Craig Black serves as Director for Partner Valuation Advisors. In this role, he is focused on the assistance of on-site property inspections and final review of appraisal reports. With over 30 years of commercial and residential appraisal and review experience. Mr. Black is a certified generalist appraiser who evaluates various property types.
Prior to Partner Valuation Advisors, Mr. Black served as a commercial appraiser with Williams Appraisers in Raleigh, NC, PGP Valuation and Cassinelli Jackson LLC in Portland, Oregon, and as a Senior Review Appraiser with Bank of America in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Black has significant experience in the procurement, valuation, and review of many commercial property types, including multi-family, industrial and office, hotel/motel, and neighborhood and regional shopping centers.
Highlights
- 30 years experience in the commercial and residential appraisal industry
- 30 years as a generalist, appraising a variety of property types
Education
- Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, Bachelor of Science, Program Management
Registrations
- State Of Oregon, Certified General – C000679 (08/31/2025)
- State of Washington, Certified General – 1100994 (08/21/2026)
- State of Texas, Certified General – TX 1381258 G (12/31/2026)
Dominic LaSon is a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser and serves as a Portfolio Analyst for Partner Valuation Advisors, where he focuses on supporting portfolio valuations. His role includes consolidating and transforming data, valuing real estate assets, and improving processes and analytical capabilities.
Prior to Partner Valuation Advisors, Mr. LaSon served as an Appraiser at RealPro Valuation for 3 years. In this role, he performed fair market valuations on a wide range of commercial property types, with an emphasis on multifamily and industrial.
Highlights
- 3+ years in the appraisal industry
Education
- Bachelor of Science | Accountancy | Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
Certifications
- Certified General Real Estate Appraiser in the states of Arizona and Pennsylvania
Licenses
- Certified General Appraiser – Arizona
- Certified General Appraiser – Pennsylvania
Ishan Gajra is a Vice President at Partner Valuation Advisors who joined the firm in March 2023. He has valued multiple asset types throughout the United States for a variety of clients, with a focus on multifamily and mixed-use properties.
Before joining Partner, Ishan spent time at Bowery Valuation, where he was a member of the Private Lending office. Prior to joining Bowery, Ishan worked as a Financial Assistant at Acropolis Realty Group in Syracuse, NY, where he worked on the development & acquisition and property management teams.
Education
- Bachelor of Science in Finance, Real Estate, & Management, Syracuse University – Whitman School of Management
Appraisal Licenses
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
- New York
- Pennsylvania
Andrew is a Senior Associate at Partner Valuation Advisors with a core focus on multifamily properties. Andrew has experience with both small and large-scale multifamily assets. Additionally, Andrew has worked across various other asset classes, including land, mixed-use developments, subdivisions, student housing, retail, luxury single-family homes, and condominium conversions.
Andrew’s background includes inspection, research, and appraisal of residential, multifamily properties and mixed-use buildings. His experience covers a vast variety of property types, covering everything from Class A assets to Affordable Housing. Andrew was trained in and covers the Chicago area and has also assisted with and completed valuation reports for property in over 25 states.
Highlights
- 4+ years of experience in Real Estate Valuation
- 3 years additional work experience in Finance and Sales
Education
- Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a Minor in Environmental Science & Sustainability, Michigan State University
Registrations
- Practicing Affiliate
- Appraisal Institute
Licenses
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Michigan
Emily Dittus serves as Senior Associate of Partner Valuation. Actively engaged in real estate valuation and consulting assignments since November 2018, Ms. Dittus focuses on appraisal and consulting assignments for the valuation of multifamily assets, specializing in all types of affordable housing nationwide.
Before joining Partner Valuation Advisors, Ms. Dittus served as a Senior Analyst at JLL Valuation Advisors from 2018 to 2023.
Highlights
- Provided appraisals for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
- Specialized experience in affordable housing, HUD Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP)
appraisals, and affordable housing market studies
Education
- Bachelor of Arts in Geosciences/Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Tulsa
Certifications & Training
- Certified: Geographic Information Systems, Tulsa Community College
Successfully completed the following Appraisal Institute Certified Courses:
- Basic Appraisal Principles
- Basic Appraisal Procedures
- 15-Hour National USPAP Course
- General Appraiser Income Approach: Part 1& 2
- Advanced Income Capitalization
- General Appraiser Sales Comparison Approach
- General Appraiser Site Valuation and Cost Approach
- General Appraiser Market Analysis Highest and Best Use
- General Report Writing & Case Studies
Appraisal Licenses
Trey Sawyer serves as a Vice President of Partner Valuation Advisors. In this role, Mr. Sawyer focuses on appraisal and consulting assignments for the valuation of multi-family assets, with a specialization in all types of affordable housing, nationwide.
Mr. Sawyer has valuation experience in affordable multi-family real estate for a variety of clients. His focus and experience include Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), HUD, Freddie and Fannie agency debt, conventional apartments, complex mixed-use developments, and portfolio valuation. Valuations have been prepared on proposed, partially completed, renovated and existing structures.
Prior to joining Partner Valuation Advisors, Mr. Sawyer served as an analyst at JLL Valuation Advisory from 2021 to 2023.
Highlights
• Provided appraisals for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
• Specialized experience in affordable housing
Education
Bachelor of Science Business Administration | Finance | Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma
Appraisal Licenses
Colorado
James Burgwald currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Partner Valuation Advisors. Mr. Burgwald is based in Chicago and has more than seven years of national commercial real estate appraisal experience appraising office, life sciences, retail, mixed-use, multifamily, residential condominiums, special purpose, and land assets. Mr. Burgwald has vast experience in modeling assets with complex rent rolls, land residual analyses for master planned developments, and highest and best use analyses for potential redevelopments of existing assets.
Mr. Burgwald currently focuses on the valuation of office assets. Significant past assignments and experience includes Chrysler Building (New York, NY); 110 North Wacker (Chicago, IL); Old Post Office (Chicago, IL); Lincoln Yards North (Chicago, IL); significant portions of Hudson Yards (office, residential, retail – New York, NY); and, Allston Labs (life sciences, Boston, MA). Other non-office appraisal and consulting experience of note includes Central Park Tower (New York, NY); the preparation of four, quarterly investment models for a prominent REIT for SEC-required reporting purposes; and, real estate valuation for buy-side diligence utilized for the recapitalization of a national developer.
Most recently prior to Partner Valuation Advisors, Mr. Burgwald was a Senior Vice President at JLL, focusing on the valuation of office assets. Prior to JLL, Mr. Burgwald was an analyst with Integra Realty Resources
Highlights
• 7+ years of Commercial Real Estate Appraisal Experience
• 4+ years of specialized office appraisal experience
Education
Bachelor of Science in Business – Business Economics, International Business – Indiana University, 2012
Appraisal Licenses
Illinois – Trainee
Experience Summary
John Schaaf serves as a Senior Associate of Partner Valuation Advisors New York Office. Mr. Schaaf has over two years of commercial real estate appraisal experiences appraising office, industrial, retail, and special-use properties. In his prior roles valuation and consulting assignments have included investment-grade properties in the local, national, and international markets for commercial lending, financial reporting, portfolio valuation, tax purposes, litigation, and due diligence.
Throughout his career, Mr. Schaaf has significant experience working on large-scale projects including multi-story Class A Offices on Madison Avenue, million-square-foot industrial properties in the Tri-State region, and hundreds of lease valuations for dental offices, fast food restaurants, and retail stores. He has assisted clients and communicated with auditors with the valuation of national portfolio of assets on a quarterly and yearly basis to ensure the highest standard of quality and timely results.
Prior to joining Partner Valuation Advisors in June 2023, Mr. Schaaf served as Senior Analyst at JLL Valuation Advisory from 2021-2023.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Finance - Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Registrations
Connecticut
Massachusetts
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Experience Summary
Daniel Lewis is a Vice President at Partner Valuation Advisors.
Prior to joining Partner, Daniel spent nearly two years at Bowery Valuation, where
he was a member of the Private Lending office. He has appraised multifamily, retail, office, mixed-use, manufactured housing, hotel, & condominium properties throughout the United States for a variety of clients.
Before joining Bowery, Daniel served as a Real Estate Advisor Intern at ERG Commercial Real Estate based in Long Island, New York.
Education
Pace University – Lubin School of Business:
Master of Business Administration in Corporate Finance
Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance with a minor in Business Management
Appraisal Licenses
New York
Steve Schuman, Vice President for Partner Valuation Advisors, LLC (Partner) and based in St. Louis, MO, is a real estate professional and urban planner with over 16 years of expertise in real estate, planning, and economic development consulting. His career has been marked by a deep commitment to urban and historic redevelopment, coupled with a profound understanding of the intricate opportunities and challenges within these domains.
Before his current role at Partner, Mr. Schuman was Vice President at JLL Valuation Advisory Services. Prior to that, he was an Associate and Senior Real Estate Strategist at Development Strategies, Inc.
Memberships
- American Planning Association
- Urban Land Institute
Education
- M.A. in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development, Saint Louis University 2006
- B.A. in Urban Affairs, Saint Louis University 2004
Registrations
- Certified General Real Estate Appraiser – Missouri and Illinois