about us

Tony Avila is the founder of Avila Real Estate Capital and a co-founder and Managing Principal of Encore Capital Management, sitting on the Investment Committees of its three funds and apartment REIT ("Rescore"). Mr. Avila has managed over $1 billion in equity and $2 billion in assets under management. He has overseen the acquisition and realization of 20 residential real estate projects on the West Coast. Mr. Avila has originated over $3 billion in real estate loans including $800 million in residential land mortgages over the past year. Mr. Avila is also founder and Chief Executive Officer of Builder Advisor Group, a boutique investment banking firm that focuses on advising residential real estate and land development companies on financial transactions including capital raising, debt restructuring and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to becoming a Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Mr. Avila served as head of Homebuilding Investment Banking at Bank of America Securities from 1998 to 2002. Mr. Avila is a member of the Urban Land Institute and sits on the Community Development Council. He graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1987. He is an avid marathoner and triathlete and competed in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.

Oscar Vasquez is the Chief Operating Officer of Avila Real Estate Capital and Encore Capital Management since 2009, the firm inception. Oscar oversees fund operations and investor relations. He has raised over $1 billion of capital commitments at Encore from 200+ investors. He works with clients both domestic and international supporting their reporting, tax, structuring, and compliance requirements related to their Encore investments. Prior to Encore, Mr. Vasquez led the Management Consulting organization in California for EMC, one of the world’s largest technology companies. In this role he had full operational, profit/loss, and business development responsibility for the unit, and presided over 30% year-on-year growth of revenue. Prior to EMC, he worked for Accenture/Andersen Consulting and Deloitte Touche. He graduated from UC San Diego with BS in Computer Engineering.

Glen is responsible for Encore/Avila’s Asset Management in Northern & Southern California. During his 45-year career in the real estate development and construction industries, Glen Martin has held a variety of executive leadership roles for multiple startup companies and Fortune 100 corporations where his expertise in residential, commercial, and industrial construction helped orchestrate the successful completion of multi-million-dollar projects around the world. As Division President of Standard Pacific and Group President of Toll Brothers, Glen was responsible for directing and managing all high-density and multi-family projects, in addition to all single-family detached and townhomes in Northern California. Glen’s experience with land acquisition and planning, architecture, project and construction management, and quality control are evidenced in the high-end custom homes and multi-family projects he managed in California. As the former Chairman of the California Building Industry Association Codes and Energy Committee, Glen worked with the Building Standards Commission and the Department of Housing and Community Development on a variety of laws and code changes. Glen is a licensed California Building and Engineering Contractor (both A and B). He has was a former board member of HomeAid Northern California, a nonprofit that builds shelter for the homeless, battered women and children, and veterans. He was also the former chair of the board of the Building Standards Institute.

Mike serves Avila Real Estate Capital as General Counsel. He oversees and advises on a wide variety of the legal aspects of our business, including but not limited to overseeing outside counsel, fund compliance, litigation, contract negotiation, and labor and employment issues. Prior to joining AREC/Encore, Mike spent 14years at Righetti Glugoski P.C. where he represented clients in individual and complex, class action litigation. He received his Juris Doctorate from USF School of Law in 2008 and a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies from University of California, Berkeley in 2004.  Mike is licensed to practice law in the State of California (SBN #258541).

Patrick serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Avila Real Estate Capital. In this role, he oversees all finance and accounting operations of the company as well as maintaining compliance procedures. Prior to joining AREC, Patrick was an audit partner at BDO for 15 years, a top 6 global accounting firm, where he led audit engagements for private and public companies. Patrick graduated from Virginia Tech with a master’s degree in Accounting and Finance. He is a registered California Certified Public Accountant.

Kevin Van Gorder serves as the Chief Compliance Officer at Avila Real Estate Capital, overseeing the development, implementation, and maintenance of compliance policies and procedures. Kevin spent the last 15 years as a Vice President, Senior Compliance Officer at PIMCO, a global investment firm. He brings experience in navigating regulatory complexities and cultivating a robust culture of compliance. Kevin holds a Bachelors of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

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John Brimberry serves as the Chief Lending Officer for Avila Real Estate Capital (AREC). He joined the AREC team in April 2025 to establish the builder lending platform for the AREC Builder Finance group. During his 35-year banking career, John expanded the national footprint at RBC Builder Finance and Texas Capital Bank, and he launched three Home Builder Finance lending platforms at Citywide Bank of Colorado, Vectra Bank, and Flagstar Bank. In is 9 years at Flagstar, John was co-founder, Chief Operating Officer and National Production Director where he established one of the top builder lending teams in the United States that generated over $30 billion in builder and developer loan commitments spanning 25 states and over 100 MSAs, of which in the final three years the team generated $11 billion in loan production.  John graduated from Texas Tech University in 1990 with a B.S. in Finance and a minor in Economics. John lives in Lubbock, Texas with his wife of 31 years and his three children.

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Zachary Reisner serves as Managing Director, Investor Relations at Avila Real Estate Capital, and is responsible for fundraising and investor relations initiatives across active/prospective investments and investment vehicles. Prior to joining Avila Real Estate Capital in 2023, Mr. Reisner worked at RXR, a New York-based firm. At RXR, Mr. Reisner oversaw RXR’s joint venture with middle-market credit platform Hudson Realty Capital and was engaged in all fundraising and product development initiatives related to RXR’s credit platform including fund formation, joint venture and separate account structuring, investor marketing, fundraising execution and investor relations. As a senior member of RXR's fundraising/investor relations team, Mr. Reisner was involved in over $1 billion in capital raised from international and domestic pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and high net worth individuals across fund investments, co-investments and separate accounts. Mr. Reisner worked in tandem with RXR’s Investment Management Group on all credit transactions, including sourcing, structuring, underwriting, closing and capitalizing each transaction. Mr. Reisner holds a Bachelors of Business Administration with a Finance Concentration, and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.

Anthony Albuquerque serves as Managing Director, Investor Relations at Avila Real Estate Capital, and is responsible for fundraising and investor relations initiatives across active/prospective investments and investment vehicles.  Prior to joining AREC, Anthony spent over 25 years at Glenmede Trust Company, a wealth management firm based in Philadelphia.  As part of the private assets team at Glenmede, Anthony managed more than $300 million of client assets committed across dozens of private equity managers in the real estate and real asset sectors. He was also instrumental in building out the firm’s middle office/administrative functions for the private assets platform, managing the preparation of financial, tax, and other client reporting.

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Phil's expertise spans 25 years in banking with prior posts at Key Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Zions Bancorporation, and Flagstar Bank. The past 19 years he has specialized exclusively in Homebuilder Finance and has twice been a founding member of two Homebuilder Finance platforms including Flagstar Bank, where he built a $1B portfolio across major Western U.S. markets managing underwriting, credit quality, and client relationships.

Jerry Schillaci is a 27 year veteran in the banking industry of which 24 has been spent in Homebuilder Finance.  He specializes in both vertical construction lines of credit and acquisition and development loans banking some of the top homebuilders and land developers in the country.  Jerry is married with 3 kids and has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from University of Houston - Clear Lake and MBA from Southern Methodist University.

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Nathan Cichon is a seasoned finance professional with over 20 years of commercial banking experience specializing in Homebuilder Finance (HBF) and Commercial Real Estate (CRE).  Nathan began his career with RBC Builder Finance in Chicago, IL before returning to HBF with Texas Capital Bank in Atlanta, GA.  Nathan has held various originations, underwriting, distressed asset advisory, risk management, and business development roles at RBC Bank, Private Bank & Trust, PNC Bank, State Bank and Trust, and Texas Capital Bank.  Nathan has a proven track record of originating and managing substantial portfolios, with most recent experience at Flagstar Bank in HBF where he originated and managed a HBF portfolio with over $700MM in assets. This experience included originating and agenting multibank syndications, including one Shared National Credit (SNC), participating in lead roles within other large bank syndications, and coordinating capital market solutions.  

In his recent role at Flagstar Bank, Nathan created a build-to-rent financing platform, focused on expanding strategic partnerships with core homebuilder clients and targeting qualified build-to-rent operators.  His resourceful approach and deep expertise have established him as a thought leader in the industry, where Nathan is focused on fostering long term partnerships and pursuing creative client-oriented solutions. 

Nathan holds a BS in Finance from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, a Masters in Real Estate (MSRE) from Roosevelt University (Marshall Bennett Institute in Real Estate) in Chicago, IL, and a GA Real Estate Broker’s License.  Nathan currently lives in Atlanta, GA, with his wife and two children.

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Over his 20+ year career, Drew has built and led underwriting teams at Texas Capital Bank and served as a credit officer with loan signing authority at Wells Fargo. He also managed large commercial and residential portfolios for life companies at GE Capital Real Estate/CBRE. Most recently, at Flagstar Bank, he built a $1.5 billion portfolio across major Eastern U.S. markets, overseeing underwriting, credit quality, and client relationships.

Mishal is responsible for loan origination and asset management based in Southern California. Prior to AREC, Mishal was the sole Loan Originator for Bolour Associates, where he worked on $160M of closed high yield loans, primarily secured by unentitled land sites. Mishal received his BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and Real Estate from Indiana University and a Master of Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California.

Paige is Chief of Staff for Avila Real Estate Capital and has 10+ years of supporting C-level executives. With a background in public relations and blended experience in hospitality and workplace culture, Paige specializes in creating impactful experiences that foster creativity, promote productivity, and positively affect employee behavior to promote a vibrant company culture and client experience. Paige works closely with the executive team and aids in the development and implementation of company policies, programs, and systems, and efficiently translates and communicates decisions into actionable and measurable activities.