National Reach.
Targeted Approach.

Howard Fingeroot is the Managing Partner of Sylvan Crest, overseeing the firm’s investment decisions, development activity, and strategic direction. He also founded and continues as CEO of Sunrise Land Group. Sunrise was established as the exclusive developer for Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI), one of the largest owner-operators of manufactured home communities in the country. At its peak, Sunrise amassed a development pipeline of more than 25,000 units, operating in markets throughout the United States including: Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Denver, Huntsville, Michigan, the Carolinas, and the Mid-Atlantic.

Prior to Sunrise, Fingeroot was the co-Founder and CEO of Pinnacle Homes. Pinnacle Homes developed over 40 communities throughout Southeast Michigan, growing to be a top three homebuilder in the market. After 13 years, Fingeroot led the sale of Pinnacle Homes to M/I Homes (NYSE: MHO), a national builder based in Columbus, Ohio.

Fingeroot started his real estate career with Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM), the third largest homebuilder in the United States. During his 10 years at Pulte, Fingeroot worked his way to become President of Pulte Land Development Corporation, the land development company for Pulte Homes of Michigan and developed over 10,000 single-family lots.

Fingeroot has experience developing in a number of real estate asset classes including: manufactured housing, single-family, multi-family, and retail. He received his Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Brad Fingeroot is a Partner at Sylvan Crest and heads its investment platform, overseeing acquisitions, capital markets, and investor relations. Prior to the formation of Sylvan Crest, Brad was Director of Land Acquisition at Sunrise Land Group. At Sunrise, Brad was responsible for market strategy and pipeline development across Texas, the Mid-Atlantic, Nashville, TN., and Huntsville, AL. During his time at Sunrise, the firm grew its acquisition pipeline to a peak of more than 25,000 MHP units, the largest development pipeline in the industry, over a third of which were sourced by Brad.

He began his career as a consultant focused on private equity and large corporate M&A at Strategy&, PwC’s global strategy consulting team, working on over $2 billion in deal value. He then founded a consultancy, Fingeroot Advisory LLC., which assisted clients including Fortune 500 corporations and private equity firms across the fund size spectrum on commercial due diligence, acquisition support, post-acquisition value creation, and go-to-market strategy. Brad received his Bachelor’s of Business Administration with distinction, from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

Chris Haboian is the General Counsel of Sylvan Crest and its sister entity Sunrise Land Group. He oversees all legal work throughout the acquisition, entitlement and development process. Chris manages the firm’s outside counsel relationships and is responsible for leading a wide spectrum of negotiations, including: purchase agreements, joint venture agreements, development agreements, annexation agreements, utility service agreements, easements, and mineral rights.

Prior to joining Sunrise, Chris was a partner in the real estate group at Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss PC (now Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP), where he primarily represented commercial developers and property owners on acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, financing and development matters, gaining extensive experience in private capital development across real estate, including office, industrial, senior living and triple-net properties. Chris started his career as an in-house attorney for The Cordish Companies, a Maryland-based developer of casinos, large sports-anchored mixed-use developments, and other urban residential and commercial developments.

Chris received his Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Wake Forest University and his JD from the University of Maryland.

Chad Gans is Director of Manufactured Housing for Sylvan Crest where he leads projects across the manufactured housing platform. He was previously Director of Land Acquisition at Sunrise Land Group, where he was responsible for identifying and securing prime locations for development across the Southwest, Mountain West, and Pacific Northwest regions. While at Sunrise, he led the successful acquisition of over 4,000 lots in seven states.

Prior to joining the Sun team, Chad worked on the investment team for CA Ventures, focused on developing multi-family and student housing assets. He was responsible for workstreams across project management, asset management, and investment strategy, contributing to the development of over 3,000 student housing beds and $500 million in investment.

Chad received his Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Nikki Jeffries is Director of Development at Sylvan Crest and its sister entity, Sunrise Land Group. Nikki leads due diligence, design, and entitlement of large-scale developments, collaborating closely with cross-functional teams and local authorities to ensure project goals are met. At Sunrise, she successfully led the entitlement of manufactured housing and outdoor resort projects in states including Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Utah, and Washington. Prior to Sunrise, Nikki was a land development manager at M/I Homes (NYSE: MHO), project manager at VERSA Real Estate, and began her career as an engineer at Giffels Webster.

Nikki has over nineteen years of experience overseeing successful development projects throughout the United States. Nikki’s development experience includes single-family, multifamily, manufactured housing, RV resort, office, restaurant, and retail projects. She received her Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering from the University of Michigan and is a licensed Professional Engineer.

Spencer Crabb is the Director of Development at Atwell, a full-service consulting, engineering, and construction services firm, where he acts as a development program manager for Sylvan Crest. In this position, Spencer oversees development projects from due diligence through construction. He works with both Sun Communities and Sylvan Crest to manage and ensure the success of projects throughout their development life cycle, handling the day-to-day management of projects. Spencer works directly with each project’s engineers, architects, municipalities, and other related professionals, addressing feasibility, design, budgeting, scheduling, approvals/permitting, and bidding.

Prior to joining Atwell in 2019, Spencer was with Brixmor Property Group (NYSE: BRX), overseeing landlord construction and development activities for over 40 shopping centers. He successfully delivered over 100 projects on time and under budget, including notable retailers like TJ Maxx, LA Fitness, and Petco. His role included managing entitlements, design and permitting, budgets, schedules, and contractors for projects up to $10 million. Spencer started his career at RPT Realty, a previously publicly traded REIT, where he held numerous roles, including managing landlord/tenant buildouts as well as coordinating large-scale retail developments and redevelopments.

Spencer received his Bachelor’s of Science degrees in Civil Engineering and Architecture and Design from Lawrence Technological University.