Seoul · Asia-Pacific

Pietro A. Doran

Founder & Chairman · Real Estate and Private Equity

From Korea’s first foreign real-estate advisory to financing New Songdo City — three decades of building platforms where capital, cities, and long-term operating discipline meet.

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Founder & Chairman

First Rock Associates

About

Building platforms that outlast cycles

Globally experienced real estate investor and fund sponsor with three decades of transaction, development, and asset-management experience — most of it in Asia-Pacific.

As Managing Partner, CEO, and CIO of Gale International Korea, he structured US$1.85B in project financing for the US$15B New Songdo City program. As President of Morgan Stanley Properties Korea, he led acquisition and disposition of US$1.5B in distressed real estate securities with a 60-person local platform.

Founder of Doran Capital Partners — Korea’s first domestically based private-equity real estate platform — and First Rock Associates (Asia) Ltd. Most recently Interim Chief Real Estate Officer for a 3.8M sq ft master-planned mixed-use development in Atlanta. MS in Real Estate Finance & Development from MIT; BS Finance (Cum Laude), University of Massachusetts.

Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MS, Real Estate Finance & Development
Center for Real Estate
University of Massachusetts
BS, Finance — Cum Laude
Undergraduate

Affiliations

AMCHAM Korea — senior leadership
FIABCI — leadership roles
Academic appointments in real estate & urban development
ARES Asia-Pacific Real Estate Society — speaker

Career

Three decades of platforms, cities, and capital

From Korea’s first foreign advisory to Songdo, private equity funds, proptech, and senior housing.

1995
Korea’s first international RE advisory
Founder
Established Korea’s first foreign real-estate consulting practice, then entered a joint venture with Chicago’s John Buck Company — later acquired by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds.
Seoul, Korea
Chapter 1 of 9
1999
1999–2002
1999–2002
Morgan Stanley Properties Korea
President & CEO
Led MSREF acquisitions, management, and dispositions of NPL portfolios and hard assets — including sourcing and closing the first Seoul office building acquired by a foreign fund in Korea. Built a 60-person local platform around a US$1.5B distressed RE securities book.
Korea, nationwide
Chapter 2 of 9
2002
2002–2008
2002–2008
New Songdo City
Managing Partner · CEO · CIO, Gale International Korea
Principal leadership of Gale International Korea for the US$15B New Songdo City program — ~10 million sqm of mixed-use construction, 175,000+ residents today. Structured over US$1.85B in development financing and secured governmental master-plan approvals for the initial mixed-use phase.
Songdo, Incheon
Chapter 3 of 9
2007
2007–2010
2007–2010
Triseas Fund I & Doran Capital Partners
Founder
Founded Doran Capital Partners, Korea’s first domestically based PE real estate platform. Raised and managed Korea-focused private equity targeting office, retail, and hotel assets in prime city locations. Raised ~USD 300M institutional capital across the platform life; its redevelopments ranked among ULI & Cityscape Global Top 10 in Asia.
Multiple cities, Korea
Chapter 4 of 9
2009
2009–2011
2009–2011
Award-winning urban redevelopments
Office-to-boutique and 4-star hotel conversions; Daegu city-center redevelopment; Sfunz retail mall, Busan. Recognized by Korea Real Estate Management Society and CITYSCAPE Asia (Best Developer; Best Retail Redevelopment).
Korea & Asia
Chapter 5 of 9
2011
Tianjin New Town advisory
Retained by a US development consortium for master planning and pre-development project management of a 3 million sqm new town in the Bohai region of Tianjin, China — securing governmental approvals.
Tianjin, China
Chapter 6 of 9
2015
2015–
2015–
First Rock Associates (Asia)
Founder & Chairman
Korea-led institutional real estate advisory and investment platform spanning special situations, development programming, and operator-led strategies across APAC — with selective work in the US and Australia.
Seoul · APAC
Chapter 7 of 9
2018
2018–2020
2018–2020
Proptech & tokenized real estate
Co-founder / CEO · Advisory roles
Launched Seoul-based real-estate tokenization and blockchain advisory initiatives; public talks at blockchain open forums; Advisory Board, Coinstreet Partners; collaboration with Hancom on blockchain real estate.
Global
Chapter 8 of 9
2022
2022–
2022–
Atlanta master plan & senior housing
Interim Chief RE Officer · Nuvita co-sponsor
Interim Chief Real Estate Officer for a 3.8M sq ft mixed-use master plan on a 15-acre South Downtown Atlanta site — US$26.8M structured financing, full city approvals in 12 months. Launch of the Nuvita senior housing initiatives with Korea’s leading LTC operator — targeting Korea’s severe senior-housing supply gap.
Atlanta · Seoul
Chapter 9 of 9