Team Bios
Travis Pacoe
Travis Pacoe has been continuously involved in real estate since 1990 and has both brokered and invested in nearly every property type, including apartment projects, retail, and industrial real estate. Travis is responsible for the origination of potential transactions; negotiation of transaction terms; marketing oversight; and due diligence oversight.
Travis’ completed transactions total in excess of $1.1BBN, including properties valued in excess of $990MM that he has acquired as an investor and general partner through various partnerships he has formed. He has been an active principal in the acquisition of multifamily and commercial real estate since 1994 and as an owner has extensive experience in the management of multifamily and commercial properties.
Travis brings his extensive history as a principal investor to bear in completing every property purchase, including extensive transaction management experience, negotiation of relevant documentation and effective navigation through all due diligence matters; accurate valuation of many property types in numerous regions or submarkets; and origination and structuring of a wide variety of financing instruments.
Travis has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a dual emphasis in Real Estate & Urban Land Economics and Finance from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, CA, class of 1991.
Chi Nguyen
Chi Nguyen is our Marketing Director who is responsible for developing and executing our marketing strategy on market outreach. Chi helps make sure that our potential customers are increasingly more aware of the Polaris brand and all of its properties on the market. Chi has great project management skills and consistently deliver high quality results on schedule. She also works as our in-house Photographer and Graphics Designer to create original designs and templates for our property websites and marketing brochures.
Chi was originally from Vietnam. She has studied and worked in 3 different countries over the past few years. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Global Marketing from University of Huddersfield, UK in 2013. And in 2015, she graduated from Hult University, San Francisco with a master’s degree in International Marketing. She speaks Vietnamese and English.
Austin Paul
Austin Paul joined the Polaris team as a Financial Analyst in 2022 to assist in portfolio management. Austin is responsible for updating and creating financial models to evaluate both existing and potential assets, analyzing property operations’ financial data to provide forecasting support, creation of property level investment reports and presentations, and study of broad level business and economic trends.
Austin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics with a minor in U.S history from Occidental College, CA, class of 2020. His major’s area of focus was U.S. macroeconomic policy and history.
Jose McDevitt-Hickey

In his previous job, he worked for a Texas-based luxury real estate developer, and assisted the financial controller in construction draws, property accounting, tax preparation, and distributions.
Jose graduated from DePaul University in 2020 with a degree in Business Administration and a double minor in Commercial Chinese Studies and Urban Planning and Geography. His focus was on business management. He also took a gap year to study abroad at East China Normal University in Shanghai, China.
Gigi Rosales
Gigi has spent two decades excelling in the competitive landscape of San Francisco real estate, establishing a well-respected reputation. During her previous position, she played a key role in doubling production from $95M to $200M and also facilitated team growth by an impressive 400%. Throughout her career, she has held various positions, including Director of Operations and Director of Transaction Management, which has equipped her with a unique skill set to effectively manage real estate investments from both a micro and macro perspective.
With enthusiasm and excitement, Gigi brings her love for efficiency and team excellence to the table. She prioritizes client satisfaction and retention, always seeking innovative ways to improve processes and streamline workflows to ensure projects are completed within budget and on time. She is a natural leader who takes pride in fostering a positive culture-helping the team achieve their full potential together. She excels in communication and interpersonal skills, building strong relationships with clients and colleagues in the field. Gigi’s unwavering dedication and commitment to excellence make her an invaluable asset to any organization.
Born in San Francisco and raised in the Bay Area, Gigi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from San Francisco State University in 2001. Additionally, she has been licensed with the California Department of Real Estate since 2017.
Ron Abta
Ron Abta has over 15 years of residential real estate experience, having completed in excess of $1.2BBN in transactions as both a broker and investor. He brings multifamily management and remodeling experience to the team, having actively overseen the maintenance, renovation, and financing of multi-unit apartment units and residential properties throughout his career. Ron is responsible for investor relations, marketing oversight, and general transaction management for acquisitions and financing.
He has been involved in the structuring and management of numerous real estate general partnerships. He has also been involved in almost every type of residential purchase over his career, whether it be multifamily assets, tenancy-in-common interests, or single family dwellings. He brings a wide breadth of experience to the team as both an investor, as well as operator of multifamily properties. He has consistently managed to completion a very high number of transactions annually for many years. He has intimate knowledge of the financing side of real estate transactions, having worked as a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley and as a product manager at iOwn.com, one of the first internet mortgage brokers (acquired by CitiMortgage).
He holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics with a minor in Business Administration at University of California Berkeley in Berkeley, CA, class of 1993, as well as a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Stanford, CA, class of 1999.
James Hetherington
James Hetherington joined Polaris Real Estate as Legal Counsel in 2022. With over thirty years of experience as a trial attorney and a partner at a San Francisco litigation firm for fourteen years, James has worked with insurers and insureds to resolve complex litigation matters in a variety of practice areas, including negligence, premises liability, employment, construction, personal injury and contractual claims.
James brings his extensive experience in handling legal disputes to Polaris as our Legal Counsel to address and resolve claims, assess risk, control losses and mitigate exposure.
James obtained a BA in English from California State University/Northridge, and a J.D. from the University of Arizona College of Law. He has been a member of the California bar since 1990. James is on the Board of a local open space conservatory in San Francisco and is an avid runner and musician.
Lisa Mendez-Finger
Lisa Mendez-Finger is our financial controller, she comes to Polaris with an extensive career of over 25 years of Accounting in Real Estate, both commercial and residential. She has worked for top development and management companies in the San Francisco Bay Area specializing in Class A office, Light Industrial, Retail, Single Family Homes, and Multi-Family Apartments with portfolios of over a million square feet.
Lisa has built strong relationships with partners, investors, accountancy firms, bank, and lender representatives. Lisa’s vast knowledge includes acquisitions and dispositions, development, value-added properties, CAM reconciliations, loan draws, entitlements, property taxes, insurance, HR and forensic accounting. Lisa is committed to a high level of accuracy; she is an analytical thinker and has a strong work ethic.
Lisa received her accounting education from MTI Business College and has been a Notary for 20 years. Lisa is family-oriented, is a worldwide traveler and is generous with her time, helping others and giving back to her community.
Belinda Aguirre

Belinda Aguirre joined Polaris Real Estate in 2023 as the Vice President of Operations with over 23 years of experience in multifamily management in the Dallas and Fort Worth Texas region. She will work closely with the management companies to ensure they reach their potential and provide guidance and assistance where needed regarding occupancy, community outreach, income, renovations, permitting and meeting lender expectations.
Belinda has extensive knowledge of property budgets to maximize NOI’s, market surveys, value-adds and has managed all types of renovations for interior and exterior remodels throughout her career. She has managed multiple properties while training new managers at other locations. She works closely with DFW Housing Authorities, DFW Police & Fire and DFW Code Enforcement as well as Veteran Affairs and Domestic Violence organizations for urgent rehousing. She has organized several community outreach programs such as budgeting for adults, computer literacy and child tutoring. She also strongly encourages and promotes all management, residents, surrounding communities and local law enforcement relationships to ensure the wellbeing of the communities.
Belinda received her education from TCC and has a strong work ethic, likes a hands-on approach and is goal oriented. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter. She loves to travel, and her favorite spot is any island with blue water, sun and a good book.
Travis Pacoe
Travis Pacoe has been continuously involved in real estate since 1990 and has both brokered and invested in nearly every property type, including apartment projects, retail and industrial real estate. Travis is responsible for origination of potential transactions; negotiation of transaction terms; marketing oversight; and due diligence oversight.
Travis’ completed transactions total in excess of $1.1BBN, including properties valued in excess of $990MM that he has acquired as an investor and general partner through various partnerships he has formed. He has been an active principal in the acquisition of multifamily and commercial real estate since 1994 and as an owner has extensive experience in the management of multifamily and commercial properties.
Travis brings his extensive history as a principal investor to bear in completing every property purchase, including extensive transaction management experience, negotiation of relevant documentation and effective navigation through all due diligence matters; accurate valuation of many property types in numerous regions or submarkets; and origination and structuring of a wide variety of financing instruments.
Travis has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a dual emphasis in Real Estate & Urban Land Economics and Finance from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, CA, class of 1991.
Ron Abta
Ron Abta has over 15 years of residential real estate experience, having completed in excess of $1.2BBN in transactions as both a broker and investor. He brings multifamily management and remodeling experience to the team, having actively overseen the maintenance, renovation, and financing of multi-unit apartment units and residential properties throughout his career. Ron is responsible for investor relations, marketing oversight, and general transaction management for acquisitions and financing.
He has been involved in the structuring and management of numerous real estate general partnerships. He has also been involved in almost every type of residential purchase over his career, whether it be multifamily assets, tenancy-in-common interests, or single family dwellings. He brings a wide breadth of experience to the team as both an investor, as well as operator of multifamily properties. He has consistently managed to completion a very high number of transactions annually for many years. He has intimate knowledge of the financing side of real estate transactions, having worked as a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley and as a product manager at iOwn.com, one of the first internet mortgage brokers (acquired by CitiMortgage).
He holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics with a minor in Business Administration at University of California Berkeley in Berkeley, CA, class of 1993, as well as a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Stanford, CA, class of 1999.
Chi Nguyen
Chi is our Marketing Coordinator who is responsible for developing and executing our marketing strategy on market outreach. Chi helps make sure that our potential customers are increasingly more aware of the Polaris brand and all of its properties on the market. Chi has great project management skills and consistently deliver high quality results on schedule. She also works as our in-house Photographer and Graphics Designer to create original designs and templates for our property websites and marketing brochures.
Chi was originally from Vietnam. She has studied and worked in 3 different countries over the past few years. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Global Marketing from University of Huddersfield, UK in 2013. And in 2015, she graduated from Hult University, San Francisco with a master’s degree in International Marketing. She speaks Vietnamese and English.
Lisa Mendez-Finger
Lisa is our financial controller, she comes to Polaris with an extensive career of over 25 years of Accounting in Real Estate, both commercial and residential. She has worked for top development and management companies in the San Francisco Bay Area specializing in Class A office, Light Industrial, Retail, Single Family Homes, and Multi-Family Apartments with portfolios of over a million square feet.
Lisa has built strong relationships with partners, investors, accountancy firms, bank, and lender representatives. Lisa’s vast knowledge includes acquisitions and dispositions, development, value-added properties, CAM reconciliations, loan draws, entitlements, property taxes, insurance, HR and forensic accounting. Lisa is committed to a high level of accuracy; she is an analytical thinker and has a strong work ethic.
Lisa received her accounting education from MTI Business College and has been a Notary for 20 years. Lisa is family-oriented, is a worldwide traveler and is generous with her time, helping others and giving back to her community.
James Hetherington
James Hetherington joined Polaris Real Estate as Legal Counsel in 2022. With over thirty years of experience as a trial attorney and a partner at a San Francisco litigation firm for fourteen years, James has worked with insurers and insureds to resolve complex litigation matters in a variety of practice areas, including negligence, premises liability, employment, construction, personal injury and contractual claims.
James brings his extensive experience in handling legal disputes to Polaris as our Legal Counsel to address and resolve claims, assess risk, control losses and mitigate exposure.
James obtained a BA in English from California State University/Northridge, and a J.D. from the University of Arizona College of Law. He has been a member of the California bar since 1990. James is on the Board of a local open space conservatory in San Francisco and is an avid runner and musician.
Austin Paul
Austin Paul joined the Polaris team as a Financial Analyst in 2022 to assist in portfolio management. Austin is responsible for updating and creating financial models to evaluate both existing and potential assets, analyzing property operations’ financial data to provide forecasting support, creation of property level investment reports and presentations, and study of broad level business and economic trends.
Austin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics with a minor in U.S history from Occidental College, CA, class of 2020. His major’s area of focus was U.S. macroeconomic policy and history.
Jose McDevitt-Hickey

In his previous job, he worked for a Texas-based luxury real estate developer, and assisted the financial controller in construction draws, property accounting, tax preparation, and distributions.
Jose graduated from DePaul University in 2020 with a degree in Business Administration and a double minor in Commercial Chinese Studies and Urban Planning and Geography. His focus was on business management. He also took a gap year to study abroad at East China Normal University in Shanghai, China.
Belinda Aguirre – VP of Operations

Belinda Aguirre joined Polaris Real Estate in 2023 as the Vice President of Operations with over 23 years of experience in multifamily management in the Dallas and Fort Worth Texas region. She will work closely with the management companies to ensure they reach their potential and provide guidance and assistance where needed regarding occupancy, community outreach, income, renovations, permitting and meeting lender expectations.
Belinda has extensive knowledge of property budgets to maximize NOI’s, market surveys, value-adds and has managed all types of renovations for interior and exterior remodels throughout her career. She has managed multiple properties while training new managers at other locations. She works closely with DFW Housing Authorities, DFW Police & Fire and DFW Code Enforcement as well as Veteran Affairs and Domestic Violence organizations for urgent rehousing. She has organized several community outreach programs such as budgeting for adults, computer literacy and child tutoring. She also strongly encourages and promotes all management, residents, surrounding communities and local law enforcement relationships to ensure the wellbeing of the communities.
Belinda received her education from TCC and has a strong work ethic, likes a hands-on approach and is goal oriented. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter. She loves to travel, and her favorite spot is any island with blue water, sun and a good book.
Gigi Rosales – Director of Investor Relations

Our Criteria
News
Polaris Community Foundation Updates
San Francisco, CA (May 2023) – As of May 2023, Polaris and our investors have collectively raised $48,140 for the college scholarship program! (Polaris matched every dollar donated)! We are putting in significant effort to raise awareness about the scholarship and...
Polaris Real Estate Partners Celebrates Mother’s Day with Community Initiatives
San Francisco, CA (May 2023) - Polaris Real Estate Partners was proud to continue its community initiatives with Mother's Day celebrations at all of our communities. "We believe in the importance of honoring and appreciating the remarkable mothers in our...
Polaris’ Mill House Property Hosts Successful Easter Event and Unveils New Clubhouse
Dallas, TX (April, 2023) - Mill House, a property owned by Polaris Real Estate Partners (PREP), hosted a fun-filled Easter event for residents and their families featuring an exciting egg hunt. The event was a great success with approximately 30 kids in attendance...
Polaris Celebrates Spring Event at Pacifica Apartments with Community Partners
Dallas, TX (March, 2023) – Polaris Real Estate Partners (PREP), a leading property management company known for its commitment to community events, is proud to announce its Spring Event at Pacifica Apartments. The event took place in March and featured various...
2022: Polaris transacts $250+MM, grows team
San Francisco, CA (February 2023) – Polaris Real Estate Partners is pleased to announce a successful year in 2022, marked by team expansion, strong portfolio performance, and strategic acquisitions. The company has also made significant strides in enriching the...
Polaris Real Estate Partners’ 2022 Annual School Backpack Giveaway
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (SEPTEMBER 2022). This year, Polaris Real Estate Partners continues our 8th annual back-to-school backpack giveaway tradition. Over the past month, we gave a total of 595 mesh backpacks filled with school supplies to children and youths living in...