Mark Ward
Co-Founder

Mark Ward's 30+ year career in finance and real estate development has resulted in a long and stable track record as both a developer and operator, delivering high quality real estate investments as well as annualized returns consistently in the range of 20-40%.

His career has included successful stints as a Certified Public Accountant, Senior Development Officer for one of the most prestigious hotel companies in the world and President of the first U.S. company to develop Class A office space in Moscow, Russia and Tallinn, Estonia. He has spent the last 16 years as the Managing Partner of TRU Hotels & Resorts, a boutique hotel investment and management firm which he founded in 1995.

After beginning his career as a Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Ward spent several years as a Controller with the Trammell Crow Company in Dallas, Texas and six years with Rosewood Property Company and Rosewood Hotels, Inc. where he was Vice President for Development and the Hotel Group's senior development officer. While with Rosewood, he supervised the development of several nationally know projects, including The Crescent – a 1.8 million square foot office, hotel, and retail center, and the world famous Hotel Hana-Maui, which has frequently been rated as one of the most exclusive resorts in the world. He also played a significant role in numerous other office and retail development projects. He left Rosewood in 1990 to become the managing partner of the group that developed and operated the nationally acclaimed Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe, New Mexico, achieving the state's only Mobil Four Star and AAA Four Diamond for the hotel. Under Ward's 15-year supervision, the hotel maintained its Mobil Four Star and AAA Four Diamond rating and was annually named as one of the top 50 U.S. hotels by the Conde Naste Traveler Annual Readers Survey, ranking as high as 20th.

In 1995 Mr. Ward formed TRU Hotels & Resorts, LLC, a private real estate development and management firm, focusing primarily in the hospitality sector. Since its founding, the firm has developed, owned and/or managed numerous luxury resort hotels and restaurants, as well as other commercial real estate investment projects around the globe. These include the Inn of the Anasazi, the Hotel Hana-Maui and Hana Ranch, the Desoto Hilton in Savannah, Georgia and Tallinn Business Center in Tallinn, Estonia. The Company’s projects have consistently won numerous industry awards, including Conde Naste Traveler's Top Twenty Five U.S. hotels and Gourmet Magazine's top 50 restaurants. Other current projects include developments in Hawaii, Texas and Florida.

Mr. Ward received a Bachelors Degree in Accounting from The University of Texas at Dallas and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is active in his community, serving on the Board of Interfaith Housing Coalition of Dallas. He resides in Plano, Texas with his wife Sharon with whom he has two grown children.