Team

Joshua Crane is a co-founder and principal of Spruce Capital, S3 Capital’s parent company. He is responsible for sourcing and executing on all aspects of the business. Previously he was a partner at Irongate, which developed the Trump International Hotel & Tower at Waikiki Beach Walk. The 750,000 square foot condo-hotel was the highest-priced, fastest-selling residential real estate project in Oahu’s history. Mr. Crane has also worked at Stellar Management, where he was involved in the acquisition of Independence Plaza, a 1,330-unit rental building in New York City’s Tribeca, and 2,000 units in Washington, D.C. The firm also bought and sold more than one million square feet of NYC office buildings. Mr. Crane began his career at Salomon Brothers in their Mergers and Acquisitions group. He is a graduate of Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Robert Schwartz is co-founder and principal of Spruce Capital, a successful real estate investment and development firm which owns S3 Capital. His responsibilities cover all aspects of the business including acquisitions, financing and management. At S3 Capital he is responsible for management and direction of the firm and is a member of its investment committee. Prior to founding Spruce Capital, Mr. Schwartz helped to run a successful family business where he established the family’s real estate investment program. He eventually formed Spruce as a dedicated investment and development organization, in partnership with Joshua Crane, after investing in numerous transactions together for seven years. Mr. Schwartz began his career as an investment banker at DLJ and UBS. He is a graduate of Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he serves on the Executive Board.

Matan Kurman joined S3 Capital Partners at its inception in July 2014 to manage day-to-day operations and underwriting of loans. Prior to working for S3 Capital Partners, he was an acquisition intern at Brookwood Financial Partners in Beverly, MA. Mr. Kurman previously served as a Captain in the Israeli Air Force as an F-16 fighter pilot. During this time he gained experience planning and executing complex operational missions. In addition, he managed system installation, and supervised schedule and training scenarios for an F-16 Simulator Unit. He earned his undergraduate degree from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, Israel with a B.A. in political science, and his MBA from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. He is fluent in English and Hebrew.

Shawn Safdie is a Managing Director at S3 Capital Partners where he focuses on loan origination, business development, structuring and underwriting. He excels at developing new relationships, maintaining existing ones and executing transactions. Mr. Safdie has more than a decade of experience in the real estate credit business, focusing on bridge lending. He has a B.A in Business Management & Finance from CUNY Brooklyn College.

Alan Purser is the Global Head of Capital Formation for Spruce and S3 Capital. Alan has over twenty years of industry experience in capital raising, joint ventures, programmatic equity, and strategy development. Most recently he was the Global Head of Client Services and Marketing for Stockbridge, a $15 billion institutional core and value platform. Alan previously worked at Heitman first as a Senior Vice President and then as the Global Head of Consultant Relations. Prior to joining Heitman, Alan worked for Deutsche Bank/RREEF and focused on cultivating new and existing relationships for their alternatives investment platform. Alan received his BBA from North Carolina State University, and is a Series 7, 63, and 79 Registered Representative. He is a member of the Pension Real Estate Association, the National Association of Office and Industrial Professionals, the Urban Land Institute and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Zachary Neugut currently runs Spruce Capital’s multifamily acquisition platform, Spruce Properties. Spruce Properties owns multifamily rental units throughout the United States with a focus on acquiring assets with consistent cash-flows in markets with strong economic trends. Prior to this role, Mr. Neugut initially worked on Spruce Capital’s real estate credit platform, S3 Capital, where he helped grow the portfolio’s AUM from $275M to $1.5B. As part of this role, he helped start and oversaw S3 Capital’s large balance loan portfolio, which grew to $1B of AUM within 2 years of inception. Mr. Neugut received his B.A. from Columbia College in Financial Economics and Germanic Languages in 2016 and his M.A. in Statistics from Columbia University in 2017.

Edward Kim joined Spruce Capital in 2013 as a Financial Controller. In his role, Edward is responsible for overseeing the tax planning, financial reporting, and accounting for the private equity and the Family Office business at Spruce Capital. Prior to joining Spruce, Edward worked at Thor Equities, a New York based real estate development and investment firm, as a Development Controller, where he was responsible for overseeing the reporting and cost accounting for all development projects. Edward earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in New York State.

Richard Racanelli joined S3 Capital Partners in 2022 as an Analyst. In this role, he is responsible for underwriting and evaluating new and existing loans, overseeing the S3 Construction portfolio, and assisting in day-to-day operations. Mr. Racanelli previously worked at Racanelli Construction Company as an Assistant Project Superintendent, among other roles in project management. He received his B.S. in Management from Boston College in 2022 with concentrations in Finance and Management & Leadership.

Nick Peragallo joined S3 Capital in February 2022 as an Analyst. In this role, he assists with the underwriting of new and existing loans, day to day management of fund operations, and portfolio oversight. Prior to S3, Nick worked at Apprise by Walker & Dunlop as an Associate Commercial Real Estate Appraiser. He received his B.S. in Finance and Management from the Boston College Carroll School of Management in 2020.

Sam Pennell joined S3 Capital in 2021 as an Analyst. In this role, he is responsible for underwriting new loans and preparing investment committee materials. Prior to his role at S3, Sam had several internships in residential brokerage, development marketing, and investment banking. He received a B.B.A. — with concentrations in Finance and Real Estate — from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Sam graduated with high distinction, earning membership to the Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society. During his time at Emory, Sam was also a member of the varsity baseball team. 

Jackson Gray joined S3 Capital as an analyst in June of 2022. In his role, he underwrites new and existing loans and assists with day-to-day operations. Prior to joining S3 Capital, Jackson interned at Blackthorne Capital Management, a quantitative hedge fund focused on commodities, futures, and global indices in Whitewater, Wisconsin. He graduated from the Wisconsin School of Business in May of 2022 with a B.B.A. in both Finance and Real Estate.”

Ari Kalton is the Controller and Chief Compliance Officer of S3 Capital. Ari overseas the financial reporting, tax and accounting for our real estate debt funds and is responsible for implementing the firm’s overall compliance program. Prior to joining S3 Capital, Ari served a Controller for DH Property Holdings overseeing all aspects of their financial reporting, accounting and cash management functions, and a Director in the Alternative Investments Assurance Practice in PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ari is a New York State Certified Public Accountant who graduated from Yeshiva University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting.

Kyle Quattrocchi joined S3 Capital in June 2022 as an Analyst. In this role, he is responsible for underwriting and evaluating new and existing loans, day to day management of fund operations, and portfolio oversight. Additionally, Kyle assists in Capital Formation, with responsibilities including coordinating diligence with prospect LPs and creating marketing materials. Prior to joining S3 Capital, Kyle previously worked as an investments intern at Seritage Growth Properties. Kyle received a B.S. in Economics with a concentration in Finance from Duke University.

Steven Jemal joined S3 Capital Partners in October 2016 to originate and underwrite loans for the firm. Prior to working for S3 Capital Partners, he was an originator and acquisitions associate at Hirshmark Capital where he sourced and underwrote debt and equity investments for the firm. Mr. Jemal earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business with a B.S. in Finance and Management.

Ari Stein joined S3 Capital Partners in 2017. He is responsible for managing the S3 construction portfolio and overseeing the construction draw process. Mr. Stein previously worked at EMCO Plumbing and has five years of onsite construction management experience. He graduated in 2015 from Queens College summa cum laude with a BA in Political Science and Government.

Alexander Wrede joined S3 Capital Partners in 2018 as an Analyst. In this role, he is responsible for underwriting and evaluating new and existing loans, overseeing the S3 construction portfolio, and assisting in day-to-day operations. Mr. Wrede previously worked at Dow Jones and nH2. He received his B.S. in Business Administration and Finance from Bucknell University Freeman School of Management in 2018.

Aidan Birnbaum joined S3 Capital in April of 2021 as an Analyst. In this role, he assists with the underwriting of new and existing loans, day to day management of fund operations, and portfolio oversight. Aidan recently worked at Angelo Gordon and a Los Angeles based Qualified Opportunity Fund. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2020 with a degree in Economics.

Jack Goldman joined Spruce Capital’s multifamily acquisition platform in August 2022 as an Analyst. In this role, he is responsible for underwriting and evaluating new and existing investments. Mr. Goldman previously worked at Bellwether Asset Management and received his B.A. in Urban Studies with a concentration in Real Estate from the University of Pennsylvania in 2021.

Brett Schenkman joined S3 Capital Partners in 2021 as an Analyst. In this role, he is responsible for underwriting and evaluating new and existing loans, overseeing the S3 Construction portfolio, and assisting in day-to-day operations. Mr. Schenkman previously worked at Hunter Roberts Construction Group as an Assistant Project Accountant. He received his B.S. in Business Administration from Boston University in 2019.

Tanya is the Office Manager and Executive Assistant at Spruce & S3 Capital. She has a B.S in Business Management from CUNY College of Staten Island.

Olga Lisina joined S3 Capital Partners in January 2017 as a Fund Accountant. Prior to joining S3, she worked as a Payroll Manager and Accountant at Branded Restaurants USA. She also worked as a bank teller at Santander Bank. She has her BBA in Finance from Baruch College of CUNY, and Bachelor of Engineering from Ukrainian Academy of Printing. She is fluent in Russian and Ukrainian.