Founded in 1994, Phoenix Investors and its affiliates (collectively “Phoenix”) are a leader in the acquisition, development, renovation, and repositioning of industrial facilities throughout the United States. Utilizing a disciplined investment approach and successful partnerships with institutional capital sources, corporations, and public stakeholders, Phoenix has developed a proven track record of generating superior risk-adjusted returns, while providing cost-efficient lease rates for its growing portfolio of national tenants. Our efforts inspire and drive the transformation and reinvigoration of the economic engines in the communities we serve. Phoenix continues to be defined by thoughtful relationships, sophisticated investment tools, cost-efficient solutions, and a reputation for success.
Senior Management
Phoenix Investors, a limited liability company
Frank P. Crivello
Chairman & Founder
Mr. Frank P. Crivello began his real estate career in 1982, focusing his investments in multifamily, office, industrial, and shopping center developments across the United States. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Crivello assisted Phoenix Investors in its execution of its then business model of acquiring net lease commercial real estate across the United States. Since 2009, Mr. Crivello has assisted Phoenix Investors in the shift of its core focus to the acquisition of industrial real estate throughout the country.
Given his extensive experience in all aspects of commercial real estate, Mr. Crivello provides strategic and operational input to Phoenix Investors and its affiliated companies.
Mr. Crivello received a B.A., Magna Cum Laude, from Brown University and the London School of Economics, while completing a double major in Economics and Political Science; he is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Outside of his business interests, Mr. Crivello invests his time, energy, and financial support across a wide net of charitable projects and organizations.
David M. Marks
President & Chief Executive Officer
David Marks is the President and CEO of Phoenix Investors, a national real estate firm specializing in industrial real estate based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as trustee, key officer, director, and manager for all its affiliated entities, a role that he has held since 1994. Mr. Marks oversees all investments, with responsibilities that begin pre-acquisition and extend through ownership and disposition.
Mr. Marks began his real estate career in the late 1980s while still an undergraduate, completing acquisition underwriting, portfolio analysis, and abstracting complex anchor tenant leases on a national basis. In the early 1990s, Mr. Marks worked on national acquisitions, underwritings, and financings, highlighted by assisting in the creation of Wall Street’s first retail commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) transaction. Today, he oversees one of the largest private industrial real estate portfolios comprised of 78 million square feet, spanning 29 states.
Mr. Marks and his wife Rachael are active supporters of various charitable organizations, with a specific focus on Jewish charities in Southeastern Wisconsin. He received a B.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin.
Anthony I. Crivello
Managing Director
Anthony I. Crivello is a member of Phoenix Investors’ Advisory Board and is its Managing Director. Mr. Crivello has had a lifelong history and exposure to commercial real estate. Today, Mr. Crivello provides strategic guidance to Phoenix Investors, focusing on asset management, underwriting, acquisitions, leasing, and financing for affiliates of Phoenix Investors. While at Phoenix Investors, Mr. Crivello has sourced and arranged real estate acquisitions, refinancings, and dispositions in excess of several billion dollars.
Prior to joining Phoenix Investors, Mr. Crivello worked as a portfolio manager for a large regional bank after completing its rigorous credit analyst program for commercial real estate. He was responsible for underwriting hundreds of millions of dollars in commercial real estate loans for institutional, middle-market, and REIT borrowers. In addition to working on senior debt financing opportunities, Mr. Crivello has also worked on over $40 million dollars in tax credit equity investments for income-restricted multi-family developments and has been named a Top Industrial Leasing Broker by CoStar Group in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Mr. Crivello earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Magna Cum Laude, with a concentration in Finance and Real Estate from Marquette University. In addition to his business endeavors, Mr. Crivello is an avid supporter of the Milwaukee community and numerous charitable organizations.
Jeff A. Dortona
Chief Financial Officer
Jeff Dortona is the Chief Financial Officer of Phoenix Investors.
Prior to joining Phoenix Investors, Jeff was a Managing Director and Co-Head of Originations at UBS Investment Bank. In this role, he was responsible for leading a national origination platform which provided commercial real estate debt through the CMBS market as well as highly structured balance sheet transactions. Previously, Jeff managed and underwrote secured real estate financings at Merrill Lynch.
Jeff is a graduate of Boston University and holds a BA in Business Administration, with concentrations in Real Estate and Finance.
James R. Saer
Director of Capital Markets
As Phoenix Investors’ Director of Capital Markets, Mr. Saer is responsible for refining and executing Phoenix’s funding strategy by managing the company’s banking and equity relationships.
Mr. Saer began his professional career as a commercial real estate credit analyst at LaSalle Bank in Chicago, IL. After completing a formal credit training program, he was recruited by Wells Fargo’s Commercial Real Estate team. After 11 years of lending to some of the nation’s largest private and public developers, Mr. Saer relocated to Milwaukee, WI to open Wells Fargo’s Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate Office. Within a 3-year period, the new Wisconsin office grew from $0 to nearly $350 million in loan commitments and one of Wells Fargo’s most successful middle-market offices. Mr. Saer’s success was honored with a “2012 Golden Spoke Award”—a prestigious award given to the top 1% of Wells Fargo employees that demonstrate excellent credit, sales, and relationship management skills.
After 15 years at Wells Fargo, Mr. Saer joined AnchorBank as its Commercial Real Estate Chief Credit Officer, where he was vital in assisting the bank in its exit from bankruptcy, raising additional capital, and returning the bank to profitability following the Great Recession. After its disposition to Old National Bank, Mr. Saer was promoted to Executive Vice President as the bank’s Divisional Chief Credit Officer of Commercial Real Estate.
Mr. Saer graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison with a major in Finance, Investment, and Banking. In his free time, he enjoys traveling with his wife and 3 children and is a supporter of several charitable organizations.
