Kris Garin

CEO at Riparian Holdings

Speaker

Kris Garin Background (Managing Principal & Chief Executive Officer)

Kris’ real estate career began in 2010 when he entered Georgetown University’s MBA program. Durinng his time at Georgetown interned for Cantor Commercial Real Estate during his, reviewing broker packages and applying lender underwriting standards to size loans across multiple asset classes.

Upon graduating in 2011, Kris joined the U.S. Real Estate Investment Banking group at Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, a full-service investment bank. During more than a decade at Baird, Kris worked as Associate, Vice President and Director, ultimately leading the firm’s efforts in the residential real estate space where he led both public and private real estate transactions and served as a trusted advisor to clients in the Multifamily, Single Family Rental, Student Housing and Senior Housing space, advising on transaction structures ranging from single-asset Joint Ventures, to complex portfolio recapitalizations, to entity-level mergers & acquisitions and Initial Public Offerings.

During this time, Kris (along with James Anderson) also founded Good Food Markets, a social impact grocery platform aimed at providing healthy food access in low-income urban “food desert” communities. Today, Good Food Markets has raised close to $10 million in grants, public-private partnership dollars and subsidized loans to open a pipeline of stores in DC, Maryland and Boston, as well as extensive nonprofit services such as nutrition and cooking classes, food banks, and workforce development. Under Kris’ leadership the management team at GFM has succeeded in an operationally intensive, structurally challenging business, continually making payroll since 2014.

On a personal level, Kris began investing in Commercial real estate as a principal alongside James Anderson and another partner in 2013, targeting workforce housing in greater Washington DC. In 2015 Westside acquired a long-vacant shell at 810-816 Potomac Avenue SW in Washington DC, taking it through the entitlement process for redevelopment before selling at a high price to another developer. In 2016 Kris managed the ground up construction of a new home in Chevy Chase, MD using a 3rd party builder, bringing the process in on time and under budget.

Kris left Baird in early 2019 to form Riparian Capital Partners with James. In September 2019 Riparian closed on Artaban Townhomes, a 54-unit townhome property located in Baltimore, with approximately 55% occupancy coming from voucher tenants. In February 2020 Riparian closed on the Petersburg Lofts Portfolio, a 4-property workforce housing portfolio comprised of 173 units. Both properties were financed by Fannie Mae (via Berkadia and Greystone, respectively). The closing of the Fairmont portfolio will take Riparian’s total Assets Under Management above $50 million.

Prior to entering the real estate industry, Kris spent nearly a decade in journalism, covering business for some of the most recognized publications in the country, including Harper’s, the Atlantic, Conde Naste Traveler, and the New York Daily News among others. He authored two books, including the New York Times bestselling Win Forever, co-authored with Superbowl-winning coach Pete Carroll. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 2001.