A diversified platform spanning real estate, lending, and operating businesses.

  • Star Mesa was founded in 2012 as an owner-operator of commercial real estate and has since evolved into a multi-strategy investment firm. Today, the platform includes Star Mesa Capital, which focuses primarily on credit-related investment opportunities, and Star Mesa Properties, which owns and operates a portfolio of real assets. The firm’s experienced team brings together diverse backgrounds that provide a distinct advantage in evaluating and executing a wide range of investments.

    Star Mesa Capital maintains investments nationwide and typically targets opportunities in the $5–$15 million range, with flexibility to invest across the capital stack. Star Mesa Capital is closed to outside investment.

  • Star Mesa Capital focuses on direct lending with a disciplined, transaction-driven process. Each opportunity is evaluated on its individual merits, with an emphasis on asset quality, borrower alignment, and clear execution. The firm structures loans to address time-sensitive situations and complex capital needs while maintaining a straightforward and efficient process from origination through closing.

    Star Mesa Properties focuses on the ownership and management of operating properties with a long-term perspective. The platform emphasizes disciplined investment, active stewardship, and operational excellence to create durable value over time.

  • Star Mesa Capital partners with experienced real estate investors, developers, and business owners seeking flexible private capital. Typical borrowers include repeat sponsors, family offices, and operators pursuing acquisitions, refinancings, recapitalizations, or transitional opportunities across a range of asset types.

Credit Strategies

  • Star Mesa Capital provides short-term bridge financing for commercial real estate and operating businesses. Loans are used for property acquisitions, cash-out refinances, and transitional situations requiring flexible capital prior to stabilization or conventional bank financing. Bridge loans may also support working capital needs and time-sensitive opportunities where speed and certainty of execution are essential.

  • The firm offers acquisition financing through line-of-credit structures designed for repeat borrowers and programmatic investment strategies. Facilities may be structured with fixed or floating rates and can support both short- and long-term investment horizons. Star Mesa Capital also provides recapitalization solutions to help investors restructure existing capital stacks and pursue new growth opportunities.

  • Star Mesa Capital invests in underperforming and non-performing loans secured by hard assets and operating businesses. The firm pursues opportunities across foreclosure and bankruptcy situations, focusing on acquiring and restructuring distressed debt to unlock value and create path-to-resolution outcomes.

Star Mesa Properties: Highlighted Operating Companies

Star Mesa Properties: Highlighted Commercial Real Estate

  • Lakefront Market

    This 25,000 square foot property is located between West 20th Avenue and West 22nd Avenue along Sheridan Boulevard in Edgewater. The property overlooks Sloan's Lake Park providing incredible views of downtown Denver. 

  • 5303 Spine Road

    This two-story, 30,500 square foot property is located in the Gunbarrel Business Park in the City of Boulder. Its strategic location provides for easy access to Boulder, Longmont, Niwot and I-25.

  • Kelly Building

    This 5,000 square foot office/retail building is located in Old Town Basalt, Colorado, just miles from Aspen. The second floor was completely renovated in 2018 and contains 8 private offices for rent.

    There is also 3,000 square feet of land to the west, which is currently home to Butch’s Lobster Shack, a local’s favorite.

  • Koko Plaza

    This 34,174 square foot mixed-use office and retail building is located in downtown Louisville, Colorado. It is just 25 minutes north of downtown Denver and 15 minutes southeast of Boulder.

Leadership

Kellie Reiland - Principal

Kellie comes from a finance background, having worked in investment banking in both Houston and Denver. Since moving into real estate in 2012, she has been actively involved in underwriting, negotiating, closing, and managing Star Mesa transactions across both the lending and operating platforms. Kellie leads the firm’s Maine portfolio, overseeing asset management, operations, and strategic planning for those properties. Kellie graduated from Brown University.

Email: kellie@starmesaproperties.com

John Crowley - Principal

John brings his diverse and extensive investment experience to Star Mesa Capital, where he oversees sourcing, underwriting, negotiating, and closing of investments across the capital stack.

Prior to joining Star Mesa, John was a Director of Underwriting at Summit Investment Management, a joint venture with Fortress Investment Group, where he was responsible for deal sourcing and underwriting of distressed debt and opportunistic credit situations. Prior to Summit, John was a member of the investment team within BlackRock Alternative Advisors, the firm's Hedge Fund Solutions business. While at BlackRock, John covered credit-related strategies including stressed and distressed credit, as well as equity and credit strategies within Emerging Markets. Before joining BlackRock, John served as a U.S. Navy SEAL.

John holds a BS degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, with concentrations in Finance and Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Email: john@starmesacapital.com

Bob Cardwell - Principal

Bob has worked in the commercial real estate industry for over thirty-five years. His experience ranges from acquisition, disposition, construction lending, finance, mortgage banking, masterplanning, leasing, property management, asset management to urban and suburban development.  Bob has performed these services in over eighty different markets from Honolulu to Boston.

Specifically, he has been responsible for over 14,000,000 square feet of commercial real estate valued in excess of $2 billion.  His responsibilities included overseeing all of the physical and financial decisions of the assets, and the various consultants and contractors hired to perform services.  The asset mix ranged from suburban investments to multi-city block mixed use developments.  The holdings included office, office warehouse, industrial, retail, apartments, condominiums and hotels.

Bob's community involvement includes: Past President for Mountain Area Land Trust, Past State Chairperson for The Trust for Public Land Advisory Board and President of Evergreen Land Community Coalition and President of an 85 unit condominium complex.  Prior to moving to Colorado he chaired a county park and open space commission in Minnesota.  

Email: bob@starmesaproperties.com

Margo Nyiro - Controller

As Controller for Star Mesa, Margo is responsible for all accounting and financial operations­­­­­­­­­ including financial reporting, billing, collections, payables, debt service, budget preparation, cash management, payroll, and tax reporting.

Margo has over 25 years of private accounting experience beginning with internal audit at Kemper Financial Services in Chicago, Illinois, then continuing in Tennessee at Moore Data Management Services and at True Temper Sports, where she worked in all areas of both financial and cost accounting in a manufacturing environment. Most recently in Colorado, she provided accounting services to several small businesses prior to joining Star Mesa in 2014.

Email: margo@starmesacapital.com