011, he was involved in over $5 Billion of CMBS and balance sheet loan transactions. Spiro holds a BA from Baruch College.
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Herschel Patel
Director, Securitization
Herschel is responsible for securitization data capture and offering-document disclosures, legal due diligence, loan marketing to investors, and securitization contract analysis for Real Estate Capital Markets. He has over 12 years of experience in commercial real estate finance and structured products, most recently as a Vice President at Wells Fargo Securities (WFS), where he focused on CMBS Securitization, Conduit-Loan Sales, and Credit Risk Retention. Prior to WFS, Herschel worked within Asset/Portfolio Management (conduit and SASB CMBS transactions) at Wells Fargo Bank. Herschel holds a BA from Duke University.
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Brad Gladsden
Director, Originations
Brad is responsible for Real Estate Capital Markets loan originations throughout the United States. He has over 21 years of commercial real estate finance experience most recently with Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FBRT) originating both fixed and floating rate debt products. Prior to FBRT, he worked for Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE: LADR) and was also in mortgage banking with Meridian Capital Group. He has been involved in financing over 14,000 multifamily units and 7,500,000 square feet of commercial properties. Brad holds a BA from Babson College.
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Lilly Recio
Director, CMBS Structuring
Lilly is responsible for bond structuring and analytics for Real Estate Capital Markets. She has over 21 years of experience in capital markets and structuring financial products. Prior to Zions, she worked in bond analytics and capital markets for LNR Property, which was acquired by Starwood Property Trust (NYSE: STWD) in 2013. Lilly holds an MBA from Arizona State University and a BS from Florida International University.
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Brian Holberton
Director, Underwriting
Brian is responsible for credit underwriting and risk analysis for Real Estate Capital Markets. Before joining Zions, Brian was at Townhouse Partners, where he specialized in the financial analysis and modeling across various CRE structured finance platforms. Prior to Townhouse Partners, Brian was drafted by, and played professional baseball for, the Houston Astros. Brian holds a MS from New York University and a BS from UNC Chapel Hill.
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Jeff LaPiana
Director, Underwriting
Jeff is responsible for credit underwriting and risk evaluation for Real Estate Capital Markets at Zions. Before joining Zions, Jeff was at Red Fox Capital Partners, specializing in structuring, financial analysis, modeling and underwriting or real estate private debt. As a Certified Public Accountant, Jeff has also worked as a commercial real estate developer and as a government contractor to federal and state regulatory agencies. He holds a BBA in Accounting and Finance from Siena College.
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Angelo Mannino
Associate Director, Underwriting
Angelo is a seasoned finance professional specializing in credit underwriting, risk evaluation, and loan originations within Real Estate Capital Markets. With a strategic approach to structuring transactions, Angelo plays a key role in identifying and executing high-value opportunities. Previously, at Moody’s, he progressed within the CMBS & CRE-CLO teams, with a strong focus on Conduit, SASB, and Agency transactions. His experience also includes underwriting at NYCB, a balance sheet lender, where he assessed complex commercial real estate deals, as well as a partner position at MRG, a boutique investment firm. Angelo holds a BBA in Finance & Law from Hofstra University and a MS in Real Estate Finance from New York University.
