About Us

Michael Hooks

MANAGING PARTNER & CEO

Michael Hooks, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, founded Ladera Capital Partners and is responsible for the strategic direction of the firm. Mr. Hooks serves as Chairman of Ladera’s Investment Committee, and he is active in all aspects of the company, with a focus on sourcing and overseeing investments for the firm.

Mr. Hooks has over 30 years of experience in the multifamily real estate industry.  Prior to founding Ladera Capital Partners, he spent 11 years as a Managing Director for a national multifamily platform where he led the investments team, overseeing acquisitions, dispositions, and capital markets activities. Additionally, Mr. Hooks spent approximately 15 years as a real estate investment banking intermediary, predominantly with market leaders HFF and Northmarq Capital.

Mr. Hooks is a graduate of Rice University.

Amie Henry

MANAGING PARTNER & COO

Amie Henry is a Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Ladera Capital Partners. She serves as a member of the Investment Committee. Ms. Henry oversees fund management, asset management, and investor reporting. In addition, she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm.

Prior to joining Ladera, Ms. Henry served as SVP of Portfolio Management and was a principal at Hawkeye Partners, LP. At Hawkeye, she worked on the Scout Funds investing over $1.2 billion in AUM with a focus on launching first time institutional investment management programs. Additionally, Ms. Henry managed the portfolio of a $100 million discretionary separate account. Prior to joining Hawkeye, Ms. Henry was with Cypress Real Estate Advisors where she served as Investment Manager handling portfolio and asset management for residential, industrial, retail, and land assets. Ms. Henry started her career with Archon Group, a Goldman Sachs company.

Ms. Henry holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Real Estate Center at the University of Texas, Advisory Board for ULI Austin, Board of Directors for WIRE Austin, and is a member of PREA.

Peter Giles

Managing Director

Peter Giles is a Managing Director at Ladera Capital Partners and a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. Mr. Giles oversees capital markets strategies and is active in Ladera’s investment and operational activities. In addition, he is leading the ESG activities for the company.

Mr. Giles has over 34 years of experience in the real estate industry, including from 1998-2021 with Freddie Mac. He held senior leadership positions across many programs and led the Production & Sales team for the Western and Central regions. Mr. Giles and his teams placed over $210B of multifamily debt. In addition, Mr. Giles launched the Green Advantage® program at Freddie Mac, which funded $62B in loans during his tenure. He was a member of the company’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) steering committee, addressing issues in equity and sustainability. Before joining Freddie Mac, Mr. Giles earned a decade of experience in life company commercial lending at Metmor Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary of MetLife Insurance and Mellon Bank.

Mr. Giles holds a BA degree from the University of Oklahoma. He is a member of NMHC and PREA.

Michael Kavanau

CIO

Michael Kavanau is Chief Investment Officer at Ladera Capital Partners responsible, along with CEO Mike Hooks, for overseeing investment strategies. He is a member of the firm’s Investment Committee and focused on deal sourcing, capital markets, and investor relations.

Mr. Kavanau has over 35 years of experience, having completed $30bn+ in over 1,000 commercial real estate transactions across debt, investment advisory, and equity placement, with a focus on multi-housing, office, industrial, and retail properties. Prior to joining Ladera, he was with JLL (and formerly HFF), most recently as Chairman of the EMEA Debt Advisory business based in London. Additionally, Mr. Kavanau was a member of JLL’s US Executive Committee Council, the EMEA Executive Committee, the JLL Global Capital Markets Advisory Board, and the US DEI Committee. He began his career at JLL in Boca Raton, Florida and went on to lead the firm’s Florida region, subsequently starting the firm’s Chicago (2001) and London (2016) offices.

Mr. Kavanau graduated from Brown University, Rhode Island.

Dillon Everett

Senior Director

Dillon Everett is a Senior Director at Ladera Capital Partners responsible for asset management for the firm and investment activity in Dallas, Denver, and Phoenix, with a focus on deal sourcing, underwriting, investment strategy, and operational optimization.

Mr. Everett’s background includes working with private and institutional owners on garden, mid-rise, and high-rise multifamily investments across Texas and the Southeastern U.S. Prior to joining Ladera, he oversaw business development efforts in his dedicated markets at both Alliance Residential and Mark-Taylor Residential. During his tenure with both firms, he onboarded over 26,000 units valued at more than $3 billion.

Mr. Everett earned his BS in Business at the University of Missouri, where he was captain of the baseball team and on the SEC Academic Honor Roll. After graduation, he played professional baseball for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim organization. Mr. Everett is active in ULI and TREC.

Tamara Wurms

Director in Portfolio Management

Tamara Wurms is a Director in Portfolio Management at Ladera Capital Partners where she focuses on fund management, reporting, and investor communications.

Mrs. Wurms has experience overseeing the performance of both domestic and international investment portfolios within separately managed accounts, closed-end funds, and real estate operating companies. She has worked on asset and debt valuations, investor relations, performance projections, and fund management. Before joining Ladera, she was a senior associate in portfolio management at Partner Enterprise Capital, where she handled valuations, business planning, and research for several real estate operating companies. Prior to that, she worked at Harrison Street, where she helped grow the separate accounts business by implementing investment strategies, monitoring performance, and communicating results to stakeholders.

Mrs. Wurms holds a B.S. in Finance from Florida State University.

Rhett Cardwell

Senior Associate

Rhett Cardwell is an Associate with Ladera Capital Partners working on the execution of Ladera’s investment strategies with responsibilities in research, underwriting and due diligence.  His background includes consulting for Texas based companies, sales and fundraising for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, as well as marketing for his alma mater, Rice University.

Mr. Cardwell holds a BA in Sports Management and in History with a minor in Business from Rice University. While at Rice, he lettered in football and was on the Honor Roll all four years.  He is a member of ULI and NMHC.

SAMANTHA KHATCHADOURIAN

Senior Associate

Samantha Khatchadourian is an Associate in Asset Management at Ladera Capital Partners.  She focuses on financial performance and operational optimization of the investments, assisting in acquisitions and dispositions, conducting market research, and collaborating with third-party service providers.

Prior to joining Ladera, Ms. Khatchadourian was an asset management analyst at LaSalle Investment Management, where she worked on twenty different office, industrial, retail, and multifamily assets across U.S. markets, valued over $2.4B.

Ms. Khatchadourian holds a BA in Hospitality Administration with a concentration in Finance, Accounting, and Real Estate and a minor in Real Estate from Cornell University. While at Cornell, she served as President of the Collegiate Chapter of the Cornell Hotel Society.

HUDSON MARIX

ANALYST, INVESTMENTS

Hudson Marix is an Investment Analyst at Ladera Capital Partners responsible for investment modeling as well as assisting in the firm’s research and data, deal sourcing, and due diligence activities. Mr. Marix has worked in various roles in the multifamily industry, including on-site in the leasing office and with corporate management. He started his career with Ladera as a summer intern prior to joining full time.

Mr. Marix holds a BA in Human Dimensions of Organizations, a combination of Behavioral Sciences and Business Psychology, as well as a minor in Business from The University of Texas at Austin.

Evelyn Martinez

Executive Administrator, Office Manager

Evelyn Martinez is the Executive Administrator and Office Manager at Ladera Capital Partners responsible for providing high level operational and administrative support to the company’s executive team in all areas of scheduling, arranging travel, preparing documents, as well as overseeing the day-to-day operations in the office. Ms. Martinez comes to Ladera with over 20 years of experience in office & administrative support, which allows her executives to focus on the tasks that require their personal attention.

Prior to joining Ladera, Ms. Martinez was the Executive Administrator for the EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer at Resideo. She also held the title of Assistant to the Dean for the School of Nursing at the University of Texas at Austin. In all previous positions, Ms. Martinez coordinated & facilitated large and intimate meetings & events, developed & maintained specialized databases and training materials, and delivered top notch customer service.