The ViaWest Team
- Gary M. Linhart - Managing Director
- Steven R. Schwarz - Managing Director
- Brandon S. Jones - Development Director
- Mac McKinnon – Property Manager
Gary M. Linhart
Managing Director, ViaWest Properties, LLC
Gary leads the acquisition function across all property types for ViaWest, and asset manages all of the residential properties, including multifamily rental, residential condominium, and residential land. Gary brings to ViaWest a wide range of experiences in finance, marketing, operations, consulting, and investment management. Prior to forming ViaWest, Gary was a lifelong investor in real estate and was President of Grenfell Properties, which focused on real estate acquisitions in Metropolitan Phoenix, primarily in the multifamily sector.
Previous work experience includes: serving as a senior investment analyst for a private money management firm; as president and co-founder of a venture-funded technology company; as an associate consultant at Booz, Allen & Hamilton, in New York; and as a national retail marketing and sales promotions manager in Tokyo, Japan for the Bridgestone Corporation.
Gary earned his B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University, spent his Junior Year at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan, and earned his M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Gary is fluent in Japanese and proficient in Spanish. He is currently active in the Arizona Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), and in the Urban Land Institute (ULI) on a local and national level.
Steven R. Schwarz
Managing Director, ViaWest Properties, LLC
Steven leads the development and the commercial property management functions for ViaWest. He has over fifteen years of experience in the development, operations and financing of all types of real estate, with a strong emphasis on industrial and office properties. Prior to ViaWest, Steven served as Senior Vice President of Development for The Plaza Companies, a full service medical office and senior living development and property management company, and previously he Steven rose through the ranks to become Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of The Hewson Company, a leading, privately-held, real estate development company in the Western U.S. In these capacities, Steven was involved in the development of over $400 million of projects, ranging from a 131,000 square foot, mid-rise office building to a 2.2 million square foot industrial complex.
Through his experiences developing, managing, and owning property across numerous product types in Arizona, California, Utah, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi, Steven has been integrally involved in build-to-suit, speculative development, acquisitions, dispositions and property management. Prior experience includes Real Estate Finance work with SunTrust Banks in Atlanta, GA.
Steven graduated from The University of Texas Honors Program with a B.A. with Honors in Marketing while completing a dual track of Business and Liberal Arts. He has been Chairman of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) Arizona Chapter, a National Board of Director of NAIOP, and is presently on numerous local and national boards and councils of non-profit philanthropic and industry organizations.
Brandon S. Jones
Development Director, ViaWest Properties, LLC
Brandon is responsible for the development and project management of several of ViaWest's properties and assists in the company’s acquisition activities. He has six years experience conducting real estate development and business analysis.
Prior to joining ViaWest, Brandon served as a Senior Project Manager for Evergreen Devco, where he was responsible for the development of drugstore and grocer anchored retail projects in Arizona and Southern California valued at over $125 million. He has worked on over twenty commercial projects in nearly twenty different municipalities and has significant experience leading all related activities including due diligence, site planning and design, entitlements, construction, and legal document creation. Before working with Evergreen, Brandon was a business and finance analyst with Intel Corporation, where he helped initiate a program that has since saved Intel more than $100 million.
Brandon graduated Cum Laude from Brigham Young University with his B.S. in Business Management and Finance. He later earned his Master of Information Systems Management degree from BYU. He is fluent in Portuguese, active in the Urban Land Institute, and is a licensed real estate agent in the state of Arizona.