Our Team

Ron Zeff founded Carmel Partners in 1996 and is its Chief Executive Officer. Since founding the firm, Mr. Zeff has been responsible for building the current management team and creating the fiduciary and entrepreneurial culture of Carmel that has led to the successful execution of over $17 billion in multifamily investments. Mr. Zeff chairs the Executive, Investment and Portfolio Management Committees.

Previously, Mr. Zeff was with Trammell Crow Residential in their San Francisco office beginning in 1988 and was promoted to Partner in 1989. During his tenure at Trammell Crow Residential, he initiated the firm’s entry into the city of San Francisco. His responsibilities included sourcing, obtaining entitlements, financing, and project management for the firm’s efforts in the city of San Francisco.

Mr. Zeff received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he sits on the Advisory Board. He is a member of the National Multifamily Housing Council and serves on the organization’s Executive Committee. He is also a Trustee of the California Academy of Sciences, on the Board of Councilors of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and is a member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. Mr. Zeff has received numerous philanthropic and industry awards throughout his career, including the City of Hope, Spirit of Life Award in 2015.

Mike Halper is Chief Executive Officer of ATC Partners, LLC, a real estate investment company that owns, renovates, and operates office and warehouse buildings in the Western United States. Since its founding in 1994, ATC Partners has purchased and renovated dozens of buildings to provide facilities to a wide array of office and industrial tenants. Mr. Halper is Vice Chair of the Executive Committee and serves on the Investment Committee and the Advisory Board for Carmel Partners. Prior to ATC Partners, he was a principal at Trammell Crow Company and responsible for activity in the San Mateo region.

Mr. Halper also served as Chair of the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area, a mentoring organization serving 1,500 children throughout the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area and as Chair of the Board of San Francisco Day School, a K-8 independent school located in San Francisco, CA.

Mr. Halper received his Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Master of Business Administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

As Carmel Partners’ Chief Financial Officer until March 2023, Dennis Markus has overseen all financial operations since joining the firm in 2012 and was responsible for the Accounting and Capital Finance Teams. He continues to be a member of the Executive Committee.

Mr. Markus was previously the CFO and President of Larkspur Hotels and Restaurants, a fully-integrated owner, operator, and developer of hotels and restaurants in the Western United States. While at Larkspur, he oversaw the firm’s financial and business operations.

With more than 30 years of experience in the real estate and financial service industries, Mr. Markus has also worked in several key financial and operational roles at Transamerica Corporation and its subsidiaries, including serving as President and CFO of Transamerica Senior Living.

Mr. Markus received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Stanford University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Matt Golden joined Carmel Partners in 2019 in the newly created role of General Counsel. He brings more than 25 years of experience in real estate law. Mr. Golden is a Managing Partner and oversees Compliance, Legal, Risk, and Human Resources. He is a member of the Investment, Executive and Portfolio Management Committees and Chair of the Management Committee.

Prior to Carmel, Mr. Golden served as General Counsel for Beacon Capital Partners for 10 years where he was also a member of the Management, Investment, and Compliance Committees. Before joining Beacon, he was a Partner at Debevoise & Plimpton in its real estate practice.

Mr. Golden received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in economics with a minor in psychology, and a Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law.

Liz Tennican joined Carmel Partners in 2016 and is a Managing Partner. She is Head of Investor Relations and oversees Research, ESG+R and IT. Ms. Tennican is a member of and Secretary of the Executive Committee and Vice Chair of the Management Committee. She is also a member of the Investment and Portfolio Management Committees.

Prior to Carmel, Ms. Tennican was a Managing Director and Head of Investor Relations and Business Development for Watershed Asset Management, a credit-oriented hedge fund. Previous to Watershed, she spent seven years with Barclays Global Investors, which was acquired and became part of BlackRock. She headed the Institutional Consultant Relations Group and then spent five years as Head of U.S. Institutional Sales for the iShares division where she built the U.S. Marketing Strategy and Sales Team. Prior to that, Ms. Tennican was with a hedge fund where she held various leadership roles including CFO and COO. She spent seven years at Robertson Stephens, where she was in investment banking and institutional sales and helped found its capital markets desk.

Ms. Tennican is a member of the Board of Directors of Four Corners Property Trust, a publicly traded REIT.

Ms. Tennican received both a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University.