Mr. Franzen has been with The Harp Group since April of 2004. Mr. Franzen is Executive Vice President of Acquisitions & Development for The Harp Group. In that role he is responsible for managing all aspects of The Harp Group’s hotel and resort property acquisitions, as well as its new construction hotel developments from initial concepting through completion and opening. Mr. Franzen managed The Harp Group’s acquisition of 6 hotel properties over a recent 18 month period and is currently overseeing Harp’s $300,000,000 development pipeline.
Prior to joining The Harp Group, Mr. Franzen co-founded, in January of 2000, GTC Investments, L.L.C., a real estate investment and development company specializing in retail and residential mixed-used, revitalization projects in suburban Chicago downtowns. Mr. Franzen’s efforts lead to the City of Wheaton awarding GTC Investments a redevelopment project involving two entire blocks in the City’s downtown business district.
Prior to co-founding GTC Investments, Mr. Franzen practiced law in the Real Estate Department of the law firm of Katten Muchin Rosenman (formerly Katten Muchin Zavis). During his tenure with Katten, he represented purchasers, sellers, pension fund advisors, and lenders in a national practice focused on the acquisition, disposition and financing of commercial real estate assets including office buildings, golf courses, apartment complexes, shopping centers, and manufactured home communities. Mr. Franzen’s represented such clients as TrizecHahn Office Properties, LinksCorp, LaSalle Bank, Blackacre Capital and Greenwich Capital. In all, he has been integrally involved in more than $1 billion in real estate transactions.
Mr. Franzen is a 1993 graduate of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and a 1997 graduate of DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. Mr. Franzen lives in Wheaton, Illinois with his wife, Wendy and their children, Will and Hannah. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Washington C. DePauw Society and is the Steering Committee Chairman for the DuPage Community Foundation’s Next Generation Initiative. |