The Saxum Real Estate office in Summit — Courtesy: Saxum
By Joshua Burd
Saxum Real Estate made three additional hires as it continues to scale its business, having doubled the size of its team since the start of the pandemic.
According to the Summit-based firm, the new hires include Sri Vankayala as director of capital markets. He joined the company in early 2021 after 12 years with Cushman & Wakefield, where he was a managing director focused on raising debt and equity on behalf of owners, operators and developers.
In his new role, Vankayala spearheads Saxum’s institutional capital markets activities across its portfolio. The firm noted that he has helped raise nearly $4 billion in capital across a variety of asset classes and profiles during his career, having built a wide network in the industry and demonstrated expertise in the private banking, investment banking and technology fields.
Vankayala is a graduate of Manchester University in the United Kingdom and completed his MBA at Columbia University, according to a news release. He is also a steering committee member of NYSAREN, a commercial real estate organization with more than 200 members.
“Sri’s depth of experiences and strategic relationships in capital markets will be instrumental in the continued growth of Saxum and its emergence as a national player across multiple asset classes,” said Anthony Rinaldi, Saxum’s founder and managing principal. “We are excited to welcome Sri, and he is already streamlining and elevating Saxum’s institutional platform as we continue to growth and identify long-term strategic partners.”
Meantime, Cameron Hughey joins Saxum as leasing associate in its Austin, Texas, office and will focus on bringing tenants to its existing portfolio and identifying new and unique opportunities across its platform. Prior to joining Saxum, he was an asset manager at FMOC, a real estate investment firm that acquires strategic assets and single-tenant, net-leased properties in the Southeast.
In that role, Hughey supported enhancing portfolio value and driving occupancy through strategic leasing efforts across the firm’s 1 million-square-foot portfolio.
“Cameron’s addition to Saxum builds on the core foundations of the firm which fuses superior leasing knowledge with forward thinking investment and development,” said Chad DeBolt, a managing director and principal with the firm. “His vast leasing experience and intimate knowledge of the Austin/Texas market will be invaluable as the firm expands its footprint across the Southern U.S.”
The company has also added Chris Lubrano as an acquisitions analyst, the news release said. He joins Saxum after working as vice president for global mortgages and securitized products at Bank of America, where he underwrote potential commercial real estate financings, managed internal risk profiles and generated financial forecasts.
Lubrano graduated from Ohio State University in 2018 with a degree in finance.
“Chris is a valuable and much needed addition to our growing acquisitions team as the firm continues to expand our national presence across multiple investment verticals,” said Sean Gilbert, a principal with Saxum. “His multifaceted institutional experiences will add notable value given his exposure to underwriting, risk analysis and financial forecasting across numerous product types in various markets across the U.S.”
