who we are

Prior to founding City Pads LLC, Andy Ahitow was the founder of Chicago Apartment Finders (“CAF”), a company he grew to 5 locations with 150+ employees. During his helm at CAF, Andy formed a development partnership with Marc Realty Residential (“MRR”) where as Director of Development, he oversaw the construction of approximately $338M of real estate value. He also expanded CAF into property management to manage the rapidly growing portfolio. The success of CAF was recognized by Coldwell Banker and in September 2015 Andy sold the company to pursue and focus on his own development projects. Following the sale, City Pads LLC was started with the vision of developing residential properties that match his own personal attention to detail with forward thinking projects that combat the demand of modern renters looking for convenience, style and value. In the 4 years since its conception, City Pads has acquired and developed 15 developments worth approximately $111M in real estate value. Andy is responsible for overseeing all operations of the company’s growth and current $111 million portfolio

Elliot Offenbach is the founder of Empact Construction Services, a full service general contractor that focuses on multi-family residential construction, residential rehabilitation and ground-up construction. Backed by Elliot’s tenacious drive and attention to detail, Empact Construction Services has completed over $35MM of construction projects in the last seven years.

Elliot channels the same drive and passion to City Pads that he has for Empact Construction Services, and is aggressively pursuing potential deals for the venture. He is excited to team with Andy and Ewan to leverage their knowledge, along with the resources of CAF, to obtain high-end market rents that are attainable and sustainable.

Prior to founding City Pads, LLC, Daniel Zivin was the founding partner of KZF Development in Northbrook. Since 1987, KZF developed, built, and sold over $375M in luxury real estate, including single family homes, multi-family townhomes, duplexes and commercial office buildings on Chicago’s North Shore. In 2015, Daniel sold KZF Development to his partners enabling him to pursue and focus on multi-family residential rental apartments in Chicago.

Daniel’s dynamic vision and his passion for luxury developments has enabled City Pads to
acquire and develop over 15 projects worth approximately $111M. As a Managing Partner at
City Pads, Daniel oversees all aspects of the operations of the company.

Ewan Dickson focused on residential leasing when he started with CAF in 2006. With over $1MM in leasing commissions; he was one of the top agents in the company in his first four years. As the company created a new partnership and started acquiring investment properties, Ewan joined the investment team, leveraging his knowledge of the Chicago rental market to engineer multi-family investment deals through value-added opportunities.

After years of analyzing multi-family investment deals, Ewan is looking to leverage his experience in the industry and to move to the principal/developer side of transactions. He has partnered with his longtime friend and CAF co-founder, Andy Ahitow in founding City Pads with the vision of developing a portfolio of branded luxury apartments focused on style and innovation.

Prior to joining City Pads, Jason spent his 18 year real estate career responsible for the
development and operations of real estate finance, development and investment companies.

Jason was founder and president of a private real estate investment company focused on the
acquisition and rehabilitation of traditional multifamily assets in Chicago, including the
development of a real estate management platform under which to operate the approximate
1,000 units under management. Post sale of the multifamily portfolio, Jason co-founded
Winmor Capital Group, a real estate investment and finance firm focusing on upscale
residential real estate investments and developments. Via JV structures, Winmor’s mission was
to bring financial capabilities in house on complicated development and repositioning projects
secured by a network of developers.

Jason specializes in forecasting investment outcomes for debt and equity financing and analyzing
risk-adjusted investment metrics for investors. Jason brings experience in underwriting,
capital stack structuring, financial reporting and management operations to the City Pads
team.

Danielle has worked the last six years in the real estate development industry with Andrew Ahitow. She joined City Pads in 2015 as the first employee.

Danielle assists in the handling of all aspects of the projects; from facilitating the closing, processing all construction draws and related paperwork, to providing all due diligence material for buyers or lenders of the completed projects. She has worked with several local and regional banks to successfully ensure all projects are completed in a timely manner. Danielle has the knowledge and experience to handle multiple projects of varying complexity.

Evan Wasiak joined City Pads in 2019 where he assists the firm’s partners with construction reporting and asset management. Evan recently graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. He is passionate about investing and the ability of real estate to change neighborhoods for the better