Our Team
David Kass - Chief Executive Officer
David E. Kass is President of Continental Real Estate Companies and CEO of Continental Retail and Continental Hospitality Group. A nationally recognized pacesetter in commercial real estate development during his 30-year career, David has been responsible for the development of a shopping center and hotel portfolio that spans across the country with a value of more than $2 billion.
David has created several other businesses including Rave Digital Media — a media/technology company that was successfully built and sold to a publicly listed retail/entertainment business.
David grew up as one of the top tennis players in the world for his age and attended the Nick Bollettieri tennis academy, which is now IMG. David attended the University of Michigan for his undergraduate work. During his time at the University of Michigan, he was a 3-time All American tennis player and the Big Ten Player of the Year in 1992. After college, David competed on the ATP tour in 1992/1993 and reached the finals of several events including the ATP Challenger in Halifax before retiring with a shoulder injury.
Still with a passion for sports, David currently owns an ATP Pro tennis event and operates Kass Tennis Academy, where he coaches and mentors top professional and junior players including ATP World # 39 JJ Wolf. David is an owner of a European Soccer Multi-Club group that includes teams in the English Premier League and several other top Division teams in Europe.
David also entered the Pickleball world in 2022 by acquiring a Major League Pickleball team, the Columbus Sliders, in addition to opening a 19-court facility named Pickle and Chill. Another facility will be opening in Brooklyn in the summer of 2024.
In addition to his professional career, David has served board positions or collaborated with Buddy Up Tennis, the United Way Young Leadership Group, I Know I Can, Columbus Housing Partnership, and the Mid-Ohio Food Bank.
He and his wife reside in Columbus, Ohio with their two children.
Adam Valente - President
Adam Valente is President of Continental Hospitality Group. In his role as President, Adam is intimately involved in all aspects of the business with particular emphasis on strategy, new investments, project execution, asset management, and dispositions.
Prior to forming CHG, Adam was Managing Director – Investments at Rockbridge, a hospitality investment platform with over 20 years of experience investing in real estate and operating companies. Adam was responsible for originating, underwriting, and structuring new investments. During his 13-year tenure with Rockbridge, the firm executed approximately 170 transactions worth over $5 billion in total capitalization – of which Adam was responsible for originating, underwriting, and/or closing approximately 100 investments valued at over $3 billion.
Prior to joining Rockbridge, Adam worked for PKF Consulting, a leading hospitality industry advisory firm. At PKF Consulting, Adam served as a Senior Consultant where he managed numerous valuations and related engagements for institutional capital, brands, and owner-operator clients. Prior to PKF, Adam performed various operational roles in the hospitality industry prior to and while completing his Bachelor of Science in Hotel & Restaurant Management, summa cum laude, from the Conrad N. Hilton College at the University of Houston.
Personal interests include spending time with family and friends, traveling and new experiences, fitness, and giving back.
Mark Damante - President of Development & General Counsel
Mark Damante is President of Development & General Counsel for Continental Real Estate Companies where he has been for over 24 years. With careers at a large law firm in Dallas, Texas, a publicly traded retailer in Columbus, Ohio, and then Continental, he has broad transactional experience in commercial real estate and operating businesses.
He has worked on loan workouts during the Savings & Loan crisis, the development of regional malls and lifestyle shopping centers, the national expansion of a department store chain and a sporting goods chain, the acquisition, expansion and eventual merger of a movie theater chain, the acquisition of a Major League Pickleball team and a pickleball rating platform, and many multi-family, senior living, office, retail, and hospitality projects and businesses.
Most of his days are spent problem-solving and managing a project team to expedite getting deals over the finish line. Much of this involves facilitating joint ventures with family offices, syndications, and private equity investors, relationship borrowing, TIFs, tax abatements, zoning and entitlement matters, acquisitions, ground-up developments, and dispositions.
In the hospitality space, he leads hospitality transaction legal and development-related due diligence and risk assessment and mitigation which includes working with a variety of outside law firms, hotel brands, and operating partners.
In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and three grown children, skiing, erg-rowing, and foodie-eating.
Mark received his J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Cleveland, Ohio and his B.A. from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
Anthony J. Mathena - Vice President of Finance & Development
Tony joined Continental Real Estate Companies in Columbus, Ohio as Vice President of Finance & Development in 2017. He is primarily responsible for managing the capital needs for the company’s development projects across a diverse set of property types including hotels, retail, office, and industrial.
Tony was previously Vice President / Relationship Manager for US Bank’s Commercial Real Estate group in Columbus, Ohio for nearly 11 years. In total, he has 21 years of commercial banking experience, both in commercial real estate and commercial banking roles.
Tony holds an undergraduate business degree from Ohio University and an MBA from The Ohio State University. He currently serves as a board member for Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District.
Rick Lindenmuth - Vice President of Planning & Development
Rick Lindenmuth is the in-house architect for Continental Real Estate Companies. He works throughout the development process in collaboration with leasing, legal and construction teams, tenants, and municipalities.
Rick earned his architecture degree from The Ohio State University. He joined Continental in 2000 following tenures as a Licensed Architect with Horne, King & Rauh, Sullivan Gray Bruck, and his own practice, W.Roderick Lindenmuth Architects.
Adam Giere - Vice President
Adam is Vice President of Continental Hospitality Group. In this role, he is responsible for originating, underwriting and executing new hotel investment opportunities, as well as monitoring and devising strategies to maximize performance of existing portfolio investments.
Adam's 15+ years of hospitality transaction experience encompasses approximately $1.5 billion in total capitalization in which he was intimately involved in deal negotiations, business plan development, market and asset-level due diligence, and transaction closings. This broad experience set provides him with a unique market-view and ability to identify attractive risk-adjusted investment opportunities.
Prior to joining CHG, Adam was Vice President of Investments at Rockbridge, a hospitality-focused private equity firm.
Adam grew up in Columbus and is a graduate of The Ohio State University. Outside of work, Adam enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, experiencing new restaurants, and staying active outdoors.
Ryan Osterman - Director
Ryan Osterman is Director of Continental Hospitality Group. Ryan joined CHG in 2023 and is involved in all aspects of hotel investments, primarily focusing on acquisitions and asset management.
Prior to joining CHG, Ryan served as a Senior Associate on the Acquisitions and Business Development team at Pyramid Global Hospitality — a full-service hospitality development and management company. While at Pyramid, Ryan led the underwriting, due diligence, and transition efforts for five acquisitions exceeding $550 million in total capitalization and underwrote over 35 acquisition, development, and/or management opportunities totaling over 8,000 keys and $1.2 billion in total capitalization.
Prior to joining Pyramid, Ryan served as an Associate in Well Fargo’s Hospitality Finance Group focusing on balance sheet debt origination involving hotels and resorts located across the U.S. and U.K. At Wells Fargo, Ryan managed a $687 million loan portfolio and closed $1.3 billion in new loan originations secured by 27 hotels totaling over 8,300 keys. Ryan was also responsible for structuring and issuing term sheets, negotiating loan documentation, and managing and executing all aspects of the loan closing process.
Ryan holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. Ryan’s passions outside of work include spending time with family and friends, traveling, skiing, playing tennis, and enjoying live music.