Esmael is the Co-Founder and Managing Principal of the Net Lease Group, headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Alongside his founding partner, Philip Wickstrom, Esmael leads the company’s overall strategy and vision. The vision calls for embracing market leading expertise, technology and service to build a global net lease platform which drives success for clients, employees and partners.
Esmael has been at the helm of leading the company’s originations effort since its founding in 2011 and brings with that leadership deep experience and expertise in net lease investment strategy, commercial real estate and corporate finance. He has over twenty-four (24) years of experience in the commercial real estate and investment banking sectors. Esmael has successfully completed, advised, and structured transactions in excess of $10 Billion during his career.
Prior to launching The Net Lease Group (“NLG”), Esmael worked as a Net Lease Advisor with Cushman & Wakefield and prior to that spent eleven (11) years with SunTrust Bank in various capacities. Esmael was an investment banker with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. in its Capital Markets Structured Leasing Group, which was principally focused on proving sale-leaseback and build-to-suit capital to corporate clients of the bank.
Prior to joining SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Esmael worked as a project finance and construction lender in SunTrust’s Commercial Real Estate Finance Group. In this role, Esmael provided debt capital to finance all property types of commercial real estate for development. Esmael is a graduate of the SunTrust Executive Management Training Program.
In 2020, Esmael founded a Non-Profit organization, Human Progress Organization, Inc. (HPO), the organization will focus on bringing education and wellness recourses to underserved communities primarily in the United States and West Africa.
Esmael earned his Bachelor of Science – Finance and Real Estate from Georgia State University (“GSU”). Esmael also serves as a Board of Trustee on GSU’s Foundation Board. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors [ACBR]. Esmael lives with his family in Atlanta, GA.