Vessel Technologies Adds Three Corporate Luminaries to Advisory Board

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Dec 06, 2022, 08:36 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vessel Technologies announced that it has added Mark Schwartz, CEO of Palladin Consumer Retail Partners, David Shapiro, Managing Partner of KPS Capital Partners, and Brian Stoffers, Global President, CRBE's Debt & Structured Finance division, to its Advisory Board. They join a prominent group of Advisors from the worlds of finance, real estate venture capital, private equity and general industry that support Vessel's mission to offer each person an equal opportunity for an extraordinary life.

"We're pleased to welcome Mark, David and Brian to this respected group as we help Vessel address the challenges facing the housing market," said Hugh Frater, Chairman of the Advisory Board, former Fannie Mae CEO, and co-founder of BlackRock, Inc. "Vessel has created an innovative solution to provide 21^st century apartments that hard-working people including firefighters, teachers, first responders, and many others can afford."

Vessel Technologies is a mission-driven housing product company focused on partnering with "hometowns" to deliver aspirational homes for the "missing middle," those who earn too much to qualify for subsidized housing and too little for current 'market-rate' options. Leveraging strategies borrowed from exceptional consumer product development companies, Vessel's unique design incorporates the latest software-enabled technologies, sustainable building materials, and elegant aesthetics in apartments accessible to hard-working community members. Each Vessel property is operated by someone from the community – a vested Caretaker – who is trained and empowered to forge a career in the service of their communities and a pathway to economic opportunity for themselves and their families.

Neil Rubler, Vessel Technologies Founder & CEO, said "We are very proud and grateful to Mark, David, Brian and our other advisory board members for their willingness to join in our efforts to address the longstanding issues facing multifamily housing in America. We have assembled the best and brightest from across the spectrum of commercial real estate and finance to help us fulfill our mission."

About New Advisory Board Members

Mark Schwartz founded Palladin Consumer Retail Partners' predecessor, Palladin Capital Group, in 1998 to acquire, provide financing for, and actively manage diversified corporations, primarily in the retail and consumer products sectors. While organizing and deploying Palladin's 2012 equity fund, he also served from 2010 to 2013 as Executive Chairman of Arnotts Limited, the largest department store in Ireland. Schwartz and his team managed the restructuring and growth of the business, including recruiting a new senior management team, introducing several new brands, and shifting the company's strategic focus.

In 2002 Schwartz merged the Palladin organization into Gordon Brothers Group and transitioned the business from a retail liquidation firm into a diversified professional services organization before selling his ownership position in 2009. Previous positions include serving as Chairman and Chief Executive of Nine West Group, President of New York buyout firm Rosecliff, Director of the Investment Banking Division of Merrill Lynch, and officer of Manufacturers Hanover Trust, Co. He has served as Chairman or a Director of numerous other public and private companies, and is currently a Director of Nic + Zoe, KT Health, Splash Car Wash, PB Metro, Decowraps and Leapfrog Brands and is a Trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Art and the URJ, as well as an Advisory Board Member of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at the Wharton School. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School with a BS in Economics, Schwartz earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

David Shapiro is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of KPS Capital Partners, LP, and manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds, a family of private equity funds with about $13.6 billion of assets under management. Shapiro and his partners developed a proprietary investment strategy of creating new companies to acquire assets or businesses from large corporations, businesses owned by families or entrepreneurs, and businesses presented for sale in connection with financial restructurings. Focused on controlling equity investments in manufacturing and industrial companies across numerous industries, the KPS Funds portfolio generates about $21.6 billion in annual revenues across 232 manufacturing facilities in 27 countries.

Shapiro currently serves as Chairman of C&D Technologies and on the board of several KPS portfolio companies including AIS Global, AM General, Autokiniton Global Group, Briggs & Stratton, Eviosys, Howden Fitness, Lufkin Industries and Oldcastle Building Envelope. Prior to joining its predecessor in 1991 and co-founding KPS in 1997, Shapiro was an investment banker with Drexel Burnham Lambert and Dean Witter Reynolds. A University of Michigan graduate, he earned his MBA from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business with a specialization in finance.

Brian Stoffer oversees the global Debt & Structured Finance practice at CBRE. Under his leadership, the group originated nearly $90 billion in loans in 2021 with 400 different lenders, ranging from less than $1 million to $1 billion plus. Additionally, the practice maintains a loan services portfolio of over $270 billion globally. Stoffer has extensive experience in origination, structuring, placement, closing and servicing of commercial real estate debt for life insurance companies, pension funds, banks, debt funds, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, FHA and CMBS. He is the past Chairman (2019/2020) of the Mortgage Bankers Association and currently serves on CBRE's Americas Executive Committee.

A graduate of California State University, Fullerton, Stoffer began his career with Coldwell Banker Commercial in Southern California, where he rose to senior real estate finance officer. He earned his MBA in Finance from San Diego State University.

In addition to Frater, Schwartz , Shapiro and Stoffer, Vessel Technologies Advisory Board members include: David Brickman, CEO, NewPoint Real Estate Capital and former CEO of Freddie Mac; Keith Anderson, also a BlackRock Co-Founder, and former Soros CIO; Brad Bernstein, Managing Partner, FTV Capital; Jonathan Bilzin, Co-CEO of Towerbrook Capital; David Blitzer, Founder & Co-Chairman, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment; Mark Booth, former Chairman & CEO, NetJets Europe and MTV Europe; Jonathan Fascitelli, CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Real Estate (HBSE Real Estate); Matt Harris, Partner, Bain Capital Ventures; Jonathan Mechanic, Chairman, Real Estate Practice, Fried Frank; Ben Nickoll, Managing Partner, El Faro Partners; and, Gregory Rush, Founder & Managing Partner, Scarp Ridge Capital Partners.