Founded in 2004, Vertical Ventures is an established, highly-focused investor, developer and operator of institutional quality commercial real estate assets. The firm concentrates on identifying, acquiring and revitalizing well-located, quality assets that are temporarily undervalued.
The professionals of the firm average nearly 20 years experience transacting and operating real estate and generating attractive investment returns from both institutional and entrepreneurial platforms.
Our unwavering goal is to extract unrecognized value from the real estate and maximize the returns to investors, while providing a high level of service and communication to our financial partners.
Property Accountant
Property Accountant
Strategic Advisor
Strategic Advisor
Jeff Gorelick is an attorney who has practiced nationally and internationally for fifty years and completed hundreds of transactions both as lawyer and as a principal. He was the in-house attorney and strategic advisor to Vertical Ventures from the time of its formation until he formed Gorelick Real Estate Advisors (GREA) in 2009 to acquire distressed properties in several markets. He continues as managing member of GREA and has acted as a consultant and strategic advisor to Vertical Ventures since that time.
SVP – Acquisitions
SVP – Acquisitions
Boyd Messmann leads Vertical Ventures’ national acquisition platform focusing on net lease assets and select value add assets. Boyd is responsible for all aspects of the platform from acquisition to disposition and has over 30 years of experience in commercial real estate, acquisitions, investment banking and lending. Boyd is highly respected in the commercial real estate world with a proven track record, transacting over $16B in volume over his career, and has held senior leadership and C-Suite positions for private and public firms, such as First Industrial, VEREIT and Spirit Realty Capital.
Boyd has a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance/Accounting from Indiana University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Kentucky.
VP – Asset Management
VP – Asset Management
SVP – Capital Markets
SVP – Capital Markets
Arash Najafi leads all capital and fundraising responsibilities at Vertical Ventures. Throughout his tenured career, Arash sourced nearly $2.0 billion of institutional and high net worth capital including pension and sovereign wealth funds, investment firms, insurance companies, endowments, consultants, family offices, and accredited investors. In addition, Arash spearheaded the successful negotiation and execution of joint-venture equity and fund agreements for over 30 transactions. Prior to joining Vertical Ventures, Arash was previously with Thor Equities focusing on capital raising efforts of multiple asset types across the US, Europe, and Latin America. Arash started his career in real estate private equity at Stonehenge Partners with a focus on managing the firm’s placement agents to raise an institutional equity fund targeting value-add/core-plus returns.
Arash holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University and a Masters of Science with Honors from New York University.
VP of Finance
VP of Finance
Ian Martz leads the firm’s finance, accounting and reporting functions. He began his career in Deloitte & Touche LLP’s San Francisco assurance practice, serving such clients as The Sharper Image, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and Kaiser Permanente. In 2006, he became Assistant Portfolio Controller at DivcoWest, a privately-owned real estate investment firm in San Francisco, responsible for managing over $2 billion of private equity. At DivcoWest, he oversaw the financial accounting and investor reporting for multiple commercial real estate portfolios. Most recently, he was Vice President & Controller at Pacific Ventures Management LLC (formerly DMB Pacific Ventures LLC), where he was responsible for the accounting and financial reporting of the company and its managed projects, most notably a 700-acre master-planned residential community development in Riverside County, California. He holds an undergraduate degree in accounting and finance from Indiana University – Bloomington and is a Certified Public Accountant actively licensed in the State of California.
President & Founder
President & Founder
Hamid Rezapour is the Managing Partner of Vertical Ventures. Since the company’s inception in 2004, Hamid has led all aspects of real estate acquisition, financing, leasing, construction, property management and disposition. With more than 25 years of experience as a real estate developer and investor, he has shaped Vertical Ventures into the dynamic and growing company it is today.
He brings years of experience in the health care, life sciences, retail, advertising, and high-tech industries. Prior to forming Vertical Ventures, Hamid launched and successfully sold several companies in the high-tech and healthcare industries. He has also served on the Boards of several industry-related companies.
After attending UC Berkeley for his undergraduate work, he received his dental degree from University of the Pacific in San Francisco, as well as dual MBA degrees from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and Columbia University in New York.
Strategic Advisor
Strategic Advisor
Vertical Ventures is a company on a mission to facilitate the growth and success of its investors, tenants and the community at large. Hence, it adheres to the following principles when making decisions:
Vertical Ventures has diligently cultivated decades-long relationships with various municipalities, government agencies, property owners, investment brokers, leasing brokers, mortgage brokers, bankers, attorneys, title and escrow officers and other key professionals in the industry. These relationships are mutually beneficial and allow the company to source and secure the most coveted investment opportunities.
The underwriting team constructs highly analytical financial projections for potential acquisitions. Incorporating internal and third-party data, Vertical Ventures create detailed and precise financial reports that reduce risk and justify valuations.
Analytical rigor and extensive DD are the cornerstones of our investment philosophy. This objective process helps to reduce surprises while maximizing overall investment yield.
Focused on acquiring under-valued/under-performing assets at prices below replacement cost and intrinsic value. Identifying assets to take advantage of opportunities presented by artificial and correctable temporary inefficiencies such as undercapitalized owners, inattentive property management, curable environmental conditions have allowed the organization to invest intelligently and maximize returns.
Vertical Ventures’ senior professionals have led the acquisition and value-creation of more than 10 million square feet representing more than $4 billion in total transactions. Drawing on years of expertise in the entire life cycle of real estate has provided us with a competitive advantage in executing our strategies.
We seek to create a lasting alignment of interest with all our partners by ensuring that all stakeholders are accountable for their actions. A flat organizational structure allows for open communication and promotes honesty and integrity in all of our business practices.
Our background in sophisticated institutional investment management empowers us with the ability to combine the agility of entrepreneurial thinking with unshakeable institutional processes.