About

With more than 30 years of commercial real estate experience in financing, acquisitions, dispositions, valuation, appraisal, due diligence, and portfolio operations on all property types located across the U.S., Lori A. Lewis is a seasoned commercial real estate professional and established leader in the commercial real estate industry.  She has personally structured, negotiated, and closed over $12.5 billion in commercial real estate financing transactions and has been directly involved in $25 billion in financing and underwriting / due diligence transactions during her career.  Ms. Lewis has developed deep and meaningful relationships with a broad array of lenders, including top U.S. banks, life companies, conduit, and debt fund lenders.

Before co-founding Catalyst Capital Partners, Ms. Lewis was Executive Vice President and Director of Portfolio Operations of KBS Realty Advisors, reporting directly to the CEO along with three regional presidents and the Vice Chairman.  She was also a member of the firm’s 9-person investment committee that reviewed and approved all investments.  KBS is a preeminent buyer of commercial real estate and structured debt investments in the United States, ranked by Institutional Real Estate, Inc. and Property Funds Research as among the top real estate investment managers globally.  National Real Estate Investor ranked KBS the seventh-largest office owner globally (December 2015).  While with KBS, Ms. Lewis was involved in investing 18 funds; three institutional commingled funds, six separate accounts with domestic public and corporate pension funds, five sovereign wealth funds, and four publicly registered non-traded REITs. 

Ms. Lewis spent 20 years at KBS and managed a team of 10 professionals involved in the underwriting and financing of equity and debt investments as well as portfolio management, valuation, and investor relations.  During her tenure, Ms. Lewis led over $12.5 billion in secured financing transactions (233 transactions with 34 lenders for acquisition loans, refinances, and loan restructure/modifications) on portfolios and single-purpose entities with top U.S. banks, life companies, debt funds, and CMBS lenders.  She led underwriting and due diligence for acquisitions totaling over $12 billion (270 assets, 70 million square feet across 29 states).  As part of her Portfolio Operations role, Ms. Lewis created the firm’s underwriting and due diligence Best Practices for acquisitions and standards for investment analysis.  She was also instrumental in developing processes and protocols used by senior management for real-time valuation of assets under management, portfolio, and company-wide.
    
Before joining KBS, Ms. Lewis spent ten years in the real estate industry as a commercial real estate appraiser and consultant working with MAI appraisal firms in Southern California.  Her experience included appraisal and litigation support assignments on all property types, including office, industrial, retail, multi-family, vacant land, and special use properties.
    
Ms. Lewis attended Biola University in La Mirada, California, earning her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a marketing emphasis.  Her industry affiliations and leadership roles include being a former Affiliate Member of the Appraisal Institute, Southern California Chapter, and NAIOP Board Member (2016), Southern California Chapter.  She received Real Estate Forum’s  “Women of Influence” award in 2005.