visionary future
The Almond Tree team is made of experienced individuals
to create a strong foundation.
core team
Mark Mandelbaum President
Mark Mandelbaum received a law degree from the University of Toronto Law School in 1981 and was subsequently called to the bar in 1983.
After practicing corporate and commercial law at Minden Gross in Toronto, Mark joined H&R Developments as Vice President, Land Development and Corporate Counsel. Spanning a period of over 20 years, Mark developed thousands of acres of residential, industrial and commercial lands, primarily in the Greater Toronto Area. While retaining his position at H&R, Mark, together with Barry Fenton, founded Lanterra Developments in the late 1990s. Lanterra flourished to become one of Toronto’s preeminent downtown condominium developers.
Today, H&R remains a substantial company which primarily owns and operates a portfolio of revenue producing real estate assets. It is managed by its CEO, Evan Miller and governed by a four-person executive board of which Mark is a member. Mark, together with his son, Raphael, is also engaged in a number of real estate development ventures in the United States. Mark also sits on the boards of various philanthropic and religious organizations.
Mark founded Almond Tree Enterprises to serve as the umbrella entity to represent the varied business, financial and philanthropic interests of the Mandelbaum family.
Kevin Panovka Chief Financial Officer
Kevin was born and grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa area. He attended Witwatersrand University and the University of South Africa, studying commerce and accounting.
He completed his articles at a national South African accounting firm en route to obtaining his Commercial and Financial Accountant designation. Subsequently, Kevin founded KMP Consultants, an accounting firm which he ran for over 20 years until emigrating with his family to Canada in 2003. After arriving in Canada, Kevin began working with Mark Mandelbaum in 2003 at H&R Developments and transitioned to Almond Tree upon its founding.
Kevin lives in Thornhill with his wife, two children and two dogs. Outside of work, he enjoys participating in and watching all types of sports.
Fan Bai Accountant
Fan earned a diploma in accounting with a specialization in finance from Jilin University in China and subsequently a certificate in accounting from Trios College in Mississauga.
Prior to joining Almond Tree in 2016, she held accounting positions at Highland Farms. Fan lives in Mississauga with her husband and her son. In her spare time, she loves to garden, go on hikes and spend time with friends and family.
Fatima Umana Administrative Assistant
Fatima earned an Advanced Diploma in Business Administration with a specialization in Finance from George Brown College. Prior to joining Almond Tree in early 2022, she held administrative positions in the catering and healthcare industries.
Fatima loves her grey tabby cat that she has had for several years. In her spare time, Fatima works out at the gym, likes taking walks in the park and spending time with friends and family.
Hongwei Xiao Director, Accounting
Hongwei earned a degree in accounting (with Dean’s Honours) from George Brown College in 2004. She also holds the Chartered Professional Accountant designation (CPA) from CPA Ontario.
Prior to joining Almond Tree in 2010, Hongwei worked in the accounting department at Gold Park Homes for five years.
Hongwei lives in Richmond Hill with her husband and two children. Outside of work, she enjoys Chinese painting, gardening and hiking.
advisory board
advisory board
Zev Mandelbaum International Real Estate Advisory Board
Zev Mandelbaum is the Principal and CEO of Altree Developments. Altree is a real estate development company that provides unmatched insight, expertise and service to landmark development projects and iconic communities across the GTA and North America.
Under Zev’s leadership, Altree is developing a number of unique properties within its growing portfolio that will transform the landscape of each distinct neighbourhood. Altree has a diverse portfolio of developments ranging from ultra-luxury condominiums to master-planned communities in the GTA. Its current portfolio includes sought-after communities located in Forest Hill, Briar Hill, Etobicoke and Highland Creek. Most notable is the Private Residences of Forest Hill which features boutique units located at 2 Forest Hill Rd. In keeping with its vision, all Altree Developments projects are in prime residential locations that offer strong potential for long-term value and growth.
Zev holds an international degree in finance and has extensive experience working throughout the development industry. Zev resides in Toronto with his wife, Zoe and their three kids Aaron, Ezra and Aliyah.
Raphael Mandelbaum International Real Estate Advisory Board
Raphael began his career in real estate in 2010 with the founding of Lantower Realty and Property Management, which rebranded as LanTree Developments in 2017.
Initially focused on the acquisition of revenue-producing multifamily assets in New York, the company accumulated a portfolio of distressed residential and retail assets. Under Raphael’s leadership, these real estate assets were successfully repositioned, revitalizing neighborhoods and delivering much-needed, attainably priced housing to the market. In recent years, Raphael has expanded LanTree’s scope of services to include the acquisition and management of development projects, amassing a project pipeline of more than a million square feet in key metropolitan markets across New York and New Jersey.
Raphael resides in Lakewood Township, NJ with his wife and six children. In his spare time, Raphael values spending time with his family and hitting the local trails on his mountain bike.
Noam Edell Public & Private Equity Advisory Board
Noam is the President and founder of Clanton Capital, a Toronto based investment management firm focused on making direct investments in growth-stage companies.
Since inception, Clanton has completed 16 investments and has realized four exits from its portfolio companies. Prior to founding Clanton in 2018, Noam worked as a lawyer for a full-service law firm based in Toronto and for a New York City based multi-strategy hedge fund with $17 billion in assets under management. Noam holds a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto and an International Master of Business Administration from Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Noam currently sits on several corporate boards in addition to being active on the boards of several not-for-profit charitable organizations that he cares deeply about. In his free time, Noam enjoys spending time with his wife and three children at their family cottage and being an active participant in multiple sports leagues.
Martin Blatt Public & Private Equity Advisory Board
Martin is the founder & CEO of Lane Partners, an asset management firm focused on opportunistic Real Estate and Venture Capital investments.
He is also an angel investor and sits on the Board of various private and publicly-traded companies.
Prior to founding Lane Partners, Martin was a Vice President at Almond Tree Enterprises, where he managed the family’s portfolio of real estate, public & private equities and alternative investment holdings. In his role, he was also responsible for the origination, due diligence and syndication of prospective transactions. Most notably, Martin was instrumental in the expansion of Almond Tree’s private equity business.
Martin has previously held roles at a preeminent Israeli Venture Capital fund and at FirePower Capital, a Toronto-based private capital firm. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Martin is married to Shifra, the youngest of the Mandelbaum children. Together they have three children and are engaged in many philanthropic initiatives, both within their Toronto community and abroad.