MANAGEMENT TEAM

Russ Allegrette is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Ocean West Capital Partners. Under Russ’ leadership, the firm has established a national footprint with investments in major markets across the US. While being national in scale, Ocean West takes a hands-on approach to investing and management through local offices in strategic markets. The firm invests with both domestic and international clients and is active in all facets of property ownership, including property management, asset management, construction management, and capital markets.

Mr. Allegrette has also led the firm into debt advisory services, with Ocean West completing complex restructuring, repositioning and recovery strategies on some of the largest and most complex real estate loans in the US. Ocean West’s unique position as a full-service operator and capital markets expert allows the firm to create holistic solutions that create value at multiple levels.

Before founding Ocean West, Mr. Allegrette was the President of Maguire Investments, where he was responsible for the oversight of a real estate portfolio consisting of office, retail, and hotel uses as well as operating companies in the aviation and natural gas industries.

Prior to joining Maguire Investments, Mr. Allegrette was a Managing Director at Eastdil Secured where he was responsible for debt placement and loan sales. In this capacity, Mr. Allegrette placed over $20 billion of commercial real estate debt, sold more than $3 billion of mortgage and mezzanine loans, and participated in a variety of M&A and recapitalization transactions.

Mr. Allegrette is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, receiving a Bachelor of Business Degree with a concentration in finance.

Phil Choi is the President and Co-Founder of Ocean West Capital Partners, where he has been instrumental in the firm’s growth since its inception. Since 2009, Ocean West has executed $8.4 billion in commercial real estate transactions and managed a diverse portfolio featuring 23.6 million square feet of office and industrial space, alongside 1,000 multifamily units and 5,000 student housing beds.

With a focus on global partnership, Phil overseas the firm’s investment and advisory services for international clients, navigating complex debt and equity transactions. His expertise spans the full lifecycle of property ownership, including asset management and capital markets.

Prior to founding Ocean West, Phil served as Vice President at Maguire Investments, managing a 5 million square foot portfolio consisting of office, retail, hotel, and FBOs. He began his career in commercial real estate as a Senior Associate at Eastdil Secured where he facilitated over $7 billion in acquisitions, joint ventures, and dispositions. Prior to Eastdil Secured, Phil started his career in investment banking and private equity specializing in Financial Instituions.

Phil holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkely.

Ryan Tucker is a Principal and Chief Investment Officer of Ocean West Capital Partners and oversees Ocean West’s capital markets activities including new acquisitions, financings, and dispositions. Since joining the company in 2010, Ocean West has completed $4.4 billion of acquisitions of office, industrial, multifamily and student housing properties throughout the country.

Prior to joining Ocean West, Mr. Tucker was an Acquisitions Associate at Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers (now Barings), the real estate investment subsidiary of MassMutual Life Insurance Company, where he was responsible for sourcing new acquisitions of various property types including office, apartment, and industrial properties. Prior to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, Mr. Tucker was an Assistant Vice President with Nomura Securities where he was involved in the origination of over $5 billion of new commercial real estate loans across numerous property types.

Mr. Tucker is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and received his Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Sam uses his deep transactional background and extensive network of relationships to lead our acquisition and disposition activities, as well as supervise our capital markets group in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. In addition to managing our deal sourcing, underwriting, due diligence, and execution activities, Sam is a member of our Investment Committee.

Sam has over 35 years of equity investment, loan origination, and portfolio management experience in commercial real estate. He has sourced and closed more than 300 transactions totaling over $4 billion in property acquisitions and structured debt during his career. Prior to joining Ocean West, Sam was head of capital markets and chairman of the investment committee at Embarcadero Capital Partners (“ECP”), where he oversaw the placement of approximately $1 billion of discretionary equity through five closed-end funds. Prior to ECP, Sam was director of acquisitions for ATC Partners, a San Francisco-based commercial real estate investor. He also provided term, bridge, and mezzanine financing to the commercial real estate market as vice president of Finova Realty Mezzanine and regional director of Finova Realty Capital. Sam is a graduate of University of California at Berkeley.

Mr. Bender is the Managing Director of New York for Ocean West Capital Partners and oversees all acquisition, disposition, and capital markets activity in the region. Over the course of his career, he has closed on over $6.0 billion in real estate transactions including office, multifamily, retail, and mixed-use assets.

Prior to joining Ocean West, Mr. Bender worked in both Acquisitions and Asset Management at leading institutional real estate platforms including Jamestown and SL Green. At Jamestown, he was responsible for sourcing new acquisitions of various property types including office, mixed-use, retail, and multifamily. Additionally, he was responsible for the oversight of a 3.4 million square foot portfolio that extended from Boston to Washington, D.C. Prior to joining Jamestown, Mr. Bender was a member of the Acquisitions and Investments team at SL Green Realty Corp., where he focused on direct real estate investments, structured finance transactions, and the development of One Vanderbilt.

Mr. Lee is a Managing Director and Head of Korea at Ocean West Capital Partners, where he leads engagement with Korean institutional investors and oversees cross-border investment execution for U.S. real estate investments, representing Ocean West in advancing strategic relationships with Korean institutional investors. Over the course of his career, he has been involved in over $6.0 billion of cross-border real estate transactions spanning office, multifamily, logistics, and student housing investments, as well as turnaround advisory assignments.
Prior to joining Ocean West, Mr. Lee held investment and asset management roles at Tiger Alternative Investment and Hana Alternative Asset Management. As a founding member of Tiger Alternative Investment, he was instrumental in establishing the firm’s overseas real estate investment platform, leading acquisitions, capital raising, and portfolio management activities targeting investments across the U.S. and Europe. Previously, at Hana Alternative Asset Management, he was responsible for overseas real estate investment and asset management activities for institutional and public fund investors.

John Kennedy is Director of Asset Management at Ocean West Capital Partners, overseeing the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the firm’s nationwide real estate portfolio.

John has more than 30 years of investment real estate experience, including portfolio management, asset management and acquisitions. Prior to joining Ocean West, John spent 23 years at Barings Real Estate. In his most recent role at Barings, John was a portfolio manager responsible for investment strategy, client relations and reporting for a $5 billion global real estate equity separate account and indirectly for that same client’s investment in certain Barings managed funds. He also was a member of the Barings Real Estate Investment Committee. John also served in roles as the Head of U.S. Real Estate Asset Management and Real Estate Regional Director – Western Region. Prior to joining Barings, John worked at Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc., where he was a Vice President in charge of asset management, property management and leasing.

John holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Northwestern University.

Anthony Duong is the Director of Construction at Ocean West Capital Partners, where he leads the firm’s development and construction initiatives across its portfolio. He brings a multidisciplinary background to the commercial real estate sector, with experience spanning structural engineering design, Big Four construction advisory, facilities management, capital project oversight, and ground up development.

Before joining Ocean West, Anthony served in construction management at LPC, where he was responsible for the execution and delivery of large scale development projects. A licensed Professional Engineer, Anthony earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego, and holds a master’s degree from the University of Southern California.

Tracy Childress is the Director of Property Management for Ocean West, with over 20 years of experience in managing commercial and residential real estate. She has been with Ocean West Capital Partners since 2016 and currently leads its Property Management department, overseeing property managers and support staff across the portfolio.

Tracy brings extensive expertise in property operations, budgeting, lease administration, tenant relations, and team leadership. Her background spans office, industrial, residential, and mixed-use assets, with a strong emphasis on operational discipline, financial performance, and tenant retention.

Prior to joining Ocean West, Tracy held property management leadership roles at Jones Lang LaSalle and Equity Office Properties, where she developed a strong foundation in institutional real estate operations and owner reporting standards.

Tracy holds an active California Real Estate License and is actively engaged in industry organizations including BOMA, IFMA, and IREM. She is recognized for her practical, hands-on leadership style and her ability to align property-level execution with ownership objectives.