Approach

Ascendant is a vertically integrated real estate investment and operating vehicle headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Dallas and regional teams throughout the country. Ascendant has full discretion over commingled institutional funds and an investment focus on the hospitality and residential sectors, and selected opportunistic special situations supported by structural changes in demographics and consumer behavior.

The Firm’s Managing Partners’ depth of experience in acquiring, developing, operating, and asset managing real estate assets and operating companies has been focused on domestic and international gateway markets, including New York, Boston, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Waikiki, and London, as well as underserved markets throughout the Southern United States with an emphasis on Texas.

The Foundation of Ascendant’s Real Estate Platform

Vertically Integrated Platform

Ascendant’s team is comprised of highly seasoned operators, sector-specific investors, and asset managers who compliment tenured investment professionals to identify and realize value.

Three Synergistic Strategies

We invest across three operationally intensive core verticals: hospitality, next-generation multifamily, and special situations.

Regional Coverage + Local Expertise

An investment team with deep experience across all major domestic geographies, with deep local networks to identify and optimize value.

Thesis-Driven Fundamental Investment Approach

Thesis-based value investment philosophy, anchored in observable trends resulting from demographic changes and consumer behaviour patterns.

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Investments

We invest in high-quality assets that are under-optimized due to operational, structural, or capital liquidity constraints, and maximize value through an active, operationally intensive approach across verticals in which we have deep expertise.

8-Hotel, 965-Room Beachfront Portfolio

Newbury Hotel, Boston, MA

Cipriani Residences Mezzanine Financing, Miami, FL

Watermark Lodging Trust, Various, US

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News

Our operational expertise is anchored in a broad perspective on lasting global trends, markets, and capital flows.

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Profile

As a vertically integrated real estate platform, Ascendant is led by a managing partnership comprised of CEO Russell Gimelstob, Co-President & CIO Alex Halpern, and Co-President & COO Eric Calder, which has collectively acquired and developed more than $20 billion of real estate assets. Founded on the basis of creating a more investor-friendly and specialized format of real estate investing, the firm has built a team of sector-level specialists across its three operating verticals, and relies on continuous, cross-pollenating dialogue with its limited partners.

Russell Gimelstob
Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Prior to founding Ascendant Capital Partners, Russell Gimelstob was Head of Acquisitions, Partner, Managing Director and Member of the Investment Committee of Dune Real Estate Partners, a manager of real estate private equity funds. Russell previously represented Ascendant on the board of Watermark Lodging Trust.

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Alex Halpern
Co-Founder, Co-President, and Chief Investment Officer

Alex is responsible for the oversight of Ascendant's investment activities and the management of its hospitality and select residential investments. Alex represented Ascendant on the boards of Watermark Lodging Trust and DC Blox, is an active board member Sentral, and serves as board observer of Mesquite Gaming and Sotherly Hotels.

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