The Brickstone Principals
John Kusmiersky
As a founding partner and driving force of Brickstone, John Kusmiersky brings to the company the benefit of over 35 years of experience in all facets of the real estate industry. Mr. Kusmiersky has been instrumental in the success of Brickstone’s projects and many other projects prior to Brickstone’s creation.
Between 1974 and 1982 Mr. Kusmiersky successfully acquired, renovated, managed and sold approximately 17,000 apartment units nationwide, then worth more than $350 Million in the aggregate, some of which he converted to condominium units. Near the end of this period, Mr. Kusmiersky and Jack Baker also founded a closely-held mortgage lending and brokerage company that financed construction and short-term loans to real estate developers in California.
Mr. Kusmiersky, together with his Brickstone partners, then turned his energies to developing commercial office, retail and high-rise residential projects, with special emphasis on historic renovations. Brickstone projects became centralized around Brickstone regional offices in Andover, Massachusetts, Center City Philadelphia and Atlanta, Georgia. Brickstone historic renovations included many historic mills in New England and several of the most important and award-winning historic monuments in Philadelphia, including the original John Wanamaker department store facing City Hall, the Lit Brothers department store and others. High-rise luxury residential projects include 40-story towers in Buckhead known as Park Place and 750 Park Avenue and 25-story Park Regency. These buildings established the standard for a luxury condominium lifestyle in Buckhead. New suburban commercial office park development includes Minuteman Park, Andover, Massachusetts, that comprises about one million square feet of first-class, architecturally significant office buildings on about 150 acres of heavily landscaped terrain. The roster of tenants includes multi-national corporations, high tech corporate headquarters and many public companies. The principal new retail development is The Loop, comprising about 400,000 square feet of retail outdoor mall buildings in Methuen, Massachusetts.
John Kusmiersky is actively involved in all aspects of Brickstone’s operations and he travels regularly to visit the regional offices, oversee the projects and confer with Brickstone’s partners, professionals, lenders and tenants.
Mr. Kusmiersky received a Juris Doctor degree from the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California and has served as a Trustee of the University since 1986. He resides in Los Angeles, California.
John G. Baker
As a founding partner and general counsel of Brickstone, Jack Baker has general administrative responsibility for business operations and for communications with joint venture partners and lenders. Mr. Baker has been a partner with John Kusmiersky and has performed these responsibilities for numerous projects since 1972.
Mr. Baker brings to Brickstone over 30 years of experience in various facets of the real estate industry, with the emphasis on property management and the legal aspects of secured lending, condominium conversion, acquisition and sales. With Mr. Kusmiersky, he acquired, managed, and sold thousands of apartments and condominium units throughout the country, founded a closely held mortgage lending and brokerage company, and developed and sold condominium townhouse projects and an industrial park in Los Angeles.
In addition to his other duties, he is currently responsible for the administration, financial reporting and controls on Brickstone’s construction projects, and travels monthly to each site to oversee the meetings of Brickstone’s development team.
Mr. Baker holds a Bachelors degree in philosophy from Catholic University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California. Mr. Baker resides in Palos Verdes, a suburb of Los Angeles, California.
Martin Spagat
Martin Spagat has been Brickstone’s managing partner in the New England area since 1981. Mr. Spagat has consistently proven his ability to lease large blocks of space to major credit tenants on favorable terms, and often has been recognized for successfully negotiating and closing the largest lease transaction in a given year in the New England area. As a manager, he has formed enduring relationships with our tenants and earned their continued trust and loyalty, which has enabled Brickstone to maintain and expand its tenant base even during difficult market periods.
Mr. Spagat has over 30 years of experience as an attorney and real estate developer. As an attorney, he specialized in representing real estate developers and savings and loan institutions, and served as the Director of the Northwest Realty Board of Chicago and as a Director of Northwestern Savings and Loan Association.
Mr. Spagat then turned to real estate development and syndication of large apartment and condominium complexes and shopping centers in the Chicago area. He teamed with John Kusmiersky and Jack Baker to begin Brickstone’s first historic renovations and has devoted energies to these and other projects full time since then.
Mr. Spagat holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University Of Illinois College Of Law. Mr. Spagat resides in Boston, Massachusetts.
John J. Connors
John Connors has been Brickstone’s managing partner in Philadelphia since 1985, and brings to Brickstone extensive experience in the fields of commercial and investment banking and finance, and real estate acquisition, development, and leasing. Mr. Connors joined Brickstone to oversee the acquisition of Mellon Independence Center, and since then has guided the expansion of Brickstone’s Philadelphia portfolio to include the Wanamaker Building and 101 Penn Square East. Mr. Connors is responsible for both the direction of these development efforts and the ongoing operations of all Philadelphia and Delaware Valley projects, including Brickstone’s hotel development operations.
Mr. Connors holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Connors resides in St. Davids, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
David A. Miller
David Miller is involved in all aspects of Brickstone’s operations, and concentrates on structuring, negotiating, and documenting the company’s joint ventures, acquisitions, dispositions, financings, and leases. Mr. Miller’s extensive legal and business experience permit Brickstone to efficiently handle the largest and most complex real estate transactions in-house and, when necessary, to closely supervise and coordinate outside counsel.
Before joining Brickstone as a partner, Mr. Miller was a partner in Greenberg, Glusker, Fields, Claman and Machtinger, a major Los Angeles law firm. In his private practice, he specialized in all aspects of sophisticated real estate development, leasing, finance and syndication, and represented some of the West Coast’s largest real estate developers and syndicators.
Mr. Miller holds a Bachelor’s degree in economics from Brown University and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University Law School. Mr. Miller resides in Santa Monica, California.
Mark P. Merlini
Mark Merlini joined Brickstone in 1987 and has served as Vice President and Director of Operations in the Philadelphia Office since then. He is responsible for preparing and implementing annual budgets, leasing plans and other business initiatives for properties in the Delaware Valley market and Center City Philadelphia. Among his operations responsibilities, Mr. Merlini negotiates leases and construction contracts for tenant improvements and capital building improvements. He also awards all building services contracts and supervises performance by contractors. Mr. Merlini coordinates with counsel and the liability insurance company on insurance and lease matters on Philadelphia-area properties in the Brickstone portfolio.
Mr. Merlini is a Certified Property Manager and a Licensed Pennsylvania Real Estate Broker. He is active in many industry organizations such as BOMA, The Urban Land Institute, Central Philadelphia Development Corporation, the Institute of Real Estate Managers and the Center City District. He has served on the Board of Directors for BOMA and CCD and is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation.
Prior to joining Brickstone, Mr. Merlini worked for Halloran Equities as a General Manager of various properties and later as an executive in the acquisitions and diversification department.
Mr. Merlini holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He resides in Wyncote, a suburb of Philadelphia.
Patricia Lara
Patricia Lara joined Brickstone in 1988 and has since headed the Treasury Department. She is significantly involved in all Brickstone affiliate financial transactions and is primarily responsible for cash management and investment, the preparation and submission of annual operating budgets, budget variance analysis and long and short-term financial planning and projections. Among Ms. Lara’s chief contributions are the financial analysis and valuation of new development projects as well as the divestiture of existing assets. In addition Ms. Lara is primarily responsible for communications and monthly financial reporting to Brickstone’s institutional lenders and investment partners. Ms. Lara also supervises the Human Resources Department, and a corporate employee benefit and retirement plans.
Upon graduating from college in 1985, Ms. Lara joined Price-Waterhouse, one of the “Big Eight” accounting firms, and became a Certified Public Accountant in 1987. She is a member of the AICPA and California Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Patricia Lara holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, majoring in accounting, from Loyola Marymount University. She resides in Redondo Beach, a suburb of Los Angeles.
Debra D. Yocum
Debra Yocum joined Brickstone in 1988 and has supervised the accounting functions of all Brickstone affiliates. She is responsible for planning, organizing and completing accounting assignments to meet the objectives of Brickstone’s institutional lenders and investment partners. She oversees the independent audits and tax return preparation for all entities; communicates with partners and investors regarding accounting and tax return issues; interprets loan documents for projects under construction then reviews and submits bank loan draw packages for lender funding; prepares cash flow projections for projects under construction; prepares escrow closing statements for a variety of real estate transactions; reads legal documents relating to purchase, sale, refinancing and other transactions to book the transactions properly; and oversees the computer network administration.
Upon graduating from college, Ms. Yocum worked for one of the “Big Eight” accounting firms and became a Certified Public Accountant in 1982. She is a member of the AICPA and California Society of Certified Public Accountants and keeps her certificate current. Prior to joining Brickstone, she was the Controller for a real estate developer and manager of regional shopping centers.
Ms. Yocum holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, majoring in accounting from The University of Southern California, and is a Certified Public Accountant. Ms. Yocum resides in Palos Verdes, a suburb of Los Angeles, California.
James V. Henderson
A recognized leader in the Atlanta real estate market, Jim Henderson has more than 35 years experience in land and condominium development, home building and marketing of residential real estate.
A lifelong resident of Atlanta and a graduate of the University of Georgia, Jim began his career serving a major Atlanta lending institution. After a few years, Jim opened his own home building and real estate company. In 1981, Jim joined Northside Realty to launch the homes division. It was at this time that Jim first began working with John Kusmiersky on the development of Park Place on Peachtree, Buckhead’s premier luxury high-rise condominium. While leading Northside Realty’s New Homes division to a prominent position in the Atlanta marketplace, Jim also served as the General Manager of Park Place on Peachtree, seeing it through a successful sell-out. Jim is also president of Park Signature Properties, the Atlanta affiliate of the Brickstone Companies.
Through Jim’s career he has received numerous honors, including being named Realtor of the Year and Marketing Director of the Year by the National Association of Home Builders’ Sales & Marketing Council. In addition, Jim has served his profession in such prominent positions as Trustee of The Builder Marketing Society, Charter Member of The Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association’s of Sales & Marketing Council and president of a local Board of Realtors.
