About

Founded in 2003, Lev Investments is a boutique real estate investment, development, and asset management firm that oversees its diversified portfolio across 25+ states from offices in Dallas and Los Angeles.

In our early years we began as entrepreneurial investors in the California market. Then, by establishing trustworthy relationships with investors and professionals alike, we expanded across the U.S., allowing us to build our brand while maintaining a detail-oriented approach that differentiates us until today.

Through a hands-on philosophy and humble beginnings, we employ value-add tactics to capitalize on the current income and appreciation of properties nationwide. Lev specializes in identifying multifamily, retail, light industrial, and residential opportunities to generate risk-adjusted returns and a trust to expect solid returns.

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Mission Statement

Lev Investments strives to provide its partners with consistent, long-term growth through strategic real estate investments, devoted property operations, and exemplary asset management.

Values

‘Lev’ means ‘heart’ or ‘mind’ in all Semitic languages. We put our hearts and minds into every project, which is manifested in the balanced care and dedication to our partners, tenants, and properties.

We are guided by a pure heart, thus advancing our partners’ goals, enhancing the lives of our tenants, and building better communities. We are virtuous in our methodology and honest in our communication. From resident retention to financial trend changes, we speak truly and stand behind what we say. After 20+ years of experience in the real estate investment space, our modus operandi fuels a path forward—one building at a time.

Our Team

Lav Gabay

Founder
With a sharp eye for lucrative investments and property evaluations, Lav has amassed a real estate portfolio worth hundreds of millions. Lav’s founding principles emphasize the importance of investor relations and a constant improvement of the tenant experience. Equally, Lav assembles distressed assets with the goal of upgrading surrounding communities through strategic capital, architectural design, and entitlements. Currently, Lav is working on new multifamily, mixed-use, and condominium projects while overseeing the portfolio's investor relations.

Lav founded the nonprofit organization Lev to Lev (est. 2004), which locates children and families in need and provides them with vital necessities. He is a helicopter pilot and often participates in philanthropic initiatives to fly youths with cancer.

Lav lives in Los Angeles with his wife, and their four adult children are all in LA.

Gil Shapira

Chief Operating Officer
Gil focuses on asset management and analysis for potential investment properties. He presides over the research, purchase, financing, and day-to-day operations of Lev’s portfolio. With 15+ years of experience in real estate investments, Gil has completed hundreds of millions worth of transactions across the country. Gil created a niche for buying off-market properties and plays a pivotal role in the company’s financial supervision.

Gil lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four kids.

Mitchell Simon

Vice President, Client Development
After receiving his JD/MBA from UCLA, Mitchell spent 13 years in strategic positions at renowned companies, such as Paramount Pictures, General Instrument, and Nokia. Since 2002 he has been a coach and consultant to commercial real estate firms, banks, developers, and law firms. Mitchell has been an active investor in real estate throughout the country for over a decade.

Mitchell has four kids and lives in San Diego.

Adam Gabay

Vice President
Adam oversees portfolio strategy and investment management to enhance property performance. Prior to joining Lev Investments, he represented tenants at Stone-Miller and negotiated commercial office leases to maximize workplace efficiency. Before that, he built competitive landscapes for Fortune 500 partners at Wasserman and coordinated investor outreach efforts at FlashFunders, a tech-enabled investment bank, which acquired by Boustead & Co.

Adam is a board member for Duke SoCal Alumni, nonprofit Marine Education Initiative, and Silicon Beach Investment Group. Beyond work, he is a helicopter pilot and high-altitude backpacker. Adam graduated with a BA from Duke University and a MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business.

Patricia Panahon

Executive Accounting & Asset Management
Patricia supports our partners through timely reporting, income tax compliance,
and best-of-class client service.

Jennifer Shakib

Financial Auditor
Jennifer is responsible for financial reporting, auditing, and tax preparation. Jennifer came to Lev Investments after serving as a partner in a tax accounting and consulting firm. Prior to that, she managed a $3 billion pension fund, where she oversaw financial reporting, assets under management reporting, real estate purchases, and sales recommendations.

Jeff Aviezer

Construction Consultant
Jeff runs Metro Development, which specializes in the development of multimillion dollar commercial, mixed-use, and high-end residential projects. As a licensed contractor with 30+ years of experience in construction management, Jeff worked extensively in public works, helping build and renovate over 300 schools for the Los Angeles Unified School District. He is a trusted source of expertise on our developments with a Material Engineering degree from Ben-Gurion University. Jeff lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two kids.

Mike Wells

Advisor
Mike Wells, CCIM, CPM®, President and Founder of Wells Asset Management, Inc., has 35+ years of real estate experience. Mike has extensive experience in property management, acquisition, disposition, brokerage, and financing. He has also sold $1 billion of real estate consisting of multi-family and commercial buildings. Mike is a licensed Texas broker and holds the Certified Property Manager (CPM®) designation and holds the Certified Commercial Investment Member, (CCIM) designation by the CCIM Institute.

Our Advisors

Jan Blanchard

Advisor
In 1985 Jan left a successful career in design to pursue an interest in real estate at RMG Brokerage, specializing in multifamily acquisitions and dispositions. Jan launched her own brokerage firm, Blanchard Properties, Inc. in 2005. She focuses on the acquisition and disposition of multifamily and retail properties with sales in excess of $750 million. Jan holds a BA in Design and an Associate Degree in Marketing from Northwestern State University and lives in Dallas.

Mike Yim

Advisor
Mike is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Quantum Capital Partners in Beverly Hills, CA. With 15+ years of experience in commercial real estate finance, Mike has successfully originated more than $3 billion of debt and equity transactions throughout the western U.S. focusing on retail, office, multi-housing, industrial, and hospitality properties. The capitalizations have included bridge, permanent, mezzanine, and construction financing. Mike holds a MS in Electrical Engineering from Caltech, plus a BS in Cybernetics and a BA in Business/Economics from UCLA.

Steve Sieling

Advisor
After receiving his BBA in finance through the University of Texas at Austin in 1986, Steve spent two years in public accounting with KPMG before starting his long career in commercial real estate financing at Bank of America. Since 1995 Steve has been primarily focused on multifamily financings through conventional, agency, and HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). Today Steve is the main principal of a boutique mortgage banking firm – Azur Commercial Capital, LLC. Steve maintains his CPA (Certified Public Accountant) license and has been a Texas real estate broker since 1988. Steve was born and resides in Dallas.

Ron Paz

Advisor
In 1986 Ron founded A&R Wholesale Distributors, which supplied food and beverages to 2,000+ Southern California public schools. His company partnered with Fortune 500 companies, such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Nestle, Tyson Foods, General Mills, and Kellogg’s. In 2017 he sold his A&R to focus on real estate investments and developments worldwide.

Amir Rotem

Global Partner Relations
Amir earned his BA in industrial engineering and MBA from the University of Tel Aviv. He has served 20+ years in senior positions at Caesarstone (NASDAQ: CSTE) including three terms as CEO wherein he transformed Caesarstone into a global company. In 2013 Amir was appointed as chairman at Sdot Yam’s businesses (Israeli kibbutz that is still Caesarstone’s main shareholder) and led a $300 million follow-up public offering of its shares in Caesarstone. Today Amir acts as a senior global consultant to the hard-surfacing industry and maintains investment relationships worldwide.