OFFICERS

NICK SAPP - DELOITTE

President

     Nick has over 17 years of public accounting experience serving some of the largest clients within the investment management practice and is well versed in pass-through taxation.  Nick has extensive experience in real estate, private equity funds, cross-border financing, and various aspects of inbound and outbound international tax issues.  He regularly consults his clients in regard to various transaction events.  Moreover, Nick has significant experience with REITs, real estate funds, partnership tax matters, sell-side and buy-side due diligence projects.  Nick previously held a leadership role within Deloitte’s Tax Technology Transformation Team where he led a team responsible for the Investment Management tax transformation strategy. Nick is the current President of REFEA and has served as a Board Member for the past three years.

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CHRIS WONG - AUSTIN INDUSTRIES 

Vice President - Membership

Chris has 8+ years of experience in commercial real estate acquisitions and asset management in addition to his finance and accounting background. He received his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation in 2014 while working with the Transaction and Integration Services group at Deloitte.

Chris joined Austin Industries in 2016 and currently serves as their Director of Asset Management - Real Estate and Tax Director. His main responsibilities involve the management of Austin’s national real estate portfolio, which consists of office investments and leasing, warehouse shops for equipment storage, as well as asphalt and recycled concrete plants. Additional duties include sourcing project needs in regards to office or warehouse space. In 2019, Chris hired a Property Manager and Property Engineer to bring property management in-house, the new business venture is Austin Property Management. As Austin’s Tax Director, Chris’ team is responsible for Austin’s federal, state, and local regulatory filings for income, property, and sales & use tax.

Prior to Austin, Chris was a Senior Tax Associate at Hillwood, where he worked on tax strategy and planning for REITs, and Hillwood’s real estate development projects.

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Why REFEA Is important?    As a younger working professional in real estate, REFEA offers great networking opportunities, and the chance to listen to influential speakers through their monthly lunches at the Dallas County Club.

JOE PETERSON - KENSINGTON VANGUARD

Vice President - Sponsorship

Joe Peterson has 16+ years of experience in business development and relationship-based consulting within the financial services and real estate industries. He began his career in commercial banking, he has worked for a few of the most notable financial institutions and has brought his knowledge of the financial & credit markets to the real estate industry. He has worked in Chicago and Los Angeles from 2004 – 2016 within the banking & real estate sectors. 

In 2016, Joe joined Stewart Title’s National Commercial Services Group in Los Angeles, within his first year, Stewart approached him to transfer to their DFW team to fill business development opportunity within their group.  As of May 2021, Joe accepted a role with Kensington Vanguard, focusing on business development for commercial & residential real estate services.  Kensington Vanguard is a privately held company, headquartered out of New York.  KV is one of the strongest & largest title agencies in the U.S.

Joe works with commercial real estate developers, ownership groups, REITs, Real Estate Syndications, C&I Lenders, Bridge & Mezzanine Lenders, Bankers, Real Estate Attorneys, Brokers, Home Builders.  My clients are instrumental in directing business to me on their owner-occupied & investment real estate dispositions, acquisitions & refinances in DFW, Texas and across the country where his clients’ transactions take place.

JULIANNA BROOKS - BRADFORD

Secretary

Julianna Brooks is the Director of Business Development and Strategic Relationships for Bradford Commercial Real Estate.  She specializes in connecting clients, family offices, entrepreneurial ownerships, pension fund advisors and institutions with  Property Management, Leasing and Construction Management solutions.
She began her CRE career on the construction front, where she was a Business Development and Operations analyst for one of the country’s largest builders. In her role, she was responsible for understanding and analyzing the trends, risks and opportunities that face building owners and developers throughout the lifecycle of the building.
Ms. Brooks moved into Commercial Real Estate Services arena with Bradford to further her expertise and work with prospective clients on property solutions to continuously maximize their assets values long after commissioning.
Outside of REFEA, She is an active member of several national business organizations, including the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), Building Owners and Managers Association Greater Dallas (BOMA Greater Dallas), and The Real Estate Council (TREC). She also served as a board member on the Association of Industry Analysts and Petrochem Works, a charity organization who supports education in low-income neighborhoods in Houston. Julianna earned her degree in Economics from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where she ran Track and Field and Cross Country.