Our Team

Steven C. Friedmann, Partner

A native Californian, graduate of UC Berkeley and Southwestern School of Law, Mr. Friedmann is a licensed real estate attorney and broker specializing in the entitlement, development, construction, and management of apartment buildings. Prior to founding Topanga, he acquired, operated, and grew real estate assets from his mentor, David H. Murdock. He led a division of Castle & Cooke, Inc. for over a decade by acquiring land, winning RFP’s, constructing aviation facilities, and branding an FBO chain with offices in Los Angeles, Hawaii, and Washington State. Prior to that he was corporate counsel for JP Morgan (Chase) where he managed the disposition and legal matters pertaining to real estate owned (REO) assets of the bank. His transactional work includes complex workouts, negotiated settlements, purchase and sales agreements, entitlement, and land use matters. Mr. Friedmann enjoys spending his free time with family, traveling and working on his golf game.

Mike Bernstein, CFO

Mr. Bernstein is a principal of Bernstein Financial Services, a firm which completes 2,000+ personal and business tax returns annually. His firm advises and counsels Topanga on all real estate acquisitions and funding matters. Mr. Bernstein helps Topanga through detailed underwriting and accurate financial analysis. Mr. Bernstein spends his leisure time snowboarding, wakeboarding and running (longest: 100 miles in 28 hours) and triathlons of all distance.

Brent Mandel, Director of Construction

Mr. Mandel joined Topanga in 2019 as Director of Construction. Mr. Mandel is a licensed general contractor with over twenty years of experience managing commercial construction projects for development group Evergreen Devco, Decron Properties and The Irvine Company. He has successfully completed over 300 projects, including multi-family, retail, office, and mixed-use developments. Mr. Mandel is responsible for developing the budgets, systems and personnel to manage the construction process from inception to completion. Mr. Mandel is a Southern California native a graduate of USC Marshall School of Business. Mr. Mandel spends his leisure time with his wife and three children or sparring at the gym.

David Terian, Director of Acquisitions

Mr. Terian joined Topanga as Director of Acquisitions in 2020. With nearly two decades of industry experience, Mr. Terian brings a significant principal investment, development, and capital markets background to the firm. Over the course of his career, David has completed over $2.5 billion in transactions across various asset types and geographies, comprised of over 6.5 million square feet of commercial property and 7,000 apartment units. Additionally, he has been directly involved in the development of residential, commercial, and mixed-use projects with an aggregate development cost of $1.75 billion. Most recently, Mr. Terian served as Vice President for Pacific Urban Residential and helped launch the West Coast office of Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation. Outside of the office, Mr. Terian enjoys relaxing with his wife and daughter.

Laura Chesney, Development Associate

Ms. Chesney serves as Development Associate at Topanga. She is focused on project development and processing for multi-family projects. Ms. Chesney received her MBA from USC Marshall School of Business in 2020 where she concentrated on real estate finance and development. Previously, Ms. Chesney was a Program Manager of Membership Strategy at ICSC in New York, where she executed prominent, topical networking events responsible for increasing dues and event revenue. In her leisure time, Ms. Chesney enjoys cultivating her vegetable gardens and building wood planters.

Stuart Greene, Site Supervisor

Mr. Greene joined the Topanga Construction team in 2019. Previously, Mr. Greene oversaw the construction of residential houses for Tipping Development, LA Urban Homes and Shea Homes. Mr. Greene has supervised the construction for dozens of multi-family apartment buildings with Schlon and Tepler, a local Southern California developer. With over fifteen years of experience as a construction superintendent and more than 45 years of construction experience, Mr. Greene is a seasoned construction professional. At Topanga, Mr. Greene ensures all on-site operations run smoothly, including maintaining permits, coordinating with subcontractors, reviewing site plans, and scheduling construction projects. Outside of the office, Mr. Greene enjoys spending time with his wife at sunny SoCal beaches.

Anne-Marie Sullivan, Property Manager

Ms. Sullivan is Topanga’s Property Manager. Ms. Sullivan maintains the highest level of integrity for everyone involved in the rental process at Topanga’s properties, and her hands-on approach to property management helps ensure tenant satisfaction and loyalty. Prior to joining Topanga, Ms. Sullivan was the Creative Director at Fredrick’s of Hollywood for thirteen years. She is a graduate of California State University, Northridge.

Coleen L. Kirnan, Asset Manager

Ms. Kirnan is Topanga’s Asset Manager overseeing the portfolio of existing real estate assets. For 23 years she was the President and Owner of Kirnan Commercial Real Estate Inc., a Los Angeles-based commercial brokerage and construction company. Ms. Kirnan received her MBA from Pepperdine University.