Navi Ventures

•	Focused on acquisitions, strategic direction, investor relations, and asset management for the company.
•	Target market in Texas and Arizona.
•	Most recently closed on a $38.5 million, 232-unit deal in Tucson, AZ in July 2022 as General Partners.
•	Acquired a $3.45 million, 22-unit deal in Glendale, AZ in November 2021 as General Partners.
•	Navi Ventures has investments in over 1000 multifamily units in Texas and Oklahoma.
•	The company also has investments in 6 mobile home parks, single family homes, and hard money lending.

https://www.navi-ventures.com/

Partner

DI/D

•	Worked and coordinated with a national hotel brand to develop their new hotel dual-brand prototype to 100% CD. Provided hotel design expertise to minimize cost and maximize efficiency while meeting brand requirements.

•	Implemented updated hotel prototype design to city permitting. Ensure conformance to local zoning ordinances and code standards for building permitting submission. Managed the project and team at the high level to ensure quality project delivery.

•	Provided multiple design iterations for a feasibility study to a developer after an acquisition of land. Met with city planners and building officials for pre-development conference and clarifications. Submitted zoning application on behalf of the client.

Founder

5Gstudio_collaborative

•	Managed comprehensive drawing sets for a complex 170,000 sq ft dual-brand AC and RI Marriott hotel from SD to CA. Involved in making major architectural and interior design decisions. Engaged in coordinating extensively with clients, consultants, brand, and contractor.

•	Developed project as design architect for a new 110,000 ft2 office facility from concept to design development and ensured sufficient documentation to hand over to Architect-of-Record.

•	Devised a winning design competition scheme for the renovation of Solana Business Park, a 230-acre $60 million redevelopment project in Southlake.

Project Architect

Ziegler Cooper Architects

• Developed multiple schematic proposals for a masterplan project consisting of 2,000,000 SF of office, hotel, and retail on a pre-existing site.

• Designed and managed the renovation of a 3,500 SF commercial lobby space with responsibilities that include selecting materials,producing drawings, and coordinating with the client, general contractor, and consultants.

• Prepared design documentations of various facets of commercial buildings in Revit, including drawings of interior details, elevations, plans, and site.

Project Designer

Aedas

• Contributed to design and coordination for a 225 meter tall apartment tower in Chengdu; designed multiple iterations of the building façade and coordinated drawings with interior designers and mechanical/structural engineers.

• Rationalized complex geometry of tower facades by developing suitable massing options, conceiving efficient panelization of glazing, and assigning material specification to make a buildable and cost-efficient project for construction.

• Delegated design and technical materials for a 155,400 square meter of residential and retail with affiliate office for an international competition.

• Designed facades for 4 housing prototypes for a 108,000 square meter prefabricated housing project in Korat, Thailand while balancing low-cost with achievable designs; assisted in reaching targeted budget of $55,000 per house through cost-estimation analysis and contacts with local manufacturers and construction companies in Thailand.

• Developed a proposal for an 80 meter tall, 17,000 square meter office tower in Shanghai with a small team under an accelerated schedule.

• Consulted an international school in Beijing on space-planning for expansion and renovation of existing campus.

• Implemented sustainability strategies such as analyzing sun-shadow studies to determine optimum tower orientation and building height limit for reducing passive heat gain in buildings.

• Worked extensively on typical room layouts for hotels, residential towers, and office buildings with an emphasis on implementing adequate circulation and space.

• Executed multiple, concurrent responsibilities, such as creating site documentation and research, 3D models, program diagrams, plans, and sections.

Architectural Assistant (Post-Graduate)

Urbahn Architects

• Assisted on an RFP project by creating room schedules, drawings, and renderings in Revit.

• Designed lobby of an office building and coordinated with a rendering company on design execution by defining FF&E, colors, and materiality.

Architecture Intern

Weiss/Manfredi

• Updated red-lined construction drawings of ceiling plans, structural systems, and FF&E plan for a university building.

• Created models and presentation drawings for book publications and project submissions.

City of Houston

• Worked independently from the supervisor to execute responsibilities such as redrawing old plans into AutoCAD and conducting space audits of Houston’s public multi-centers and clinics.

• Advised building facility managers to reflect changes in building programs and spaces.

Architectural Assistant

Partner at Navi Ventures, Real Estate Investment

Diana is a Partner and Co-Founder at Navi Ventures, where she is focused on acquisitions and asset management of existing value-add opportunities and ground-up multi-family developments in the Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico markets.

Navi Ventures is a real estate company that seeks to acquire and/or develop multi-family assets that will positively impact the lives of their communities and investors. The company has investments in 1,800 multi-family units (700 units as a general partner) for an aggregate acquisition value in excess of $215 MM (with currently $93MM AUM).

Diana is an AIA licensed Architect with over 10 years of experience working in New York, Texas, and China where she has designed and managed large scale award-winning buildings in office, multi-family, hospitality, and retail. Her design and technical background as an Architect uniquely position her to envision and identify real estate opportunities beyond numbers that are otherwise overlooked.

Diana received her Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University. She was the 2022 Dallas Equitable Development Initiative (EDI) Inaugural Cohort Member, a member of ULI Young Leaders Group Partnership Forum, and the AIA Dallas 2018 Emerging Leaders Program. Diana runs a local Dallas meet-up called Real Estate Ladies, which is focused on empowering and educating women to invest in real estate.

She was recently awarded Bisnow DFW’s Women Leading Real Estate in 2023.

Are you a buy-and-hold investor or a buy-and-flip investor?

When I started, I was more of a buy-and-flip investor. Lately, my approach has shifted.

Last week, I had the pleasure to have my partner, Jerome Maldonado, speak at my meet-up to talk about his multifamily development approach, as well as completed and ongoing projects.

In his development business model, Jerome is a “buy-and-hold” developer, which is not very common. When he develops his multifamily, he doesn’t sell the property right after stabilizing, he intends on keeping it to build legacy wealth for his family and create long-term passive income. 

That’s refreshing to hear.

In the multifamily value-add space I’m in, I was taught to “buy-and-flip” multifamily. Active investors like myself would hustle to acquire, stabilize, and dispose of the deal in 3-5 years, then hustle again to place that capital in another deal to avoid capital gain tax. Rinse and repeat. We’re stuck in a hamster wheel.

When does it end? As active investors, at what point can we sit back to retire with sufficient passive income and focus on spending more time with family?

Jerome builds Class A multifamily, stabilizes them, then holds his new building with high cash-flow and low-maintenance forever.

Developers that build to hold would typically put more quality and focus on the developments they intend to keep. They also have more incentives to complete and stabilize their building on time. The multifamily development construction quality is higher so that their assets will stay resilient over time.

Working with Jerome, my investment strategy has shifted - I am now more in the buy-and-hold camp to keep my assets forever.

Which investment approach will you be utilizing this and the coming years? Buy-and-hold or a buy-and-flip?

Would love to hear! 👇🏼

_____

Images below from our Investor’s meet-up last week! We served delicious food and enjoyed good wine. Thank you to my good friend and partner, Linda Lim, for flying in to support me. 😊

DM me if you like to connect and learn more about multifamily development.

#multifamilydevelopment #multifamilyinvesting #passiveincome #networking #investor

Navi Ventures

Diana Lin, AIA

Linda Lim

⭐️ How do you take a $1.6MM run-down office building and turn it into a $31MM apartment complex? ⭐️


Here’s what my partners, Jerome Maldonado and Kyle Mitchell, did in Youngtown, AZ for their office-to-multifamily conversion homerun:


PHASE I
Acquire Existing Office Building ($1MM valuation)

✅ Found a neglected half-occupied office building that sat on the market for 1,400 days with a list price of $1.6 MM.

✅ Total acquisition cost was $1.8MM, including a $200k fee from a wholesaler who found the property.

✅ At that time, the bank appraised the value of a half-occupied office asset for about $1MM. No bank wanted to lend on it, they had to use a hard money lender.


PHASE II
Convert Office-to-Multi-family - 44 units ($7.3MM valuation)

✅ Kept the shell of the building and converted the office suites into 44 multi-family units.

✅ Bank re-appraised it as a 44-unit apartment with a valuation of $7.3MM.

✅ Roll this valuation as collateral for construction loan in the next phase.


PHASE III
Build Additional Multi-family units - 104 units ($31MM valuation)

✅ Discovered that the city allowed additional density to be developed on the property.

✅ Built additional 60 brand new multi-family units from ground-up for a total of 104 units on the site.

✅ Bank re-appraised the 104-unit apartment with valuation at $31MM.


🔨 Total cost to build (hard and soft cost) was $14.8MM.

How would you like to walk away with about $15MM of equity in the project? 🤯

Now this is one truly value-add project.

On top of this, they had to take out 5 different loans to make this deal work!

You hear of office-to-multifamily conversions being in vogue these days, especially with the current demand of more housing. Few have been able to successfully execute this business idea - it takes a creative eye to take a neglected overlooked asset and turn it into an affordable apartment complex that serves the need of the community.

—————

Please join us for our meet-up this THURSDAY in Dallas as Jerome Maldonado will speak in detail the mechanics and finances of recently completed developments, like Youngtown Flats, as well as other ongoing projects.

If you’re new to investing or an experienced investors interested in learning about multifamily development, this would be a great opportunity to come network and learn, as well as meet our team. 😊 

RSVP link in comments.
See you there! 🙌🏼

Linda Lim

#realestatedevelopment #groundupconstruction #networking #multifamilyinvesting #officetomultifamilyconversion #creativeinvesting
Navi Ventures


Join us this Thursday in Dallas to learn from developer and investor Jerome Maldonado on how to navigate Multifamily Development! 

If you’re new to investing or an experienced investors interested in learning about multifamily development, this would be a great opportunity to come join us and learn, as well as meet our team.

Jerome has $600MM AUM and on track to hit $1B by 2025. Over the last four years, he has molded $247 million in multifamily assets, solidifying more than 1,100 doors.

On top of multifamily, he has developed 300 single-family homes, 2,000 acres of land, and 25 rejuvenated retail and office spaces.

In this meet-up, he’ll be sharing -

✅ Case-studies of ongoing and completed multifamily development projects, such as his recently completed office-multifamily conversion, Youngtown Flats
✅ His business model on how he structure these investments
✅ How to navigate multifamily development in this challenging time

I’ve had the pleasure to work alongside with Jerome on our multifamily development deal and he has so much wealth of knowledge to share. I’m also excited to have my good friend and partner, Linda Lim, to co-host as well!

Date: Thursday, April 18th
Time: 5-9 PM
Location: Times Ten Cellars, 6324 Prospect Ave, Dallas, TX 75214

RSVP link in comments below.
See you there! 🙌🏼

#multifamilydevelopment #developer #investor #investing #meetup #networking

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