Stephen Warheit

Stephen Warheit

Principal, REST Equity Partners LLC

Stephen Warheit is Principal of REST Equity Partners, where he advises owner-operated and family-held real estate companies on capital, debt, financial infrastructure, and the decisions their reporting has to support. He is brought in by ownership, works down through the finance function as far as an engagement needs, and hands it back with clarity and systems in place.

As CFO/CIO of Kiska Developers and Kiska Investments, he closed $280M of financings, sold a Midtown East site for $106M on a $40M basis, led a multifamily conversion that took NOI from $0.8M to $6M and a $45M asset past $100M, divested a construction company, and built the family office that replaced it. At Tishman Speyer he took the Brazil region from a restatement to error-free, NY-aligned global reporting and helped build the infrastructure that received more than $3B of new capital. He began at Marriott International, turning around hotels in the US and Latin America.

CFO since 2015. MBA, Florida Atlantic University. Columbia Business School CFO Program. English, Portuguese, Spanish. US-based, working nationally and cross-border. LinkedIn

Selected engagements

Advisory engagements, REST Equity Partners, 2023 to today

2026–
Short- and long-term rental operator, about 130 single-family homesCapital and debt advisory
A portfolio of about $40M with roughly $23M of debt, half long-term and half short-term rentals. Assessment of capital and debt needs at the holding company, then leading a $6M equity raise to market.
2026–
$1B private holderAssessment
Reporting, governance, and buy-sell-hold assessment for a family-held residential portfolio.
2024–2026
Professional services firmInterim Finance Head
Founder buyout; new SBA debt closed; working capital and process improvements; ERP pre-selection process.
2023–2026
Global single family officeFractional CFO; Advisory Board
Governance restructure; Investment Committee advisory; family office automation; construction company wind-down; tax restructuring; debt restructuring; equity partner buyout; reporting and audit process improvements.

Prior roles, 1994 to 2023

2016–2023
Kiska Developers / Kiska InvestmentsCFO/CIO
$280M of financings; $106M land sale on a $40M basis; multifamily conversion, NOI $0.8M to $6M, value $45M to $100M; construction company divested; family office built and handed off.
2015–2016
KAR PropertiesCFO / Controller
Institutional finance function built in under a year for a $500M program backed by family-office LP capital.
2010–2014
Tishman SpeyerFinance Director, Emerging Markets
Brazil reporting from restatement to error-free, NY-aligned global reporting; $3B+ of new capital structured; China, India, Mexico added; 101-entity Dynamics AX scope.
1994–2009
Marriott InternationalDirector of Finance; Regional Controller LATAM
Turnarounds in the US, El Salvador (Hotel of the Year, 2002), and Bahia (504 rooms, $20M+ recovered); founding member of the CALA regional office; teams up to 50.

How REST works

Stephen leads every engagement. REST works with a small group of clients at a time and brings in specialists where the scope calls for it. Engagements start with a conversation at no charge and a written read, and end with a hand-off: we stay until it runs without us, then step back.

We don't earn placement fees or commissions from lenders, brokers, or equity sources. Fees are fixed or time-based, with a success fee only where it keeps our interest aligned with yours. That is what lets us tell you when the answer is to do nothing.