Paladin Realty Partners said today that Axel Chaves, managing director and head of its São Paulo office, has left the firm, and the Los Angeles-based real estate fund manager is in talks to hire a replacement. Randall Loker, managing director and head of acquisitions for Brazil, will oversee the São Paulo office in the interim and ultimately share managerial duties for Paladin’s Brazil operations with Chaves’ successor.
Chaves was part of a team working on acquisitions and asset management in Latin America, and a member of Paladin’s investment committee. He began working with Paladin in 2005, first as a marketing consultant and later as chief executive of a Paladin-affiliated Brazilian homebuilder focused on low-income housing. He had led the firm's Brazil operations since March 2010.
Meanwhile, Paladin noted that PJ Sala, a senior vice president on its investment and portfolio management team, also was exiting the firm. Sala joined Paladin in 2008 as a vice president in its Brazil office and was actively involved in the acquisition and asset management of the firm’s various real estate investments across Latin America. As with Chaves, the firm did not disclose the reason for Sala’s departure.
In his place, Paladin has hired Alejandro Krell to head up the firm’s investments and development projects in the Andean region of South America, including Colombia, Peru and Chile. As part of the manager’s increased Andean focus, he will open the firm’s new regional office in Bogota. Additionally, he will oversee Paladin’s activities in Uruguay and other markets in the region. Krell previously was the director of residential development for the Tourism Development & Investment Company in Abu Dhabi, where he oversaw the construction of nearly $2 billion of residential and mixed-use developments.
Furthermore, Paladin noted that Joel Bost, senior vice president of finance and asset management on its fund management team, also will be vacating his post soon. However, rather than hiring a replacement, the firm said that Gisele Narisawa, its Latin America controller, would assume the majority of his responsibilities.
The departures of Chaves, Sala and Bost follow that of Philip Fitzgerald, the firm’s managing director of emerging markets, who left early last year. Last month, Paladin held a first close for its fourth Latin American-focused real estate fund, Paladin Realty Latin American Investors IV, raising $75.7 million from existing investors.
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