Andy Deckas – Chief Executive Officer
Andy is the Chief Executive Officer of Axial Real Estate Advisors. With over 30 years of senior level experience in the commercial real estate industry, Andy focuses on raising investor equity, structuring investment vehicles, acquiring, financing and managing housing and commercial properties through the United States.
Andy started his career in 1988 with the Heitman organization, one of the nation’s largest real estate advisors, where he held several leadership positions, including President of Heitman Properties Ltd and Heitman Advisory Corp. He then joined Opus Properties in 1997 as President and, over the next 17 years, created and managed a real estate investment platform that included eleven commingled funds and numerous joint ventures, involving almost 200 properties, and together totaling over $4 billion in acquisition value. During his tenure, seven of those funds were disposed, completing their life cycle with superior realized returns.
Having served as President of Dougherty Real Estate Equity Advisors since 2014, Andy led a senior management buyout of the business to form Axial in conjunction with the Colliers International Group acquisition of several Dougherty Financial Group companies.
Andy is an active participant and speaker in several industry associations. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University.
Kyle Didier – Executive Vice President
Kyle Didier is an accomplished senior executive with over 30 years of experience. Through his experience in public accounting and various publicly and privately held companies, Mr. Didier has developed an expertise in real estate and organizational development.
Today, Mr. Didier continues to pursue his passion of developing innovative residential communities focusing on multigenerational socialization, environmental sustainability and accessibility to all income levels.
In 2015, Mr. Didier become a founding member and President of The Waters Senior Living Group. Over the following 4 years, Mr. Didier has built The Waters into one of the most respected senior living operators in the country. The Waters portfolio consists of 11 senior living communities serving more than 1,400 seniors in Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Through the Waters innovative building designs, The Waters has developed an operational philosophy that continues to challenge the status quo in traditional senior living communities. In 2018, Mr. Didier retired from The Waters; however, remains its second largest shareholder.
In 2007, Mr. Didier joined Shelter Corporation as its CFO. Shelter Corporation is an owner, developer and operator of market rate and affordable multi-family apartment complexes. With Operations in Minnesota, Florida and Texas, Mr. Didier worked extensively with lenders and limited partners to restructure the Shelter portfolio following the financial crisis. In 2010, Mr. Didier became the President of Shelter Corporation focusing much of his attention on developing operational scale for future growth.
In 1989, Mr. Didier graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a BA – Accounting degree. Upon graduation, Mr. Didier joined PricewaterhouseCoopers, as a CPA, in its audit and assurance practice.
Mr. Didier is very active in his community providing leadership and financial expertise to nonprofit organizations, including The Banyan Foundation.
Paul Maenner – Executive Vice President
Paul is the Executive Vice President of Development and Acquisitions for Axial Real Estate Advisors. Paul has over 35 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, ranging from his career start as a property analyst at Landauer Associates (Chicago office) through his most recent involvement implementing the development strategy at Minneapolis-based The Waters Senior Living where he closed and cultivated active development projects in excess of $100 million in value. Prior to this work he guided the development of two separate commercial development firms he founded, where he developed in excess of $75 million of retail in-fill and Greenfield projects.
Paul is a Member of the Appraisal Institute (MAI) and a member of the CCIM Institute. He is also a LEED Accredited Professional, and an active member of the Urban Land Institute Minnesota (ULI) where he recently co-chaired its Market Council forum. He is the past Board Chair of Youth Frontiers, a Minneapolis-based character development organization. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University.
Scott Larson – Senior Vice President
Scott is the Senior Vice President of Axial Real Estate Advisors. Scott is responsible for sourcing potential acquisitions for the firm as well as engineering financing solutions for the firm’s investments. He started his career in Chicago in 2011 with CBRE, the world’s largest real estate service provider, and since that time has been involved in over $1 billion in transaction volume. Within CBRE, Scott worked with the Financial Consulting Group where he advised sellers, buyers, and users on property-level financial issues and identified areas for value creation while providing an excellent understanding of the capital markets and industry underwriting techniques to benefit clients. Scott also worked with the Debt & Structured Finance group which allowed him to specialize in debt and equity placement for commercial and multi-family property primarily in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area as well as throughout the United States.
Scott is currently an active member of the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association (WREAA) and is the 2019 Chair of the NAIOP Developing Leaders. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Real Estate & Urban Land Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Karrin May – Vice President
Karrin is the Vice President of Asset Management and Finance of Axial Real Estate Equity Advisors, with responsibility for the oversight of operational and financial performance for the firm’s investments. She started her career in real estate in Minneapolis in 2004 with a locally based property management and development company. With her education and previous experience in accounting, individual and business taxes, she rose to the role of Vice President of Finance. The company had $525 M in assets under management including Multi-Family as well as Senior Assisted Living properties. During her 14 year tenure, Karrin led her team while the organization successfully built and launched a new Senior Housing operating platform and completed ground-up development and acquisition of 11 Senior Housing assets.
Karrin is an alumni of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Carlson School of Management where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Business, Accounting degree.
AJ Smith – Director of Accounting and Asset Management
AJ is the Director of Accounting and Asset Management for Axial Real Estate Advisors. AJ is responsible for the financial reporting for the firm, including the review of operations at the properties, compliance with lender requirements, and reporting packages for investors. AJ has specific experience with commercial real estate and multi-level entity structuring since beginning his career in 2013. He came to Minneapolis to work as a Certified Public Accountant for KPMG, a professional service company and one of the “Big Four” accounting firms.
More recently, AJ has worked with Castlelake, a global private investment firm based in Minneapolis. Here AJ worked as an accountant for commercial real estate Special Purpose Entities. He specialized in the purchase, sale, and operations of commercial real estate assets, collecting experience with over 75 legal entities covering more than 40 deals and multiple Joint Venture Partners.
AJ is an Active Certified Public Accountant in Minnesota. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in both Accounting and Finance from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.
Steph Gunkel – Executive Assistant and Office Manager
Steph is the Executive Assistant and Office Manager of Axial Real Estate Advisors. She has over 20 years of executive level administrative experience in the commercial real estate industry and is the main point of contact for Axial clients. Steph began her career in 1993 in the retail industry and made the transition to the commercial real estate industry in 1997 when she joined Hines Interests Limited Partnership in Minneapolis. In 2004, she joined Andy Deckas at Opus Properties and since that time has assisted in the coordination of all aspects of client communication, documentation and reporting.
Steph holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin – Stout.