Team

NISHANT BAKAYA MANAGING PARTNER

Mr. Bakaya has over 20 years of experience in real estate. Prior to forming Thesis Living, Nishant was Chief Investment Officer at CA Ventures – where he oversaw over $10 billion of real estate investments across asset classes partnering with institutional investors including Quadreal, Goldman Sachs, DWS, Mitsubishi and Prudential. Prior to CA Ventures Nishant was Co-Head of Evercore’s (NYSE:EVR) Real Estate Private Capital Group. Prior to that he had roles at UBS and JPMorgan.

Nishant has an MBA (hons) from the University of Chicago – Booth School of Business and a BA in Economics from Franklin & Marshall College.

STEPHEN G. BUS MANAGING PARTNER

Mr. Bus has over 20 years of experience in real estate and has developed and acquired over $1.5 billion in student housing, multifamily housing and single family residential across the US. Prior to forming Thesis Living with Nishant, in 2015, Steve founded Up Campus, a student housing operator that has completed over $650 million of projects over the last 5 years, Up Campus is the “student housing vertical” within Thesis Living. Mr. Bus was an early joint-venture partner with CA Ventures, and completed over $600 million in developments over a 9-year span with CA Ventures.

Steve has an MBA from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management, an MS in Civil-Structural Engineering from University of Illinois, and a BS in Civil Engineering from Cornell University.

CHRISTOPHER MCPARTLIN Chief Operating Officer – Corporate

• 15+ years of experience
• Prior roles at Ashford Properties, Henricksen/DIRTT, and Vale Homes
• B.A. in Liberal Arts & Sciences – University of Illinois

DAVID DIES EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

• 15+ years of experience
• Prior roles at Newcastle Limited and Hometown America
• B.A. in Economics – Brown University

NICK HILL CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER - PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

• 15+ years of experience
• Prior roles at CA Ventures
• M.B.A. University of Illinois
• B.S. in Finance, University of Illinois

DUANE BOWEN CONTROLLER

• 15+ years of experience
• Prior roles at Senior Lifestyle and Lillibridge Healthcare Services
• M.B.A. – Keller School of Graduate Management
• B.A. in Accounting – Concordia University

JACKIE LOGSDON SENIOR OPERATIONS MANAGER

• 5+ years of experience
• Prior roles at Core Spaces, CA Ventures, and Aspen Heights

DONALD LI VP INVESTMENTS

• 5+ years of experience
• Prior roles at Klaff Realty and JLL
• M.S. in Accounting – Indiana University – Kelley S. of Bus.
• B.S. in Finance & Accounting – Indiana University – Kelley School of Business

SAM WESSLEY ANALYST

• 2+ years of experience
• M.S. in Real Estate – University of Wisconsin – Wisconsin School of Business
• B.A. in Economics – University of Wisconsin

TYLER AMMERMANN VP DEVELOPMENT

• 5+ years of experience
• Prior roles at The Opus Group
• M.S. in Civil Engineering C.M. & Architecture – University of Illinois - B.S. in Architectural Studies – University of Illinois

RYAN DOODY SVP OF CONSTRUCTION

• 25+ years of experience
• Prior roles at CA Ventures, Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
• Master’s in Architecture – Illinois Institute of Technology
• B.A in Architecture – Miami University

ZACH WESTOVER LEASE UP SPECIALIST

• 3+ years of experience
• Prior roles at Core Spaces, Asset Living, and CA Ventures
• B.S. in Political Science, Law – University of Florida