Meet Our Executive Team

Chief Executive Officer

Aliza Karney Guren is the Chief Executive Officer and co-owner of Karney Properties. Aliza assumed her position in 2003 and sets the overall strategy for the Company. Aliza is also directly involved in all key areas of the Company’s activities, including development, finance, acquisitions and dispositions, and asset management. She has spent over 30 years in the real estate industry. She has repeatedly been named one of Bisnow’s top 60 women in Los Angeles commercial real estate.

Prior to joining the Company in 1991, Aliza was a practicing attorney and then a mediator. She previously founded and directed an independent nonprofit arts organization. Aliza also worked with the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Film Institute.

Aliza is an active member of the Urban Land Institute and the National Association for Industrial and Office Parks, as well as several other selective women-oriented national real estate groups. She is engaged in the Los Angeles community and is currently a Board member of the Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s largest and most active theater companies. She also serves as a mentor to other women in real estate through several organizations.

Aliza earned a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in Social Studies from Harvard College. She also earned a law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School. Aliza is a member of the State Bar of California and the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. She is a California licensed general contractor.

President

Jeff Newman is President of Karney Properties and joined the Company in November 2022. Jeff works with internal and external teams to optimize portfolio performance and create growth opportunities for the Firm. He is leading and integrating the work of the Company’s seasoned professionals – focused on asset management, leasing, acquisitions, finance, accounting, legal and construction – for industrial and creative office investment strategies.

Prior to joining Karney Properties, Jeff was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Investments at IDS Real Estate Group. He spent 16 years growing the Firm’s real estate investment management business and expanding its institutional presence. Before joining IDS, Jeff worked for over a decade at Nippon Life Insurance’s U.S. real estate subsidiary.
Jeff earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Lehigh University, and a Master in Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, he was also an assistant wrestling coach.

Jeff serves on the Board of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers and is active in the Urban Land Institute. He is a founding Board member of Beat the Streets-Los Angeles, a non-profit organization promoting youth development and wrestling in underserved communities in Los Angeles County. Jeff also serves on the board of the John Tracy Center, a Los Angeles-based non-profit providing family centered services, locally and globally, to young children with hearing loss.

Senior Vice President and Head of Asset Management

Michael Downes joined Karney Properties in January 2019. Michael has over 20 years of asset management experience, including development, leasing, property management, dispositions, acquisitions, capital markets, financial operations, and joint venture experience. He is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the Company’s managed portfolio, including the development and execution of asset-level strategies.

Prior to joining Karney Properties, Michael held Managing Director positions at Arc Capital Partners and the Watt Companies, where he was responsible for overseeing asset and property management, leasing, redevelopment, and dispositions for various property types in the Western United States. Michael previously worked at the Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds, a joint venture between Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Canyon Capital Realty Advisors, investing nationwide in urban real estate developments.

Michael began his career as a corps member for Teach for America, where he was an elementary school teacher in Compton, California, and a middle school teacher in Watts in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He continues to be involved in education as a founding board member of Vox Collegiate, a charter school in South Los Angeles that opened in August 2018.

Michael earned a Master in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree from Boston College with a major in accounting and a minor in environmental studies.

General Counsel & Advisor

Marc Guren formally joined Karney Properties in January 2016, having served since 2003 — and still serving — as a strategic and financial advisor to the Company. Marc is responsible for all aspects of legal affairs of the Company and its managed portfolio. He also oversees the Company’s information technology.

Formerly an attorney, Marc was the lead author of an authoritative two-volume legal treatise on software and data development and protection.

Marc has been involved in the investment community since 1984 and in the tech industry since 1981. He has been especially active in providing various services in the information and technology industries – including the Internet, software and hardware – and health care. Marc was formerly a business executive with Shamrock Holdings and with a leading media analyst, participating and directing investments in and management of various private equity and venture capital investments. He is the managing member of Acuity Capital, LLC, providing financing, planning, and assistance in negotiations and operations. Marc was also the Co-Founder and CEO of Simple Matters LLC, a Santa Monica company which developed, produced and marketed a new category of wearable device that communicated with smartphones.

Marc earned a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in Social Studies from Harvard College. He also earned a law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. He was a member, officer and board member of Tech Coast Angels (TCA), the country’s largest angel investor network. Marc also supports and has served with various charitable organizations. Marc is a member of the State Bar of California and the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Director of Construction and Facilities

Henry Del Valle joined Karney Properties in November 2019. Henry has over 20 years of construction experience, including development and construction, facilities management and project management of real estate projects in various categories, including industrial, commercial and healthcare. He is responsible for managing all operations of the construction and capital expenditure projects for the Company’s managed portfolio.

Prior to joining the Karney Properties team, Henry was a Project Executive at IPS-Integrated Project Services, where he managed development activities and complex tenant improvement construction projects. While at IPS, Henry led a diverse team of property managers, construction managers and superintendents.

Henry earned an undergraduate degree from Universidad del Turabo in Electrical Engineering with a minor in mechanical engineering. He is completing his Master of Business Administration at Arizona State University.

Henry is a panelist volunteer on the Fundamentals of Engineering course for first-year Engineering Students at California State University Long Beach, where he shares his engineering experiences with future engineers and helps them understand the different areas they can specialize among the various engineering disciplines.

CPA, Director of Corporate and Trust Accounting

Nataliya Rykhlova joined Karney Properties in December 2017. Nataliya has over 15 years of accounting experience in commercial and residential real estate. Her responsibilities include managing all financial aspects of the Company’s managed portfolio.

Prior to joining the Karney Properties team, Nataliya was an Assistant Controller with BIG Shopping Centers USA, where she prepared corporate and property financials, federal and state tax filings, and lender reporting. She also oversaw treasury management, employee payroll and benefits, and third-party property managers.

Nataliya also held the position of Lead Accountant with The John Stewart Company. She performed full-cycle accounting functions, supervised and trained staff accountants, was a lead contact for multiple clients, and facilitated their external audit process.

Nataliya earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a Certified Public Accountant.

CPM, Director of Property Management

Lanetta Davis joined Karney Properties in April 2020. Lanetta has over 15 years of commercial real estate experience. She is responsible for developing property management policies and procedures, managing our third-party property management teams, and direct oversight of the Company’s portfolio properties located outside California.

Prior to joining the team at Karney Properties, Lanetta held senior property management positions in Southern California with Kilroy Realty, CBRE, and Cushman & Wakefield, where she managed all facets of day-to-day operations of Class A commercial buildings.

Before moving to Los Angeles in 2011, Lanetta worked as a Commercial Property Manager with Sansone Group in St. Louis, Missouri. Her responsibilities included managing a diverse portfolio of Class A high-rise office buildings, medical office buildings, and retail and industrial properties totaling more than 1.6 million square feet. Lanetta also worked with Cassidy Turley (Formerly Colliers Turley Martin Tucker) as a Property Manager with the Health Medical Division, where she was responsible for managing building staff and all facets of operation and administration of professional and medical office buildings.

Lanetta earned a master’s degree in Management and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Fontbonne University, St. Louis, Missouri. She is a licensed Real Estate Broker in California and Missouri and was awarded the Certified Property Manager designation by the Institute of Real Estate Management.

Director of Data Analytics

George Anderson joined Karney Properties in October 2018. As Director of Data Analytics, George is responsible for providing analytical support to the full spectrum of Karney’s departments. In addition, he oversees financial planning and analysis on portfolio, partnership, and individual property levels and maintains detailed property information and plans. George also assists with the annual budget creation process, underwriting of leases and acquisitions, valuations and debt analysis.

Prior to joining Karney, George was Director of Investment Analysis for the Retail Investment Sales Group at Mid-America Real Estate Corp. in Chicago, where he played a critical role in creating offering memoranda and the marketing of shopping centers for sale. In addition, he was an Acquisitions Associate with Cordia Capital Management in El Segundo, where he was instrumental in establishing a ground-up platform for investing in commercial real estate. George has also honed his analytical skills through positions at CenterCal Properties, Churchill Mortgage Corp., The Philipsborn Company, and Cushman & Wakefield.

George earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and a MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Principal

Susanna Karney Flaster is Principal and co-owner of Karney Properties. Susanna joined the Company in 1991 and has been actively involved in management oversight, operational strategy and financial planning since 2003.

Active in San Diego civic affairs, Susanna Flaster serves on the boards of directors of the Jewish Community Foundation San Diego, the San Diego Museum of Art, and Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. Susanna earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Harvard College and a master’s degree in Communication Disorders from Northwestern University.