The 548 Team
Robert A.J. Patton
CEO & Founder
Robert ’A.J.’ Patton is an accomplished finance, sales, and capital markets expert with more than 15 years experience in investment banking, endowment management, real estate analysis and development.
A.J. got his start with Duke Realty, analyzing leases and preparing valuations for the company’s real estate portfolio. Then at Equities First, a $500 million-dollar investment fund, he led the Investment and Underwriting Departments along with managing all U.S. business development initiatives.
After Equities First, A.J. branched out on his own, founding 548 Capital, LLC and 548 Development, LLC, to combine his expertise and track record of creating consistent returns with a personal passion for helping transform communities and their impact on the planet, developing solutions for the housing, environmental, and economic issues facing inner cities. In 2022, A.J. combined these companies under the 548 Enterprise umbrella, creating a full-service entity that provides solutions for all aspects of the development process.
A.J. currently resides in Chicago where he is an avid sports fan, golfer, workout enthusiast, and father. He has been named Midwest Energy “ 40 under 40”, American Council on Renewable Energy -Accelerate member, Chicago Business Leadership Council Banking & Finance Co-chair, World Leaders Forum Board Member, Lowe's Green Community Partner, Chicago INVEST South/West Winner, and Chicago Community Trust Grant recipient. He holds a BS in Finance from Indiana State University
Mercedesbenz Paxton
Chief Operations Officer
Mercedesbenz (Benz) Paxton is a 3rd generation Chicago Native, born and raised in Lawndale, and brings over 12 years of experience in development projects and operational management.
Benz started his real estate career at Peak Property Management in Chicago, where he started in the maintenance department for mixed-use development. He quickly moved up to property management, responsible for over 500 condominium units within the portfolio. He then moved to Home River Group (formerly Lett’s Property Management) as the head of the maintenance department and specifically oversaw all affordable housing vouchers, where he got delinquent rent down from $50k to under $1k a month.
While at Home River Group, Benz built a pre-check system that got ahead of issues through early inspection and regular maintenance, addressing repairs on buildings that were falling apart by corresponding with owners and evaluating money generating fixes. This allowed owners to generate more revenue, while also saving money for tenants by getting ahead of problems before they got bad.
Having worked on the ground and in the field, Benz brought his industry knowledge and first-hand experience to the 548 Enterprise team, where he liaises with all contractors, from GC to property and asset management, coordinating between partners onsite to push projects through to completion.
In his free time, Benz enjoys catching all Chicago sporting events, live music, sailing on yachts, and collecting coins. He holds a BS in Accounting from Indiana State University, and is a certified Level 1 Electrician + Solar Installer.
Steve Gerson
Chief Financial Officer
Steve Gerson is the Chief Financial Officer of 548 Capital and 548 Development, where he is an integral part of their investment, development, and strategic teams. Steve directs and manages finance and accounting at the firm, fund, and project level, including management of the firm’s Solar Chicago Fund as well as the current slate of Invest South/West projects in the City of Chicago. He has participated in over $400 million in real estate development in the past few years.
Prior to joining 548 Capital and Development, Steve worked in the lighting, HVAC, and building products sectors in various finance and operational roles including treasury management, FP&A, and supply chain. He was acting treasury manager for a mid-market private equity backed portfolio company out of Miami, managing their liquidity, hedging, forecasting, and reporting. Before that, he spent time performing sell-side equity research at a South Florida investment bank.
Steve has consulted for an institutional bank, onboarding large family offices onto their technology platform, and has recently participated in the development of a large international hotel and entertainment project.
Education and Credentials: M.S. Economics, Florida Atlantic University | MBA, Florida Atlantic University | Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder | Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Charterholder
Rob Wallace
Sr. VP for Sustainable Solutions
Rob (Daniel) Wallace is a Co-Founder of Power52 Foundation, and the CEO/Principal of its sister company, Power52 Clean Energy Access. As an electrical and energy engineer, project manager and business consultant, Rob’s experience traverses 15 years in the areas of program management, renewable energy systems design, development, implementation, as well as training and technology management. Rob has developed and built more than 250 MW of solar and wind projects in numerous states across the US, and various countries in North America and Africa.
Mr. Wallace has also worked in the power market, focusing on frequency response, energy arbitrage and battery storage. Mr. Wallace has experience managing the engineering, design, and development of all renewable energy projects for a host of private and public clients. Some noteworthy clients include University of Maryland Medical Systems, Johns Hopkins University, City of Baltimore, Carroll County Government, CHIMES International, the Federal Government.
Mr. Wallace pursued his master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab and earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic and State University. He is an SMA Solar Academy graduate, a certified Wind System Design Specialist, NCCER Master Trainer, and a certified EVSE installer for General Electric.
Jocelyn Borchardt
Sustainable Programming Consultant
Jocelyn Borchardt is experienced in assessing feasibility and managing the development of real estate and green energy projects, with a focus on projects that benefit affordable housing residents. Her skill set includes sourcing financing and tax credit equity investment, navigating public and private funding programs, and managing the design and construction process of affordable housing and renewable energy developments. She is also a technical assistance provider that works with Public Housing Authorities on redevelopment and repositioning projects.
Ms. Borchardt founded Front Door Development, LLC in 2020 to provide development consulting to mission oriented organizations that own and operate affordable housing. In this role she works with partner organizations to create or improve affordable housing properties, with an awareness that locally generated green energy and energy efficiency improvements can be extremely effective tools to further reduce the cost of living for affordable housing residents.
Ms. Borchardt holds a B.A. in History from Carleton College and an M.B.A in Real Estate from the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Knowledge of the past; Vision for the future.
Our advisory board is made up of members that have been in the finance and energy sectors for decades. This strong group of advisors makes us confident that we’ll hit our goal of bringing affordable, sustainable housing to cities around the U.S.
Will Germain
Mr. Germain is the CEO & Managing Partner of MCB Science & Health. His responsibilities include sourcing and originations investment opportunities, oversight of underwriting and due diligence, transaction structuring and execution, development project management, operations and asset management. Prior, Mr. Germain served as Senior Investment Officer, Investments for Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company and real estate investment trust that owns and manages healthcare, life science, MOB and senior living properties in North America and the United Kingdom. Germain helped grow this portfolio to over $4 billion and over 7MM SF through acquisitions and developments. Responsible for originating, negotiating and executing acquisitions and development opportunities, Germain has been involved in more than $20 billion completed real estate transactions during his tenure at Ventas.
Pete Giangreco
Pete Giangreco is a principal in The Strategy Group, one of the leading communications and direct mail firms in the country. Pete has worked on nine presidential campaigns, including serving as Deputy Director of Polling and Paid Media for Obama for America (2008) and Deputy National Field Director for Clinton-Gore (1992). Pete also works closely with the Energy Foundation directing communications efforts for the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, which spearheaded the passage of the Future Energy Jobs Act, the biggest clean energy breakthrough in Illinois history. Pete received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan in 1987, and has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the University of Chicago, in addition to teaching classes at Northwestern University and Loyola University Chicago.
Langdon Neal
Mr. Neal is a principal and owner of Neal & Leroy, LLC. He joined the family-owned firm in 1981, becoming the third generation of lawyers practicing in Chicago. Mr. Neal’s practice concentrates in real estate, zoning, land use, and public and private finance, employment and labor law. In 2018, Mr. Neal was named a Leading Lawyer in commercial litigation; government, municipal, lobbying and administrative law; land use, zoning and condemnation law; public finance law; and commercial real estate law.
Oliver Kupe
Oliver Kupe is the CEO and founder of Aurélien Capital Partners, an independent RIA w/ providing boutique investment advisory and family office services to professional athletes, exonerees, and select high-net worth individuals. Kupe, is also the founder of Aurélien Capital Management, a venture capital platform that offers direct access to private placements, venture capital, and private equity opportunities. Between both entities, Aurélien manages over $120m in client and investor assets. Prior to Aurélien, he began his career in finance at Merrill Lynch and had a brief career in Major League Soccer. Kupe attended Northwestern University and currently serves on the boards of 100 Black Men of Chicago and Northwestern University Black Alumni Association.
James Clark III
James Clark III is the managing director of Mission Real Estate Development for Trinity Church Wall Street Philanthropies where he leads a global initiative to identify and help faith-based organizations discern, plan, and develop income-generating real estate projects that create sustainable financial capacity for ministry and a direct social impact in the communities they serve. He has 38 years of business experience encompassing commercial real estate investment, finance, development, portfolio management, leasing,and investment banking. He is the founding principal of EnTrust Realty Advisors, one of the few black-owned institutional commercial real estate transaction advisory firms in the U.S. over the past 20 years, and he has completed over $5.0 billion of transactions and managed $1.0 billion of assets and portfolio properties.
Robert J. Bond
Robert J. Bond is a co-founder and president of Bond Companies, an award winning real estate development and investment firm with offices in Chicago and Los Angeles. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Master of Science Degree in real estate investment analysis and appraisal theory with a concentration in finance. He also holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in finance and a degree in economics from the same university. Over the past 40 years, Mr. Bond has been involved in thousands of real estate transactions involving development, acquisition, re- development and capital formation activities representing several billion dollars. Having won multiple awards and improving the fabric of those communities, Mr. Bond has always kept the local community and their needs in high regard and consideration during each project. The firm has expertise in mixed-use, adaptive re-use, retail and multi-family developments.
David J. Carlins
David Carlins, chief executive officer of Magellan Development Group LLC, supervises the company’s development, construction management and sales departments. Carlins is the primary contact for financial structuring of all Magellan projects and is also heavily involved in the design, construction and marketing phases of all Magellan projects. Since 1996 Carlins has structured a myriad of financing forms, including conventional construction financing, mezzanine financing and equity partnerships of for-sales and rental properties as well as presales of new construction buildings. Carlins also spearheads many of Magellan’s community relations activities, including serving as a board member for the Chicago Youth Program (CYP), for which he heads fund-raising efforts and led the effort to develop a permanent center as well as providing operating funds with support from Loewenberg Architects and McHugh Construction Company to design and build the worthwhile facility for inner-city young people. Carlins holds a BS degree in Education from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a JD from Loyola Law School. He is licensed to practice law in Illinois and is a licensed real estate broker.