Voyage Investments was co-founded by two first-generation immigrants, Alex Robles and Juan Saenz.

Borne from Alex and Juan’s life experiences and their drive to generate value for communities through neighborhood investments. Grit, persistence, collaboration, and perspective are ingrained within the culture at Voyage.

Our Story

Our Mission

Our Partnerships

The Founders

Alex Robles

Co-founder

Alex co-leads Voyage Investments’ overall operations and acquisition strategy. He is responsible for the assemblage of vacant / under-utilized properties and collaborates with local market participants and stakeholders to execute projects. He has over 12 years of experience in hospitality, underwriting, marketing, and real estate investment. As part of SHIFT Capital’s Developer-in-Residence program, he manages the company’s largest Philadelphia projects with a total development cost over $100M. Prior to his investment career, Alex spent seven years working in operations at HEI Hotels & Resorts, a private hotel real estate investment firm. In his time with HEI, he spearheaded sales & marketing efforts for hotels within brands such as Le Meridien and Westin prior to leading the business travel strategy for a 17-hotel cluster.

Alex serves as Board Chair of the Kensington Corridor Trust, a community land trust in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, and Treasurer of Norris Square Community Alliance, a non-profit serving the early-education, affordable housing, and workforce training needs of a majority-Latino neighborhood. Alex is a proud North Philadelphia native with Dominican immigrant roots.

Alex received his Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School and his Bachelors of Science from Penn State University’s School of Hospitality Management. He is married to his college sweetheart, Lee Anne, and has twin sons, Lorenzo and Christian.

Juan Saenz

Co-founder

Juan co-leads Voyage Investment’s acquisition and capital markets strategy. He is experienced in asset management and community development finance, specifically in underwriting, financial analysis, and commercial lending. His life and work experiences drive him towards creating positive investments in underserved communities.

As part of SHIFT Capital’s Developer-in-Residence program, Juan is responsible for overseeing SHIFT’s Neighborhood Fund ($200 MM AUM) in an asset management role. The SHIFT Neighborhood Fund is a 2 million square-foot portfolio of mixed-use (commercial and residential) and industrial assets. He also supports SHIFT’s Catalyst Fund ($350 MM AUM) in the underwriting of new acquisition opportunities for the company’s national expansion in markets outside the greater Philadelphia area.

Prior to this, he worked for Kroll Bond Rating Agency’s (KBRA) commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) department in an underwriting capacity, providing credit ratings for newly issued CMBS and CRE CLO transactions. He also worked for KBRA’s analytics team, underwriting distressed CRE loans and providing surveillance for a portfolio totaling $2 billion in transactions.

Juan holds a Master’s in Real Estate from NYU University and a BA in Finance from Penn State University.

Advisors

Brian Murray

Partner, CEO
SHIFT Capital
Brian is Partner, CEO of SHIFT Capital, a Certified B Corporation® on a mission to collectively build just neighborhoods. He founded SHIFT to drive more equitable development in underserved neighborhoods and cities by aligning capital and philanthropy. Through his work and leadership at SHIFT, Brian is focused on finding better solutions for society’s most difficult urban challenges — intergenerational poverty, urban revitalization, access to opportunity, and community displacement. Brian led the capital raise for SHIFT’s Neighborhood Fund, and he manages the deployment of over $330 million of investments throughout SHIFT’s portfolio in Philadelphia PA, Newark NJ, Washington DC, and Upstate New York. Brian is a Peace Corps alumnus and a MBA graduate of Yale School of Management.
Sharif Mitchell

CEO
Northern Liberties
As Co-Founder and CEO of Northern Liberties, Sharif T. Mitchell is an accomplished real estate owner, operator, and strategist who uses social impact investing in changing communities, driving the process of responsibly and intentionally deploying institutional capital. Mr. Mitchell’s work in acquisitions and investment management across the country has resulted in over $390M in investments. Mr. Mitchell launched Dantes Community Partners (DCP) in 2015, and preceding DCP, Mr. Mittchell was an Executive Director in the Commercial Term Lending Group at JP Morgan Chase. Mr. Mitchell is a member of the Real Estate Executive Council (REEC), Urban Land Institute (ULI), NYC Housing Council, and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NHMC). He also volunteers his time with Project REAP, an organization assisting minority professionals in transitioning into careers in commercial real estate.