OUR TEAM
Co-founder and Managing Principal of Encore Capital Management
Arthur J. Falcone is a co-founder and Managing Principal of Encore Capital Management and sits on the Investment Committees of its three funds. Art is also the founder and Managing Principal of Miami Worldcenter, one of the largest master-planned urban developments in the United States. Spanning more than 30 acres across nine blocks in the heart of downtown Miami, the entitled project allows for more than 15 million square feet of mixed-use development, including retail, restaurant and entertainment, hotel, residential, and office. Mr. Falcone started his career in development more than 35 years ago, investing in fast food restaurants, hotels and health clubs in New York, and at the age of 22 became the youngest operator of a McDonald’s franchise. He eventually became the owner and operator of more than 100 McDonald’s, Wendy’s and other familystyle restaurants throughout New York, Florida and California, and
was also a Days Inn Hotel franchisee. In 1988, Mr. Falcone formed the homebuilding and land development company Transeastern Properties, Inc. Transeastern began purchasing residential and mixeduse properties from distressed and bankrupt sellers and capitalizing on foreclosures against distressed housing debt brought on by the national recession in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. As the economy rebounded, this asset base fueled Transeastern’s growth, within 15 years Transeastern had become the largest private homebuilder in Florida and one of the top 25 homebuilders in the United States.
Since 2004 Mr. Falcone has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Falcone Group, a vertically-integrated real estate and land development organization specializing in residential, retail and apartment assets. In 2005 Art sold Transeastern to Technical Olympic USA (“TOUSA”) for a total consideration of $1.6 billion. During this period, Mr. Falcone developed or acquired interests in over 20,000 multifamily apartment units. Today he continues to grow Encore Capital Management and its related companies.
Tony Avila
Co-founder and Managing Principal of Encore Capital Management
Tony Avila is a co-founder and Managing Principal of Encore Capital Management and sits on the Investment Committees of its three funds and apartment REIT (“Rescore”). Mr. Avila has managed over $1 billion in equity and $2 billion in assets under management. He has overseen the acquisition and realization of 20 residential real estate projects on the West Coast.
Mr. Avila is also founder and Chief Executive Officer of Builder Advisor Group, a boutique investment banking firm that focuses on advising residential real estate and land development companies on financial transactions including capital raising, debt restructuring and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Avila is a member of the Urban Land Institute and sits on the Community Development Council. He graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1987. He is an avid marathoner and triathlete and competed in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
Joe Discristina
President, Multi Family Division
Based in South Florida, Mr. DiCristina heads Encore’s multifamily acquisition and asset management team, which is primarily focused on expanding the firm’s position in the major California, Florida and Texas markets. Prior to Encore, Mr. DiCristina was Managing Principal of American Group Advisors, LLC, providing real estate workout, turn around and restructuring services to public and privately held financial institutions through court appointed receiverships and REO asset management. Prior to forming AGA, Mr. DiCristina founded DiCristina and Associates, Inc, providing advisory services to publicly traded and privately held companies on the creation and execution of real estate investment strategies. Concurrent to his work at DiCristina and Associates, Mr. DiCristina became a principal in Atlantis Development, LLC. Prior thereto, Mr. DiCristina was Managing Director of the Cornerstone Group, where he was recruited to create a market rate apartment development company. In addition, Mr. DiCristina was also employed by Archstone as Senior Vice President of Investments for the Central Region of the United States. Mr. DiCristina holds a BS from Arizona State University and a Master’s Degree in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania where he also attended the Wharton School.
James Hancock
Executive Vice President – Development
Based in South Florida, Mr. Hancock is responsible for oversight and execution of daily business affairs for Encore’s multifamily development portfolio, including contracts, budgets, and project management / oversight.
Prior to Encore, Mr. Hancock served as Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Eastview Development, where he was involved in acquisitions, overseeing the investment due diligence process, asset financial reporting and structuring equity and debt investments. Prior to that, Mr. Hancock worked for Jack Nicklaus Companies and oversaw acquisition, asset management and business development.
Mr. Hancock holds a BSM in Finance and Marketing from Tulane University.
Marcy Esformes
Executive Vice President – Property Operations
Marcy Esformes joined the Rescore team in August 2019. She brings to the company over 25 years of property management industry experience with emphasis on the planning of new developments, execution of lease up strategies, and repositioning of value-add properties through the implementation of creative marketing tactics. Furthermore, by employing her thoughtful and deliberate management approach, Marcy has developed a reputation for building strong, talented, and professional operations teams dedicated to the highest levels of customer care, client service, and company growth.
Prior to joining Rescore, Marcy served as Regional Vice President for ZRS Management for 7 years. After ZRS, she was responsible for the operational oversight and business development of the company’s South Florida property management portfolio which more than doubled under her leadership to include 32 assets and over 10,000 units. Before ZRS, Marcy spent 10 years with The Related Group as Regional Manager where she oversaw a portfolio of 14 apartment communities in South Florida, created Policy and Procedures, directed software implementation and help desk activities and lead the company’s training and employee development initiative.
Marcy has served as President of the South East Apartment Association, and continues to volunteer on the Education Committee and regularly teaches the classes for the NALP and CAM certifications. She holds a CPM certification from the Institute of Real Estate Management.
Steven Dougherty
Senior Associate
Based in South Florida, Mr. Dougherty assists in the execution of Encore’s multifamily development portfolio, including loan closing, contracts, budget preparation, and project management.
Prior to joining the development team, Mr. Dougherty spent 4 years with the Encore accounting team where he was a Senior Accountant, overseeing the multifamily portfolio.
Prior to joining Encore in 2014, Mr. Dougherty received his bachelor’s degree in business from Florida Atlantic University.