Our Team
Our team of diversely experienced professionals has years of experience in student housing, development, and personal access to the decision-makers at community colleges. Check out our experience here.
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OUR EXPERIENCE AND APPROACH MAKE US UNIQUE.
Team Members have internally licensed architectural and construction management resources to allow complete project design and construction cost estimates for the Feasibility Study Phase of the project. We are unique because we are a full-service operation providing more than the competitors. From our Market Analysis and Feasibility Studies that cover everything for a new development getting off the ground with trending pro formas for stabilized operations to initial operations budgets, financial accounting, full-service marketing, and investment advisory, as a combined firm, we are a start to finish project shop.
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Charles Oewel
President & Chief Executive Officer
Charles Oewel founded Student Center Associates in 2005. SCA specializes in the development and asset management of student housing jointly developed with university P3 ownership structures or non-profits in the education space. Oewel has completed development of student housing for students at University of California- Berkeley, Cal-Poly- San Luis Obispo, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Illinois-Champaign and Marshall University- Huntington, West Virginia. Oewel, a Rotarian for 2 decades, has served as President of both the Tiburon- Belvedere (California) Rotary Club and the Rotary Foundation. Oewel holds a bachelor's degree majoring in Economics from Penn State University and an MBA majoring in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
John Rosenbaum
Chief Operating Officer & Treasurer
John Rosenbaum, HERD Treasurer and COO, has used his University of Pennsylvania joint degree in finance and Japanese to help roll out the American Express Card in Japan and to pioneer big data as a divisional assistant CFO at AmEx. He subsequently practiced corporate law at White & Case LLP and in private practice organized a wide variety of startups and advised founders on participating in incubators and accelerators, obtaining seed and VC funding, and ultimately executing successful exit strategies. Rosenbaum founded and operates the innovative litigation finance company Appellate Advance LLC. John earned his BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the University of San Francisco. Rosenbaum has served a number of Oewel's partnership formations and real estate acquisition as legal counsel for the past 10 years. Prior to that Rosenbaum and Oewel served together in several non-profit organizations. Rosenbaum works closely with Oewel in every aspect of HERD's corporate life.
Ken Taub
Architect and General Contractor
Ken Taub, HERD's Architect and Senior VP of Construction, has been a partner with Oewel for 35 years. Originally from Houston, Texas, Ken received his undergraduate and architectural degrees from University of Houston. Taub and Oewel worked together in Texas, Nevada, Washington and California in the development and construction of many apartment projects totaling over 4,000 units, shopping centers, grocery store anchors, office buildings, townhouse, and single-family homes, even restaurants. Ken was deeply involved in many of Oewel's projects in the 4-state area, proving his hands-on approach and attention to detail. Ken is the designer of the HERD student housing villages, tailored to the unique constraints of each community college site. Ken's general contractor experience spanning 35 years will accelerate HERD's important expertise in the assembly of the modular units fabricated off site into the multi-story buildings on the community college campuses.
Mary Monda Oewel
Chief Technical and Content Officer
HERD's Chief Technology Officer, will advocate for student needs and community resources within each student housing development to include social services, educational support, career readiness seminars, and important finance and certificate training. Mary Monda is responsible for managing all content creation and marketing, including website development. She facilitates diversity, equity, and inclusion discussions to foster an inclusive mission and team. Mary Monda is a 2019 graduate of University of Connecticut with a dual bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science, obtained a Masters degree in Elementary and Special Education while serving a 2 year assignment at Teach for America teaching in an under-resourced charter school in New York City. She is currently working on her 2nd Masters, an MEd in Education Policy at American University. Mary Monda was a three-season student athlete throughout college, participated in Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field, helped lead the team to two Conference Championships.
Our Council
Robert Kagan
Advisor
Robert Kagan is President and Director of Foundation for Community Life, a 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation. FCL acts as a conduit owner/borrower of student housing development with P3 ownership structures throughout the U.S. During his 40-year career in real estate lending, development and deal making, Kagan had primary responsibilities for acquisition, entitlement, financing, asset management, marketing, and sales, and has been a workout consultant for distressed properties. Kagan holds a bachelor's degree in political science and an MBA from UC Berkeley. He has taught real estate finance at San Francisco State University and was Senior Adjunct Professor in the Graduate School of Business Administration at Golden Gate University for 40 years.