Starwood Hires Centerbridge Exec To Oversee U.S. Real Estate
Starwood Capital Group has tapped a Centerbridge Partners executive to lead its U.S. asset management team, overseeing one of the largest real estate portfolios on Wall Street.
John Gonnella has been hired as a senior managing director, starting April 20, Miami Beach-based Starwood Capital announced Monday. He will be leaving his role as senior managing director and head of real estate asset management at Centerbridge, where he has spent more than a decade.
Since CEO Barry Sternlicht founded Starwood in 1991, the private investment firm has raised more than $90B of capital and currently has more than $125B of assets under management. In a statement, Sternlicht said Gonnella's hire is part of continued efforts to “thoughtfully grow our team.”
Prior to Centerbridge, Gonnella was a vice president at Northwood Investors, overseeing real estate investments and the firm's retail and multifamily operating and development platforms. Gonnella has also served on the boards of Merit Hill Capital, Resort Finance America and Suntex Marina Investors.
Starwood Capital manages publicly traded Starwood Property Trust, the largest commercial mortgage REIT in the country, deploying $112B of capital since inception and managing more than $30B in debt and equity investments.
It also manages Starwood Real Estate Income Trust, a nonlisted REIT that has drawn scrutiny as it has sharply limited how much money investors have been able to withdraw from the semiliquid fund.
Starwood Capital also owns property management company Highmark Residential, data center investment platform Starwood Digital Ventures, title agency Essex Title, Starwood Oil & Gas and Starwood Hotels.
“John's disciplined, hands-on approach to driving strong performance across asset classes and market cycles will have an immediate positive impact for our team,” Starwood Capital President Jonathan Pollack said in a statement.
