About Us
Formed in 1989, Tower Investments, LLC is a real estate investment and development company owned by six members of the Stephen Marks Sr. family and employees. Headquartered in Northern California, Tower invests its own capital and self-manages a diverse portfolio of real estate and debt instruments secured by real estate throughout the United States.
Tower employs a team of professionals and consultants experienced in real estate development, planning and design, construction management, equity investments, project finance, leasing, and management. Tower integrates these talents into a project team from development to occupancy.
Tower's principals are directly involved in day-to-day operations and project management. Tower maintains ownership of all projects and its principals are accountable for all decisions.
Executive Team
Stephen Marks, Sr.
President & CEO
Stephen Marks, Sr., and his wife Anne, founded Tower Investments in 1989. Since then, five of their six children have joined the real estate development and investment company as stakeholders.
Mr. Marks has managed the acquisition of Tower's diverse real estate portfolio-including commercial, retail, industrial and residential buildings, subdivisions, hotels, parking garages and ranches-with the goal of adding value and long-term capital appreciation.
Mr. Marks has been a life-long entrepreneur. He has owned, operated and developed significant real estate holdings in most states in the U.S. and Canada.
He and Anne are parents to four sons and two daughters, and spend most of their free time with their 16 grandchildren. They support several non-profit youth groups and Catholic ministries.
Stephen Marks, Jr.
Senior Vice President
Stephen Marks, Jr., joined Tower Investments in 1992. He manages real estate sale and purchase transactions in a variety of sectors and maintains oversight of Tower's day-to-day operations.
Prior to joining Tower, Mr. Marks played professional football in the National Football League and Italian Football League. He also worked as a coach and in team management with the World League of American Football.
Mr. Marks received his B.A. in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1986.
He and his wife, Sara, have four children.
Elizabeth A. Marks
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Elizabeth A. Marks joined Tower Investments in 1995. She provides legal counsel to the company.
Previously, Ms. Marks served as a legislative consultant for Willie Brown, Speaker of the California State Assembly. She earned her J.D. from the University of San Francisco in 1991, and practiced as an attorney for three years with the law firm of Gordon & Rees in San Francisco.
Ms. Marks is a 1998 graduate of Stanford University, where she majored in political science.
Ms. Marks and her husband, Mike Dailey, have a son and a daughter. Ms. Marks is actively involved in managing the family's livestock businesses on various ranches.
Matthew Marks
Senior Vice President
Matthew Marks began his career with Tower Investments while attending law school in 1991, and rejoined the firm as senior vice president in 2004. He currently manages Tower's industrial properties and transactions.
In 1998, Mr. Marks joined Spieker Properties, a national industrial REIT firm, where he managed the development and leasing of a 2.5 million-square-foot Class A office and industrial portfolio. In 2001, Mr. Marks moved to McClellan Park, where he was named vice president of sales and leasing at the 10 million square-foot, 3,000-acre redevelopment of the former McClellan Air Force Base. In three years he oversaw the redevelopment and lease of more than 3 million square feet of office, industrial, retail, high-tech and airfield-related uses.
Mr. Marks earned his law degree from the University of Northern California in 1995. He graduated from Santa Clara University in 1989 and has been a licensed real estate agent since 1990.
Matt and his wife, Tandi, have four children and reside in Sacramento.
Alexander Marks
Senior Vice President
Alexander Marks joined Tower Investments in 2004. In 2007, he relocated to Nashville, TN, to manageTower's Nashville office. He oversees a variety of rural and urban residential and commercial projects in Tennessee and across the country, including high-rise condominiums, equestrian communities, entertainment focused commercial, mixed-use developments and master planned communities. Mr. Marks also manages Tower's marketing and communications programs.
Prior to joining Tower, Mr. Marks held sales management positions with several technology companies in the Bay Area, including EMC, CompuServe and Sprint.
Mr. Marks earned his B.S. from the University of Southern California, with an emphasis in marketing.
He is married with one son and lives in Nashville. Mr. Marks won the 2007 Nashville Business Journal Business Impact Award for Development in Williamson County, TN, and he was named to Business Tennessee magazine's "CRE 101," recognizing Tennessee's top people in commercial real estate (2008/2009). He is a member of the Rotary Club of Nashville and an active supporter of the entertainment and arts community and various philanthropic organizations in Middle Tennessee.
David Marks
Senior Vice President
David Marks joined Tower in 2004. He oversees industrial developments throughout the U.S. and has also managed the development and leasing of mixed-use commercial-retail-entertainment projects.
Prior to joining Tower, Dr. Marks practiced medicine in the Sacramento, CA, area.
Dr. Marks earned his medical degree from Georgetown University and a B.S. in biology from Santa Clara University.
David and his wife, Colleen, reside in Sacramento. Dr. Marks continues to use his medical training by providing medical relief services to Sudanese refugees in the Darfur area.
Chris Welborn
Senior Vice President & CFO
Chris Welborn joined Tower Investments in 1999. He provides project and financial management services for the company.
Mr. Welborn has nearly 20 years' experience in finance and operations management experience. Prior to joining Tower, he cofounded a computer security software company and spent several years as a commercial lender in small and large banking institutions.
Mr. Welborn earned his B.S. in managerial economics from the University of California, Davis.
He is married with two children and is a long-time supporter of youth-focused charities.
John W. Pierce
Senior Vice President
John Pierce joined Tower Investments in 2005 after acting as a development partner for the previous three years. He oversees a wide variety of development projects for Tower, including master-planned communities, comercial projects and land development/transactions.
Prior to joining Tower, Mr. Pierce was owner/CEO of a real estate development and construction company in Southern California specializing in commercial and residential redevelopment projects. He is a licensed general contractor in the state of California, with more than 30 years' experience in the development and construction of residential and commercial projects in California, Minnesota, Nevada and Tennessee.
Mr. Pierce earned his J.D. from Western State University of Law. He also majored in business and accounting at California State University, Fullerton.
Mr. Pierce and his wife, Carol, have four children and one grandchild. He has been a member of the ICSC since 1984.