Principal Bio
Makan (Mike) Mortazavi
MANAGING PRINCIPAL
Mike is a seasoned commercial real estate operator with over 17 years of experience in sourcing, financing, and operating investments across a broad range of asset classes. His core focus has been on multifamily, office, retail, and industrial properties.
Before founding Avia Equities, Mike held senior roles at Archway Equities, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, and Palmer Capital, a California-based boutique capital markets firm, where he served as a Partner. During his six-year tenure at Archway, he executed over $700 million in multifamily and office acquisitions. At Palmer Capital, Mike specialized in the disposition of office, medical, and retail properties throughout the Western United States, completing over $1 billion in transactions spanning medical, office, industrial, and retail assets.
Earlier in his career, Mike served as Managing Partner at the asset management division of Sunland Group, a publicly traded Australian real estate developer. There, he managed over $1 billion in mixed-use real estate projects. His career also includes time on the brokerage side as an office broker with Colliers in Canada.
Mike holds an MBA with a concentration in Finance from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in Canada. He also earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a degree in Systems Engineering.
John Churchward
MANAGING DIRECTOR
John has a 20+ year career in commercial real estate, completing well over $3 billion in transactions as a lender, advisor, and principal. John began his professional career in Boston with a JLL predecessor (HFF) before moving West to work for FINOVA Realty Capital, a CMBS lender based in Irvine, CA.
From there, John joined iStar Financial, where he worked in Boston and New York City on the Investments team. At iStar, John originated and closed single-tenant net lease and sale/leaseback transactions as well as highly structured bridge and construction loans for the full spectrum of commercial real estate assets, including office, industrial, hotel, residential, and special-purpose assets.
In 2010, John moved to Northern California, where he worked in a capital markets advisory role with HFF in San Francisco before transitioning to the principal side with Epoch Realty Capital in 2017. John began working with Avia Equities in 2021 to focus on acquisitions and asset management.
John graduated from Brown University with an Engineering degree while he played Varsity Hockey (1995 Ivy League Champion) and Varsity Crew (1997 National IRA Silver).
