Meet the Team at Opwest Partners

Tyler Kent is the founder and managing principal of Opwest Partners. Tyler is an expert in hospitality, mixed-use, commercial, and residential real estate. Tyler’s project background includes over $4BN in the investment, development and advisory of a variety of assets including hotels, resorts, residential, retail and office properties. Tyler’s expertise encompasses development, asset management, private equity, banking, consulting, and project management. Prior to forming Opwest Tyler led a variety of projects as the Vice President of Acquisitions and Development of The Robert Green Company. Development ventures under Tyler’s leadership included the Montage Healdsburg Resort & Residences in Healdsburg, CA, the Silver Rock Resort and Residences in La Quinta, CA, the Pendry Hotel in San Diego, CA, the Everly Kimpton Hotel in Hollywood, CA, and the Hope Street Joie De Vivre Hotel in Silicon Valley, CA.

Prior to TRGC, Tyler was the Director of Acquisitions and Development for The Athens Group, a full-service real estate development firm specializing in mixed-use urban and resort hotels, residences, and recreational. During his tenure with The Athens Group Tyler was responsible for all new project acquisitions, planning, programming, strategy, entitlements, development coordination, sales, and marketing strategies, capital market activities and ongoing asset management. Notable ventures include the revitalization of the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, CA (The Miramar), the Montage Deer Valley Resort in Park City, UT, the Montage Beverly Hills in Beverly Hills, CA, the Edition West Hollywood in West Hollywood, CA, and the expansion of the Inn at Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, SC, among others. Before joining The Athens Group, Tyler worked for Starwood Capital’s development division, Starwood Development, based in Scottsdale, AZ. While with Starwood Development, Tyler focused on a number of mixed-use hospitality, resort and residential development projects located throughout the United States and Mexico including; Scottsdale, AZ, Washington DC, Seattle, WA, Cabo San Lucas, and Mammoth Lakes, CA. Prior to Starwood Development, Tyler was a Senior Analyst for the commercial real estate division of Western Alliance Bancorporation’s Arizona subsidiary, Alliance Bank where he executed a number of debt transactions including acquisition and development financing, construction, bridge and permanent financing across a broad spectrum of real estate assets.  Tyler completed his Master’s degree in Business Administration from The University of Arizona with emphasis in Finance and Marketing in 2006. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 2001 at the University of San Francisco where he also played Division-I Men’s Soccer. Tyler is a member of the Urban Land Institute Urban Development Mixed-Use Council and is active in a number of Phoenix based charities including the Phoenix Thunderbirds Charities and the Boys and Girls Club up Metropolitan Phoenix. Tyler and his family are also longtime supporters of PANDA, a charity focused on supporting the University of Arizona Steele Children’s Research Center which targets discovery processes to improve treatments and cures for devastating childhood diseases.

G.S. Jaggi, “Jaggi”, is a strategic advisor and programmatic General Partner of Opwest and brings over 30 years of banking, investment and development experience across product types.  Jaggi serves as Chief Investment Officer at Iridius Capital, leveraging years of entrepreneurial experience and a successful track record in each of Iridius  Capital’s investment domains as an active multifamily real estate investor, developer and financier.  While Iridius Capital is Jaggi’s primary focus, Jaggi also runs the Jaggi Family Office, which invests in a variety of real estate, financial services and fintech companies. The Jaggi Family Offices’ portfolio includes NexMetro Communities, a leader in the fast-growing build-to-rent single-family home real estate asset class and Singularity Capital, a fintech fund focused on the mortgage industry. Jaggi was a founder of both companies and continues to serve as a board member of NexMetro Communities and General Partner of Singularity Capital.

Prior to founding Iridius Capital, Jaggi founded what became one of the largest privately owned mortgage companies in the United States, leading a team of over 6,500 employees in over 300 locations that were doing business in all 50 states.

Jaggi began his career in the mortgage business in Tucson, Arizona where he relocated after finishing graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin.  Jaggi was born and raised in India, but after calling Tucson home for over 20 years,

Jaggi is committed to giving back to local Tucson community organizations and the University of Arizona. Under Jaggi’s leadership, the Iridius Capital Philanthropy Committee prioritizes local organizations focused on the health and wellbeing of children, arts and entertainment and downtown revitalization.

Annabelle Vance serves as the Project Controller and Operation Manager at Opwest Partners who is dedicated to leveraging an all-encompassing, results-driven approach for every project. Above all, she is an analytical strategist and go-getter with astute problem-solving skills and an unwavering work ethic to match.

Over the course of half a decade, Annabelle has garnered extensive accounting experience. During that time, she became adept at developing innovative processes that notably optimized overall business profitability. Prior to her present and recent leadership roles, she held numerous positions in the hospitality, accounting, and finance sectors. She has even been running a successful retail business for the last 10 years.

In addition to her proven expertise and passion for real estate development, Annabelle received a Master of Science in Accounting (MSA) from Grand Canyon University and an Associate of Science degree in Health Management from Gateway Community College. She also obtained a Certification in Hotel Operation, Administration, and Management from Singapore Hotel and Tourism College.

Kurt Whaley serves as Director of Construction and Project Management for Opwest Development. Kurt is an industry veteran with over 35 years of experience in the development and construction industry.  He has held Executive Management positions with three of the top ten General Contractors in California.  Mr. Whaley has served as a Division Manager for regional offices that have produced an annual construction volume in excess of $300 million.  His development and construction experience involves an array of product types; high-rise office, retail, hospitality, sports facilities, entertainment, institutional, industrial, healthcare, municipal, mixed-use facilities, and multi-family residential.  He has been responsible for projects across the continental United States, Hawaii, Mexico, Thailand, and Singapore.

Mr. Whaley’s premier projects include:

• Sapphire Tower, San Diego, CA – $78 million 32 stories, 120 unit high rise luxury condominium building.
• 1600 Vine, Hollywood, CA - $160 million 375-unit apartment complex encompassing one city block.  The project includes a W Hotel, condominium tower, and four 14 story apartment towers over three levels of subterranean parking.
• Disney California Adventure, Anaheim, CA - $45 million expansion to the Disneyland Park
• The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA - $830 million landmark museum
• Elihu M Harris State Office Building, Oakland, CA - $140 million 22 story design/build office building for the State of California
• AMC Theater expansion - $1 billion in new construction and renovation to existing theaters at over 200 locations across the US.
• SOKA University, Aliso Viejo, CA – $360 million 40-acre university campus inclusive of administration and classroom buildings, student housing, arboretum, gymnasium, theatre, and all site improvements.
• United Bank Center, Denver, CO - $130 million 52 story high-rise office building

Currently, Mr. Whaley is a licensed General Contractor in the State of Arizona.  His KB-1 license allows for both commercial and residential building construction.  He has served on the Board of Directors for the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Southern California and is a former member of the American Society of Professional Estimators (ASPE), the Building Institute of America (BIA), the Construction Specification Institute (CSI) and the HBACA of Phoenix, AZ. 

Mr. Whaley received his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Construction Management from Colorado State University in 1978 and attended MBA classes at the University of Colorado, Denver campus in 1980-1981.

Chris Has been involved in the design, construction and construction management of built environments for over 25 years.  With degrees in Architecture and Real Estate Development, time spent practicing architecture and electrical engineering led to project management, superintending and directing project teams.  He has managed projects for a diverse array of clients, from industrial projects for Arizona Public Service to office environments for The Social Security Administration, American Express and Waste Management, to hospitality projects for Intrawest, Starwood, Montage, Athens and Re:Play.

Starting his professional career with Smithgroup A/E in Phoenix, Chris was primarily involved for six years with the design of and implementation management of Social Security’s worldwide office and information management upgrade.  He made site visits himself to over 300 SSA offices, and was involved with countless more.  Leaving Smithgroup in 2002, he then became a founding associate of FM Solutions, where he led numerous projects for the Arizona Public Service team.  Soon realizing that after years of designing and managing projects, he was missing the “boots on the ground” experience of superintending projects, so Chris spent three years working for The Weitz Company as a construction superintendent.

Having built a reputation for managing on time, on budget and high quality workmanship, Chris was able to parlay all his experience into his ultimate goal, the hospitality and resort development industry. Working for Intrawest, he was the construction manager for Luna di Lusso at Lake Las Vegas and The Woodwinds in Mammoth Lakes, CA.  While at Intrawest, He performed many roles, such as Director of Construction for the Resort Village at Verrado, The Westin Verasa in Napa, and Q4 in Mammoth Lakes, Director of Development for the June Lake, CA, property and Commercial Asset Manager for the Resort Villages of Squaw Valley and Lake Las Vegas.  Departing Intrawest to work for The Athens Group, he served as the Director of Vertical Construction for the 1.2M square foot, 5-Diamond, Montage Deer Valley Resort and Spa.  

Chris currently has his own consultancy, 928 C|D Services, and consults for The Athens Group on the Montage Palmetto Bluff, for Re:Play Resorts, managing capital improvement projects at the Turtle Bay Resort in Oahu, Under A Tree Wellness Consultants of Tucson, AZ, Sistina Ventures of Honolulu, as well as private owner projects.  Chris is a Partner in Calvert Systems, a manufacturer of innovative construction industry tools, and COO of Sol-Ice Engineered Systems, manufacturer of building integrated snow melt and solar thermal systems.  Chris’s broad knowledge of the construction and real estate development industry, from team leadership, planning, scheduling and project management down to constructability, methods, materials and logistics makes him indispensable to any project.

Based in Park City, Chris is an avid skier, golfer and outdoorsman, and has lived in New York, Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah, Hawaii and South Carolina.