Andrew Lester
Managing Director
Capital Market Sales
Specialization: Commercial Properties
Market: Global
Andrew Lester joined CPEX Real Estate in 2008 and will be focusing his efforts on Capital Market Sales. With a strong background of nearly 20 years experience in Investment Banking and Real Estate, Andrew is an invaluable asset to our organization and the clients we serve.
Andrew has owned, operated and advised a number of real estate companies that have developed, managed, and/or repositioned over 350 residential units in NY, CT, NJ and NC and over 250,000 square feet of commercial space over the past four years, becoming one of the fastest growing companies in each sub market entered. He has served as CFO to a $550mm 3 phase master planned development in Costa Rica planned for two hotels and several hundred units, has served on the board of a hotel condo converter, and acted as financial and strategic advisor to a couple of boutique hotel/spas. He has completed over 125,000 square feet of development and repositioning projects in New York City.
Prior to pursuing real estate full time, Andrew spent 10 years at Lehman Brothers where he worked in Corporate Strategy, Investment Banking, and Private Client Services, where he eventually ran the firm’s Separately Managed Account Program.
In Corporate Strategy, he worked for Lehman’s Chief Administrative Officer on firm wide initiatives and led the analytics designed to support the creation of a new division that marked Lehman’s expansion into Alternative Asset Management. In Equity Investment Banking he covered two technology sub sectors, helping to value and price companies in their effort to go public. In Private Client Services, he moved from leading strategy efforts to grow Asset Management to eventually running the Firm’s Separately Managed Account Program, helping to triple assets.
Andrew graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and earned a Master’s in Real Estate Development from New York University after leaving Lehman. He was the recipient of the Joseph Forrestal Aronson Scholarship at Yale and was recipient of the Dean’s Graduate Fellowship at NYU.
Andrew has done extensive National and International travel for both business and pleasure. He currently resides in Downtown Manhattan and is actively involved in several non-profits with a focus on child development and education.
Professional Affiliations and Licenses:
New York Real Estate Sales License
American Planning Association
Appraisal Institute
National Association of Homebuilders
Real Estate Board of New York
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
Urban Land Institute
International Council of Shopping Centers
Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable
Yale Alumni Association of Metropolitan New York