Leadership
Dave Mercer
Partner
David T. Mercer is the Chief Executive Officer of Realty Center Management, Inc. (“RCMI”). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics and Business Management from the University of California, Davis and a law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to becoming the CEO, Mr. Mercer was one of the founding partners of the law firm of Mercer, Murphy & Meehan. Prior to establishing his law firm, he spent nine years with the law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, as a member of their real estate group in both the Los Angeles and New York office. In his law practice he was involved with a wide range of sophisticated real estate transactions including acquisitions, finance, leasing, land use regulations and construction.
As CEO of RCMI, Mr. Mercer has directed the acquisition, management and rehabilitation of over 100 different multi-family, commercial and hospitality properties in California, Nevada, Louisiana and Texas. Under his leadership RCMI’s managed portfolio has grown to in excess of 1.7 billion dollars and now employs over 340 real estate management professionals.
Mr. Mercer is a licensed Real Estate Broker with the State of California. He is a member of the California State Bar Association. He has also served as a board member of the Los Angeles County Real Estate Management Commission for four years.
Jim Parks
Partner
James R. Parks is a Los Angeles based investor and certified public accountant with more than four decades of experience in real estate, entertainment and financial restructuring. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1972 and began his career at Peat Marwick, now KPMG, where he built a tax and business management practice serving studios, entertainment companies and high net worth clients. He later founded his own firm, Parks, Palmer, Turner & Yemenidjian, LLP, which was acquired by CBIZ in 1999. He leads the western region private client service group of CBIZ Advisors, LLC.
Parks began acquiring multifamily property in Los Angeles in the early 1980s and has since assembled a portfolio valued at approximately $4 billion across multifamily housing, hospitality and commercial assets, including distressed portfolios restructured through the Resolution Trust Corp. during the savings and loan crisis. Alongside MP Core LLC, he cofounded and serves as chairman of Realty Center Management, Inc., and in 2001 founded APW Avenue Group, whose holdings include Hotel Barrière Fouquet’s New York in Tribeca. He previously served as chairman and chief executive officer of LaserPacific Media Corp. through its acquisition by Eastman Kodak in 2003, and has held leadership positions at USC and other institutions supporting education, the arts and cultural preservation.