Combined 100 years of knowledge and experience in real estate.
NCA is a privately held real estate development and investment firm formed in 2002 and based in Newport Beach, CA. The company has strong relationships in the institutional and private equity capital markets and experience in developing high quality projects across a broad spectrum of product types. The partners have over 100 years combined real estate experience in the areas of Entitlement and Development, Acquisitions and Dispositions, Finance, Brokerage, and Asset and Portfolio Management.
Currently, NCA is focused on medical office and multi-family acquisitions and development. Its strategy is to form joint ventures with institutional and high net worth partners to pursue investment and development opportunities in supply constrained urban or high density suburban areas with strong projected population growth.
Our partners have over 100 years combined real estate experience in the areas of Entitlement and Development, Acquisitions and Dispositions, Finance, Brokerage, and Asset and Portfolio Management.
David J. Zak is principal of Newport Capital Advisors, LLC (and its related entities) a real estate investment and operating company based in Newport Beach, CA. Mr. Zak has over 35 years of real estate experience specifically in the areas of real estate finance and acquisitions, development, asset and portfolio management and project and corporate operations. In 2003-2004 he directed the company’s efforts in the $70MM acquisition and repositioning of State Farms office portfolio in the State of California – approximately 45 assets all of which have now been sold with the exception of two (2) sites where NCA is currently building multi-family developments of approximately 75 units each.
Beginning in 2005 David Zak negotiated the purchase of four (4) major properties in Hollywood, CA one of them containing the world famous Hollywood Palladium where he directed the efforts of a $20MM historic restoration of the Palladium’s exterior, re-establishing its iconic 1940’s facade. The redevelopment was done in coordination with LiveNation (the Palladium’s tenant) which revitalized and updated the building’s interior space.
Recently under Mr. Zak’s leadership, NCA completed the entitlements of a 110,000sf medical office building in Mission Viejo, CA where it has completed the execution of a long term ground lease with Simon Property Group – owner of Mission Viejo Mall (“The Shops at Mission Viejo”). The new building will be a state-of-the-art medical facility, include a 640 car parking garage and will be located directly across Medical Center Road from Mission Hospital between the hospital and the mall.
Prior to forming NCA and its related entities, David Zak was Chief Operating Officer for Koll Bren Schreiber Realty Advisors (“KBS”) in Newport Beach, California having helped form the company in June of 1993 in time assembling all of its asset management, disposition, accounting and reporting entities.
During his eight year tenure there, KBS invested approximately $4.25 billion in 35 states. David Zak was a member of the company’s investment committee and was responsible for all operations of the company including oversight of all portfolios and assets under management as well as all disposition activities which totaled approximately $3.0 billion. During this time Mr. Zak also oversaw of approximately $250MM in new ground-up office and mixed use developments and an additional $250-300MM in the redevelopment of existing projects.
Peter D. Zak is a partner and president of NCA Developments, LLC an entity focused on the entitlement and development of residential projects in California and the Western States. He joined NCA Developments in early 2013 to head up its multifamily group. The company is currently building projects totaling 190units on two (2) sites in North San Diego County. In addition, NCA has partnered with Lyon Communities for the development of four (4) sites in Milpitas in Northern California with construction costs of $600 million.
Prior to joining NCA Developments, Peter Zak was Senior Vice President of Community Development and Capital Ventures for Lyon Communities. During his 7 year tenure with Lyon Communities, he managed all aspects of development acquisition, project capitalization, design, entitlements and project management for more than 5,000 units across the state of California. In addition, he negotiated a ground lease extension and secured entitlement approvals in Los Angeles County for a major Class A waterfront multifamily property located in Marina Del Rey.
Peter Zak joined Lyon Communities from the Irvine Company, where he served as Director of Development with the company's community development division, Irvine Community Development Company. During his tenure, he was involved in all facets of the development of some of The Irvine Ranch's most prestigious communities, including Orange County's premier golf community, Shady Canyon, Quail Hill, Pacific Ridge and the multiple-award-winning community of Woodbury.
Peter Zak began his career as an auditor for Ernst & Young Kenneth Levanthal, where he provided a breadth of financial services to a number of real estate companies, including Irvine Apartment Communities, William Lyon Homes, Sunstone Hotels and Institutional Housing Partners.
Ken Coulter is Executive Vice President of NCA Developments, LLC, an entity focused primarily on the entitlement and development of multifamily luxury rentals and mixed-use projects where multifamily is the primary product component. Ken joined NCA Developments in early 2016 and is considered one of the industry’s top specialists in the area of entitlement, construction and land issues.
Prior to joining NCA Developments, Ken Coulter was VP of Entitlements for William Lyon Homes. During his over 2½ year tenure there he oversaw the entitlements of all residential projects for the Southern California Division. He also analyzed all existing entitlements and government regulations for residential projects Lyon Homes considered for purchase.
Ken Coulter spent over 25 years with The Irvine Company. He rose from Project Manager to Executive Vice President of the Company’s Community Development and Construction Division. He oversaw the planning, entitlement and land development for all residential projects on The Irvine Ranch. These included many of Orange County’s premier communities among them being: Turtle Ridge, Shady Canyon, Woodbury, Bonita Canyon, Portola Springs, Oak Creek, Northwood Pointe and Westpark. Of particular note during this time, The Irvine Company achieved its largest entitlement with the City of Irvine’s Northern Sphere approval, which included over 13,000 homes and 7,000,000 square feet of commercial uses.
David Nix is a senior partner at Newport Capital Advisors ("NCA") having joined the company in 2005. He assisted with the recently completed entitlement of Mission Viejo Medical Center - a 110,000 square foot medical office building to be built adjacent to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, CA. In this capacity, Mr. Nix was responsible for working with a team of architects, engineers, attorneys and consultants in the preparation of environmental impact reports, feasibility analyses, tentative and final subdivision maps for local jurisdictional approvals.
Mr. Nix has been involved in the real estate industry for over 30 years and has wide-ranging experience in the entitlement, development, financing and asset management of commercial and residential real estate. During the first half of his career, Mr. Nix worked on the development side of the business - primarily focused on the office, industrial and retail sectors. During the ten years immediately prior to joining NCA, Mr. Nix primarily worked on the investment side where he was responsible for large-scale master planned community development and multi-family investments for institutional investors.
Prior to joining NCA, Mr. Nix was a Principal with AEW Capital Advisors - a pension fund advisor specializing in real estate investments. Mr. Nix was responsible for the firm's Western U.S. residential portfolio including fourteen master-planned communities and over 7,500 multi-family units. Land assets encompassed over 20,000 acres for build-out of approximately 50,000 residential units and 50 million square feet of commercial property. Mr. Nix' deal sizes ranged from $10 million to $300 million per project. His responsibilities included acquisition, disposition, land entitlement/development strategy, financing and joint venture formation.
Prior to joining AEW, Mr. Nix was a founder and partner of McLachlan Investment Company - a commercial and residential development company. During his tenure with McLachlan, the firm developed and managed a $500 million portfolio of over five million square feet of commercial property and the construction of over 1,000 single-family homes. Mr. Nix was responsible for debt/equity capitalization, asset and property management operations, finance/accounting, tax/legal/personnel management, third-party consulting and business development.
Prior to McLachlan Investment Company, Mr. Nix was a regional Chief Financial Officer for the Orange County-based division of the Trammell Crow Company. During his tenure with Trammell Crow, this division developed a $450 million portfolio of commercial and land development properties.
Mr. Nix received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Riverside in 1974 and an MBA from UCLA in 1977.
Dana Whitmer joined NCA Real Estate ("NCA") in February 2011 to focus on the expansion of NCA’s healthcare real estate platform. Mr. Whitmer brings 10 years of experience in real estate development with a specific focus on healthcare facilities. Throughout his career he has both led development efforts and been responsible for all aspects of the development process. He is currently leading NCA’s development efforts for medical office building “MOB” projects. In addition, Mr. Whitmer is assisting NCA with building a pipeline of healthcare development projects and value-add investment opportunities nationwide.
Prior to beginning his real estate career Mr. Whitmer served for four years as an officer in the United States Marine Corps.
Mr. Whitmer received an MBA from The University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. He is a licensed real estate broker in California and a member of the ULI.