LEADERSHIP

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Rhett Trees is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Seneca Capital Partners and its affiliates.  

From 2013-2017, Rhett was an Equity Partner at Caddis Capital Investments, the sponsor of Trico Fund III, an over-subscribed equity vehicle levered to $75 million, that sold most of the Fund assets to Blackstone in 2019. Trico III qualified as one of the Top 70 Largest Mobile Home Community Owners in the US.  Caddis Capital Investments is a diversified private equity firm with a charter to own and operate income-oriented assets spanning multiple sectors including: mobile home communities, self-storage, student housing and parking assets.  

During 2012, Rhett was a Principal at The True Life Companies, a diversified group of real estate companies whose primary mission was to be the premier provider of lots and land to America’s homebuilders. When he departed, the firm had $100 million invested across 15 projects.  

As the COO at THE PGA TOUR CLUB from 2010-2012, he was responsible for their portfolio of luxury homes, golf courses, resorts and golf academies.  

Spanning 2008-2010, Rhett was a Vice President at 1-800-PACK-RAT, the nation’s 2nd largest mobile self-storage company, where he was actively involved as an investor and a member of the senior management team that orchestrated the multi-million-dollar franchise consolidation and corresponding $92 million strategic sale to Waste Management.  

From 2003-2008, Rhett was one of the first 20 employees at Exclusive Resorts where he was an instrumental sales executive as the company grew from seed-capital to a disposition event with Steve Case, the Founder of AOL. During his tenure, Rhett closed over $100 million in deals and the company grew to $1.4 billion in assets under management.  

Rhett graduated from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University with a double major in Marketing and Entrepreneurial Management. He completed the Real Estate Executive Program at Harvard Business School, the YPO Executive Program at the University of Chicago Booth Business School and finished his overseas studies at the University of London in England. Rhett sits on several for-profit and not-for-profit boards including YPO Colorado and Levitt Pavilion. When he’s not working, Rhett enjoys fly fishing, scuba diving, cycling, golf and spending time with his wife, Lindsey, and their 2 young children.  


 

Paul Luber currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Seneca Capital Partners.  His profitable accomplishments span the entire commercial real estate investment cycle including: acquisitions & capital raising; ground-up development & redevelopment of existing properties, leasing & portfolio operations optimization and dispositions across multiple product types including office, retail, industrial, multifamily, senior housing, land, self-storage and mobile home communities. Growing up, Paul worked in the family land development and construction business.  

Spanning from 1981-1993 at Clark Construction, Development Resources Inc. and Radnor Corp. in Washington, DC, Paul managed the development and construction (including field supervision) of large-scale complex, mixed-use urban projects with costs in excess of $200 million. Projects included hotels, office buildings and embassies.  

From 1993-1998 as AVP of Real Estate Investments and Corporate Real Estate at PMA Insurance, Paul repositioned a $70 million portfolio & relocated two headquarters buildings.  

At Ernst & Young from 1998-2001 and Ascent Capital Partners from 2008-2013, Paul successfully organized and led highly effective acquisition due diligence teams for millions of square feet of office & retail and thousands of doors of multifamily units on behalf of private equity and pension funds.  

While a member of NorthMarq Capital and Ascent Capital Partners from 2013-2016, Paul sourced in excess of $100 million of private placement and joint venture equity and originating debt.  

Between 2007 and 2008, as President of Starr Realty, an affiliate of AIG, Paul drove portfolio value optimization efforts which increased the value of a 1.4 million square feet Colorado office and retail portfolio from $110 million to $170 million.  

Paul grew up in Syracuse, NY and he was recognized for academic achievements while earning Bachelor degrees in Architecture, Structural Engineering and a Masters in Commercial Real Estate. His professional credentials have included registered Professional Engineer (Structural), licensed Real Estate Broker and FINRA securities licenses for real estate private placements (expired). In his free time, Paul enjoys alpine & backcountry skiing, hiking and spending time in the high country with his wife April and his son Daniel, a recent college graduate.

Stephanie Scherpenseel is the Chief Financial Officer for Seneca Capital Partners and its affiliates. With over 15 years industry experience, she actively leads all aspects of accounting and financial reporting for Seneca.  

Prior to joining Seneca, Stephanie was the COO/CFO for Caddis Capital Investments, a diversified, private equity firm focused on income producing investments, including the acquisition and management of manufactured housing communities. In addition to her finance and accounting responsibilities, Stephanie also managed investor relations and due diligence. In 2019, Stephanie actively participated in the sale of Caddis’ Trico Fund III assets to Blackstone.

Early in her career, Stephanie was the founder of a successful accounting practice serving clients in the private equity, energy and technology industries. During this time, Stephanie also worked with two regional CPA firms providing auditing services for not-for-profit and small businesses. 

Before starting her own business, Stephanie worked for Woodward Clyde Consultants, an environmental engineering firm. Stephanie led Woodward Clyde’s accounting department during a significant growth phase culminating in the successful sale of the company to URS, a worldwide environmental engineering company listed on the NYSE. 

Prior to Woodward Clyde, Stephanie worked for various oil and gas firms including Apache Corporation and Western Energy Development.

Stephanie is a licensed CPA in the State of Colorado and a fellow member of the Colorado Society of CPAs. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Colorado State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Regis University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. 

Stephanie supports various not-for-profit organizations and served on the board of The Gathering Place. She is married to Chris Scherpenseel and has two adult children. 

Larry Nelson currently serves as the Director of Asset Management for Seneca Capital Partners. Mr. Nelson is responsible for all daily operating activities for the Assets Under Management within the Seneca portfolio.

Prior to joining Seneca Capital Partners, Mr. Nelson served for 6 years as the Vice-President of Operations for the Farrell-Roeh Group, a Denver-based private family investment office primarily engaged in the ownership and operation of Manufactured Housing Communities (“MHC”). Mr. Nelson was primarily in charge of operating FR Communities, an 11-community MHC portfolio located in 5 states, as well as managing FR Homes, a direct affiliate that purchased, maintained, rented, and sold Manufactured Homes. This $30,000,000 portfolio of homes approached 1,000 units. Additionally, Mr. Nelson was directly responsible for all capital expenditure and infrastructure development projects, and he had direct oversight responsibility for all corporate legal and risk management matters. Finally, he led all CMBS and Agency financing activities.

Before that, Mr. Nelson owned and operated Aztec Homes, a residential in-fill builder located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Projects ranged in size from single lot custom homes to small subdivisions and multi-story condominium/townhome buildings. Aztec Homes designed, engineered, and constructed all horizontal and vertical development phases.

Mr. Nelson earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accountancy from San Diego State University and is actively licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in Colorado and Arizona for the last 35 years.  Additionally, he is Certified in Financial Forensics by the AICPA, is a Chartered Global Management Accountant, and is a Certified Fraud Examiner. Early in his career, Mr. Nelson worked at Deloitte where he was an auditor for Oil & Gas issuers and at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he provided litigation support services.

Mr. Nelson routinely volunteers at Habitat for Humanity and for various faith-based food distribution and serving organizations and previously served as the Denver Controller for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) serving victims of child abuse and neglect. When not at home with his twin Golden Retrievers, Mr. Nelson and his wife enjoy touring the United States on their motorcycle. They are parents of 6 grown children.