Sila Realty Trust Appoints REIT Veteran as Chief Accounting Officer Ahead of Potential Listing
Sila Realty Trust Inc., a publicly registered, non-traded real estate investment trust formerly known as Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT II, has appointed a new chief accounting officer.
Sila Realty Trust Inc., a publicly registered, non-traded real estate investment trust formerly known as Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT II, has appointed Robert Labenski as chief accounting officer.
Labenski replaces Jamie Yoakum, who was terminated from the position in late May, as reported by The DI Wire.
Labenski has 35 years of accounting and regulatory experience, focusing on real estate companies, and more specifically, real estate investment trusts.
“Mr. Labenski’s vast experience with REITs, including public REITs, is paramount, as he brings important expertise critical to our company and we look forward to leveraging his broad accounting, audit, regulatory and advisory background as a key member of the leadership team,” said Kay Neely, executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Michael Seton, president and chief executive officer, believes that Labenski’s accounting background and knowledge of public REITs will be beneficial to Sila Realty Trust as it pursues a liquidity event, particularly, a public market listing of its shares.
Prior to joining the company, Labenski served as lead audit partner on various real estate companies, including REITs, at RSM US LLP, a position he held since January 2020. Before RSM, he was an audit partner with KPMG LLP where he spent more than 32 years.
According to the company, he was the lead audit partner on 17 different public REITs during the course of his career, with experience in various real estate sectors, including healthcare, hotels, office, retail, self-storage, multifamily, single-family rental and industrial.
He was a member of KPMG’s national real estate leadership team for 20 years, and was responsible for the audit functions of the U.S. building, construction and real estate practice in both the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.
Labenski also held various other positions within KPMG, including the Jacksonville, Florida office managing partner, Southeast region asset management practice leader, and Southeast partner in charge of university recruiting.
The company said that he is “well versed” in the rules and regulations issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and has provided guidance to REITs on proposed transactions, internal control structuring, corporate governance, and technical accounting and reporting matters.
Labenski has been an active member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) since 1998. While at KPMG, he served as that firm’s representative on the NAREIT Best Financial Practices Council, and currently acts in that role representing RSM.
He graduated from Boston College with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, is a certified public accountant in the State of Florida, and is a member of the AICPA.
Sila Realty Trust invests in healthcare real estate and oversees a portfolio of 126 properties and two land parcels, as of March 31, 2022. The REIT raised approximately $1.2 billion in investor equity after launching its initial offering in May 2014. Its follow-on offering closed in November 2018 after raising $129.3 million.
