Jennifer McElyea

Jennifer is a Senior Managing Partner with Watt Investment Partners, the commercial real estate acquisition arm of the Watt Companies, a 70 year-old development company based in Los Angeles. Jennifer’s responsibilities include sourcing and executing real estate investment opportunities on behalf of Watt and its equity partners. Within that mandate, she lends her extensive expertise in land use, affordable housing and public policy.

Prior to joining Watt, Jennifer was a Vice President at OneWest Bank where she managed a portfolio of distressed commercial real estate debt in partnership with the FDIC. From 2006 through 2009, Jennifer was a Vice President at Apollo Real Estate Advisors where she was responsible for West Coast acquisitions. Previously, Jennifer held positions at Arch Street Capital Advisors, an international real estate investment advisory firm, and at Deutsche Bank Securities in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group.

Jennifer holds a Master of Real Estate Development from the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and German Literature from the University of Virginia. She is a Vice Chair of the Urban Land Institute Public Private Partnership Council, a graduate of the Coro Southern California Women in Leadership program, and is a member of the BizFed Institute Board of Directors. Jennifer was recently appointed by the California State Insurance Commissioner to serve on the California Organized Investment Network (COIN) Advisory Board as an expert practitioner in the affordable housing space.