, CEO
949.706.7878

Mr. Funston founded Wind River Group (WRG) in late 2008 and is responsible for the firm’s investment and development activities, business development and overall management.

Previously, Mr. Funston served as Executive Vice President for Barker Pacific Group (BPG), a Los Angeles-based real estate firm specializing in the purchase, development and management of institutional-quality commercial assets in select U.S. cities.  At BPG he led acquisition, new construction, redevelopment and asset-management pursuits valued at more than $500 million. As a member of the company’s Executive and Investment Committees, Mr. Funston was involved in all financial and corporate decision making. He was integral in the structuring of project-level debt and equity capital, and played a critical role in all aspects of the co-invested private equity funds managed by the firm. These funds routinely produced returns to partners above 20%, net of fees.

Prior to BPG, Mr. Funston was the Senior Project Manager for Martin Fein Interests (MFI), a Houston-based multifamily developer specializing in luxury apartments.  At MFI he directed the entitlement, design and construction of more than 1,000 units across five new developments.  Mr. Funston also held a lead asset-management role for an additional 1,000 units that were built, owned and managed by MFI. One of his most rewarding projects during his tenure was the construction of the new Rights of Passage building. This facility was developed on behalf of Covenant House Texas, and doubled the capacity of the non-profit organization’s long-term transitional living program.

Mr. Funston began his real estate career with Camden Property Trust, one of the nation's largest publicly-traded multifamily REIT's. Here, working as a construction supervisor on several of the firm’s class-A multifamily projects, he learned the fundamentals of commercial development from the ground-up.

Mr. Funston received his BA from the University of Texas in Austin, and an MBA from the university’s McCombs School of Business. He has since been honored to return to McCombs as a guest lecturer at the program’s renowned Real Estate Finance and Investment Center.


, President
949.706.7877

Mr. McElmurry joined WRG in 2009.  He is responsible for sourcing new transactions, and is involved in all fundraising, finance, development and management efforts.

Mr. McElmurry was previously a Director at GE Capital’s Real Estate group.  In this role he was involved in over $1 billion of Structured and CMBS transactions for all types of commercial real estate. He originated office, multifamily, retail, industrial, hospitality, mixed-use and self-storage debt placements, which were financed through GE’s $84B commercial real estate balance sheet and via public markets securitizations. Mr. McElmurry was involved in all facets of transactions, from the point of first contact with clients to post-close asset management. He also participated in a variety of secondary services brought about by the financial crisis, such as renegotiating loan agreements, assisting in workouts and supporting GE’s Asset Management group in the initial stages of property foreclosures.

Prior to GE Capital, Mr. McElmurry was a Senior Analyst with CBRE Capital Markets, where he was responsible for helping source debt and equity financing for projects nationwide.  At CBRE he was largely focused on multifamily transactions, often involving Agency debt (Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, etc), as well as grocery-anchored and community retail centers. His team consistently ranked among CBRE’s top Producers worldwide in placing capital.

Mr. McElmurry is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and sits on the organization’s Capital Markets Council.  He was formerly a committee co-chair for ULI’s Young Leaders Group and led a pro-bono initiative for construction of Southern California’s first full-service childcare and therapy center focused on integrating typically developing and special needs children.

Mr. McElmurry holds an MBA from the University of Texas, with a focus on real estate finance, and a Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University.

, Vice President
949.706.7272

Mr. Taketa came to WRG in early 2010 with over a decade of finance, development and lending experience in the commercial real estate industry. His role with the company includes financial analysis, underwriting, operations and asset management.

Before joining WRG Mr. Taketa was the Associate of Finance and Operations for Makar Properties, a diversified real estate development and management company based in Newport Beach, CA. At Makar, Mr. Taketa oversaw the operating performance of the company’s investments which included commercial assets, mixed-use properties, hospitality and resort destinations, master-planned communities and land development. Mr. Taketa was closely involved with all components of Makar’s projects, including development, single-asset and portfolio management, reporting and capital markets activities for over $2 billion of institutional real estate.

Prior to Makar Mr. Taketa was the Assistant Vice President of Real Estate for Commercial Bank of California. He was responsible for sourcing and underwriting debt transactions and provided $150 million of acquisition, development, construction, bridge and permanent financing to the bank’s commercial real estate customers.

Mr. Taketa began his career as a Senior Financial Analyst at McGladrey Capital Markets. While at MCM he specialized in valuation and merger and acquisition services for middle market companies.

Mr. Taketa received his Bachelor’s degree from Boston College and earned an MBA from the University of Southern California, with a concentration in real estate finance. Mr. Taketa remains a participating member of USC’s Lusk Center of Real Estate.

, Senior Project Manager
610.331.4681

Mr. Waters has served as Senior Project Manager for WRG since joining the firm in 2009. He brings over 35 years experience in real estate development, construction management and project finance to the WRG team.

Below is a partial list of Mr. Waters’ projects to date:

Portfolio Management of Texas (VP of Design & Development; Houston, TX)

• Condo Conversion: three high rise apartment buildings totaling 485 units
• Condo Conversion: two garden apartment complexes totaling 700 units
• New Construction: one townhome multifamily project totaling 175 units
• Historic Redevelopment: Houston’s famed 1,000-key Rice Hotel
• Historic Redevelopment: the 22,000 SF First Texas Bank building

Metro Hotels (Vice President; Dallas, TX)

• Head of construction activities for 3,500 new hotel rooms throughout the southwest
• Completion of the 375-room Dallas-Fort Worth Airport Hilton
• Development of the 110- room Sugarland, TX Hampton Inn
• Design and predevelopment of two Embassy Suites totaling 600 rooms

Wind River Group (Senior Project Manager; Philadelphia, PA)

• Lincoln Square: 65,000 SF mixed-use historic redevelopment in Wilmington, DE
• 93 East Apartments: 192-unit apartment project in Atlanta, GA
• Notting Hills Apartments: 304-unit multifamily property in Marietta, GA
• Cumberland Crossing Apartments: 286-unit multifamily asset in Marietta, GA

Mr. Waters holds a Bachelors degree in Building Construction from the University of Florida’s School of Architecture and held a Florida Certified General Contractor License for 15 years.