TEAM

Senior Team

Beat Kähli

President & CEO

Marybel Defillo

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Ross Halle

Senior Vice President

Stephanie Lerret

Senior Vice President of Marketing & Community Relations

Mari Robles

Senior Vice President and HR Director

JJ Sofarelli

Senior Vice President of Development

Cynthia Novoa

Senior Vice President of Accounting

Eric Wills

Land Development Director

Location Management

William Stearns

Real Estate Portfolio Manager

Nery Thorimbert

Commercial Leasing Manager Orlando

Monica Puche

Business Operations Manager

Principals

Richard Kunz

President, Avalon Park Texas, LP

Dr. Christoph Stutz

Principal, Investments

Andreas Derzsi

Principal, Investments

Ravi Kumar

Principal, Investments

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Beat Kähli

Beat Kahli is the Founder, President and CEO of Avalon Park Group, where he has spent more than 30 years bringing people, businesses and communities together. His work is guided by the mission to change the way the world lives, learns, works and plays.

Under his leadership, Avalon Park Group develops master-planned communities throughout Central Florida, including Orlando, Tampa, Daytona Beach and Tavares. He has also built a diverse portfolio of businesses in real estate, healthcare, technology and other industries. Beat also serves as CEO of sitEX Properties AG, a publicly traded Swiss real estate company.

While Beat has received numerous honors as one of Central Florida’s most influential and respected business leaders, he is equally passionate about giving back. He has supported and served many local organizations, including the YMCA, the American Red Cross, the Boy Scouts, the University of Central Florida and AdventHealth.

Beat earned his business degree from the Zurich Business School. He and his wife, Jill, divide their time between their home in Avalon Park Orlando, the company’s flagship community, and their family ranch in Ocala. He is also the proud father of four children.

Marybel Defillo

Marybel Defillo came to Avalon Park Group in the Spring of 2014, where she serves as Chief Financial Officer. Marybel comes to Avalon Park Group with over 15 years of public accounting experience mainly from top national firms. While working in public accounting, she mainly served companies in the construction, real estate, manufacturing and wholesale/distribution industries.

Marybel has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and a Master’s Degree in Finance and is a Florida licensed Certified Public Accountant. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Ross Halle


Ross received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Miami, and received his Masters in Architecture and Certificate in American Urbanism from the University of Virginia. Prior to joining The Avalon Park Group in 1999, Ross worked for Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Dover, Kohl and Partners and Roger Fry Architects. In addition to Avalon Park, Ross has worked on other notable projects such as CityPlace- West Palm Beach, I’On – Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, the Miami Lakes Town Center, and the plans for Downtown Ft. Pierce’s redevelopment.

Currently, Ross is the Senior Vice President for the Avalon Park Group and is responsible for the design, permitting, and implementation of both the horizontal and vertical development endeavors associated with The Avalon Park Group.

Stephanie Lerret

Stephanie Hodson Lerret came to Avalon Park Group in the Fall of 2003. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Political Science and Anthropology.

Stephanie handles the planning and production of the marketing and special events for Avalon Park Group-owned entities. She is actively involved in the community by participating in organizations such as the Rotary Club and the East Orlando Chamber of Commerce.

She also sits on various boards, such as the YMCA, Team Volusia, Volusia Association for Responsible Development, Pasco Economic Development Council and the Arthritis Foundation of Florida.

Mary Robles

Mari Robles came to Avalon Park Group in 2009 as a property accountant. With over 9 years of experience in human resources, she quickly accelerated to her role where she currently serves as Senior Vice President, overseeing all human resources for the Avalon Park Group of companies. Her desire to create a positive and inviting employee experience for the entire team led her to apply for and receiving a $150,000 grant with AdventHealth (formerly Florida Hospital) to transform the company into one of the healthiest companies in Central Florida. Her forward-thinking quickly extended that goal into the communities being built by Avalon Park Group, where the LiveWell brand was born and is being developed. She continuously strives for the ultimate employee experience through listening, training and understanding the team.

Mari attended West Coast Christian College in Fresno, California.

JJ Soffarelli

JJ Sofarelli oversees all vertical development projects within the USA based group of companies. He also works closely with senior management of the company to identify, contract and close new real-estate related opportunities, manage investor, lender, and other stakeholder relationships, and generate and maintain many of the financial models for prospective and existing projects and opportunities.

 

A Central Florida native, JJ graduated magna cum laude from the University of Florida where he studied Construction Management and Business Administration. He was also a member of the Honors Program and Florida Blue Key. JJ was a scholarship grant recipient from the University of Florida – Hough Graduate School of Business, where he received his Master of Science in Real Estate. Before coming to Avalon Park Group in the summer of 2015, JJ gained experience in both preconstruction and operations at several construction companies, including J. Raymond Construction Company in Longwood and Holder Construction Company in Atlanta.

Cynthia Novoa

Cynthia joined Avalon Park Group in 2020 as our VP of Accounting. Prior to joining our team, she served as CFO of Data Transfer Solutions for 12 years. As part of the leadership team, she was an integral part of the growth of the company from under $5M to over $25M in annual revenue. As the CFO she managed the successful acquisition of DTS by SNC Lavalin in 2017. After the acquisition, Cynthia served as the Federal Business Unit Controller for Atkins North America, an SNC Lavalin company. She has also worked as a Controller in the telecommunications and insurance industries for different companies. She has over 20 years of experience in accounting and finance, as well as management, human resources and general business administration.

She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the Florida Atlantic University and a Master in Business Administration with a track in Accounting and Finance from the same institution.

Eric Wills

Eric Wills joined Avalon Park Group in 2017.  He currently serves as Land Development Director overseeing the horizontal site development of the company’s Florida properties.  Eric has thirty years of experience in land acquisition, permitting, and development having worked as a planner in the public sector and land  manager for four local residential homebuilders.

 

A native Central Floridian, Eric grew up on Merritt Island on Florida’s east coast.  He holds an undergraduate degree from Rollins College, where he graduated with honors, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Central Florida.  Eric is also a licensed Florida Real Estate Broker.

Monica Puche

Monica Puche began her career in the property management industry in 2001, starting as a leasing agent and steadily advancing into multiple onsite management roles. Through dedication, leadership, and consistent performance, she progressed into a Regional Manager position, overseeing communities throughout Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Passionate about professional development, Monica has completed extensive industry training and earned several key credentials, including her Florida Real Estate License and the Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) designation.

In 2025, Monica joined Avalon Park Group. She currently serves as Business Operations Manager for The 5th Floor coworking offices and Avalon Park Gym, where she leads daily operations, enhances member experience, and drives business growth initiatives. With more than two decades of industry experience, Monica is committed to cultivating welcoming, collaborative environments where businesses and members can succeed while fostering meaningful relationships and a strong sense of community.

Richard Kunz

Richard Kunz heads Avalon Park Texas L.P. founded in 2008, a joint venture with Avalon Park Group, Orlando. 

Mr. Kunz is a Swiss national, lawyer by education, entrepreneur by passion. Avalonpark Texas L.P. invests in real estate ventures with a focus on niche products in the Central Texas area, but also invests in non-real estate related companies and ventures, thereby teaming up with other partners individually tailored for each project. “We are constantly looking for new investment opportunities in all kinds of business segments which sell products or provide services in niche markets. 

Our goal is to joint venture with partners who share the same entrepreneurial and long term views with Beat Kahli and me and who can bring complimentary skills and know how to the table to ensure the success of our projects.”

Dr. Christoph Stutz

Based in Basel, Switzerland, Dr. Christoph Stutz oversees business strategy of the group in Europe. He graduated as a lawyer from the University of Basel, specializing in building and planning law, in particular, district and development planning for the rezoning of large land plots. His firm, Büro Dr. Stutz, a project management and real estate development company has been active since 1997. He began his career in Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB), the city’s public transport operator, later becoming Deputy Director. In 1988, he was elected to the Grand Council of Basel-Stadt, serving for 8 years.

Presently, he is the Chairman of sitEX Properties Holding AG (sitEX) and serves as board member of various companies in the real estate, ancillary construction and energy sectors.

He is also a member of the steering committee for urban development at the Klybeck plus site (260,000 m²) in Basel with the three partners Novartis – BASF – Canton Basel-Stadt. As a member of the Foundation Board committee of the Fondation Beyeler Basel/Riehen, he continues to serve the Basel community.

His former involvement in public transport, health care and as a member of the cantonal government of Basel-Stadt has provided him with a broad field of knowledge and experience. Among his larger projects are the overall management of the “Bahnhof Ost, Peter Merian Haus and Jacob Burckhardt Haus” development next to the Basel main train station with an investment volume of CHF 700 mn and a gross floor area of more than 100’000 m². He was also jointly responsible for the construction of several condominium and rental apartment buildings in the greater Basel and Zurich area with investment volumes of between CHF 10 mn-75 mn.

Andreas Derzsi

As partner, Andreas Derzsi is responsible for international business development. He is the director of Amber Capital Pte. Ltd., a consulting and advisory company with a focus on real estate and finance. Through his company, he mainly consults and advises sitEX Properties Holding AG, which he also serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors since July 2013. With his support, the company has grown to be one of Switzerland’s best-performing publicly-traded real estate companies, with a 10-year average IRR of 19%. While helping sitEX grow, he has also focused on optimizing business processes and financial structures within the company, bringing down operating expenses by 60% while lowering its debt-to-equity ratio by half.

 

He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration at University of St. Gallen in Switzerland and underwent an exchange program at Singapore Management University. He also received his master’s degree in investment management at Cass Business School in London UK. Upon completing his education, he gained valuable experience in an international business consultancy, the Swiss embassy in Singapore, as well as in a multifamily office with a focus on private equity transactions.

Ravi Kumar

As partner of Avalon Park Investments, Ravi Kumar is responsible for managing the group’s investments globally and growing the portfolio companies. He is an experienced investment professional, having worked as an associate at Momentum Ventures, a Singapore corporate venture capital and Sienna Enterprises, a boutique corporate finance and investment advisory firm. He has worked on numerous cross border transactions in the real estate and project financing space.
He is currently CEO of Nought Labs, the growth strategy arm of APG and executive director of Sumner Capital, an Australian real estate investment manager with AUD300mn in AUM. He is also director of Bimwedo, a real estate technology solutions company based in Asia.
He graduated from the National University of Singapore with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and completed an exchange program at the Technical University of Eindhoven, Netherlands. He is a two-time recipient of the ASEAN Scholarship and a national athlete for Malaysia having competed at several international competitions in the sport of Floorball.

sitEX

Investment into sitEX Properties Holding AG, a publicly traded Swiss real estate development company with activities in Northwest Switzerland, Central Florida and Texas. Largest shareholder. Top performing publicly traded company in Switzerland with a 10-yr IRR of 19.4%.