Celadon Partners, LLC (“Celadon”)

Celadon Partners was formed in 2020 as a joint venture between Scott Henry and Aron Weisner for the development of affordable housing. The entity evolved from Celadon Holdings, LLC, a company previously founded and operated by Mr. Henry, a former executive from JPMorgan Chase’s LIHTC investment group, since 2008. Based in Chicago, the company is active as a developer in multiple markets throughout the United States.

The team brings significant affordable housing development and finance experience based on experience from a diverse set of backgrounds. The firm has completed affordable housing redevelopments in seven states totaling over 1,600 units.

Overview of Project Experience & Approach

The color “celadon” that combines the balance of blue’s essence of tranquility and serenity with green’s essence of growth and renewal. To us, this balance symbolizes our commitment to an environmentally sensitive approach to our work to create healthy, efficient, and affordable communities.

The end goal for all of Celadon’s properties, whether they are newly constructed or redeveloped, is to be the preferred place to live in the market during the entire investment horizon and beyond. We prioritize building healthy, energy-efficient, and service-enriched living environments for our residents and the communities we work in. This requires us to carefully select the best locations and provide an attractive amenities/services and quality environment that meets the needs of the community in which it is based. We prioritize property management and are active owners to assure partners and investors that the asset will be well-maintained, while also being attentive to the needs of our resident population.

Our core principles are:

Reliability: Celadon Partners is proud of our commitment to deliver on promises by playing our role in meeting the housing needs of community residents throughout the construction and management periods.

Creativity: Celadon uses open-minded and innovative thinking and close collaboration with community and public and private partners to find solutions to development challenges where others are unable.

Experience: We have the experience to develop projects of significant scale and complexity having completed numerous affordable housing developments, building trust with our partners through transparency and collaboration, successfully utilizing tax credits and other financial products, and being a pre-qualified developer of choice for many municipal programs.

Chris Ameika serves as Senior Preconstruction Manager for W.E. O'Neil and has more than 25 years of industry experience working with major owners and developers managing and estimating high-profile projects locally and abroad. Since joining the firm in 2021, Chris has helped lead W.E. O’Neil’s Preconstruction and Estimating Department to new levels by delivering on recent marquee projects, including the new ground-up RIU hotel tower in downtown Chicago. Prior to his time at W.E. O'Neil, Chris worked for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company and M.A. Mortenson Company. Chris received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from University of Illinois, Chicago.

Delph Gustitus, AIA, has focused on extending the useful service lives and improving the performance of buildings for over 25 years. He began his career as a design architect, then changed paths by moving to a consulting A/E firm where he developed the technical expertise and collaborative style that helped him launch his own firm in 1995. He has inspected, repaired, restored and preserved hundreds of buildings, including many of historic significance. As Principal, Delph manages a diverse portfolio and approaches each new project with the same level of dedication and commitment. Many of the firm's services are for adaptive re-use projects of existing and historic buildings. As a former board member of Landmarks Illinois, a leading preservation advocacy group, Delph has taken an active role in helping preserve the historic fabric of our built environment. He has worked for many years to promote the inherent benefits of maintaining and re-using our existing buildings.

Bonnie McDonald aspires to shape preservation into a more relevant and just practice. As President and CEO

of Landmarks Illinois (LI), Bonnie advances the vision, mission, and programs of Illinois' only statewide

preservation nonprofit organization. Her transformative thinking about preservation has led LI to focus its

work on people and their important connection to historic places. She’s currently spearheading the

organization’s evolution at its 50-year anniversary to enhance its relevance and to create a national model for

justice, equity, inclusion and diversity in preservation practice. Bonnie is a collaborative leader and together

with her board, team and volunteers, they’ve nearly doubled LI’s staff, opened its first regional office, passed

vital state legislation, and played a visible role as thought leaders during her nine years as president. From

2018-2021, Bonnie served as board chair of the National Preservation Partners Network, the national

nonprofit representing preservation organizations, and she is proud to have been awarded the James Marston

Fitch Charitable Foundation Mid-Career Fellowship in 2020 to write a guidebook to relevancy in the

preservation movement. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot appointed Bonnie co-chair of the Chicago Monuments

Project in 2020 to help lead a truth and racial reckoning process in the city around problematic artworks.

Bonnie received a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of Minnesota and

a Master’s Degree in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University.

Mr. Pachucki is Founder and Principal of the IBT Group LLC, which focuses on creative urban

developments in metropolitan areas. Current projects include 1200 Fulton, a full-block creative

office, retail and entertainment complex in the West Fulton Market area of Chicago.

Mr. Pachucki is responsible for strategic management of all development activities for IBT Group

including pipeline, acquisition, financing, planning, leasing and project execution. He has over

30 years of real estate experience and has been involved in the development of over ten million

of square feet of office, residential and retail space throughout the country during his career.

Prior to the formation of the IBT Group, Mr. Pachucki started and oversaw retail development in

the Midwest for Opus Group of Companies, a family owned real estate company which was one

of the largest privately held real estate companies in the country.

Prior to OPUS he spent several years with Balcor as Vice president where he was responsible for

an extensive national portfolio of 2,000,000 square feet of commercial space and 60,000

residential units. An architect by training, Mr. Pachucki spent several years with at the time the

largest architectural firm in Wisconsin, Mochon, Schutte, Hackworthy & Juerisson, where he was

involved in various aspects of the design process for institutional and commercial buildings

including airports, schools and residential projects.

Mr. Pachucki graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in

Architecture and also completed graduate level studies at the University of Wisconsin Graduate

School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

George Cardenas is currently in his first term as Cook County Board of Review Commissioner

of the First District, which consists of the southwest side of Chicago, parts of the northwest

side of Chicago, the western suburbs, and the northwest suburbs. Before he was

Commissioner, he served 20 years as a Chicago alderman, where he was the Deputy Floor

Leader of City Council, Chair of the Environmental Protection and Energy Committee, and

Vice-Chair of the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Commissioner Cardenas is

also an appointed member of the Cook County Environmental Commission.

As a young child, Cardenas and his family came to Chicago in search of the American Dream

after emigrating from Durango, Mexico. After graduating from Lane Technical High School in

1984, Cardenas joined the United States Navy to help pay for his education. After earning an

honorable discharge, George successfully earned an undergraduate degree in accounting and

a master’s degree in political science from Northeastern Illinois University. Before joining

government, Cardenas accumulated over a decade of experience working for Fortune 500

companies. This background gives him valuable insight into the needs of the community and

a desire to be a voice for positive change for the area.

Commissioner George Cardenas, who was raised in the Chicago neighborhood of Little

Village, currently resides in McKinley Park with his family.

Mr. Carata joined Epstein in 2018, and has over 20 years of design experience. As Epstein’s

Design Director, he is responsible for establishing and managing the design and delivery of a

multitude of project types and scales, including hotels, retail, higher education, office,

residential and mixed use high-rise developments. Patrick works closely with clients to

understand their objectives and strives for functional, yet unique, architectural solutions of

the highest quality and design that exceed client goals. Some of Patrick’s current projects

include a hotel & residential development in Owensboro, Kentucky, a new corporate & mixed-

use campus in Romania as well as a new performance center in Bainbridge Island,

Washington.

Ryan Wangman is a Chicago-based commercial real estate reporter for Bisnow, where he covers topics such as property development, real estate market trends, and major deals within the industry. Before joining Bisnow in 2023, Ryan worked at Business Insider, where he specialized in personal finance reporting, with a focus on loans, debt management, and investment strategies. A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Ryan has previously contributed to the Boston Globe and served in various editorial roles at The Daily Northwestern. His journalistic interests include financial products, real estate development, and Chicago's dynamic property market.