Career · 1993 to 2027
Thirty-five years. Four chapters. One job: get it built.
Downtown Chicago office towers, a Wisconsin retail corridor, resort and senior housing capital on the West Coast, and now a second act in Austin. This is the record behind Ventura Capital Ai.
I
1993 – 2003
Chicago: the foundation
Licensed, trained in economics, and building Class A office downtown beside institutional capital.
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Economics, with a minor in Mathematics
Bachelor’s degree in applied economics.
1993
Illinois Licensed Managing Broker
Licensed in Illinois since 1993.
1990s – 2003
Ground-up office in Chicago’s West Loop
With Development Resources, developed Class A office through the dot-com era as co-GP alongside Walton Street Capital, Oaktree Capital Management and The Howard Hughes Corporation, delivering 1.5 million square feet.
1998 – 1999
Union Tower, 550 W. Van Buren Street
An 18-story, 330,000 SF technologically advanced Class A office tower in the West Loop, a block from Union Station, with column-free floors. Co-GP with Walton Street Capital. NAIOP Chicago Office Development of the Year, 1998.
2003
Offered the Pontiac Silverdome for $1. Passed.
The City of Pontiac offered the stadium for a dollar. With no demand and no workable redevelopment plan, the team said no, and the building sat empty for years. The lesson stuck: a cheap price is not a business plan.
II
2000 – 2015
Kenosha: building a corridor
Back home with Mark Molinaro, turning farmland into the region’s retail corridor.
2000 – 2015
Kirkwood Partners LLC
As Ventura Partners, doing business as Kirkwood Partners LLC, developed seven ground-up retail centers in Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie, including a single-tenant Best Buy, with architect Mark Molinaro as his partner. Lenders included Johnson Bank and Associated Bank. Each center was 95 to 100 percent leased when sold. Turned farmland at Highway 50 and I-94 into a retail corridor.
Firsts
The first three Starbucks drive-thrus in Southeast Wisconsin
Built when the market doubted anyone would spend the money, alongside a single-tenant Best Buy, bringing national retail to the corridor.
October 2001
Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition
Presented by Rep. Paul Ryan, later Speaker of the House, for new development, community beautification and the expansion of retail in Kenosha.
2015
$50 million, fully realized
The Kirkwood Partners LLC portfolio of seven centers was fully exited by 2015. Read about the partnership.
III
2003 – 2022
Capital at scale: Nevada and California
Resort, venture and senior housing capital, and five years at an Orange County investment firm.
2003 – 2021
Founder & CEO, Ventura Investments LLC
Based in Incline Village, Nevada. Capital strategy and structuring across real estate and growth companies.
Resort
$450 million capital stack for a Ritz-Carlton luxury ski resort
Structured the full capital stack.
Growth capital
Series C for Sol-Ti’s national rollout
Secured Series C funding for the beverage brand’s national rollout through Whole Foods and Amazon.
2014 – 2022
Executive Producer, Life on the Lot
Created and packaged a reality series concept with Emmy-winning Los Angeles production talent. The project advanced to a network-level commitment with Discovery Channel.
2017 – 2018
USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology
Certification in Aging and Senior Housing, plus the Senior Housing, Aging and AARP AgeTech program.
2017 – 2022
Senior Managing Director, Faris Lee Investments
Irvine, California. Led client development and advisory across senior housing, retail, office and hospitality acquisitions, dispositions and entitlements, including turning underused sites into senior housing in the Western region. Featured in GlobeSt and Senior Housing News.
2019
$39 million senior housing acquisition
Represented Kayne Anderson Real Estate in its purchase of Casa Sandoval, a 235-bed community in Hayward, California.
2019 – present
ICSC member
International Council of Shopping Centers.
State and federal court
Commercial real estate expert witness
Retained as an expert in commercial real estate matters.
IV
2021 – 2027
Austin: the second act
A near-fatal injury, a long road back, and the most productive stretch of his career.
2021
Survived a near-fatal brain injury
He rebuilt during recovery, running Ventura Partners, LLC from Incline Village, and came back with the story that became Not Done Yet.
2024 – 2026
Black Hawk Ridge, Kenosha
Engaged by Petra of Wichita: sourced 100 acres, negotiated the purchase with the seller, brought in Wintrust for the land financing, and placed about 20 acres under letter of intent with Continental Properties while the land was still under contract. The 20 acres sold to Continental in 2026, and construction of 336 apartments is under way.
June 2025
Moved to Austin and founded Ventura Capital Ai
Moved to Austin, Texas, from Rancho Santa Fe, California, to found Ventura Capital Ai and Love Wins Media Publications.
2025
Founded Love Wins Media Publications
Independent imprint for memoir and survivor-led guides. Gene is a self-published author in psychoanalysis.
January 1, 2026
Not Done Yet
Amazon Top New Release on day one, then a #1 Best Seller in Psychoanalysis. 10,000 copies sold in its first ten months. The author page.
2026
Who’s Who in America
Marquis Who’s Who in America, 2026 inductee.
May 2026
The Not Done Yet podcast
Conversations on capital, resilience and rebuilding.
2027
A fund of our own
Ventura Capital Ai intends to launch its first real estate investment fund, and the sequel Pull Me Close, Punish Me Hard arrives in January. Read the fund statement.
Range
Where the experience runs
Past results are not indicative of future results. Ventura Capital Ai is not a registered broker-dealer or investment adviser.