WHO WE ARE
LION'S GROUP
LION'S GROUP is a real estate related investment brokerage, consulting and advisory firm. Lion's Group provides a wide spectrum of services ranging from real estate management consulting and commercial real estate brokerage to a full EB-5 service for foreign investors as a part of an immigration program created by the U.S. Congress in 1990.
In the 90s Lion's started its operations in China as a real estate investment advisory for multinational corporations which included market analysis, returns forecasting, financing assistance, property leasing and management.
In 2007 the firm expanded its business to include China's internationally minded elite. As we have earned our clients' trust, they have entrusted us with more and more of their plans for the future, including investment in international real estate, investment in EB-5 projects through our Regional Center and now potentially bringing manufacturing jobs to the US.
CHAIM KATZAP
Founder & CEO
Lion’s Group was founded by a team of experienced partners led by Chaim Katzap. Katzap Realty Services, our parent company in New York City, is a 33-year-old brokerage firm representing buyers and sellers in the residential, commercial and retail real estate sectors.
Prior to 2007 Mr. Katzap closed real estate transactions valued at over $10 billion. He became involved with EB-5 activities in 2007 (New York, Colorado, New Hampshire) and in July, 2013 received EB-5 designation for the Lion’s Regional Center. Through early 2016, Lion’s has raised over $475 million for projects in New York, Colorado, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.
He established a footprint in China in the early 90’s when he consulted in the construction of first high-rise residential building, several dozen of traditional Chinese Quadrant homes and the first golf course in the Economic & Technical Development Zone in the city of Langfang, Hebei Province. He has established an office in China and has continually marketed there to promote investment in the US. He was instrumental in creating over a hundred thousand jobs as a result of the projects valued from $75 million to over $2 billion during his 37-year career.
With accrued real estate transactions exceeding USD 10 billion, he has led the acquisition, site assemblage, sale, leasing, planning and development of a multitude of properties in New York and worldwide. Click here to see a list of his projects.
SOFIE KATZAP
CFO & COO
Sofie Katzap spent most of her 30+ year career on Wall Street working at Salomon Brothers, Goldman and at Tribeca Global Management, a subsidiary of Citigroup. Working her way up from a position of junior accountant to a managing director of Salomon Brothers in 1994, she subsequently joined Goldman Sachs as a managing director of the Wealth Management Division and Tribeca Global Management as a COO in 2004.
When Sofie was named the Chief Administrative Officer of Salomon Asia Pacific Operations in 1994, she and her family moved to Hong Kong, marking a beginning of their two-decade long involvement in China’s business and culture.
Throughout her career, she was involved in building, maintaining, improving or redesigning the infrastructure for various financial products and services in many countries. She joined Lion’s in 2013 as a CFO/COO to develop the infrastructure for Lion’s Regional Center, LLC and manage ongoing investments projects.