Who We Are
Gary Cowen is co-founder and Chief Strategic Officer of our company, overseeing and implementing our business and investment strategy, growth and performance of our portfolio of solar assets for our investors.
Gary was an attorney at Goldberg Kohn, specializing in commercial real estate transactions, specifically commercial leasing and development. Since leaving the law firm 25+ years ago, Gary founded his own real estate management, consulting, development and brokerage firms, Court Ventures, Inc. and iDeal Partners, LLC, dealing with the acquisition, development, leasing, management and financing of a real estate portfolio with numerous residential and commercial properties, primarily in Chicago.
Gary started the legendary Hoops the Gym, the nation’s first private basketball gymnasium and the summer practice facility for Michael Jordan, Dwayne Wade and numerous NBA All-Stars, players and coaches. In addition, for two decades, he was a successful basketball coach first at the University of Chicago Laboratory High School and as an assistant at NAIA powerhouse Robert Morris University.
Over the years, Gary and Michael have pursued a variety of investment opportunities. Inspired by Michael’s vision and enthusiasm regarding the future of solar, Gary quickly realized that this provided an excellent vehicle with the right synergy for combining his eclectic law and business experience.
Gary currently is an adjunct Professor in the Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate MBA program at Roosevelt University’s Walter E. Heller College of Business.
Gary graduated with a BA in Political Philosophy, with honors, from the University of Michigan. He received his JD, along with his MBA, from Emory University.
Dena Jeanes is the Director of Acquisitions and Project Management for our company, heading Tsuga’s project sourcing, acquisition and management team. Dena brings 30+ years of operations, management and administrative experience in the fields of real estate, development and legal to her role at Tsuga Investors.
Her passion for clean energy and sustainable living proved to be the common ground when reuniting with Michael and Gary, both of whom she worked with at Goldberg Kohn and in several other subsequent ventures.
Michael Manuel is co-founder and Chief Ingenuity Officer of our company. For 30+ years he has been an attorney with Goldberg Kohn representing sophisticated commercial real estate owners, developers, investors and operators. Recognizing that concerns of climate change and natural resource scarcity were pressuring modern economies to move away from fossil fuel dependence, Michael saw that renewable energy, and in particular solar PV technology, would play a powerful role in this paradigmatic transition. His expertise in the real estate field has allowed him to quickly become comfortable with the investment models, valuation methods and structuring tools and other techniques being developed in the emergent C&I solar PV space. Having looked at different deals with Gary over the years since they met, Michael saw in Gary, with his complementary skill set, the right partner to establish Tsuga as a recognized presence in solar. Michael has a law degree from Northwestern University and a B.S. in Natural Resources from The University of Michigan.