William “Billy” Procida Founded Procida Funding and Advisors in 1995 and has financed, fixed and built over 3 billion dollars of buildings and companies. Procida manages the 100 Mile Fund which provides financing for commercial real estate projects and small to mid size businesses.
His awards over the years include:
Rockland County, New York Citizen of The Year
New York City Developer of The Year
National Home Builders Pillar of the Industry Award
Institutional Investor Non-bank Lender of the Year
Bronx Business Man of the Year
New York Mortgage Bankers’ Man of the Year
New Jersey Gold Coast Business Man of the Year
American Jewish Congress Man of the Year
Just to name a few
He has lectured at Yale, Columbia, NYU, Saint Thomas Aquinas and a dozen more colleges. He has been a regular guest on CNBC, Fox Business and has appeared on every major TV network in the United States as well as networks in Japan, Russia and England.
Billy has also been the subject of hundreds of articles from The Wall Street Journal to Der Spiegel in Europe.
Billy is also an avid sponsor for multiple charities throughout the community such as Table to Table, Habitat for Humanity, Keep Rockland Beautiful and SHARE Africa to name a few.
Mr. Lazaroff received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Monmouth College in 1974. He also obtained a law degree (Juris Doctorate degree) from Northern Illinois University College of Law in 1978. Following college he joined the accounting firm of Touche Ross & Co. (now Deloitte Touche) where he worked in the accounting department for two years before going to law school.
In 1978, subsequent to graduating from law school, he rejoined Touche Ross & Co., as a member of the tax department where he remained until 2001 when he and Marc Reichman formed the public accounting and advisory firm of Reichman & Lazaroff (subsequently Reichman & Lazaroff LLC). Growing up in Queens New York he relocated.
Ali Betts joined Procida Funding in May 2011 as Controller. In her capacity, she is responsible for managing all aspects of the company’s accounting functions and, is an integral part of our investor relations function. Ali directly supports Mr. Procida with program and investor initiatives.
Prior to joining Procida, Ali served as Controller and Investor Relations for Palisades Financial reporting directly to the partners of the firm. In her 7 years working with Palisades Financial, her main focus was working closely with investors, accountants, banks, and auditors, managing two investment Funds (Palisades Regional Investment Funds [PRIF and PRIF II]. Ali’s diverse background is an asset in providing the personalized attention for our investors.
Mike Coen joined Procida Funding and Advisors in June of 2015. Mike serves as Vice President of Loan Syndication and plays a key role in the syndication and distribution of the Fund’s loan portfolio. Coen facilitates in the underwriting, structuring, and execution of syndicated real estate loans seeking to maximize the Fund’s yield while mitigating risk. Mike continues to expand the investor base among banks, funds, and other investment partners.
Prior to joining Procida, Mike help manage a portfolio of distressed commercial and residential real estate assets at NRT REO Experts. Mike worked closely with other nationwide asset management companies servicing clients including JP Morgan Chase, Capital One, and Bank of America and generating a liquidation value of more than $670 million. Mike served as a key member of the division with $300 million in assets under management, directly overseeing 300+ loans.
Mr. Coen completed his Masters in Real Estate Development (MSRED) at Nova Southeastern University in addition completed NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate Professional Certification in Real Estate Finance.
Derek Weissman is a Vice President at Procida Funding and Advisors responsible with overseeing the Asset Management Department. Since joining Procida in 2015, Mr. Weissman has been directly involved in the underwriting, closing and asset management of over $400 million of construction, bridge, and DIP loans. Currently, Mr. Weissman runs the Asset Management division and oversees a portfolio of over $250 million in assets consisting of ground up development, historical renovations, environmental clean ups, and much more. In his capacity as an Asset Manager, Mr. Weissman spends his time on site overseeing all aspects of a project which typically range from the development of the capital stack, predevelopment and construction oversight, marketing strategy and implementation through lease up to stabilization. Since 2015, Mr. Weissman has overseen the development and renovation of over 700 units in and the across the Northeast Corridor in addition to the development of over 1 million square feet of commercial space.
Recent Notable projects: The Met Philly- Historical Renovation; Divine Lorraine- Historical Renovation; Gulls Cove II- Ground Up development; Hudson Valley Brewery- renovation and brewery fit out; The Tower at Mural West- predevelopment approvals and zoning variance; RCA Victor Records Building- Environmental remediation and demolition.
Brian Foley joined the team full time as an Associate in May of 2016 after graduating with a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with concentrations in Finance and Real Estate. Brian was also a member of Penn’s varsity swim and dive team, specializing in the backstroke.
Before coming to Procida, Brian interned at Advantage Futures, one of the highest volume futures broker in the industry, based out of Chicago. There, Brian learned key values in sales and trading.
At Procida, Brian worked on R.E.O. assets and distressed deals. Now, Brian leads Procida Funding’s Originations department.
Caroline Smyth joined Procida Funding and Advisors in May of 2016. Caroline facilitates in maintaining accurate and well-organized financial data for the company. She supports Ali in investor relations for all 100 Mile Fund Shareholders. Caroline also provides support for her colleagues by helping them with situations involving the company financially. Before joining Procida, Caroline worked in both the accounting and hospitality fields giving her a versatile set of skills to bring to the Procida team.
Omar Khan joined Procida Funding & Advisors as an Asset Manager in April 2019. He, along with Kyle
Smyth, will Assist Derek Weissman in handling the day-to-day operations of the 100 Mile Fund loan
portfolio.
Prior to joining Procida, Omar worked for Descon, Pakistan’s largest Engineering and Construction
Company. Mr. Khan worked closely with the corporate strategy and business development team on
several multimillion-dollar projects ranging from grid stations to large scale hydropower plants.
Omar is a graduate of Texas A&M University. He was the Valedictorian of his graduating class, a member
of the chemical engineering honor society and a recipient of the dean’s honor roll and distinguished
student award.
Mark Jacobs founded K&M Newspaper Services, Inc in 1984. The company grew to supply equipment and services to over 500 newspaper publishers worldwide.
Through Alipress Realty, LLC he owned and managed real estate for the past 30 years. Currently, he sits on the following nonprofit boards: Montefiore Nyack Hospital, Montefiore Nyack Foundation, The Wartburg Foundation, Saint Dominic’s Family Services, YMCA of Middletown, Rockland County Pride Center, Center for Safety and Change, and Rockland Country Club Foundation.
Nathaniel Johns joined the team as a full-time hire in August 2020 after completing two internships. Nathaniel will be assisting Vice Presidents Brian Foley and Mike Coen in all aspects of the firm’s Originations and Due Diligence capacities.
During the two summers he spent with us, Nathaniel aided the team by providing tri-state market analyses as well as analyses of current and prospective projects. Additionally, Nathaniel created marketing materials and worked with senior-level employees to underwrite various investments.
Nathaniel graduated from Swarthmore College in May 2020 with a B.A. in Economics. At Swarthmore, Nathaniel was a four-year member of the Swarthmore College Men’s Lacrosse Team and received Centennial Conference Academic Honors in three of his four seasons.
Kent Michels joined Procida Funding in April 2022 as Vice President of Due Diligence & Underwriting. Kent is responsible for performing underwriting and due diligence for all prospective loans, including assessing the value and cash flow potential of pledged collateral, analyzing market conditions, identifying key risks and opportunities, and reviewing contracts and credentials for project stakeholders. Prior to joining Procida Funding, Kent served as a Senior Vice President with JLL’s hotels advisory practice, where he was responsible for sourcing and executing market and feasibility studies for hotels and mixed-use developments, appraising and asset managing hospitality-oriented assets, and overseeing bespoke research engagements involving complex data analytics and market research to inform investment decisions for a wide range of real estate clients. Kent also formerly served as an Analyst for Goldman Sachs’ US Economic Research Group, where he authored economic research on mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, home prices, and other topics of interest to market participants. Kent graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Economics and concentration in French Studies in 2006. He also studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he completed coursework in international economics and European history.
