Leadership
Marcus Ellery
Managing Partner and FounderMarcus Ellery founded Tias Capital in 2019 after fifteen years in hospitality-focused private equity. He began his career in the real estate investment banking group at Goldman Sachs in New York, where he spent six years advising on hotel and resort transactions across the Americas. He subsequently joined Starwood Capital Group as a vice president, leading acquisitions of boutique hotel assets in Mexico and the Caribbean.
In 2017, while conducting due diligence on a distressed resort property in Baja California, Ellery spent a week living in a fishing village adjacent to the site. The experience -- the landscape, the community, the gap between what existed and what was possible -- reshaped his view of where the industry was headed. Two years later, he launched Tias Capital with a thesis built around that insight.
Marcus holds a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. He sits on the advisory board of the Center for Responsible Tourism at the University of Colorado. Outside of work, he is an avid trail runner and has completed ultras on four continents.
Rachel Tsai
Chief Investment OfficerRachel Tsai oversees all investment activity at Tias Capital, including deal sourcing, underwriting, capital structure, and portfolio monitoring. She joined the firm in 2020 as its first institutional hire.
Prior to Tias Capital, Rachel spent twelve years at CBRE Investment Management, where she was a senior director in the hospitality and leisure real assets group. She led or co-led over $1.8 billion in hotel and resort transactions across North America. Earlier in her career, she was an analyst at JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group in San Francisco.
Rachel holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Southern California and an M.S. in Real Estate Development from MIT. She is a member of the Urban Land Institute's Hospitality Development Council. She lives in Denver with her family and spends most weekends skiing or finding new restaurants to argue about.
David Nakamura
Vice President of DevelopmentDavid Nakamura leads all development and construction activity across the Tias Capital portfolio, from site planning and entitlement through design, construction management, and handoff to operations. He oversees the buildout of Mirage Mountain Resort and Solimar Beach Club -- the firm's two active development projects.
David brings over twenty years of experience in resort and destination development. He previously served as director of development at Replay Destinations, where he managed the planning and construction of master-planned resort communities in British Columbia and Montana. Before that, he held project management roles at Vail Resorts and Marriott International's luxury division, overseeing renovations and new-build projects totaling more than $400 million.
David holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington and an M.B.A. from the University of Denver. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Colorado and California. When he is not on a job site, he is usually restoring a 1978 FJ40 Land Cruiser that he insists is almost finished.
Elena Vargas
Head of SustainabilityElena Vargas leads sustainability strategy and implementation across all Tias Capital holdings. She is responsible for ensuring that each property meets or exceeds the firm's environmental commitments -- from carbon neutrality and waste diversion to community impact and ecological stewardship.
Before joining Tias Capital in 2021, Elena spent eight years at the World Wildlife Fund, where she managed sustainable tourism programs in Latin America. She previously worked as an environmental consultant at ERM, advising hospitality and real estate clients on environmental impact assessments and permitting.
Elena holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from Stanford University and an M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University. She is a certified LEED Green Associate and a frequent speaker at hospitality industry conferences on the business case for sustainable operations. She grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and credits the Sonoran Desert with making her a lifelong advocate for landscapes that most people drive past without stopping.