About Us
Since the founding of Blacktop Industrial Trust, Ricardo Cardoso has served as the Chief Executive Officer
Throughout his career, he has executed acquisitions and dispositions valued at over $15 billion, spanning various asset classes, including industrial, flex-industrial, office, and residential properties.
Mr. Cardoso has held various capital investment positions at Veris Residential (formerly Mack-Cali Realty) and its predecessor companies, Cali Realty and Robert Martin Company, most notably serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer since 2016.
He was an officer of the REIT, as well as a member of both the Executive Committee and Investment Committee.
From 2016 until 2022, Mr. Cardoso spearheaded the execution of a business plan that transformed Mack-Cali from an office REIT with 30 million square feet to a residential REIT with approximately 7,000 multifamily units.
In addition to managing the company's investment activities, he was also responsible for asset management of the industrial and office portfolios, enhancing asset value, and maximizing disposition proceeds.
Before the disposition of Mack-Cali’s nearly 6 million square foot flex-industrial portfolio, he restructured the operations of this portfolio into a separate operating unit and introduced new standards for property management and leasing, aiming to increase rent growth and operating margins.
Ricardo Cardoso
Managing Partner & CEO, Blacktop Industrial TrustFormer EVP & CIO of Veris Residential (Mack-Cali)
Christian Vergilio
Managing Partner and CIO, Blacktop Industrial TrustFormer MD & Head of Industrial Acquisitions at Arden Logistics Parks (Arden Group)
Christian Vergilio joined Blacktop Industrial Trust in 2024 as Partner and the Chief Investment Officer.
Prior to joining BIT, Mr. Vergilio served in various capital investment roles at Arden Logistics Parks (“ALP”; the logistics operating company of the Arden Group), most recently serving as Managing Director and Head of Industrial Acquisitions. Mr. Vergilio led over $860M in direct acquisition volume in 10 markets across the US including Dallas, S. Florida, Tampa, Chicago, Charlotte, Boston, Indianapolis, Houston, Columbus and Minneapolis totaling 6.9M total square feet and 80 AC of IOS/ISF.
Prior to joining Arden, Mr. Vergilio an acquisitions officer at Angelo Gordon & Co., specifically focused on acquiring industrial assets and structuring sale leaseback transactions with a specific focus on sub-investment grade industrial manufacturing and distribution companies. During his tenure, he transacted on investments in excess of $400M.
Mr. Vergilio earned his B.B.A. from Villanova University where he graduated with a major in Finance and Real Estate and was also a captain of the Men’s Rowing Team. Mr. Vergilio was the Bartley Medallion recipient for Real Estate and is still a frequent guest lecturer and an active member of the Daniel M. DiLella Center for Real Estate at Villanova University.
Peter Hansen
Managing Partner, Blacktop Industrial TrustPartner, Rizk Ventures
Peter Hansen joined Rizk Ventures as Partner in 2021 and led the formation of Blacktop Industrial Trust alongside Ricardo Cardoso.
Prior to forming Blacktop Industrial Trust, Peter served as Vice President of Global Real Estate at WeWork. Peter was responsible for special projects, joint ventures as well as turnaround efforts leading up to the 2021 IPO.
Peter served as a Director in the New York region for Boston Properties from 2014-2019. In this role, Peter was responsible for asset management & leasing for BXP's 10M square foot Class-A office portfolio. During his tenure, Peter transacted over 5M square feet of leasing transactions, led multiple capital improvement projects and collaborated with the capital markets team on property acquisitions, dispositions and financings.
Peter graduated from Hobart College in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. At Hobart College, Peter was a member and Captain on the CSA Varsity Squash Team, and a member of the NCAA Division-1 Lacrosse Team. He currently serves on his class fundraising board at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia.
Stephen Pahides
General Counsel, Blacktop Industrial TrustStephan Pahides has served as legal counsel to Blacktop Industrial Trust since its founding and currently serves as its General Counsel. He also serves as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Workspace Property Trust, Rizk Venture’s national office and light industrial platform.
Prior to becoming General Counsel for Workspace Property Trust, Steve was a partner in a well-regarded transactional boutique law firm where he represented publicly and privately held businesses, family offices, individuals, and institutions in various real estate transactions.
Steve has counseled clients through sophisticated real estate transactions, both regionally and nationally, including the sale of more than $1 billion of office assets for a NYSE Exchange listed REIT; the acquisition of more than $3 Billion of office assets; the acquisition of 100 self-storage facilities, the development and acquisition of more than 50 senior living facilities; and over 3 million of square feet of leasing of office, light industrial, laboratory and medical space.
Steve graduated from Drew University with a B.A. in Political Science. He earned his J.D. from the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Rizk co-founded Rizk Ventures in 2013 with a focus on real estate, healthcare and technology, and today the Rizk Ventures real estate platforms include Workspace Property Trust, SpareBox Self Storage, and GSRVC (healthcare properties).
Founded Rizk Ventures in 2013 with a focus on real estate, healthcare and technology, and today the Rizk Ventures real estate platforms include Workspace Property Trust, SpareBox Self Storage, GSRVC (healthcare properties), and Blacktop Industrial Trust (SBMT/IOS).
Led Cali Associates through its successful IPO as Cali Realty Corporation, a real estate investment trust traded on the NYSE.
Led the merger of Cali Realty Corporation into the Mack Company and Patriot American Office Group.
Founded Tract Manager Inc, the recognized leader in providing technology-based contract management solutions to healthcare organizations.
Received his B.A degree in business administration from Rutgers University, his J.D. degree from Rutgers University School of Law, and his L.L.M in taxation from the New York University School of Law.
Thomas Rizk
Chairman, Blacktop Industrial TrustCEO & Founder, Rizk Ventures
CEO, Workspace Property Trust
Chairman, SpareBox Self Storage
Rizk Ventures has 25+ years of average leadership with over 150+ employees across five U.S. offices.