John Vander Zwaag
John Vander Zwaag founded Pembroke IV in 2007. With over 30 years of experience, he has been active in the commercial real estate investment market, nationally, completing over $3 billion of transactions.
Before forming Pembroke, John was Executive Vice President of Lexington Realty Trust (NYSE-LXP), a New York based REIT with offices in Chicago and Dallas. John joined LXP in May 2003, to manage the firm’s portfolio and asset management departments. He served on the investment and executive committees, managed LXP’s institutional joint ventures and co-directed the company’s mortgage financing activities. John developed proprietary operating systems and procedures for LXP to support portfolio growth from $1.5 billion to $6 billion.
From 1997 to 2003, John was a Managing Director at Cohen Financial in Chicago, Illinois. He joined the firm to implement the company’s expansion to markets outside of the Midwest. In this capacity, he identified markets for expansion, hired professionals for new offices in Florida, Texas and Southern California, and initiated the acquisition of a mortgage banking company in San Francisco. In 1999, he relinquished his management responsibilities for a deal making role as an investment banker serving a national client base. Operating from Chicago, he completed transactions in 18 states prior to his departure to LXP.
From 1992 through 1997, John was Managing Director of Chesterton Binswanger Capital Advisors, the U.S. financial services division of Chesterton Binswanger International, a corporate real estate services firm. Based in Philadelphia, he led a 5-office operation which provided disposition, financing and consulting services to investors and major corporations on assets in 25 states.
From 1982 to 1992, John worked at Lepercq Capital Partners, New York, New York, which he joined after graduate school. At the time of his departure in 1992, John was a Managing Director structuring real estate financings for investors and corporations nationwide. From 1987-1989, John was Director of Acquisitions for Lepercq’s syndicated investment programs, focused on single tenant net leased properties. The properties in these programs formed the foundation of Lexington Realty Trust through a roll-up in 1994.
John received his MBA with a concentration in Finance from Columbia University in 1982. He is a 1979 graduate of Amherst College, where he received his BA, majoring in Anthropology and Sociology.
