Strategic Real Estate Lending
About
S&K, on behalf of itself, its principals and clients, has been investing in United States real estate for more than 30 years. S&K has invested more than $2 billion in the State of Florida, including the acquisition, development, ownership, and management of over 2.2 million square feet of medical, industrial, commercial and residential real estate, and 5,000 acres of land.
Recognizing a shifting landscape of the real estate industry in Florida after the Great Recession, S&K narrowed its primary focus to real estate lending with a goal of capital preservation while providing risk-adjusted returns to its investors in excess of the market. Over the past ten years, S&K has deployed and managed over $1.2 billion of real estate loans, primarily in the form of senior acquisition loans, senior construction loans and mezzanine construction loans concentrated in South Florida. S&K has been a part of the capital stack of some of South Florida’s most notable projects.
The S&K team possesses extensive professional experience in the fields of acquisitions, development, construction, leasing, management, real estate law, and financing, allowing S&K to efficiently structure deals and navigate any stage of a real estate project.
Team
Scott Squires
Principal and Manager
Scott Squires is the Managing Principal of S&K Real Estate Group, LLC (S&K). Mr. Squires oversees all lending operations of S&K. Since joining S&K in 2016, Mr. Squires has led the origination and management of over $1 billion of commercial real estate loans. Mr. Squires has extensive experience structuring senior and mezzanine loans for complex real estate transactions across all asset classes.
Prior to S&K, Mr. Squires served as an associate in the real estate group of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, where his practice focused on acquisitions, dispositions, leasing and financing. Mr. Squires represented a diverse array of clients, including public and private REITs, local and international developers, an NFL franchise, and an affiliate of one of the United States’ largest public pension funds.
Mr. Squires began his real estate career over 15 years in the affordable housing industry. As a project manager for a Miami-based developer, Mr. Squires was responsible for the complete real estate development process for six South Florida multifamily developments containing over 700 units in total.
Mr. Squires and his wife are raising two elementary-aged children in Pinecrest, FL. Mr. Squires is an active member of the community, including serving as a board member of the South Dade Branch of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. Mr. Squires holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a J.D. and M.B.A from the University of Miami.
Michael Katz
Principal and Manager
Mr. Katz has been successfully involved in over $2 billion worth of real estate transactions as a principal, manager and advisor.
Mr. Katz began his career in real estate shortly after graduating law school in 1974. Early in his career, as an owner of both a development company and a general contracting company, Mr. Katz led his company in developing over $250 million worth of real estate assets, with clients including Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Texaco and JMB Realty/Walton Street Capital.
In 1987, Mr. Katz co-founded KB Commercial Real Estate Group, Inc. to provide a full range of real estate services focused primarily on asset management and all of its disciplines for its institutional clients, which included JP Morgan and Banco Santander. As Chairman, Mr. Katz oversaw the development, redevelopment, or asset management of over 1 million square feet of commercial real estate, including Banco Santander’s headquarters, an R&D facility for Boston Scientific Corporation, and the Latin American Headquarters for Cisco Systems.
From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Katz served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Terremark Real Estate Services. During his tenure, Mr. Katz successfully managed the design and development of the 700,000 square foot Network Access Point (NAP) of the Americas in Downtown Miami and assisted with the transition of Terremark from a private to a publicly held company. Terremark was subsequently sold to Verizon.
After Terremark, Mr. Katz briefly served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Condominium Division of the Related Companies of Florida. While at Related, Jorge Perez, as a trustee of the University of Miami, recommended Mr. Katz to serve as President of Miami Asset Management Company (“MAMCO”). MAMCO was a not-for-profit wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Miami whose mission was to create value for the university through unique real estate development and investment strategies for assets that it owned or controlled. While at MAMCO, Mr. Katz led the development of the University of Miami Life Science and Technology Park, a 252,000 square foot first-class facility created to foster the development of life science, technology and biotechnology innovations. MAMCO’s Board of Directors was led by some of the nation’s preeminent real estate and business leaders.
After serving as a real estate adviser to S&K for over 25 years, Mr. Katz became a Principal and Manager of S&K in 2017 and remains Chairman of MK Real Estate Group, Inc., a corporation he founded in 2002.
J.D., University of Florida School of Law
B.A., University of Maryland
Vice Chairman, Baptist Health Systems Foundation
Advisory Board Member, University of Miami School of Real Estate Development and Urbanism
Lidia Cartaya
Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Cartaya began her career in finance over 40 years ago and joined S&K in 1996. Prior to joining S&K, Ms. Cartaya lead the accounting and control functions for a Miami-based law firm.
Ms. Cartaya’s primary duties include corporate accounting, financial reporting, and the accounting management for S&K ’s assets under management. Ms. Cartaya is also a leader in S&K ’s daily operations, including new investments, development, property management, and lending.
Dirk Kuczurba
VP of Development and Management
Mr. Kuczurba began conducting business with S&K over 25 years ago and joined S&K in 2000. Mr. Kuczurba possesses over 30 years of real estate experience in all aspects of development, management, financing, sales, leasing, and repositioning of distressed assets with a total transaction volume of over $2 billion.
Mr. Kuczurba was responsible for the land and infrastructure development of the 1,300 acre office and distribution park, Palm Beach Park of Commerce, as well as the development of over 500,000 square feet of office and warehouse facilities within the Park. Additionally, Mr. Kuczurba leads S&K Realty’s property management division, which currently includes the management of S&K assets within the Park, as well as a multifamily property in Orlando and a retail property in Tampa.
Steve Garine
Property Manager and Broker
Mr. Garine joined S&K 15 years ago. Prior to S&K, Mr. Garine worked as a broker for Jones Lang LaSalle in Europe.
Mr. Garine’s primary responsibilities include the leasing and management of S&K Realty’s assets in the Palm Beach Park of Commerce. To date, Mr. Garine has completed over 90 transactions with an aggregate value of of $350 million of office and industrial real estate.
Recent transactions include the sale and leasing of over 140,000 square feet of industrial space to aviation and aerospace companies including Abelcan, Cyient and Aerodyne, as well as the sale and leasing of 80,000 square feet of warehouse space to premier car collections, including the Wilson Collection. Mr. Garine also helps new land owners negotiate through various stages of the development process including the sourcing of incentive packages through the Palm Beach County Business Development Board.
Monica Diaz
CPA, M.S.T., Controller
Ms. Diaz’s relationship with S&K began over 18 years ago, when she worked as the Controller for the real estate division of the company that managed S&K’s assets in the United States.
Ms. Diaz began her accounting career in the tax department at Deloitte & Touche, LLP. From 1997 through 1999 her primary focus was on business and personal taxes, specializing in the real estate industry. After Deloitte, Ms. Diaz briefly worked for a private real estate development company before working for Terremark Real Estate Services as its divisional controller. At Terremark, she oversaw the management of over 2 million square feet of commercial and residential real estate that included several of the most prominent buildings in Miami.
In 2002, Ms. Diaz joined the S&K team as their Controller. Ms. Diaz oversees all financial reporting, budgeting and cash flow projections, CAM reconciliations, lending projects, and property management activities. In addition, Ms. Diaz sits on the Board for several of the Condo Associations S&K manages in Palm Beach and Orlando.
Third-Party Consultants
Patrick Burbank
Development Consultant
Mr. Burbank has consulted for S&K for over 15 years. Mr. Burbank began his real estate career at Terremark Real Estate Services over 25 years ago. At Terremark, Mr. Burbank was involved in the all aspects of the development process for assets valued in excess of $1 billion. From 2002 to 2012, Mr. Burbank served as Assistant Vice President of Development for MAMCO. Mr. Burbank played an integral role in the development of the 252,000 square foot University of Miami Life Science and Technology Park and Smathers Four Fillies Farm, a 30 single family home community in Coral Gables.
Since 2012, Mr. Burbank has provided consulting services related to S&K’s lending operations. Mr. Burbank works with Mr. Xiques to assist in the administration of S&K’s monthly construction loan draws.
Arturo J. Xiques
Construction Consultant
Mr. Xiques career in construction and engineering spans over 50 years. As a licensed general contractor and professional engineer, Mr. Xiques has provided consulting services for S&K for over 20 years.
Mr. Xiques possesses expertise in all phases of the construction process and all asset classes. Mr. Xiques is a highly respected consultant in South Florida, providing his services to multiple leading developers.
Representative Projects