Tammy K. Jones

Founder & CEO

Tammy K. Jones has more than 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Throughout her entire career, Ms. Jones has invested in and loaned on CRE assets (with a focus on multifamily and office) on behalf of large pension funds and institutional investors, including Equitable Real Estate (largest pension fund advisor and investment management firm at the time), GMACCM and CWCapital. Ms. Jones is a seasoned veteran in CRE investments, capital markets, and structured finance. 

Since 2009, Ms. Jones has served as both Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Basis Investment Group (Basis), a multi-strategy commercial real estate investment platform and lender that acquires and originates a variety of senior mortgage loans, preferred equity and joint venture equity positions on behalf of its investors. Under the leadership of Ms. Jones, Basis has succeeded in closing nearly $8.6 billion in multifamily and commercial real estate debt and equity related investments across the United States. 

Ms. Jones currently serves as Chair of the Board of Veris Residential Inc., formerly Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (NYSE: VRE) and formerly served as Lead Independent Director since June 2020, is an Independent Director for Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI), is the Chair of the Real Estate Executive Council (REEC), is a member of the President's Council of Cornell Women (PCCW) and is the Vice-Chairman of Basis Impact Group Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a pipeline of women and minorities in commercial real estate. Ms. Jones was selected as one of Crain’s New York Business’ Notable Leaders in Finance for 2024, named one of Real Estate Forum’s Best Bosses in 2023, recognized among Savoy magazine’s Most Influential Black Corporate Directors in 2021, selected as one of Crain’s New York Business’ Notable Black Leaders and Executives of 2021, received the 2020 Cornell Baker Industry Leader Award, received the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) 2019 Finance Catalyst Award and was recognized as one of The Network Journal’s 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business in 2017. Ms. Jones holds a BA in Economics from Cornell University and an MBA with a concentration in Real Estate Finance from the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. 

Kunle Shoyombo

Chief Investment Officer

Mr. Shoyombo is Chief Investment Officer of Basis where he oversees investment sourcing, investment analysis, and investment management. Together with the CEO, Mr. Shoyombo develops and maintains Basis’s investment goals, acquisition strategies, capital raising initiatives, asset allocation, employee management and overall firm leadership.  Mr. Shoyombo has more than 25 years of experience in all aspect of CRE debt financing and structured equity investments. Prior to joining Basis, Mr. Shoyombo served as Managing Director and CIO for the Capital Markets Lending Division of CWCapital. He was one of original four senior executives who established CW Capital’s lending platform, which originated, securitized, and sold CRE loans and structured equity investments totaling in excess of $6 billion. While at CWCapital, Mr. Shoyombo played a vital role in sourcing, underwriting, and structuring bridge loans, mezzanine and preferred equity investments.  He also served as a member of CW Capital’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining CW Capital, Mr. Shoyombo held a senior position at GMAC Commercial Mortgage (GMACCM) where he played an instrumental role within the company’s CRE loan origination and securitization group. While at GMACCM, Mr. Shoyombo sourced, underwrote, and closed CRE investment transactions in excess of $4 billion, and also served as a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. Prior to GMACCM, Mr. Shoyombo held various senior positions at major financial institutions including Nomura Asset Capital, where he was responsible for originating, structuring, closing, and securitizing fixed and floating rate debt instruments totaling more than $3 billion; Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles; and Kenneth Michael and Company. Mr. Shoyombo earned an MBA in Finance with Honors from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA.   

Richard Cadigan

General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer

Mr. Cadigan joined Basis in 2009 and is a member of the firm’s senior management team.  As Managing Director, Mr. Cadigan handles all corporate legal matters, including negotiating and managing Basis’s credit facilities, supervising all corporate governance and compliance matters, negotiating joint venture and separate account agreements, and the development and implementation of Basis’s policies and procedures for structuring and closing all transactions.  With over 20 years of experience both in the legal and business aspects of CRE finance, Mr. Cadigan works closely with Ms. Jones and Mr. Shoyombo to implement a legal agenda that proactively identifies and addresses critical issues that affect both the company and its strategic partners with the goal to foster continued growth and opportunities across all investment strategies.  Prior to joining Basis, Mr. Cadigan was a partner at North River Capital Partners, a private equity fund established to invest in commercial mortgage debt through the origination of new loans and the acquisition of existing debt instruments.  Before his employment at North River, Mr. Cadigan was the manager of the transaction management team responsible for structuring fixed and floating rate loans at Dillon Read Capital Management LLC (DRCM), a hedge fund that was wholly owned by UBS.  Prior to joining DRCM, Mr. Cadigan worked with Ms. Jones, Mr. Shoyombo, and Ms. Roumila at GMACCM.  Mr. Cadigan received a JD from Seton Hall University School of Law and a BA from LaSalle University.  

Leigh Roumila

Head of Investor Relations

Ms. Roumila oversees capital raising and investor relations at Basis and is considered a product specialist. She is part of the senior management team and sits on the Firm’s Agency and Structured Finance investment committees and co-heads its ESG committee. Prior to becoming head of IR, Ms. Roumila was head of the Securitization and Asset Management Groups at Basis where she managed Basis’ contribution to CMBS securitizations and the purchase and sale of CMBS B-Pieces. Ms. Roumila also oversaw the management of all the firm’s bridge, mezzanine/preferred equity, B note and B-Piece investments.  Ms. Roumila is a hands-on real estate finance and management professional with over 30 years of experience and an established track record in originating, structuring, underwriting, monitoring, closing, redistributing, and working out commercial real estate loans. Prior to joining Basis, Ms. Roumila was SVP at CWCapital, where she helped establish the Cobalt shelf, CW’s first proprietary platform for issuing fixed-rate commercial mortgage-backed securities. At CW, she oversaw and coordinated teams of about 100 people in the issuance of approximately $7 billion in CMBS and $3 billion in commercial real estate CDO securities. Prior to CW, Ms. Roumila served as VP of Securitization at GMAC Commercial Mortgage (now Capmark Financial Group), where she worked on 20+ CMBS and CDO pools representing about $12 billion in fixed and floating rate U.S., Canadian and European commercial real estate loans. Prior to her five years at GMACCM, Ms. Roumila held positions at Bank of America, Triquest Financial Services Corporation, US West Financial Services, Hibernia Bank and Societe Generale French Bank where she helped originate, underwrite, and close over $1 billion in U.S. commercial real estate loans. Ms. Roumila has previously held a California real estate broker’s license, received a BS in Business Administration from NYU Business School (now Stern) and an MBA in International Finance from Golden Gate University.     

Daniel P. Warcholak

Managing Director – Head of Capital Markets

Mr. Warcholak leads our capital markets, trading, and securitized products initiatives, bringing well over 25 years of experience investing in and managing securitized real estate debt products. He was with CWCapital Investments LLC, for 17 years prior to Basis. Dan led the Investment Management Committee for CWs’ Registered Investment Advisor, setting overall portfolio management, investment strategy and operational policies for over $10bn in managed portfolios. He also managed the firm’s investment grade advisory business, assisted in the acquisition of well over $1bn in subordinate credit investments, various CRE derivatives products, and several competing institutional investment management firms.  Prior to CW, Mr. Warcholak was Senior Vice President with CRIIMI MAE Inc, a Commercial Mortgage REIT, where he managed the firm’s capital markets activities, CMBS/RMBS trading, derivatives, securitization, and capitalization transactions. Dan was also Vice President with a subsidiary of John Hancock, an institutional investment manager in the RMBS and MBS market. Dan authored, co-authored, and published several industry research papers including some with Moody’s Analytics. Mr. Warcholak is both a CFA Charterholder and a CPA, has earned an MS-Finance from the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University, a BS in Business from Drexel University, and is Co-Chair of External Relations Committee for the CFA Society of Washington DC.     

Sam Rodman

Head of Structured Investments

Mr. Rodman is Head of Structured Investments Basis Investment Group (“BIG”) where he oversees all investment activity and asset management of BIG’s debt funds. Mr. Rodman has 18 years of commercial real estate experience including sourcing, underwriting, and asset managing CRE debt and equity investments. Prior to joining BIG, Mr. Rodman was a director in Marathon Asset Management’s CRE group where he oversaw the origination and asset management of Marathon’s CRE assets. Before joining Marathon, Mr. Rodman was a Director for Annaly Capital Management where he was instrumental in building Annaly’s CRE platform focusing on origination of over $1BN of CRE debt and equity as well as building Annaly’s CRE team. Mr. Rodman began his career at CWCapital where he originated CMBS and high yield investments, purchased CMBS bonds and servicing rights, and managed a portfolio consisting of over $1.5BN of CRE debt and equity assets. Mr. Rodman earned his BS from Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business with a focus in Management and Marketing and a minor in Real Estate. In his spare time Mr. Rodman is an avid baseball fan and serves on the boards of two community charity organizations.    

Arina Diary

Controller

Ms. Diary joined Basis in January 2019. Ms. Diary is responsible for overseeing the Firm’s third-party fund administrator, company audits, financial reporting and tax preparation functions. Ms. Diary has more than 15 years of experience in financial reporting.  Prior to joining Basis, Ms. Diary worked at Hudson Realty Capital as the Controller, where she was responsible for overseeing third-party administrators, audits, management company operations, financial reporting and tax preparation functions. Ms. Diary previously worked as the SEC Senior Accountant for Assurant Inc., where she was responsible for the preparation of various financial statements and participated in annual audits and quarterly reporting.   Ms. Diary earned her B.B.A. in Accounting from Bernard Baruch College and Masters in Finance from Pace University and she is a Certified Public Accountant.  

Melanie Strauss

Head of Asset Management

Ms. Strauss is Head of Asset Management at Basis Investment Group (“BIG”) where she oversees the asset management of BIG’s debt funds. Ms. Strauss has 14 years of real estate experience across investments, underwriting, and asset management of CRE debt and equity investments. Prior to joining BIG, Ms. Strauss was an Executive Director at Ladder Capital where she oversaw the asset management of Ladder’s CRE assets, primarily focusing on a portfolio of bridge loans. Before joining Ladder, Ms. Strauss was a Principal at Sculptor Capital Management and Apollo Global Management where she oversaw the asset management of opportunistic equity and debt investments. Ms. Strauss began her career investing in equity REITs at Cohen & Steers and as an analyst in real estate investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Ms. Strauss earned her BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and is a CFA charterholder.

Sam Chandan

Director, C.H. Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance, Professor of Finance, NYU Stern

Dr. Sam Chandan is the Founding Director of the C. H. Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance at the NYU Stern School of Business, where he leads the Institute’s industry and policy engagement activities, research initiatives, and MBA and undergraduate real estate programs, ranked #2 and #3 respectively among business schools by US  News and World Report. The Chen Institute was established in September 2022 and is supported by the largest-ever gift for an Institute or Center at Stern. In addition to the NYU Center for Real Estate Finance, it houses the school’s centers and initiatives in climate change, public health, and the built environment; property technology; real estate data science and artificial intelligence; and real estate in emerging economies.

Dr. Chandan’s commentary on commercial and residential real estate markets and the broader economy has been featured regularly in national and global press, including the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, CNBC, and Bloomberg. Among his recent publications, he was the lead investigator for Regulatory Design and Real Outcomes, a study on the regulation of commercial real estate lending commissioned by the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC). He holds an honorary appointment as the Economist Laureate of the Real Estate Lenders Association and has served on the real estate advisory council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.