“INVICTUS”
(ADJECTIVE), LATIN: UNCONQUERABLE
InVictus Development, LLC is a full service, multifamily housing development firm based out of Tampa, Florida. The operations of InVictus Development are directed by President, Paula Rhodes, and Executive Vice President, Rick Cavalieri who founded InVictus Development in 2015 following extensive careers in the affordable housing development industry. This included Ms. Rhodes’ and Mr. Cavalieri’s time at Norstar Development USA, where the two ran the firm’s affordable housing division and were responsible for the development, financing, and construction of 1,233 units of mixed-income, multifamily housing units, all but 200 of which had completed construction and been placed in service at the time the InVictus principals left Norstar. InVictus is a State of Florida certified Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (“WBE”).
KEY PRINCIPALS OF INVICTUS DEVELOPMENT, LLC
Paula McDonald Rhodes is the President and co-founder of InVictus Development, LLC, which she co-founded with her Business Partner, Richard Cavalieri in 2015. Prior to forming Invictus, Ms. Rhodes was Director of Development at Norstar Development USA from 2006 to 2015, in this role she was responsible for all of Norstar’s multifamily, affordable, and workforce housing developments in the States of Florida and Alabama. During her time at Norstar, Ms. Rhodes led all aspects of the development process including identification of project sites, permitting of site development, construction, financing, operation, and compliance.
Prior to Norstar, Ms. Rhodes has over 20 years of legal experience in the areas of real estate and business financing, having worked for more than 15 years for the law firm of Carlton Fields in Tampa, Florida where she was an equity shareholder. Following her time at Carlton Fields, Ms. Rhodes served as embedded counsel for Raymond James Tax Credit Funds, Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida where she represented RJTCF in the syndication of low-income housing tax credits at both the investor and developer level.
Ms. Rhodes received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs, at Duke University, and her law degree from Duke University School of Law. Immediately following graduation from law school, Ms. Rhodes served as a judicial law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Since 2014, Ms. Rhodes has been an active member of the Board of Directors, and from March 2016 – March 2019, served as Board Chair and President of, the Coalition of Affordable Housing Providers, Florida’s affordable housing industry vehicle for advocating legislative initiatives, promoting the affordable housing industry through networking and disseminating information, and acting as liaison to Florida Housing Finance Corporation to promote the private sector, local government, and public housing authority interests. She remains an active member of CAHP’s Board. Ms. Rhodes is a frequent invited speaker at various industry conferences, including the Florida Housing Coalition Annual Conference, Novogradac Annual Tax Credit Developers Conference, and the Affordable Housing Investor’s Council Spring Meeting, addressing topics such as Fair Housing in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Inclusive Communities decision, NCSHA’s Updated Best Practices for state allocating agencies, Florida’s response to the effects of climate change and its impacts on building affordable housing, Gentrification without Displacement, and the impact of Opportunity Zones from an affordable housing developer’s perspective. Ms. Rhodes has also participated in two of The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council’s Roundtable discussions at the invitation of the City of Orlando.
Richard E. Cavalieri is an Executive Vice President and Co-Founder of InVictus Development, LLC and leads efforts related to preliminary site selection, entitlements, and design and development and oversees all construction activities related to InVictus’ multifamily projects. Prior to forming InVictus, Mr. Cavalieri was with Primerica Group One, Inc., a where he led site selection and due diligence activities for the firm’s commercial retail and multifamily housing projects from 2005-2006. In 2006, when Primerica became joint venture partners with Norstar Development USA, Mr. Cavalieri transitioned to focus exclusively on Norstar affordable housing development projects and served as owner’s representative and Development Manager on all Florida projects. At Norstar, Mr. Cavalieri was responsible for securing site entitlements, coordinating the efforts of architects, engineers, and consultants and overseeing construction-level activities.
Prior to joining Norstar, Mr. Cavalieri was President of Heritage Construction & Development from 1981 through 1988 where he focused on the purchase and renovation of existing market rate apartment complexes as well as the development of office showroom warehouse buildings. In 1988, Mr. Cavalieri became a founding partner in Impact Business Technologies an accounting software consulting group that tailored software to match the needs of various corporate clients. Mr. Cavalieri sold Computer One in 2004.
Mr. Cavalieri received his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Michigan. Mr. Cavalieri is currently certified as a Florida Building Contractor.
David J. Urban – Mr. Urban is an Executive Vice President and Chief Finance Officer of InVictus Development, LLC, with responsibilities including oversight of tax credit equity and debt relationships and negotiations, financial modeling, operations budgeting and analysis, and project development.
Prior to joining InVictus, Mr. Urban spent more than twenty years with a leading tax credit syndicator and major worldwide financial institution where he was a Director of Acquisitions, primarily covering the Southeast U.S. Over his career as a syndicator, Mr. Urban has structured, negotiated and closed nearly $2 billion of tax advantaged transactions, including federal and state low-income housing tax credits and federal and state historic tax credits, in more than two-thirds of the U.S. states. Mr. Urban has experience with affordable housing transactions utilizing conventional debt, as well as many different public financing vehicles. Over his career, Mr. Urban has significant experience developing, maintaining and managing relationships with numerous public and private organizations, including public housing authorities.
Mr. Urban is a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace University in Berea, OH. He earned both his BA and MBA degrees from Baldwin-Wallace.
Carlyn Lagasse
Carlyn Lagasse serves as InVictus’ Office and Compliance Manager after starting with InVictus in October 2019. Carly manages the compilation of InVictus’ responses to Request for Applications (RFAs), as well as submittal of 8609 Tax Credit Allocation / Certification Packages, and other required compliance procedures. Carlyn is a graduate of Florida State University.
George Trujillo, Jr.
Commercial Leasing Partner | George Trujillo Inc.
Mr. Trujillo is the sole shareholder of George Trujillo Incorporated (GTI), a local, minority-owned company he founded in 2004 to provide commercial site selection, commercial outparcel sales, and commercial leasing services to development companies. Mr. Trujillo has practiced as a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Florida since 1984. For the past 20 years Mr. Trujillo has negotiated leasing contracts with commercial tenants from national “big box” businesses to small local specialty shops for Tampa development company, Primerica Group One, Inc., among other endeavors.