Our Team

Mr. Fried is a Principal with Mesa West and co-heads the West Coast Originations platform. Prior to joining Mesa West in 2005, Mr. Fried worked in Credit Suisse First Boston’s CMBS group underwriting commercial real estate loans and as a Senior Accountant for Deloitte & Touche’s Private Equity Group in New York. At Deloitte, he planned, managed and implemented financial audits for funds, including Morgan Stanley’s real estate funds, The Blackstone Group’s mezzanine funds and Kelso & Co.’s and Rockefeller & Co.’s private equity funds. Mr. Fried’s work with The Blackstone Group also included working with Blackstone Debt Advisors LP to help create its first CDO. Mr. Fried graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Yeshiva University in New York and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management with a focus in Real Estate Finance.

Mr. Gul is a Principal with Mesa West and co-heads the West Coast originations platform. Mr. Gul’s real estate experience includes the acquisition, management and renovation of multifamily properties in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Mesa West in 2005, Mr. Gul spent four years as a marketing and business development executive at firms backed by NBC and Universal Pictures and co-founded and published a general-interest magazine. Mr. Gul graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics with Phi Beta Kappa honors from UCLA and an MBA from UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management. Mr. Gul is a past president and current board member of the UCLA Ziman Real Estate Alumni Group.

Mr. Friedman is a co-founder of Mesa West Capital. Prior to co-founding Mesa West in 2004, Mr. Friedman spent three years at Maguire Partners as a principal and was in charge of capital market activities which included the restructuring of the firm’s debt, the buy-out of partners and the firm’s eventual $800 million initial public offering. Mr. Friedman transitioned into real estate finance in 1994 initially as a Vice-President originating large loans at Nomura Asset Capital Corporation and later as a Director at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York. Mr. Friedman began his career as a corporate lawyer, working initially in Tokyo, Japan for an affiliate of Sidley & Austin and then in New York for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Mr. Friedman graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a master’s degree in Applied Economics and a law degree from the University of Michigan.

Mr. Fishbach is a Principal of the originations team at Mesa West and heads the East Coast origination platform. Prior to joining Mesa West in 2010, Mr. Fishbach spent three years at Ramius LLC, an $8 billion asset management firm based in New York City with a specialty investment platform in real estate. As Director of Ramius’ Real Estate Group, Mr. Fishbach’s responsibilities included deal sourcing, origination and underwriting, negotiation of acquisitions, joint ventures and financings, as well as asset management. Mr. Fishbach was responsible for over $500 million of transactions. Previous to Ramius, Mr. Fishbach was at Wells Fargo Bank in the Real Estate Merchant Banking Group from 2000 to 2006, both in Los Angeles and New York. As a Vice President, Mr. Fishbach’s primary responsibilities included sourcing, structuring, negotiating, closing and managing senior loans, mezzanine loans and preferred equity investments on various types of commercial real estate assets. While at Wells Fargo, Mr. Fishbach was directly responsible for over $1 billion of debt originations. Mr. Fishbach graduated from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration with a bachelor’s degree.

Mr. Fried is a Principal with Mesa West and co-heads the West Coast Originations platform. Prior to joining Mesa West in 2005, Mr. Fried worked in Credit Suisse First Boston’s CMBS group underwriting commercial real estate loans and as a Senior Accountant for Deloitte & Touche’s Private Equity Group in New York. At Deloitte, he planned, managed and implemented financial audits for funds, including Morgan Stanley’s real estate funds, The Blackstone Group’s mezzanine funds and Kelso & Co.’s and Rockefeller & Co.’s private equity funds. Mr. Fried’s work with The Blackstone Group also included working with Blackstone Debt Advisors LP to help create its first CDO. Mr. Fried graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Yeshiva University in New York and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management with a focus in Real Estate Finance.

Mr. Gul is a Principal with Mesa West and co-heads the West Coast originations platform. Mr. Gul’s real estate experience includes the acquisition, management and renovation of multifamily properties in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Mesa West in 2005, Mr. Gul spent four years as a marketing and business development executive at firms backed by NBC and Universal Pictures and co-founded and published a general-interest magazine. Mr. Gul graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics with Phi Beta Kappa honors from UCLA and an MBA from UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management. Mr. Gul is a past president and current board member of the UCLA Ziman Real Estate Alumni Group.

Mr. Friedman is a co-founder of Mesa West Capital. Prior to co-founding Mesa West in 2004, Mr. Friedman spent three years at Maguire Partners as a principal and was in charge of capital market activities which included the restructuring of the firm’s debt, the buy-out of partners and the firm’s eventual $800 million initial public offering. Mr. Friedman transitioned into real estate finance in 1994 initially as a Vice-President originating large loans at Nomura Asset Capital Corporation and later as a Director at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York. Mr. Friedman began his career as a corporate lawyer, working initially in Tokyo, Japan for an affiliate of Sidley & Austin and then in New York for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Mr. Friedman graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a master’s degree in Applied Economics and a law degree from the University of Michigan.

Mr. Fishbach is a Principal of the originations team at Mesa West and heads the East Coast origination platform. Prior to joining Mesa West in 2010, Mr. Fishbach spent three years at Ramius LLC, an $8 billion asset management firm based in New York City with a specialty investment platform in real estate. As Director of Ramius’ Real Estate Group, Mr. Fishbach’s responsibilities included deal sourcing, origination and underwriting, negotiation of acquisitions, joint ventures and financings, as well as asset management. Mr. Fishbach was responsible for over $500 million of transactions. Previous to Ramius, Mr. Fishbach was at Wells Fargo Bank in the Real Estate Merchant Banking Group from 2000 to 2006, both in Los Angeles and New York. As a Vice President, Mr. Fishbach’s primary responsibilities included sourcing, structuring, negotiating, closing and managing senior loans, mezzanine loans and preferred equity investments on various types of commercial real estate assets. While at Wells Fargo, Mr. Fishbach was directly responsible for over $1 billion of debt originations. Mr. Fishbach graduated from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration with a bachelor’s degree.