Westrust is owned and operated by its two Managing Partners: Ricardo Capretta and Charles Smith. Both partners collectively provide strategic oversight and direction to the organization; oversee business strategies, and equity and debt relationships.
Ricardo Capretta, Co-Managing Partner. Mr. Capretta received a B.A. in Architecture from the U.C. Berkeley in 1981 and an MBA and Masters in Architecture & Urban Planning from UCLA in 1984. He has been in the development industry since 1984 working with the Paragon Group and Katell Properties before co-founding Westrust in 1992.
Charles Smith, Co-Managing Partner. Mr. Smith received a B.S. in Economics from Fairfield University in 1988. He has been in the real estate banking, investment, and development industry since 1988 working with J.E. Robert Companies and a real estate subsidiary of Dollar Dry Dock Bank, New York before joining Westrust in 1995.
Damir Priskich, Development. Damir joined Westrust in February 2006. He has more than 20 years of Construction and Project Management experience working throughout the West Coast and Europe. His lead responsibilities include; strategically guiding the development functions through all phases, from entitlements through planning to the successful completion of Development Projects. Prior to joining Westrust, Damir was the Managing Principal of a Project and Construction Management firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also spent 10 years working for The Koll Company’s - Construction Division. Damir received his B.S. in Building Construction from Texas A&M University
Yan Lam, Accounting & Finance. Yan joined Westrust in April, 1994. She oversees all accounting matters, tax compliance, financial analysis, lender relationships, cash management, property management, and asset management. Yan has 18 years of experience in the real estate development business and retail industry. During her tenure with Westrust, Yan grew from a staff accounting role to currently leading the entire group. During this time, the company has acquired or developed over $1 billion of projects including over 4 million square feet of property management accounts. Prior to joining Westrust, Yan worked for McMahan’s Furniture Company. Yan graduated from University of California Santa Barbara with a Bachelor of Science in Economics with an emphasis in Accounting.
