Nationwide Realty Investors’ is led by an executive leadership team of many of the most skilled and brightest planners, development and construction specialists, and project managers in the nation. They each come from rich and diverse backgrounds and have worked together as a highly cohesive and successful team for many years.
Brian Ellis is President and COO of Nationwide Realty Investors. He and his team have built a $2.5 billion portfolio of high-quality real estate investments across the country. Ellis has guided the company’s growth through ever-changing real estate and economic climates, building Nationwide Realty Investors into one of the nation’s most recognized and respected real estate developers.
Under Ellis’ leadership, Nationwide Realty Investors developed Nationwide Arena, the 20,000-seat home of the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets and Huntington Park, a 10,000-seat ball park home to the Cleveland Indians AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. As one of the country’s leading developers of large, complex, mixed-use projects, Nationwide Realty Investors’ portfolio includes the Arena District, a 100-acre, urban mixed-use project surrounding Nationwide Arena, Grandview Yard in Grandview Heights, Ohio, Rivulon in Gilbert, Arizona, and Cavasson and Gainey Ranch Corporate Center in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Ellis currently serves on the Board of Commissioners for the Columbus Sports Commission and on the executive committee of Experience Columbus, the city’s convention and visitor’s bureau. He has been with Nationwide for 33 years and holds a business degree from Miami University (Ohio) and a M.B.A. from Duke University.
Jim Rost is responsible for ensuring development projects meet Nationwide Realty Investor’s objectives for cost, time of delivery and quality in addition to managing the organization’s seasoned team of construction professionals. Rost joined Nationwide Realty Investors in 1997 following 19 years with Turner Construction Company.
He brings extensive experience in all aspects of real estate development including negotiation of entitlements, master planning, site development, leading design teams through all phases of design, contractor selection and management of vertical ground up construction.
Rost is a member and past president of the Builders Exchange of Central Ohio and the Builders Exchange Foundation. He also served on the board of the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.
Paula Sloan leads Nationwide Realty Investors’ accounting, financial reporting and budget activities. She also oversees asset management responsibilities for the company’s single-family residential developments and the underwriting and issuance of the company’s bond investment portfolio. Sloan is also responsible for obtaining project specific and portfolio financing needs including construction loans, permanent debt and lines of credit. In her role, Sloan provides leadership and coordination of the value maximization efforts of the company’s real estate portfolio.
Prior to joining Nationwide Realty Investors, Sloan spent nearly a decade in the audit department at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Miami University (Ohio).
Gina Ormond and her team provide legal support to Nationwide Realty Investors on a wide range of real estate matters including land assemblage, development and construction, public-private partnerships, financing, leasing, property management and sales. In her role, Ormond drives creative solutions to complex legal issues, at all times seeking to minimize risk while remaining bottom-line focused.
Ormond began her career at Nationwide in 1998. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Notre Dame, a law degree from the University of Cincinnati, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Cincinnati. She also serves on the board for the United Schools Network.
Jeff Caimi oversees commercial and residential property management for Nationwide Realty Investor’s $2.4 billion portfolio of real estate assets primarily located in central and suburban Ohio and Phoenix, Arizona. Jeff joined the company in 2021.
Prior to joining Nationwide, Caimi managed portfolio operations at Hertz Investment Group in Cleveland. He also managed operations and administration of assets in various U.S. and international markets including Hyderabad, India and oversaw some of New York City’s most prominent buildings including the Chrysler Center, NBC Universal, and One Rockefeller Plaza.
Caimi has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, an MBA in finance from Columbia Business School, and spent four years in the United States Marine Corps, achieving the rank of Captain. He currently serves on the board of the Salvation Army of Northeast Ohio.
Linda Gengler is responsible for overseeing Nationwide Realty Investors’ day-to-day accounting operations including budgeting, financial reporting and tax compliance. Prior to joining Nationwide Realty Investors in 2001, Gengler served for seven years in the real estate group of Deloitte’s tax department and previous five years as controller with a local real estate developer.
Gengler currently serves as Treasurer for the Jerome Village and NorthStar Community Development Authorities. She is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University.
Janice Gresko provides legal support to Nationwide Realty Investors on a wide range of real estate matters including land assemblage, development and construction, public-private partnerships, financing, leasing, property management and sales. She is intimately involved with Nationwide Realty Investors’ Jerome Village and Northstar projects as well as the continued development of the Arena District and Grandview Yard.
Prior to joining Nationwide in 2006, Gresko worked at the Columbus office of Jones Day. She received her undergraduate degree from Hiram College and her law degree from Ohio Northern University. She also serves on the board for Pilot Dogs, Inc.
Carli Lanfersiek is responsible for strategic planning, brand development, communications and media relations for Nationwide Realty Investors’ $2.4 billion portfolio of real estate assets across the country including the Arena District, Grandview Yard, Jerome Village, and Northstar in Central Ohio, and Rivulon, Cavasson and Gainey Ranch in the Greater Phoenix market. She has been with Nationwide since 2011.
Lanfersiek has also directed marketing efforts at Steiner & Associates, developer of Easton Town Center, and COSI, Columbus’ Center of Science & Industry. She currently serves on the board of the Gladden Community House in Franklinton, and is on the executive committee of Destination Grandview, the City’s Convention & Visitor’s Bureau. Lanfersiek has a bachelor’s degree from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.
Chris Thompson is responsible for overseeing Nationwide Realty Investor’s asset management division, including originating and managing real estate investments for the organization’s $2.4 billion portfolio of real estate assets across the country including Cavasson and Rivulon located in Arizona, the Arena District, home of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, and Grandview Yard located in Ohio.
Thompson began his career at Nationwide in 1985 and has over 30 years of experience in real estate investment, management and development. Through the years Thompson has been directly responsible for many different product types of real estate ranging from suburban and mixed-use office and retail to marinas, hotels and parking. Specific experience includes commercial lending and borrowing, leasing, acquisitions and dispositions.
Thompson holds an undergraduate degree in Finance from Franklin University.