Craig A. Spencer

Craig A. Spencer is the Chairman & CEO of Arden Group, established in 1989 as a fully integrated real estate company focusing on acquiring, developing and managing high quality real estate assets in the top 25 U.S. MSAs. The company has purchased and developed more than $7+ billion of real estate consisting of industrial properties, office buildings, full-service, resort and luxury branded condominiums. Arden’s asset management group has managed more than $12+ billion in assets.

Mr. Spencer is the Principal of Arden Fund Management, LLC which operates Arden’s discretionary real estate equity and debt funds. Under Mr. Spencer’s leadership, Arden Group launched its private equity fund management business in 2012 with its flagship equity funds. In 2016, Arden Group augmented its equity business with the launching of Arden Credit Fund, an investment fund that originates and acquires performing loans and preferred equity backed by a diversified portfolio of high-quality commercial and multifamily real estate in primary markets in the United States. Arden launched its Opportunity Zone business in 2019 with a focus on multifamily and student housing in top U.S. markets. Finally, Arden launched Arden Digital Ventures in 2022 focused on investments in property related technologies (“Prop-tech”). Arden Fund Management has raised in excess of $2 billion and in 2017, 2018, and 2019 was ranked #1 Globally by Preqin as the Most Consistent Fund Manager for all funds, all strategies and as the Top Performing Private Real Estate Fund in 2020.

In addition to leading Arden Group, Mr. Spencer has participated in several non‐real estate ventures including the acquisition and subsequent sale of Admiralty Bank to Royal Bank of Canada in February 2003. He was also a founding board member of Anchor Commercial Bank based in Palm Beach, Florida. Mr. Spencer was Founder/Co‐Owner with Jon Bon Jovi of the Philadelphia Soul Arena Football Team, helping the team become the 2008 World Champions. Messrs. Spencer and Bon Jovi in 2006 established and are the Co‐Chairmen of the JBJ Soul Charitable Foundation, which has provided 700 housing units along with educational programs to homeless men and women and veterans. The Foundation through its Soul Kitchens has served over 500,000 meals.

Mr. Spencer attended the University of Florida and earned a J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law. Craig is a licensed attorney who specialized in real estate, banking and bankruptcy law. He is a Research Sponsor and frequent guest lecturer at the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the Georgia State School of Law Board of Visitors.


Footnotes :
  • 2017 was ranked #1 Globally by Preqin as the Most Consistent Fund Manager for all funds, all strategies
    • Preqin’s rankings for the Most Consistent Top Performing Closed-End Private Real Estate Fund Managers for 2017 was published in the 2017 Alternative Assets Performance Monitor. Preqin’s performance rankings are measured by net IRR. Arden Fund Management tied for #1 ranking in Preqin’s rankings for the Most Consistent Top Performing Closed-End Private Real Estate Fund Managers. No compensation was provided by Arden in connection with obtaining this ranking.
  • 2018 was ranked #1 Globally by Preqin as the Most Consistent Fund Manager for all funds, all strategies
    • Preqin’s rankings for the Most Consistent Top Performing Closed-End Private Real Estate Fund Managers for 2018 was published in the 2018 Alternative Assets Performance Monitor. Preqin’s performance rankings are measured by net IRR. Arden Fund Management tied for #1 ranking in Preqin’s rankings for the Most Consistent Top Performing Closed-End Private Real Estate Fund Managers. No compensation was provided by Arden in connection with obtaining this ranking
  • 2019 was ranked #1 Globally by Preqin as the Most Consistent Fund Manager for all funds, all strategies
    • Preqin’s rankings for the Most Consistent Top Performing Closed-End Private Real Estate Fund Managers for 2019 was published in the 2019 Global Real Estate League Tables. Preqin’s performance rankings are measured by net IRR. Arden Fund Management tied for #1 ranking in Preqin’s rankings for the Most Consistent Top Performing Closed-End Private Real Estate Fund Managers. No compensation was provided by Arden in connection with obtaining this ranking.
  • 2020 was listed as a Preqin Top Performing Private Real Estate Fund
    • Preqin’s rankings for the Top Performing Private Real Estate Fund for 2020 was published in the 2020 Global Real Estate League Tables. Preqin’s performance rankings measured by net IRR. No compensation was provided by Arden in connection with obtaining this ranking.

Joseph S. Caruso

Mr. Caruso joined Arden in 1996, has 26 years of real estate experience and previously served as Arden’s CFO. As COO he has oversight of the ongoing business operations for the Arden Platform including Asset Management, Property Management, Finance, Compliance, IT and Human Resources.

Joseph earned a B.S. in Accounting from St. Joseph’s University. He has been directly involved in $6.0b+ of transactions including hotels, office buildings, industrial, retail, and residential assets.

Richard Pietropoli

Mr. Pietropoli joined Arden in 1995 and has 29 years of hotel and office building operations and construction experience. He leads the operational due diligence team for all acquisitions and post-closing, and oversees the ongoing property management and operations of all assets.

Prior to joining Arden, Richard worked with Servico Hotel Company and Ritz-Carlton Hotel Corporation. Richard earned an A.B.A from Pennsylvania State University.

Alfred Dilmore

Mr. Dilmore joined Arden in 2021 and has nearly 20 years of finance and accounting experience in real estate and financial services. Prior to joining Arden, he was a Senior Vice President at Link Logistics, Blackstone’s domestic industrial real estate operating platform, where he was responsible for the accounting and financial reporting for over $10 billion of assets. Prior to that, he was the Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer & Chief Accounting Officer of a vertically integrated real estate investment trust focused on providing a comprehensive set of debt financing options to the real estate industry and operating a portfolio of commercial real estate assets covering the apartment, office, industrial and retail asset classes.

Fred earned a B.S. in Accounting from The College of New Jersey and is an active CPA.

Brian Nath

Brian is a real estate attorney with Vos-IP and has been engaged by Arden as the firm’s Outside General Counsel since 2019. Prior to being engaged through Vos-IP as Outside General Counsel, Brian was an attorney at Cozen O’Connor and represented Arden for more than 5 years on matters including acquisitions, dispositions, financings, joint ventures, leasing, asset management and fund formation. In addition to representing Arden, Brian’s previous experience includes the representation of other private equity funds, family offices, public and privately held REITs and other investors and operators in connection with complex commercial real estate transactions involving office, industrial, hospitality, multifamily and retail properties.

Brian earned his law degree and MBA from Temple University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University.