Joe Strobele
Joseph Strobele is the founder of Crystal Peaks LLC, a privately-held real estate investment firm that thrives on institutional and private capital to delve into a variety of real estate investment opportunities. These opportunities encompass single asset acquisitions, asset repositioning, development and redevelopment, and joint ventures.
The underlying vision of Crystal Peaks is to unlock exceptional investment avenues that promise risk-adjusted returns to its investors and partners.
With a knack for value creation through the acquisition, financing, development, asset management, and disposition of real estate, Joseph has navigated through several real estate cycles over two decades, mastering the art of arbitrage in asset pricing along with deploying superior management practices.
His journey began with the co-founding of The LEXAS Companies in 2004, which blossomed into four operational divisions.
These divisions ventured into high profile projects, transitioning apartments to condominiums, rehabilitation construction, and even forayed into mortgage operations in partnership with a Seattle based regulated bank. Joseph is widely recognized for developing ESCALA, a luxury high-rise condominium project in downtown Seattle that garnered fame from its feature in the best-selling novel “50 Shades of Grey” and its subsequent movie adaptation.
Before the ESCALA feather in his cap, Joseph successfully ran a company that syndicated private capital to acquire real estate assets, ensuring risk-adjusted returns. His disciplined approach towards underwriting, strong execution, and market timing always managed to exceed investor expectations.
His professional path led him to serve as a development executive with two reputed real estate investment companies in the US; Legacy Partners and Lincoln Property Company. Here, he was entrusted with the sourcing, financing, investment management, and development of high-profile projects in the Seattle area.
Before settling in Seattle, Joseph honed his skills in the distressed asset class in Southern California and Southern Nevada during the early 1990s, where he was the go-to person for managing assets during major local catastrophes like the 1993 urban wildfires and the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. His early career as an analyst and appraiser equipped him with the aptitude to assess property and market valuations, providing an edge in identifying and analyzing lucrative opportunities.
Joseph’s vast network of relationships with regional, national, and in some cases international communities of lenders, brokers, and insurance professionals has been a cornerstone of his success.
A former Captain in the United States Air Force, with an undergraduate degree specializing in electrical engineering and a minor in applied math from Wright State University, coupled with a graduation from the prestigious University of Southern California’s Masters in Real Estate Development Program (MRED), Joseph’s education and experience form a strong foundation for his remarkable career in the real estate sector.