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About northpond

A Seasoned Investor & Operator

Northpond Partners is a real estate investment firm focused on identifying underutilized retail and mixed-use assets. We concentrate in supply constrained markets and reposition the properties to attract a broad range of potential tenants.

We seek assets that can be adapted to a wide variety of uses; increasing the ability to capture market demand.

Our team

Entrepreneurial Culture +
Institutional Foundation

One of Northpond’s continuous efforts is to build a cohesive team with a common goal and belief. We are proud of the varied skills our team has, with experiences encompassing development, asset management, zoning, entitlement, leasing, fund management, and finance.

We pride ourselves in shared values and integrity, a core tenant of which is to treat individuals with equal respect and dignity. As a company we are making a commitment to learn, listen, and educate ourselves as it relates to social injustice, inequalities and inherent biases. We have the ability and responsibility to drive positive change via our work and can do such through our projects, charitable giving and community engagement efforts.

Sam Ankin

Managing Principal

Phil Slovitt

Managing Principal

Mitch Malone

Managing Director

Jeff Merriam

Director of Investments & Asset Management

Kirstey Lein

Vice President of Investments

Marco Macali

Vice President of Investments and Acquisitions

Mary Beth Iveljic

Vice President of Leasing and Tenant Services

Tara Wilson

Senior Associate

Michael Nachtsheim

Senior Associate

Michael Grote

Senior Associate

Caterina Jacobs

Analyst

Jessica Lipski

Analyst

Jack Moeller

Analyst

Megan Gilmore

Operations & HR Manager

Let Our Investments Speak For Us

Check out our portfolio of investments

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Sam Ankin Co-Founder & Managing Principal of Northpond Partners.

Sam Ankin is a co-founder of Northpond Partners, and is primarily responsible for sourcing and structuring new investment opportunities along with the strategic direction of the firm.  He also serves as a member of the Investment Committee for all of Northpond’s sponsored investment vehicles. Mr. Ankin has led or supported the identification and analysis of more than 1,500 investment opportunities and through his leadership, has closed on over 75 investments, with a gross asset value in excess of $1.3 Billion across over 4.5 million square feet. 

Prior to Northpond., Mr. Ankin was also a founding partner of Shiner Capital Partners, LLC, an entity that sponsored SCP Realty Fund I, LP and SCP Realty Fund II, LP. He also served as Development and Acquisition Manager for Shiner Group, where he was responsible for land and asset acquisitions, as well as coordinating the development of retail, office and mixed-use projects in the Chicagoland area and the Carolinas. At Shiner Group, Mr. Ankin led or supported the development of more than 12 projects consisting of approximately 1,000,000 square feet of commercial space. Before joining Shiner Group, Mr. Ankin worked at LaSalle Bank, most recently in the commercial real estate group.

Mr. Ankin graduated from the Real Estate Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Granger School of Business with Academic Distinction. Mr. Ankin was a member of the ICSC Foundation Board of Directors, the National ICSC Next Generation Leadership Board (past chair), and is a member of the ULI Small Scale Development Product Council. He also sat on the Board of Advisors of the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and is an Executive Board member of The Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation and a Next Generation Board Member of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. A native of the Chicagoland area, he currently resides in suburban Chicago with his wife Erin and their two children.

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Phil Slovitt >

Phil Slovitt Co-Founder & Managing Principal of Northpond Partners.

Phil’s responsibilities include investment strategy, capital formation, risk management, and portfolio management. He is also a member of the Investment Committee. He was also a founding partner of Shiner Capital Partners, LLC, an entity that sponsored SCP Realty Fund I, LP and SCP Realty Fund II, LP. Mr. Slovitt successfully led Shiner Capital as it made 35 investments and procured project level financing equating to approximately $200 million. 

Mr. Slovitt previously worked at Morgan Stanley’s Chicago office in its U.S. Real Estate Investing Group. While at Morgan Stanley, Mr. Slovitt’s responsibilities included the underwriting, due diligence and closing of more than $1 billion in real estate investments on behalf of Morgan Stanley-sponsored funds and separate account clients. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Slovitt worked for Crow Holdings in Dallas, Texas. During his time at Crow Holdings, he primarily worked on the acquisition and asset management of retail, office and industrial properties totaling more than $350 million in value.

Mr. Slovitt graduated from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University with a BBA in Real Estate Finance. He is actively involved with the Illinois Junior Golf Association and the American Junior Golf Association through their ACE Grant scholarship programs. Mr. Slovitt is a Council Member of the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center at the University of Texas at Austin. He currently resides with his wife Emily and three children in suburban Chicago.

< Sam Ankin

Mitch Malone >

Mitch Malone, CPA is Northpond's Managing Director, and is responsible for managing and maintaining controls designed to mitigate risk and measure property performance and enhance the accuracy of financial reporting.

Mitch joined Northpond in 2019. Mitch was a finance manager at Heitman LLC for over 6 years. There, he oversaw the financial reporting, valuation process, annual audits and fund performance for their value-add, closed-end fund series. His responsibilities at Northpond include financial reporting, portfolio performance and management of annual audits and tax processes. 

Prior to joining Heitman, worked for NAI Hiffman Asset Management for two years, where he was responsible for the property accounting and reporting for various asset classes including retail, industrial and office.

Mitch graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with a BA in Accounting. He holds an active CPA license and is registered with the State of Illinois.

< Phil Slovitt

Jeff Merriam >

Jeff Merriam, CFA is Director of Investments & Asset Management at Northpond Partners.

Jeff joined Northpond Partners in Jan of 2020. Most recently Jeff was a
Manager on the Asset Management team at Starwood Retail Partners where he was responsible for a portfolio of regional mall and lifestyle centers valued at over $1.3Bn. His primary responsibilities included strategic planning and execution, investor reporting, forecasting and property valuation, and the oversight of capital market, development, disposition, and leasing activity.

Prior to joining Starwood Retail Partners, Jeff was at Schafer Richardson for three years where he worked on over $300M in acquisitions and developments across multiple property types, including multi-family and creative office.

Jeff graduated from the University of Richmond with a BA in Economics and International Studies, and a Minor in Mathematics. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

< Mitch Malone

Kirstey Lein >

Kirstey Lein is Vice President of Investments at Northpond Partners

Kirstey joined Northpond Partners in October 2021. Previously, she worked at JLL as a Retail Investment Sales Analyst, where she was responsible for complex financial modeling of commercial real estate transactions, prepared and oversaw the preparation of investment packages for Chicago’s retail investment sales team, mentored junior analysts, and spearheaded the Summer 2020 Intern Committee.

Prior to joining JLL, Kirstey was at Starwood Retail Partners, first as a Leadership Rotation Associate, and then as National Portfolio Leasing Associate. At Starwood Retail, she facilitated package leasing deals for National tenants across the entire Starwood portfolio, canvassed new markets to identify emerging concepts, and assisted in the relationship management and retention efforts for existing tenants.

Kirstey graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BBA in Real Estate & Urban Land Economics and Marketing.

She’s a Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Associate (WREAA) member, and enjoys volunteering with Project Destined and Chicago Scholars.

< Jeff Merriam

Marco Macali >

Marco Macali is Assistant Vice President of Investments and Acquisitions at Northpond Partners

Marco joined Northpond Partners in July 2024. He is responsible for all aspects of acquisition execution and investment from origination to close for the firm’s Neighborhood Retail strategy.

Prior to joining Northpond, he worked at Chase Properties as Director of Acquisitions and Dispositions focused on the firm’s shopping center strategy. Before Chase Properties, he was a Manager of Acquisitions & Dispositions at ShopCore Properties responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and execution of acquisition and disposition opportunities of grocery-anchored shopping centers on behalf of Blackstone. Marco began his career as a financial analyst for Equity Lifestyle Properties, a publicly traded manufactured housing REIT based in Chicago. Marco has been involved in the acquisition and disposition of over $4.1bn of retail shopping centers.​

Originally from Youngstown, OH, Marco holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Economics from the Max M. Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University. He is an active member of ICSC. In addition to spending time with family and friends, Marco enjoys trying new restaurants, skiing, and watching classic movies.

< Kirstey Lein

Mary Beth Iveljic >

Tara Wilson is a Senior Associate at Northpond Partners.

Tara joined Northpond in March 2024. Previously, she was an Associate at Northwood Investors, where she was responsible for overseeing asset management and development activities for a portfolio of retail, office, and multifamily investments across the U.S. with a focus on the West Coast and Southeast. 

Prior to joining Northwood Investors, Tara spent two years as a financial analyst in Eastdil Secured’s Chicago office leading the underwriting for investment sales and debt placement across multiple asset types. She also prepared offering memorandums to include in-depth market overviews and detailed financial schedules. 

Tara graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BBA in Real Estate & Urban Land Economics and Finance. She enjoys exploring new cities and cheering on the Bears and Cubs home in Chicago.

< Mary Beth Iveljic

Michael Nachtsheim >

Mary Beth Iveljic is Vice President of Leasing and Tenant Services at Northpond

Mary Beth joined Northpond Partners in October 2024. She is responsible for overseeing leasing activity and tenant relations at Northpond. Prior to joining Northpond, she worked at Pine Tree as Senior Leasing Manager, where she oversaw leasing of 30 assets totaling 3.7m square feet. Before Pine Tree, she owned and managed Elegant Interiors Home Staging, LLC – a boutique home staging business with a focus on new residential constructions, apartment models, and vacant homes. Prior to Elegant Interiors, she was Vice President at Mid-America Real Estate Group, executing all aspects of a 30-asset portfolio of retail properties located throughout the Chicagoland area.

Mary Beth holds a Master of Arts in Corporate & Multicultural Communication from DePaul University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from Elmhurst University. She is a Licensed Real Estate Broker, and an active member of ICSC.

< Marco Macali

Tara Wilson >

Michael Nachtsheim, CPA is a Senior Associate at Northpond Partners.

Michael joined Northpond in the Fall of 2021. Prior to then, Michael worked at Ernst & Young in the Assurance group serving clients in the Real Estate, Hospitality, and Construction sectors. His responsibilities included assessing acquisitions & dispositions, evaluating fair market valuation analysis, and applying data analytics.

Michael graduated from the University of Missouri with a BS and MS in Accountancy. He is a licensed CPA in the state of Illinois. In his free time, Michael enjoys traveling, running, and spending time outdoors.

< Tara Wilson

Michael Grote >

Michael Grote is a Senior Associate at Northpond Partners.

Michael joined Northpond Partners in May 2023. Previously, he was an Analyst on the Capital Markets team at Shapack Partners, where he led the team’s market research efforts, assisted in the underwriting and valuations of retail and multifamily properties, and helped with the asset management of the portfolio.

Before Shapack Partners, Michael was an Analyst on the FP&A team at Brookfield Properties, leading the forecasting and valuations for their Future Fund portfolio, an Australian sovereign wealth fund consisting of 25 shopping centers across the United States.

Originally from Cincinnati, OH, Michael graduated from Indiana University with a Financial Management degree.

He enjoys golfing, spending time with family and friends, and traveling.

< Michael Nachtsheim

Caterina Jacobs >

Caterina Jacobs is an Analyst at Northpond

Caterina joined Northpond in July 2022, after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BBA in Finance, Investment, and Banking & Real Estate and Urban Land Economics. She served as Investment Intern at Northpond in the summer of 2021, and as HR Intern at Drybar prior.

Caterina was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Laguna Beach, California. Having just moved to Chicago, she’s excited to explore the different neighborhoods and Chicago restaurants.

< Michael Grote

Jessica Lipski >

Jessica Lipski, CPA is an Analyst at Northpond Partners.

Jessica joined Northpond in October 2023. Previously, Jessica was Senior Assurance Associate at RSM US LLP, joining after she graduated in 2021. Her primary focus on the Real Estate team was property and fair value audits. Her responsibilities included evaluation acquisitions, assisting with fair valuation of properties, and maintaining client relationships and in-charging engagements.

Jessica holds degrees in both Finance and Accounting from Indiana University. She holds an active CPA license and is registered with the State of Illinois. In her free time, Jessica likes to travel, go to concerts, and cheer on the Cubs during baseball season.

< Caterina Jacobs

Jack Moeller >

Jack Moeller is an Analyst at Northpond Partners.

Jack joined Northpond in March 2024. Prior to joining Northpond, Jack worked at Wedgewood Investment Group, a boutique commercial real estate capital advisory firm. There, Jack focused on structuring debt and equity transactions for owners, operators, and developers primarily in the senior housing and multifamily space. Before then he interned with BDO’s Valuation and Capital Market Analysis team with a focus on market research and creating complete appraisal reports.

Jack graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BBA in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics. He enjoys golfing, Chicago sports, and spending time with friends/family.

< Jessica Lipski

Megan Gilmore >

Megan Gilmore is responsible for Northpond’s operations and administration.

Megan joined Northpond in April 2021. She previously worked as Office Manager of Tandem Construction, Development, and Architecture, where she oversaw day-to-day office operations, as well as managed aspects of onboarding, accounts payable, property management tasks, and social media management. Prior to Tandem, she was Administrative Assistant with Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum for 3 years, where she provided administrative support to the Director of Operations and the growing team.

Megan graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato with a BS in Theatre Arts, and has enjoyed being a part of the vibrant Chicago performing arts community since she made the move in 2014.

< Jack Moeller

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