Employee Spotlight:
Jesse Curll
Jesse Curll joined the CREA team in July of this year as Managing Director, Special Assets, within the CREA’s Asset Management department. With more than 20 years of experience in many areas of the LIHTC world, read on to learn a little more about Jesse, what led him to CREA, and what he’s excited about next.
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Q: As one of the newest members of the CREA team, can you tell us a little about the path your career has taken, and what’s led you here? From acquisitions to underwriting to asset management, it looks like you’ve done it all!
A: First is my path to affordable housing. I took the path blazed by our CEO and studied aviation for a couple years. After becoming a private pilot, I changed my major to finance, which is becoming the standard CREA affordable housing track. I took my first finance job in the late 1990’s as an analyst in Structured Finance for Boston Capital and immediately got my first “Ask Me About Tax Credits” t-shirt. Of course, I had absolutely no idea what they were, and all my friends were playing foosball at dot com startups - but that’s a different story. After 5 years (including a short time working for Tom Pereira), I moved to the developer/owner side of the affordable housing industry (not just LIHTC), consulting in asset management/transactions in all stages of the deal cycle. As my consulting business matured, I became more and more the “utility player” guy (to use a baseball term), which is how my Boston Capital connection took me back to syndication with CREA.
Q: After gathering experience with so many areas of the LIHTC and syndication business, what attracted you to special assets for this next chapter?
A: As I mentioned above, people in the industry began using me to “ferret” out problems or opportunities that hadn’t been solved/found. My general introduction was – I don’t know what I’m going to find, but I’m fairly certain that I’ll find something. That’s when another fellow Boston Capital alumni, Mike Regan, posted a job description that looked like my resume, so we started the discussion and here I am.
Q: Life outside of work can have a big impact on the way we confront our jobs each day. What do you do to alleviate stress and recalibrate so you can return to work with the acuity we all know is so important to your work?
A: For a while it was sprint triathlons (meaning really short ones), so I always had something on the calendar for motivation. Lately, it is working on the never-ending projects that I dream up while living in a new house after recently getting married during the process of joining CREA. And, I guess whether it’s road biking or riding my Harley out in the sticks where I live, I usually end up on two wheels when I’m not on Teams.
Q: With your first CREALive experience behind you, hopefully you understand why most employees at CREA look forward to the event so much. What was the highlight of the week for you?
A: As a new employee in July, CREALive couldn’t have been timed more perfectly for me. The highlight, of course, was actually meeting in person all the people with whom I interact on a daily basis. I’ve had only one other job in my career that felt like “home”. I’m thrilled to say that I think I’ve finally found that place again here at CREA. Fantastic people, great work, doing well by doing good.
Q: Lastly, what are you most looking forward to in this role and as part of the Team CREA?
A: I couldn’t be happier with my first 45 days at CREA. I was shocked at the efficiency of the onboarding process. I’ve had my share of HR and IT experiences – Katy and her team (and Pete) are second to none. My strange career path has taken me to places that I thought “may” fit, but with what CREA envisioned for this role - it has certainly fit thus far. I look forward to exploring ways where I can expand and lend a hand on increasing operational efficiencies across the portfolio.
Random Questions & Awesome Answers
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Q: What is the last series you binge watched?
A: Peaky Blinders
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Q: What is your favorite dad joke?
A: Word on the street is that Tony packs extra shirts in his golf bag in case he gets…a hole in one!
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Q: If you could play one sport professionally, what would it be?
A: I think that answer should be fairly obvious – Curling!
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Q: Coke or Pepsi?
A: Coke - as a child, I wasn’t allowed to drink it because my father worked for Frito-Lay/PepsiCo. Bonus – I had a truck in my yard full of snacks.