Building deep relationships based on trust and value
Our People
Meet the Leadership Team:
Jaron M. Norman
Senior Managing Partner
Business Development & Management
Jaron Norman is a proven entrepreneur and real estate professional with over twenty-years experience in multiple aspects of commercial real estate. He has a distinguished track record of building and managing talented multi-disciplinary teams of design, construction, legal, finance, accounting and project management staff across the country. He has worked extensively in both non-profit and for profit arenas and brings deep experience in developing multiple project types including multifamily, infrastructure and hotels.
Jaron started his professional career with a passion for technology and start-up companies. His Journey took him to Silicon Valley in 1999 where he created and licensed DATACAP – an inventory tracking software for vending machines. Shortly after, he received an opportunity to work with an influential business leader in the real estate development space. Jaron would spend the next twenty years working with great mentors and learning the CRE business from concept to close-out. Prior to founding Liberty Atlantic, he was the Controller & Division CFO for Campus Crest Communities – a publicly-traded student-housing REIT. To date, Jaron has secured and/or managed more than $3B of real estate investments from both public and private sources across 30 states and four countries. Mr. Norman graduated from Morehouse College with a degree in Accounting. He is also a certified six sigma black belt.
John Rydle
Managing Partner
Project Finance & Investor Relations
Over Mr. Rydleʼs 25+ year project financing career, he has successfully structured and arranged over $4B of capital funding for a variety of project and transaction types including private-sector commercial mixed used real estate, pure public sector federal/municipal projects, and for increasingly popular hybrid projects that make up the Public-Private Partnership (P3) sector.
During his early career, as a VP at Salomon Brothers in NYC, John analyzed and structured over $2B of project financing products purchased by institution financial firms that included life insurance companies (i.e., Aenta/Pru/CalPERS) and various commercial banks.
More recently he has interacted with national investment banks, boutique investment banks, and private equity funds. For major municipal project funds for qualifying public purpose projects (such as public/private universities facilities, student housing, hospitals, proton therapy centers), he has reached out to firms with strong structured public finance and sales departments, such as George K. Baum (David Adams), RBC capital (Michael Baird) or Citi Group (Shai Markowitz).
Prior to joining Liberty Atlantic, John worked as both employee and consultant for various financial firms such as Salomon Brothers Investment Banking Real Estate Finance Department, and Public Finance Associates, and for national and international development firms and design-build firms such as National Development Company, J. A Jones Inc., and The Haskell Company.
Kenneth N. Jones
Managing Partner
Real Estate Development & Finance
Mr. Kenneth N. Jones is an urban real estate developer and development and management consulting professional and advisor with over 20 years of experience. His leadership in a number of important initiatives surrounding affordable housing, urban infill, and transit-oriented and mixed-development has literally impacted the lives of thousands of families, individuals, and seniors. He was worked with a variety of public and private clients to help them to complete and entitle over 1,500 units that have improved the communities for low-income seniors and families. Mr. Jones has worked with a host of public agencies including the City of San Francisco, City of Oakland, the University of North Carolina MBA Program, and a host of other for-profit and non-profit developers throughout northern and southern California.
Mr. Jones is an expert in real estate finance and public/private partnerships. As a guest lecturer at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill MBA Program, Mr. Jones is a recognized leader in sustainability and urban development. Mr. Jones was selected as part of a national team to evaluate the development potential and develop a master plan for Atlantic Beach, South Carolina. With the health disparities faced by many low-income communities, Mr. Jones has been a leader and staunch advocate for “healthy homes” and sustainable development. Mr. Jones has been involved in several community wide-master plans and has developed over 20 projects constituting more than 1,400 units and 100,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.
Mr. Jones has also worked with a number of community organizations including the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Plugged-In, the Peoples Community Credit Union. Mr. Jones is involved in public policy, advocacy, and currently serves on a number of non-profit Boards including the East Bay Housing Organizations and the Fresh Food Foundation. Mr. Jones graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Business Administration with a Finance and Real Estate emphases. He also has a Masterʼs Degree in Real Estate and the Built Environment from the University of Denver.
Mark MacNeil
Managing Partner
Design & Construction
With more than thirty years experience in the construction industry, Mark “Mac” MacNeil has built a diverse portfolio of projects ranging from medical facilities, retail strip malls, office buildings, low-rise, mid-rise, high-rise, senior living, assisted living and dementia care facilities.
Mr. MacNeil has been in the construction industry for his entire professional career. He is an industry veteran with deep a understanding of all aspects of construction management and administration. Prior to founding West River/Liberty Atlantic, Mr. MacNeil spent seven years at Campest Crest Communities where he served as Senior Vice President of the Construction Group. Mark managed construction site operations in more than 30 states and administered more than $1B dollars in construction contracts for forty-two student-housing communities.
Mark specializes in design-build project delivery and manages complex projects from early stage design through project close-out with exceptional efficiencies. Through his commitment to excellence and dedication to professionalism, Mark MacNeil sets industry standards for managing large scale production and has become one of the most recognized and respected names in contracting.