CA Ventures, a Chicago-based real estate investment company, today announced a $12 billion investment strategy for the firm’s North American student housing and residential divisions, in conjunction with the promotions of four senior executives to help guide the firm’s continued growth. The promotions include Michael Hales to president of the firm’s student living division, Matt Booma to president and global head of CA’s residential division, JJ Smith to the newly created role of managing principal of CA’s student living division, and Bob Flannery to chief operating officer.

“At CA Ventures, we are always looking ahead for growth opportunities, and the depth and experience of our team allow us to make strategic appointments that are integral to achieving our long-term investment objectives,” said Tom Scott, CEO of CA Ventures. “In their new roles, Michael, Matt, JJ and Bob will help propel CA into its next chapter of growth as we look to scale our portfolio to $30 billion in assets by 2024. The student and residential divisions will comprise more than half of those projections.”

As president of student living, Hales will drive investment, development and operational strategy for the $4.7 billion division. Under Hales’ leadership, the platform is projected to grow threefold over the next five years, totaling $14 billion in assets by 2024. The student housing giant’s growth plans will be supported by expanded product and service offerings, such as third-party management.

“CA will continue to deliver core and opportunistic investment vehicles through its signature high-quality, urban infill products, and will now also pursue acquisition, value-add and public-private partnership investment opportunities,” said Hales. “This allows us to offer a uniquely wide range of investment vehicles in the student housing space.”

Hales previously served as chief financial officer and chief operating officer for CA, a role through which he established the operational infrastructure that has supported, and will continue to support, the global expansion of the firm. Prior to joining CA, Hales was a principal at Bain & Company, a world-renowned management consulting firm. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois.

As the new president and global head of residential, Booma will manage investment and operational strategy for the firm’s residential division, whose portfolio is projected to double in size by 2024. The vertically integrated residential platform plans to deploy $3 billion of capital over the next five years in top U.S. metropolitan statistical areas and other select strategic markets.

“We will continue to create value through new development in markets with the highest job and population growth,” said Booma. “Our hyper-focused market strategy leverages our comprehensive in-house expertise to develop the right product in the right locations. This portfolio diversification combined with our passion for high-quality design benefits our capital partners and residents alike”.

Since joining the firm in 2013, Booma has been involved in the development of over 10,000 units of multifamily, student and senior housing at a cost of over $3.2 billion. Prior to joining CA, Matt was an architect at Perkins + Will, where he completed several large-scale domestic and international projects. He holds a Bachelor of Science in architectural studies and Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Smith, the former president of CA’s student living division, has been promoted to managing principal of the division. In his new role, he will focus on the division’s development efforts, expand upon CA’s public-private partnerships portfolio, and advance next-generation product design.

“As a company, we prioritize innovation because we take pride in our ability to deliver exceptional products, services and results for our investors and our residents,” said Smith. “We will continue to optimize our approach, explore new technologies and methodologies, and remain on the cutting-edge of industry trends”.

Smith and Chief Development Officer Sean Spellman recently launched CA Innovation Lab, a dedicated warehouse space where the design, development and operations teams can pressure test new unit typologies, furniture and fixtures.

Over the past decade, Smith has provided the vision and creativity that have helped establish CA’s reputation as a pioneer in the student housing industry. He has led the growth of the student platform to date, managing the successful delivery of more than 30,000 beds in 50 markets across the country. He holds a Bachelor of Science in architecture from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA in finance and real estate from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

As COO, Flannery will focus on capital partnerships, asset management, strategic growth and process optimization for CA’s global platform. A four-year veteran of CA, Flannery brings over 25 years of experience in commercial real estate and executive leadership to the position. During his tenure as president of residential, his most recent position, he built a robust team of technical experts and implemented people, processes and procedures that fueled the growth of the platform to over $2 billion in assets under management.

Throughout his career, Flannery has executed transactions totaling over $5 billion and managed real estate portfolios consisting of office, retail, industrial and multifamily assets in major markets throughout the U.S. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Northern Illinois University and an MBA in international business from Wayne State University.

About CA:

CA Ventures LLC is a Chicago-based real estate investment holding company whose international portfolio includes $13 billion in assets throughout the North America, South America, and Europe. While initially focused on student housing, CA’s investment focus includes student living, senior living, multifamily, industrial, and office. CA manages real estate investments on behalf of some of the world’s largest institutional investors across a range of core, value-add, and opportunistic investment vehicles. For more information, visit www.ca-ventures.com.