Don Pavlov

Mr. Pavlov has built his career exclusively in commercial real estate capital markets, with experience spanning origination, underwriting, and placement of debt and equity across the full capital stack. He has been involved in more than $8 billion of transactions nationwide, with a particular focus on ground-up development and transitional value-add projects.

Prior to joining George Smith Partners, Don was Head of Capital Markets at Lev, where he oversaw over $2 billion in closed financings. At Lev, he focused on integrating data and artificial intelligence into the financing process, building technology-enabled workflows that improved lender outreach, market intelligence, and execution efficiency for clients. Previously, Don was with Newmark, where he worked on large-scale, highly structured financings, often $100 million and above, across multiple asset classes and geographies.  Don began his career at Mission Capital, where he focused on loan sales, trading, and advisory for institutional clients. This early experience gave him unique insight into secondary markets, distressed debt, and the broader ecosystem of capital markets beyond new originations.

Don is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and serves clients nationally. He is a member of ULI and was recognized by Commercial Observer in its “30 Under 30” list of top financing professionals. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Industrial and Labor Relations and double minors in Business and Real Estate. While at Cornell, he was also a member of the varsity football team.