Our Team

Mr. Lindig leads the Development Group for all asset classes, including Multifamily, Hotel, Retail, and Special Situations. As such, Mr. Lindig is responsible for all facets as it relates to development, construction, and loan monitoring. In so doing, Mr. Lindig creates the initial budgets, assembles the design and construction team, completes the entitlement and permitting process, and oversees the initial transitions to the operator. Mr. Lindig continues to source and promote real estate development opportunities and monitors Civitas’s lending efforts.

While working for Civitas, Mr. Lindig has developed over $200MM worth of properties, acting as both the investor and lender representative for Civitas investments.

Prior to joining Civitas, Mr. Lindig developed four Conde Nast Travel-winning resorts in Texas, Arizona, and Nevada. Additionally, Mr. Lindig was a part of the development of the Four Seasons Hotel Nashville. Mr. Lindig has also developed or repositioned over 3000 keys of hospitality projects and developed more than 4000 acres of land for various real estate ventures.

Mr. Lindig holds a bachelor’s degree in the College of Architecture from Texas A&M University.

In this role, Lizak focuses on managing the credit strategy of and expanding the firm’s equity and debt investor base across the Civitas lodging platform, as well as growing Civitas’ credit business across the firm’s other target asset classes, including multifamily and niche opportunistic investments.

Lizak takes an active role in the capital raising process for the firm’s lodging-focused investment vehicles, including engagement with institutional LPs, consultants, and other counterparties. She plays a large part in overseeing deal underwriting and structuring, portfolio performance, and credit risk management in addition to assisting in the execution of capital markets initiatives.

Lizak joined Civitas with a professional background that spans more than two decades in which she has led the investment strategy, underwriting, structuring, fundraising, investor relations, and portfolio/asset management of highly complex, transitional CRE assets, across all asset types (with a focus on hospitality), geographic markets, and positions within the capital stack, and through various points in the real estate cycle.

On the lending side, Lizak has underwritten, structured, and closed more than $10B of debt‐related transactions for leading financial institutions, most notably as SVP & Head of Underwriting at Starwood Property Trust. Having worked with both balance sheet and CMBS lenders, her experience covers the full debt stack of senior, mezzanine, and preferred equity on a floating and fixed rate basis for bridge, construction, and permanent financing.

Lizak most recently held leadership positions as COO of Global Hospitality Investment Group, an early-stage private equity real estate firm focused on hotel assets located in major cities worldwide, and as CIO of Axle Companies, a Korean Family Office, where Lizak oversaw an investment portfolio with primary assets in hotel real estate and focused on optimizing existing and sourcing new investment opportunities.

Prior to joining Axle, Lizak was Director of Capital Markets & Investment Management at Ethika Investments, LLC, where she implemented strategic thought leadership for debt and equity capital markets activities as well as executed capital raising, IR, and investment strategy initiatives related to the company’s private equity real estate funds (value-add/opportunistic and credit).

Lizak holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.

Sonja Milton is responsible for human resources at Civitas. In this role, Ms. Milton is responsible for all day-to-day HR operations at the firm, as well as for continuously improving the employee experience. She supports all firm growth and leadership initiatives, including mentorship, coaching, recruitment, performance management, compensation and rewards, employee relations, and people development.

In addition, Ms. Milton serves as a strategic partner to executive leadership, ensuring the firm maintains a people-oriented environment by recruiting, developing, and retaining talent; leading team-building initiatives; and overseeing employee engagement. She is the “culture keeper” of Civitas.

Ms. Milton is an integral part of living the firm’s purpose: “creating opportunities that enrich our investors, employees, and communities alike.” She aligns and refines how the Civitas team reflects the firm’s core values in our work and our actions. She previously served as the Manager of Culture and Administration at Civitas.

Ms. Milton holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences, both from Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Mr. Patel is responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and evaluating prospective investments and providing detailed analysis for consideration by the Civitas Investment Committee. He has originated, underwritten, or closed more than $500 million in debt and equity investments at Civitas, utilizing relationships with numerous best-in-class development, capital, and operating partners to access quality deals in U.S. gateway and other top markets. Prior to joining Civitas, Mr. Patel was an Investment Manager with Headington Companies, where he managed over $300 million in real estate assets in hospitality, multifamily, and healthcare. Mr. Patel holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Ms. Pugmire executes hospitality investment opportunities. In this role, Ms. Pugmire identifies, underwrites, negotiates, and closes new hospitality investments for the firm. Once closed, Ms. Pugmire works closely with third-party operators and asset managers to ensure optimal ongoing performance with our investments. Ms. Pugmire also works closely with the Investor Relations team to ensure our investors receive accurate and timely information about potential investment opportunities and existing investments.

Prior to joining Civitas, Ms. Pugmire was a Senior Associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers, as well as an Analyst with Colliers International. Ms. Pugmire is a graduate of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, with a concentration in real estate finance.

Matt Schwartz is a Director of Accounting at Civitas Capital Group. In this role, Mr. Schwartz oversees fund accounting and reporting, researches complex technical accounting matters, and manages the firm’s audit and fund administration processes.

Prior to joining Civitas, Mr. Schwartz was a Managing Director at Embark, a financial-consulting and advisory firm, where he provided technical accounting and advisory services to financial services clients. Before Embark, he served as an Audit Director in the Asset & Wealth Management practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, working with non-registered hedge funds and private equity funds ranging in size from several million to multibillion dollars in assets under management.

Mr. Schwartz holds a Master of Professional Accounting and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. He is an active CPA.

Mr. Tanamachi oversees all functions related to corporate finance, including accounting, tax, financial reporting, planning, budgeting, treasury, and audit.

In this role, he is responsible for assembling various reporting packages for due diligence and covenant compliance, including year-end audit and tax.

In his long tenure at Civitas, Mr. Tanamachi has worked to improve reporting to third parties and Civitas team members. He also works closely with management to analyze financial performance and adjust financial strategy. Mr. Tanamachi was previously Vice President of Corporate Finance at Civitas.

Mr. Tanamachi holds a Master of Science in Accounting degree from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Bachelor’s in Communication from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas.

Mr. Temple leads Multifamily Asset Management for Civitas. In this role, Mr. Temple is responsible for the operational and strategic success of Civitas’ Multifamily portfolio; management and supervision of multiple property management relationships and third parties; timely asset and portfolio level reporting; building and implementing institutional processes; and strategic dispositions of portfolio assets. In addition to his Asset Management leadership responsibilities, Mr. Temple continues to source, underwrite, negotiate, and close new equity and debt investments for the firm.

Prior to joining Civitas, Mr. Temple held the positions of Assistant Vice President with CIT’s Real Estate Group, as well as Analyst on GE Capital’s Commercial Real Estate team.

Mr. Temple holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics-Finance from Bentley University.

Phuong Tran is a Director of Accounting at Civitas Capital Group. In this role, Ms. Tran oversees tax accounting and distribution processes with a strong focus on accuracy, transparency, and investor service.

Ms. Tran plays a key role in delivering timely, reliable investor reporting and advancing Civitas’ commitment to responsible institutional stewardship.

With over a decade of experience in private equity, Ms. Tran brings deep expertise in fund accounting, tax compliance, and operational management. Prior to joining Civitas, she worked in private equity fund administration at MUFG and SS&C Technologies.

Ms. Tran holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Texas at Arlington. She is an active CPA.

Jayson Vail is the Director of EB-5 Operations at Civitas Capital Group. In this role, Mr. Vail oversees the firm’s EB-5 operational platform, providing leadership across execution, integrity, and its continued refinement. His work supports reliable, transparent outcomes for investors while strengthening the firm’s EB-5 infrastructure’s durability and scalability.

Mr. Vail is responsible for core EB-5 operational functions, including job creation analysis and reporting, and the coordination of data, documentation, and reporting throughout the EB-5 investment lifecycle. He partners closely with cross-functional teams as well as with external consultants and regional center stakeholders, to support consistent execution and alignment with program requirements and investor expectations.

In addition to his responsibilities at Civitas, Mr. Vail participates in industry efforts to advance operational rigor and program integrity through his involvement with the Best Practices Committee of Invest in the USA (IIUSA), the leading trade association for the U.S. immigration investment program.

Prior to joining Civitas, Mr. Vail provided operations and marketing support to companies in the healthcare, entertainment, and insurance sectors.

Mr. Vail holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ms. Xing primarily works on lodging investments and asset management at Civitas. In this role, Ms. Xing is responsible for sourcing, underwriting, due diligence, closing, asset management and disposition of both equity and debt investment opportunities in lodging assets.

Prior to joining Civitas, Ms. Xing worked at Sethi Financial Group, as well as at a financial website in Beijing, China.

Ms. Xing holds a Master of Science in Finance degree from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Bachelor’s in Finance degree from University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.