About
Overview
Capital Investment Advisors (CIA) is a premier owner, operator, and developer of office, industrial, retail, and multi-family residential real estate in the Washington Metropolitan area. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, CIA specializes in strategic investment, development, and management in both high-barrier-to-entry and high-growth markets within the region. The company offers its capital partners a comprehensive suite of co-invested real estate services, including acquisition and disposition, development and construction management, property management, asset management, and financial reporting.
Since its founding in the early 1990s, CIA has deployed over $675 million in total capital across a diverse portfolio ranging from unentitled land to value-add, core-plus, and stabilized and/or distressed cash-flowing assets. The company has established strong partnerships with family offices, private equity funds, and high-net-worth individuals.
For over three decades, CIA has been a trusted leader in the Washington Metropolitan real estate industry. The company’s portfolio spans multifamily rental communities, residential land for development, commercial office, industrial properties, ground-up development, and construction projects. CIA focuses on opportunistic acquisitions where its expertise as general contractors, asset managers, combined with value-add strategies create above-market risk-adjusted returns. Additionally, CIA excels in acquiring interim use (“covered land”) assets, leveraging its extensive rezoning, subdivision, entitlement and development experience to unlock substantial investment potential.
Mission
CIA's mission is to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns while creating long-term value for its investors and stakeholders. The company prioritizes aligning its equity positions with the interests of its financial partners, maintaining the highest standards of integrity, and carefully mitigating risks through strategic debt and equity structuring. By investing its own equity alongside its partners, CIA fosters long-term collaboration and mutual success.
Executive Leadership
Rebecca J. Pelino, Co-Founder/Managing Partner
Rebecca J. Pelino is a Co-founding partner and Managing Partner of Capital Investment Advisors (CIA). She leads CIA’s acquisitions, manages deal origination and capital sourcing, and oversees project management activities, contract management, leasing, and sales efforts.
Before founding Capital Investment Advisors, Rebecca was a managing partner in a land development firm that developed, owned, and sold over $140 million of residential land for development. She holds a Class A General Contractor’s License and has extensive experience in new construction projects and renovations, including multifamily, commercial, and single-family detached homes, dating back to 1989. Rebecca began her career as a commercial real estate broker in the large asset sales department of a national commercial real estate firm.
Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Finance from St. John Fisher University. She serves on the Board of Trustees for both St. John Fisher University and Our Lady of Mercy High School.
Stephen A. Bannister, Co-Founder/Managing Partner
Stephen is a founding partner of Capital Investment Advisors (CIA). Prior to forming Capital Investment Advisors, Mr. Bannister was the Chief Investment and Finance Officer for a regional real estate developer/builder and was responsible for the investment and finance activities of a diverse portfolio of residential, commercial, Multi-Family, and retail investments with a combined value in excess of $500M. Mr. Bannister has extensive expertise in land development, construction, entitlement, and development activities for all real estate disciplines.
Additionally, through his career he has been actively involved in the entitlement and development activities of residential real estate in excess of 5,000 total building lots. This expertise in land use offers the company a vast knowledge of value add opportunities for income assets whether underutilized, underperforming, or slated for redevelopment. Stephen is very experienced with debt acquisition, debt restructuring, and all phases of the acquisition of investment assets and benefits from relationships with many institutional and national lenders and real estate investors.
Mr. Bannister is also a Certified Public Accountant with undergraduate degrees in Accounting and Mathematics. In addition, he holds a Virginia Real Estate Broker’s License.