Alexander Halpern

Alex Halpern, Co-Founder, Co-President, and Chief Investment Officer, is responsible for the oversight of the Firm’s investment activities, as well as the management of the Firm’s hospitality investments. Mr. Halpern is an active member of the Watermark Lodging Trust Board as well as that of Sentral, two of the Firm’s first investment operating platforms.

Prior to co-founding Ascendant Capital Partners, Alex was a Senior Vice President, Participating Member, and Capital Markets Lead at Highgate Capital Investment and its affiliate Highgate Hotels, the largest investor-operator of hospitality assets within North American gateway markets.

Alex joined Highgate in 2009 as the first investment professional in New York City, and during his 10-year tenure, executed in excess of $9 billion worth of hospitality, office and retail investments across key North American and Western European Geographies.

While at Highgate, Alex was involved in more than $400 million of ground-up and adaptive re-use projects, including a mixed-use ground-up development at 140 West 42nd Street in New York’s Time Square, the adaptive re-use of the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City, and the ~$125 million redevelopment of the ‘Alohilani Waikiki Beach.

Prior to joining Highgate, Alex was a Senior Analyst at Merrill Lynch in its real estate investment banking division from 2007-2009.

Alex earned a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, graduating with high distinction.