Mr. Saito became President and CEO of Mitsui Fudosan America in 2008 and has been with Mitsui Fudosan since 1985. Most recently, Mr. Saito had served as the executive manager of the finance department, responsible for debt and equity management for the entire Mitsui Fudosan Group of companies.
During his tenure with Mitsui Fudosan, Mr. Saito has been engaged in various assignments including portfolio management, commercial developments, fund management and corporate finance.
Mr. Saito began his career with Mitsui Fudosan in 1985, initially developing Mitsui hotels within Japan. From 1991 to 1996 Mr. Saito furthered his expertise on an international level at MFA (Los Angeles), as an asset manager of the AT&T building and Figueroa at Wilshire, along with developing the Oak Ridge industrial park in San Diego.
Upon returning to Tokyo in 1997, Mr. Saito engaged in the leasing of office buildings and led a portfolio management team on Mitsui Fudosan's assets, collaborating with global institutional investors.
From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Saito worked with various pension funds and also played an integral role in establishing the Japan-REIT business and the Mitsui Gemstone Fund - the very first private fund for the company. Among Mr. Saito's most notable development achievements was the 77-acre, mixed-use, Shiodome project in central Tokyo, developed using capital provided by sovereign wealth funds.
Mr. Saito received his Bachelor of Economics from Keio University in Tokyo.
Mr. Bentata is responsible for all aspects of the Company's financial management, including financial planning and reporting, control, taxation and financing as well as human resources, information technology and administration.
Prior to joining the company in 2001, Mr. Bentata spent seven years at Turner Construction International, an international construction and engineering firm, where he held the position of Chief Financial Officer and was responsible for all aspects of financial planning and control. Prior to this Mr. Bentata served as Group Controller for Abu Garcia, a multinational group of consumer products companies.
Upon graduation, and until 1991, Mr. Bentata worked at Price Waterhouse, until 1985 in the Stockholm, Sweden office, and thereafter in the Morristown, New Jersey office. At Price Waterhouse Mr. Bentata was responsible for audit and consulting services in a variety of industries.
Mr. Bentata graduated from the University of Stockholm, Sweden, in 1980 with a B.Sc. in Finance and Marketing and is a CPA. Professional affiliations include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Mr. Onozawa is primarily responsible for the leasing and management of the Company's New York and San Francisco properties. In addition, he is a member of the investment committee, formulating future acquisition strategies. Mr. Onozawa became Vice President of Mitsui Fudosan America in 2008 and has been with Mitsui Fudosan since 1988.
Mr. Onozawa began his career in the leasing and management of class-A office buildings in Central Tokyo. In 1989, he was assigned to start up the newly-constructed Figueroa at Wilshire building in Los Angeles. In 1994, Mr. Onozawa transitioned to new responsibilities at Mitsui's Yokohama Branch, to take on developing and marketing condominium units. There, he led a team of professionals to complete some 40+ projects during his 4-and-a-half year tenure. In 2000, he returned to Mitsui's birthplace, Nihonbashi, Tokyo to manage the Company's most valued 26 office properties including the Mitsui Honkan (=main building, built in 1929 and designated as a Registered Landmark by the Japanese Government). Simultaneously, he was deeply involved in the development of the 39-story, 1.4 million square feet Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower complex (completed 2006), which hosts the Mitsui Fudosan headquarters and the Five-Star hotel, Mandarin Oriental Tokyo.
Mr. Onozawa received his Bachelor of Law from Keio University in Tokyo, and his Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
Mr. Perez became Senior Vice President of Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc. in April 2008 and has been employed by Mitsui Fudosan America since 1988. Prior to his promotion in 2008, Mr. Perez had served as the Vice President of Asset Management & Leasing, responsible for leasing, property management, and asset management of the entire Mitsui Fudosan America commercial real estate portfolio. This included such recognizable properties as 1251 Avenue of the Americas, 461 Fifth Avenue, 527 Madison Avenue, 100 William Street, and 1090 Vermont Avenue N.W.
During his tenure with Mitsui Fudosan America, Mr. Perez has held a variety of positions and has handled the asset management of commercial office properties nationwide. He has been directly responsible for leasing over 2 million square feet of commercial office and retail space. This includes notable transactions with Banco Santander, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Chubb, DLA Piper, J.P. Morgan Chase, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Paulson & Company, Sidley Austin, and Trust Company of the West. Mr. Perez also has spearheaded capital improvement programs which led to several prominent building awards including the BOMA New York and BOMA International Award for Excellence in 1997 and 1998, as well as, the International Real Estate Federation's Prix d'Excellence award in 1999.
Prior to joining Mitsui, Mr. Perez was employed by Exxon Corporation in New York for seven years. Mr. Perez's career at Exxon was capped by his participation in the sale of the Exxon Building to Mitsui Fudosan in 1986 for $610 million; the highest price paid for a commercial office building at that time.
Mr. Perez is a graduate of Pace University and the Pace University Graduate School of Business.