Ballast Real Estate
Advisors

 
 

Our name is a concise expression of what we value. In its most traditional form, a ballast stabilizes a boat for mobilization. For us, it symbolizes the balance required to successfully navigate every aspect of commercial real estate - profit/purpose, risk/reward, timeline/quality, design/cost, vision/execution, people/places. Our endeavor to balance these things drives the projects we choose, how we approach them and what it is we deliver as a result.

Ballast Real Estate Advisors Team

Our most important asset is our people, we’ve built a strong bench of talent across all disciplines of capital markets advisory, brokerage, and development consulting to assist our clients in reaching their real estate potential.

Michael Anderson-Mitterling

Managing Director/Principal
mike@ballastcre.com

Michael Anderson Mitterling

Michael (“Mikee”) joined Ballast in 2022 as a Managing Director and Principal to co-lead the Ballast capital markets advisory practice area.  Throughout his career in real estate, Mikee has held positions in many facets of the capital markets and commercial real estate. Some accolades include being named “Rookie of the Year” for Grubb & Ellis in 2010 and named to CPE’s “Stars to Watch” in 2017. While in his role as a capital markets advisor Mikee has been involved with the closing of $4.5 billion in financings, structuring a number of potential capital structures including but not limited to; senior debt from construction to bridge to permanent, mezzanine, preferred equity, and joint venture equity structures.

Mikee is passionate about all thing’s real estate and building change. A belief that, “we live in real estate, we play in real estate, we work in real estate, it is a part of our everyday life” has driven Mikee in his real estate career.

Education
Bachelor of Science (dual concentration in Corporate Finance and Commercial Real Estate Finance), Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California

Professional Associations
Volunteer, Wendy Walk Foundation
Alternate (2004 and 2008 Olympic Games), U.S. National Sailing Team

Kyle Howerton

Managing Director/Principal
kyle@ballastcre.com

Kyle Howerton

Kyle Howerton is Managing Director and Principal of Ballast Real Estate Advisors where he co-leads the firm’s capital markets advisory group. Kyle also provides expertise to Ballast’s clients on market and development feasibility, capital structuring, and design/development advice.

Prior to joining Ballast Real Estate Advisors, Kyle spent nearly a decade at Los Angeles-based George Smith Partners, a boutique real estate capital markets advisory firm, where he structured and placed more than $5 billion of debt and equity products across nearly all real estate types and life cycles, although he is most proficient in retail, multifamily, mixed-use, office, and industrial assets. He is an expert in construction and permanent debt, highly structured bridge loans, as well as joint venture, preferred equity, and mezzanine debt.

Education
Bachelor of Arts, St. Louis University
Master of Business Administration, Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University

Professional Associations
Co-Chair, Tower Grove Society, Tower Grove Park
Member, Urban Land Institute’s Advisory Services Panel

Robert Maltby

Managing Director/Principal
rob@ballastcre.com

Robert Maltby

Robert joined Ballast as a Managing Director and Principal in 2022. Robert is involved with Ballast’s brokerage and development consulting services. Throughout Robert’s real estate career, he has routinely engaged with various facets of the industry from commercial, industrial, mixed-use, multifamily, and single-family residential disciplines of real estate. With experience on well-known real estate projects within the St. Louis Metro area, as well as a holistic view of ground up development, construction processes, marketing, and management, few people have a broader understanding of what it takes to go from pre-development process to managing the day-to-day operations of all manner of real estate projects.

Prior to joining Ballast, Robert worked on economic development and public transit advocacy before moving over to private sector commercial real estate projects with Green Street Real Estate Ventures. While at Green Street, Robert took an active role in placemaking, sustainability, entitlements, and innovative approaches to ensuring projects and tenants were all aligned with both their own and their building’s highest and best uses. Today, as a principal at Ballast, Robert has merged his love of the city, knowledge of consumer behaviors from his time working Sotheby’s International Realty, and heightened desire to provide the best experiences for everyone across all our projects.

Education
Bachelor of Arts, Washington University in Saint Louis
M.A in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development, Saint Louis University

Professional Associations
Licensed Real Estate Broker (MO)

Brian Pratt

Managing Director/Principal
brian@ballastcre.com

Brian Pratt

Brian founded Ballast in 2022 with an intention to balance profit and purpose through the impact of real estate.  As a Managing Director and Principal, Brian leads Ballast’s brokerage and development consulting practice areas.  Brian’s experience encompasses a cross-section of project types and sizes representing $500+ million in total commercial real estate valuation and 3,350,000+ square feet across a diversified portfolio of asset classes and representing design, development, finance and project management experience.

With prior leadership positions at Green Street Real Estate Ventures LLC, Deloitte, KPMG and PGAV Planners, Brian’s career spans nearly every aspect of commercial real estate and urban planning, including: project management, market feasibility, entitlements, public-private financing, incentives, design/development, asset management and real estate business operations. In addition to real estate, Brian has negotiated tax credit programs for a diverse portfolio of businesses and industries nationwide. He has also analyzed real estate development and business investment projects on behalf of 150 municipal, county and state organizations.

Among the foremost commercial real estate experts in the St. Louis region, Brian’s career is marked by some of the area’s most complex, transformative and well-known developments. As a tactical decision maker, creative problem solver and diplomatic negotiator, he has earned a reputation as the trusted go-to for bringing the toughest real estate projects to life.

Education
Bachelor of Arts, DePaul University
Master of Public Administration, St. Louis University

Professional Associations
Board of Directors & Fund Development Committee Chair, Park Central Development Corporation
Board of Director, Habitat for Humanity St. Louis
Member, Urban Land Institute St. Louis
Licensed Real Estate Broker (MO)

 

Saman Fakhriyazdi

Associate - Capital Markets
saman@ballastcre.com

Saman Fakhriyazdi

Saman serves as an Associate of Capital Markets at Ballast Real Estate Advisors and is responsible for underwriting, deal structuring, client management, and capital partner relationship management.

Prior to joining the AHM Group, Saman was an Assistant Vice President at George Smith Partners having raised over $1 billion of financing, including all types of construction, bridge, and permanent financing on commercial and residential properties along with highly complex structured financing including preferred equity, mezzanine, and joint venture equity placements.

Saman began his real estate career as a Land Acquisitions Analyst with Lennar Corporation, the nation’s largest home construction builder. Saman assisted in feasibility studies, procured entitlements, and conducted underwriting for land acquisition opportunities in Las Vegas, Nevada. He then joined The Bascom Group as an Acquisitions Analyst where he produced the comprehensive underwriting of over $5 billion of prospective multifamily acquisitions throughout the western United States and assisted with the due diligence and closing of several multifamily acquisitions in Southern California.

Education
Bachelor of Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University
Master of Science in Real Estate Finance, New York University

Heather Gonzalez

Associate - Capital Markets
heather@ballastcre.com

Heather Gonzalez

Heather is a 25-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry with wide-ranging expertise in operations and capital markets advisory support services. As Associate of Capital Markets, Heather is tasked with a wide variety of responsibilities, however her primary duties include managing back-office operations for Ballast Real Estate Advisors and related companies. She is also instrumental in managing the capital markets advisory diligence and documentation process for Ballast’s clients. Heather was previously at CRE capital markets advisory firm, George Smith Partners, for 18 years and, prior to George Smith Partners, held various positions at Credit Suisse and the Meyers Group.