Speakers

Nick Gesue serves as the Managing Principal of a2i Partners, an investment and advisory firm focused on Housing and Care for our seniors. Nick is highly experienced in the mortgage banking, investment banking, proprietary lending, and private equity real estate lines of business. Further, he provides deep expertise in GSE, FHA/HUD and USDA agency relationships and programs, credit and underwriting operations, transaction execution, and municipal finance and advisory services.

Joining Lancaster Pollard in 2000 as employee #8 at a critical inflection point of growth, he was quickly promoted into roles of increasingly responsibility and scope, and over the years, played an integral role in scaling and growing the firm to become an FHA/HUD/GNMA-, FNMA- and USDA-approved lender and the #1 HUD Lean lender cumulatively since 2010. In 2017, the firm was acquired by ORIX USA, and then merged and integrated with RED Capital the next year. In 2020, ORIX acquired Hunt Real Estate Capital, which was also integrated, and then rebranded under a new umbrella of services as Lument.

As Vice President, and subsequently Senior Vice President, he designed, built, scaled, and managed best-in-class recruitment, training, and mentorship programs, successfully executing on a strategic play that would fuel the firm’s growth and ability to lean in and quickly capitalize on new market opportunities, while driving a name for excellence and differentiation within a highly complex lending niche.

As the firm continued to experience immense growth, he was appointed Chief Credit Officer in 2012, where he oversaw all Lending and Underwriting functions of the company. As CCO, he instilled a culture where the team delivered on what they promised, understood the importance of responsiveness, and were always one step ahead to assure speed and certainty of execution; a key driver in the firm’s long-term brand success.

In 2015, he was chosen by the founders and owners of the business to run the company, and promoted to CEO, where he led the firm’s national efforts in providing capital funding for the senior living and health care sectors, overseeing the firm’s senior housing/health care banking, agency, M&A, private equity, and finance company platform. During this time, he continued to expand on key programs and products.

In 2019, he was tapped by ORIX USA to lead the legal merger of Lancaster Pollard and RED Capital; two companies that had previously been cross-town rivals, with a history of competing against one another for clients and employees. As CEO of the newly formed ORIX Real Estate Capital, he succeeded in merging two former rivals and developing a unified vision, mission, and values to guide the company. Following the company’s acquisition of Hunt Real Estate Capital, he led the integration and then rebranded under a new umbrella of services as Lument in 2020.

Nicholas completed his Bachelor’s in Economics at Denison University. He currently resides in Columbus, Ohio.