Our Team
Our Executive Team
Chris Akbari
CEO, President
Chris is a successful entrepreneur, investor and developer of housing since 2004 when he joined ITEX Group where he currently serves as the CEO & President. During this time he has led transactions of nearly $1 billion and had developed or acquired over 9,000 units. Prior to ITEX, he managed a successful software & technology development platform for C&I Technologies that developed day-to-day software applications for SMEs. Chris is a graduate of the Harvard Business School OPM program. He is a graduate of Lamar University with a B.A. in Finance. Chris is currently the President of the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers (TAAHP).
Chris is active in the Young Presidents Organization as a founding member of the YPO Bayou City chapter and serves on the board of the YPO Wild West Chapter. He also is a member of the Texas Apartment Association, the Texas Association of Builders, and serves on the Urban Land Institute’s National Affordable & Workforce Housing Council. He and his wife, Amanda, are active members of the Houston community and support a number of charitable organizations
Tim Nolan
Timothy is the Chief Financial Officer of ITEX . As CFO, he is focused on managing the financials for all of the Investment, Development, Construction, and Management divisions.
Timothy has fifteen years of finance and accounting experience including capital asset management, corporate tax and accounting, and working with large net worth individuals. He has held positions with the Texas Attorney General’s office, a boutique CPA firm, and multiple Fortune 500 companies.
He received his undergraduate degree in Accounting from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas and his MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Timothy enjoys spreadsheets, cars, and spending time with his family.
John Pecore
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Office
John is General Counsel of The ITEX Group and manages all legal affairs of the company and its affiliates. John began his legal career as a civil litigator in Texas and New York and currently focuses on corporate and transactional work at ITEX, with an emphasis on real estate financing, acquisitions, insurance, risk management and other varied commercial matters.
Prior to joining ITEX, John served as General Counsel of a large Texas-based hospitality conglomerate, the Dhanani Group. John is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and South Texas College of Law. He is currently licensed to practice law in Texas and New York.
Bobken Simonians
Chief Operating Officer of Real Estate Investment & Development
Bobken is a Sr. Vice President and Managing Director of Real Estate Investments and Development. He serves on the Investments team and is a member of the Investments Committee.
Prior to joining ITEX, Bobken previously worked for Houston Housing Authority as VP of Real Estate Investments & Development and has developed, constructed, and modernized over 1,000 units in the HHA portfolio. Prior to HHA, Bobken worked as Housing Director for the City of Los Angeles Housing Department. Bobken has over thirteen years of banking and underwriting experience and holds an MA Degree in Economics from California State University, Los Angeles and a BS Degree in Economics with Minors in Management and Mathematics from the University of Massachusetts.
Paula Watts
Paula is Senior Vice President of the Property Management Division. She focuses on all aspects of the Property Management Division for all properties owned and/or managed by ITEX. Prior to joining ITEX, Paula worked for the Port Arthur Housing Authority as a senior executive.
She spent fifteen years at this agency working in all departments of this housing authority. She is experienced in all HUD Programs administered by the agency including; Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher, Desegregated Housing Opportunity, Disaster Housing, Homeownership, Family Self Sufficiency, Accounting and grant writing. Paula’s staff is composed of regional managers, compliance managers, property managers, assistant managers, maintenance, tenant services and accountants.
Kevin Hardy
Kevin is the Executive Vice President of Construction, he has many years of successful experience leading the long-term planning, and daily operations of major U.S. construction organizations. He directed the development of domestic and international properties of all types and sizes ranging in value from $1.2M to $220M.
He most recently served as Executive Vice President of Killian Construction of Springfield, MO. His more than 20-year career in construction management included other successful roles as Vice President of Operations providing oversight for design/build and general construction operations for projects with a total value of approximately $3 Billion.
Will Moyers
Vice President of Development
Will is the Vice President of Acquisitions & Development, he is actively involved in all aspects of the development process and leads ITEX’s investment committee. Whether Market-Rate or Affordable, rehab or new construction, he analyzes a project’s financial feasibility among various funding structures and recommends the best course of action to insure the success and diversity of ITEX’s future real estate investments. He was heavily involved in developing ITEX’s first student housing development and has worked on multiple mixed-finance developments with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, Historic Tax Credits, Block Grants, and HUD financing.
Will is focused on expanding ITEX’s national footprint and is an active member in Affordable Housing Organizations in Texas, Louisiana, Colorado and Florida. He works with several Public Housing Authorities to redevelop their existing public housing portfolios, including HUD’s RAD program. He has nearly 10 years of experience in the banking and finance industry, and holds a Degree from Texas State University.
Miranda Sprague
Senior Vice President of Real Estate Investment & Development
Miranda is the Vice President of Development, she has served as Project Manager for multiple mixed-finance projects. She has worked with housing authorities to obtain HUD approvals including, but not limited to, Authority to Use Grant Funds, Mixed-Finance, Subsidy Layering Review, Site and Neighborhood Standards, and SAC Demolish/Disposition approvals. She has also been involved in completing RAD applications for HUD.
She has experience with 4% noncompetitive Housing Tax Credits with bond financing, 9% competitive Housing Tax Credits, and Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Funds. Miranda earned a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from the University at Albany in Albany, New York.
Gilbert Contreras
Gilbert is the Vice President of Human resources, he is responsible for ITEX’s human resources strategy and practices. Gilbert has been with ITEX since 2015 and has over seventeen years of experience of aligning business strategies with Human Resource solutions mostly in the petrochemical industry in Southeast Texas.
Prior to joining ITEX Gilbert served in various Human Resources positions in the Food Processing, Telecommunications, and petrochemical industries. Gilbert received his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Arkansas and earned his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.
Carlos Kenner
Vice President of Construction Operations
Carlos joined ITEX in early 2017 and brings many years of successful experience leading operations and managing and training Project managers and Superintendents. Prior to joining ITEX Carlos worked for several construction companies, including 18 years with Flintco Constructive Solutions. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the construction and development industry, and holds a degree from Central Oklahoma University.
Carlos is actively involved in providing oversight for general construction operations across ITEX’s development portfolio.
Clark Colvin
Executive Vice President Emeritus
Clark is a Executive Vice President of Real Estate Investments and Development. He serves on the Investments team and is a member of the Investments Committee.
Prior to joining ITEX, Clark accumulated over thirty years of executive level experience in capital intensive industries including electric utilities and petrochemicals. His work experience includes twenty-eight years in industrial real estate development, financing, and marketing. He earned graduate degrees in business and law and has held an active license to practice law for thirty-one years.
