Griffis at Riata

Prior to Griffis Residential, Mr. Birnbaum was CEO of Tablogix, a European-based contract logistics and warehousing company. Founded in 1994, Mr. Birnbaum oversaw its expansion into multiple international markets and managed the company’s sale and relocation to London in 1998, where he continued as CEO until 2003.

Mr. Birnbaum holds a B.A. from Colorado College and an M.B.A. from Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School. He currently chairs the Museum Committee for the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, is a trustee of the Denver Art Museum, and serves on the Russian and Eastern European Acquisition Committee for London’s Tate Modern Museum.

Prior to his move to Denver, Mr. Souther was Chief Financial Officer of the US subsidiary of a publicly-traded multinational property development and management company.  Mr. Souther brings 20 years of accounting experience to Griffis Residential and an extensive background in leadership of key areas of finance for the real estate, construction, and professional services sectors. Mr. Souther serves as the Chief Compliance Officer in connection with Griffis Residential’s status as a Registered Investment Advisor.

Mr. Souther is a Certified Public Accountant and holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Accounting from Wake Forest University.

Prior to Griffis Residential, Mr. DiRienzo was with Northmarq Capital for six years where he was named “Analyst of the Year” and was further recognized with the “Analyst Excellence” and “Amerisphere Excellence” awards.

Mr. DiRienzo holds a B.S. in Finance from Colorado State University. He also represents Griffis Residential on the metro-Denver Economic Development Committee, served on Griffis Residential’s Customer Experience Management Team, and is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Mr. Bassi interfaces with various internal and external parties to help manage and grow the Griffis Residential funds business. Responsibilities include asset management, capital raising, portfolio analytics, and performance reporting.
Prior to joining Griffis Residential, Mr. Bassi worked at the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA). His primary responsibilities included overseeing multiple separate account relationships with a focus on various investments across the U.S. amongst all property types and risk profiles. He managed a portfolio of nearly 50 wholly-owned assets with a gross asset value of $2.5 billion

Before joining LACERA, Mr. Bassi was a member of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) Real Estate Unit as an Investment Officer in West Sacramento, CA. In this role, he helped oversee the domestic office portfolio, which included performing due diligence on potential new investment opportunities in separate accounts, joint ventures, and commingled funds in addition to managing existing assets in the portfolio. Additionally, Mr. Bassi worked on the overall general portfolio strategy development and implementation. Prior to joining CalSTRS, Mr. Bassi worked as a Financial Analyst in the capital markets group for the Buzz Oates Group of Companies in Sacramento. Mr. Bassi received a BS in business administration with an emphasis in finance from California State University, Stanislaus, and an MBA with an emphasis in real estate from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

He is a member of PREA and currently serves on the PREA Institute Committee and is a former PREA Fellowship Award winner (2017).