ASK strengthens leadership team with managing partner appointments

ASK Partners has appointed experienced real estate principals Greg Cohen (pictured above, far right) and Marc Foster (centre right) as managing partners.

Greg and Marc will join co-founders Daniel Austin (pictured above, far left) and Doug King (centre left) in the senior leadership team, with Daniel continuing as CEO.

As part of their appointments, both will ultimately become equity partners in ASK.

Their appointments bring additional expertise to ASK’s debt platform, covering real estate development and investment, origination and private capital.

Since its launch in 2016, ASK has deployed more than £2bn across over 160 real estate transactions. In 2022, it sold a 50% stake in the business to OakNorth Bank.

Supported by OakNorth, the enlarged partnership will drive further growth in the lending business, broaden ASK’s investor base and selectively pursue equity opportunities.

Greg brings more than 20 years of experience in real estate development and investment.

He is a partner at Sterlet Properties, formerly Newmark Property Consultants, where he has been involved in the acquisition and development of more than 1.5 million sq ft across all use classes and in transactions with a combined sales value in excess of £500m.

Marc brings extensive experience in private capital and real estate investment across both debt and equity.

He leads Melrose Capital, the family investment and trading business he established in 2018, to pursue opportunistic real estate investments across sectors and regions.

Greg and Marc will continue their respective activities through Sterlet and Melrose Capital alongside their roles at ASK.

Both have longstanding relationships with ASK, having invested in loans and worked alongside the team on a number of transactions.

Daniel commented: “Greg and Marc joining the leadership team is an important step in the next stage of ASK’s growth.

“They bring complementary experience across development, investment, origination and private capital, as well as longstanding relationships across the real estate market.

“We will continue to be highly selective and underwriting-led, but with a broader senior team, greater origination capability and more ways to deploy capital into attractive real estate opportunities.”

Greg said: “I have spent my career investing and developing as an equity principal, which means looking at real estate through a slightly different lens — not simply how an investment is financed, but how value can be created through hands-on asset management.

“ASK has built an exceptional debt platform and I see a significant opportunity to combine that financing expertise with principal-side investment and development experience.

“Having known and worked with the ASK team for a number of years, this feels like a natural progression and I’m excited about what we can build together at a time when the real estate market offers real opportunism for those who have experience in extracting value.”

Marc added: “Having deployed capital as a family office across various levels of the capital structure over many years, the natural next step was to build a debt and equity-led business at scale.

“The opportunity to do that with ASK was incredibly compelling — bringing together our collective expertise, investor relationships and experience with an established infrastructure, deal flow and track record.

“Combined with Greg's extensive development and investment experience and our collective network across private capital, institutional investors and operating partners, we have everything we need to build something genuinely significant."

To coincide with the expansion of its senior team, ASK has relocated its London office to 107–113 Great Portland Street.

The new headquarters will provide a base for the enlarged team as ASK enters its next phase of growth.