Starwood Capital Group appoints John Gonnella as senior managing director and head of U.S. asset management, effective April 20. Gonnella is a real estate investment and asset management executive with a two-decade track record of driving value creation across complex, multi-billion-dollar portfolios. In this role, he will oversee the asset management strategy across Starwood Capital's real estate assets in the United States.
"I am pleased to welcome John to Starwood Capital," Starwood Capital Chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht. "John shares our commitment to excellence and execution, and our unwavering focus on value creation. As we continue to thoughtfully grow our team and build on the industry standard we have set for the past 30 years across real estate investment, asset management and client partnership, his significant expertise managing diverse real estate portfolios across geographies and property sectors will benefit our teams, assets and investment partners."
Gonnella joins Starwood Capital from Centerbridge Partners, where he spent more than a decade leading asset management strategy across a diversified global real estate portfolio, most recently as a senior managing director and head of real estate asset management. Prior to Centerbridge, he served as vice president at Northwood Investors, focused on the direct asset management and oversight of real estate investments, as well as the firm's retail and multifamily operating and development platforms. He began his real estate investment career as an associate with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds.
"John's disciplined, hands-on approach to driving strong performance across asset classes and market cycles will have an immediate positive impact for our team," said Jonathan Pollack, president of Starwood Capital. "I am confident his perspective, drive and creativity will add tremendous value to our expanding leadership team. As we position the firm for its next phase of growth, I look forward to benefiting from John's experience and working closely with him to advance our industry-leading private real estate platform."