Team

Andrew Cherner graduated from University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio in 1982 with a BS in Business. After working for several years in commercial real estate, Andrew helped found and lead local firm Barretta and Associates into one of the largest private commercial brokerage companies in the mid-Atlantic. Andrew went on to join his brother and father in the family business. Andrew’s primary responsibilities include the overall management of the organization along with investments, financing, disposition and strategy.

Jonathan Cherner graduated from Syracuse University in 1985 with a BS in Finance and Marketing. After several years working for a local developer, he joined Morgan Stanley in the Real Estate group of the firm’s Investment Banking division. Jonathan left Morgan Stanley to attend Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, graduating with an MBA in 1991. He then joined his brother and father in the family business. Jonathan’s primary responsibilities include the overall management of the organization along with investments, financing, disposition and strategy.

Alexander Cherner graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2014 with a BA in Psychology and from Columbia University in 2019 with an MBA and concentrations in Real Estate and Economics. During business school, Alexander worked on the Office Development team at Brookfield Properties in New York. He later joined the investment team at Exeter Property Group, one of the largest real estate private equity investment managers in the world. At Exeter, Alexander underwrote and closed over $1.2B in real estate investment transactions across the risk-reward spectrum. Prior to business school, he worked on the investment team at 1776, a venture capital firm in Washington D.C., and on the strategy team at AOL in New York. Alexander joined Cherner Development Group in early 2021. Alexander’s primary responsibilities include sourcing, underwriting, and asset managing real estate investments.

Benjamin Cherner graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2014 with a BA in Political Science and from Georgetown University in 2020 with a Master’s degree in Real Estate Finance. Benjamin has over 7 years of professional experience in the real estate investment and lending industries. He has managed the underwriting, due diligence process, and implementation of the business plans for the acquisition of over $200M of existing and development opportunities at Douglas Development in Washington D.C. and over $1B of acquisition opportunities at Equity Street Capital in San Diego, California. Benjamin has managed over 3M SF of real estate investments including 2,500 apartment units, 400,000 SF of office space, and several development projects across various U.S. markets. Benjamin joined Cherner Development Group in early 2021. Benjamin’s primary responsibilities include sourcing, underwriting, and asset managing real estate investments.

Bob Hubbard graduated from Mt. St. Mary's University in 1984 with a BS in Accounting. Prior to joining Cherner, he was a Senior Manager with a local public accounting firm in Baltimore, Maryland. Bob is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Maryland Association of CPAs. He began his career with Cherner Automotive Group in 1996. Bob's primary responsibilities include planning, implementing, managing and overseeing all financial-related activities of the company including financial reporting and oversight, budgeting, tax and financial planning.

Jonathan Ackaoui graduated from Virginia Tech in 2006 with a BS in Finance. He moved to Arlington, Virginia shortly after graduation and spent the next 8 years in the specialty finance industry. He started his career at SenecaOne Finance where he was responsible for the assignment of over $150M in structured assets from asset holders. In 2014 Jonathan joined Rapid Finance as Director of Sales where he collaborated with Quicken Loans and Rockbridge Growth Equity to scale the Direct Sales business unit, growing the division's monthly loan volume over 250% during his tenure. Jonathan joined Cherner Development Group in January 2016. Jonathan's primary responsibilities include sourcing both business and property acquisitions, and facilitating transactions from due diligence to close.

Michael Cherner graduated from The Hotel School at Cornell University in 2017 with a concentration in Real Estate. Michael has over six years of professional experience in the real estate investment and brokerage industries. At GFI Hospitality Group, he managed the business plan execution, development, and capitalization for a portfolio of hotel assets in New York City, highlighted by a 530,000 square-foot luxury hotel and condominium on Central Park South. He also spearheaded the due diligence and underwriting efforts for $100M of new development and acquisition opportunities. Prior to GFI, Michael worked in Cushman & Wakefield's hotel equity, debt, and structured finance group, where he executed over $500 million of investment sales, financings, note sales, and equity recapitalizations. Michael joined Cherner Development Group in the Fall of 2023. His primary responsibilities include asset managing, sourcing, and underwriting real estate investments.

Linnea Means studied Accounting and the Arts. She started her career in the automotive industry in 1975. Linnea worked for four automotive companies in the D.C. area before she joined Cherner Automotive Group in 1991. At Cherner Automotive, Linnea managed accounting for the dealerships along with the auto body shop portfolio. In 2015, Linnea joined the corporate Caliber Collision accounting office in Leesburg, VA before returning to Cherner Development Group in 2017. Linnea now manages the accounting for Cherner’s Caliber Collision portfolio across the Mid-Atlantic region. She is also responsible for building and maintaining relationships within the managing teams of each of the 40+ Caliber locations.