Gaurav Khanna—widely known as ‘GK’ among industry peers—is the visionary founder of Val-Add RE Partners, with over 25 years of experience spanning the full real estate lifecycle. His career includes $3B+ in acquisitions, repositionings, workouts, and asset management across a range of asset classes and geographies. Before founding Val-Add in 2019, GK held senior leadership roles at Vornado Realty Trust and Gazit Horizons. Earlier, he led the global real estate expansion of Le Pain Quotidien, growing its footprint to over 180 locations in 21 countries. His unique background in architecture, finance, and development fuels Val-Add’s design-forward, value-driven approach to real estate strategy.

In addition to his professional work, GK is an adjunct professor at NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate and also mentors several  pro-athletes. He holds graduate degrees from Harvard University and Pratt Institute, and continues to apply his architectural lens to uncovering value in real estate.

Jonathan Rubin has over 15 years of real estate investing experience, specializing in complex transactions in major markets such as New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Texas, totaling over $12 billion. His skills encompass acquisitions, capital markets, leasing, and workouts at Fortis and American Capital. Earlier in his career he contributed to the turnaround of assets within a bond portfolio and actively participated in launching a bridge and mezzanine loan platform. Jonathan is particularly adept at hands-on management of loan workouts and implementing innovative tax structuring methods. He earned graduate and bachelor’s degrees from Georgetown University and Tulane University, respectively.

Daniel Hernandez brings 8 years of real estate experience, having underwritten over $1 billion in loans across primary and secondary U.S. markets. He specializes in permanent senior debt for newly built and stabilized assets, with additional experience across the capital stack. Before transitioning to real estate, Daniel worked in investment banking at JPMorgan’s Latin America M&A group and KeyBank’s Diversified Industries group. He holds a Master’s in Real Estate Finance & Investment from NYU and a Bachelor’s from Miami University.

Steven H. Klein, a strategic advisor to Val-Add Advisory, boasts over 40 years of experience in real estate, particularly on behalf of private equity firms and REITs. Most recently Steven served as the Chief Investment Officer of Brickman and previously held key positions at JOSS Realty Partners, LLC, Broadway Partners, and SL Green Realty Corp. His expertise lies in acquisition, disposition, asset management, loan restructuring, raising substantial equity and debt financing, managing IPOs, and directing over $5 billion in investments across 100+ properties. Klein’s focus is on strategic joint ventures and asset management throughout the U.S, with a strong emphasis on office assets in New York Tri-State Area. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan.

Ira, a strategic advisor to Val-Add Advisory,  has over 30 years of banking, turnaround, and workout experience, having acquired troubled companies and real estate. He has handled over $20 billion in assignments across multiple industries as a lender, bondholder advisor, and acquirer. A Wall Street-trained expert, he served as a senior Workout Officer at Chase Bank for 7 years. Ira founded a financial advisory firm, advising JP Morgan on two multibillion-dollar bankruptcies and acting as US Bankruptcy Court Trustee in the Daewoo International case. He led a private equity group, acquiring 11 companies, a bank, and a $2 billion real estate project, many under stress or in bankruptcy. Ira has served on the bank’s board and as Chairman of its Credit Committee for 13 years, also chairing a special Compliance Committee reporting to regulators for 8 years.