Who We Are

WKS Management Team

Curtis L. Kaufman

A Sacramento native, Curt Kaufman brings 30 years of real estate and general management experience to WK&S, including 14 years as a partner in real estate development and construction firms. Curt has additional experience in banking and real estate brokerage.

As a partner in Kaufman Construction and Development and with Kaufman and Reynolds Construction Company, Curt specialized in the development of commercial and industrial properties for clients in both the private and public sectors. Both firms acted as developer and contractor for a variety of clients and also developed and managed investments for their own account. Curt's responsibilities extended beyond construction management to include financing and leasing activities. Immediately prior to forming WK&S, Curt was a principal in a Sacramento based mortgage brokerage firm.

Curt has a degree in Business & Real Estate from Arizona State University and is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of California.

James M. Sutter

Jim Sutter provides WK&S with analytical and business planning skills necessary for prudent due diligence and investment performance evaluation.

He began his career in mortgage banking handling a number of assignments from property inspections to loan administration. In 1984 Jim joined the Corporate Planning staff of Weyerhaeuser Mortgage Company where he participated in planning, operations review, and other decision support projects on behalf of senior management. In 1986 he joined the Income Property division of Weyerhaeuser and provided analytical support for investment feasibility and portfolio management. Subsequently with Weyerhaeuser in Sacramento and then with Koll Realty Advisors, Jim focused on providing financial services for institutions and developers in the area of mortgage brokerage and asset management.

Jim earned his B.S. in business administration from the University of Arizona. He is licensed as a Real Estate Broker in California.

Origination Staff

Brian Kaufman

Brian Kaufman brought 5 years of institutional mortgage banking experience to the WKS Team when he joined the Gold River office in January of 2006.
Brian began his career in San Diego CA with the George Elkins Mortgage Banking Company placing correspondent “Life Insurance” permanent loans on stabilized property in Southern CA and Southern NV.

In addition to placing permanent loans for WKS, Brian specializes in structured finance, development, and private debt and equity placements for our investor and developer clients. Brian and WKS aim to help “under-sized developers succeed with over-sized projects.”

Brian graduated from Willamette University in Salem OR with a BS in Business Economics and is a licensed Real Estate Salesperson in California.

Team Members

Dan Kaufman

Dan graduated from San Diego State University in 2005 with a B.S. in Finance and shortly after began working for our Residential Development affiliate in 2006. Dan was a project coordinator for McKinley West and assisted on several projects and had various responsibilities ranging from the coordination and organization of Community Facilities Districts to overseeing developments going through receivership on behalf of third parties. Dan migrated over to WKS’s Property Management division in 2008 and currently manages several properties including Commercial, Class A Office, Executive Office and Multi-Family. WKS strives to provide a top quality service for all of its buildings owners and tenants. Dan does this by responding to the needs of both tenant and owners in a prompt and professional manner and he is a licensed real estate salesperson.

Josh A. Famestad

After earning his B.A. in Mathematics from CSU Sacramento, Josh joined WKS in 2007. He has actively participated in over $200,000,000 in commercial real estate transactions with broad array of responsibilities including financial and economic analysis, negotiations, due diligence, property inspections and coordination of closings. Prior to working with WKS, Josh was a Soils Technician for a Geocon Inc., a regional geotechnical engineering firm, where he gained experience in the various geotechnical aspects of construction. Josh is an active member of Orangevale Rotary and is a licensed real estate salesperson.