New York, NY Skylight Real Estate Partners, a privately-held real estate investment firm, announces several strategic hires, taking the total number of its staff to over 30. The appointments include Brennan Bicknese as vice president of acquisitions; Michael Loya as vice president of development; Ewelina Ottenbreit as senior project manager; and Jeremy Tabora as senior vice president of design.

“The addition of these highly experienced and talented professionals is critical to the execution of our asset-focused, value-add strategy,” said Benjamin Joseph, founding partner. “We are excited to continue our recruiting efforts and to expand our leadership team to help manage our growing portfolio.”

In addition to the appointments above, over the past year Skylight has also hired three investment associates Elijah Akhtarzad, Cameron Hardington, and Nick Romanoff.

Bicknese is responsible for sourcing and evaluating new value-add and distressed opportunities, developing and executing asset-level business plans, and reviewing financial performance. Prior to joining Skylight, he served as a senior associate at Apollo Global Management where he was responsible for investing private equity fund capital into value-add and opportunistic real estate assets.

Loya is focused on sourcing and evaluating new development and re-development opportunities and the full life-cycle execution of the firm’s development pipeline. Joining from JPMorgan Chase & Co, Loya served as vice president of development where he oversaw the entitlement, design, and construction of 270 Park Ave., the firm’s 2.5M SF trophy office tower in Midtown Manhattan, as well as corporate office and retail acquisitions across the US and Europe.

Ottenbreit is responsible for managing and overseeing all phases of pre-construction and construction activities. Those activities include managing schedules, budgets, contracts, quality control, and procurement. She previously worked at The Vertex Companies, Inc., as a project manager providing construction consulting services to building owners, specializing in distressed assets.

Tabora will oversee design for Skylight and will utilize his architectural and real estate development experience in leading design consultants to execute and realize the company’s vision from concept phase to completion. Before joining Skylight, he was vice president at The Related Companies for a decade where he implemented a holistic approach to design and construction aimed at creating value and resolving issues within the development process.

“This is an exciting time for our firm as we continue to bolster the strength of our operations backed by a diverse and talented team,” said Gavin Evans, founding partner. “These leaders each bring unique skill sets, insights, and stellar industry reputations that are well aligned with our culture and strategy.”