The following companies announced personnel moves this week: NKF, Walker & Dunlop, Chesapeake Real Estate Group, Nelson Mullins, Grant Thornton, Lee & Associates, GI Partners, ULI, and Timbercreek Financial.
It’s time to update those contact managers with CoStar’s People of Note, reporting news on significant new CRE hires and promotions. This week’s issue includes the following markets: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Houston, San Francisco, South Florida and Toronto.
ATLANTA
NKF Taps Senior Managing Director in Atlanta
By Bryce Meyers
Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has hired Stephanie Marino as senior managing director of the firm’s Atlanta office. Working alongside former colleagues Steve Morgan and Brett Hunsaker, Marino will help bolster NKF’s investment sales, tenant representation, landlord representation, capital markets and advisory expertise.
A top corporate broker, Marino comes to NKF from Avison Young where she spent the last five years as a senior vice president with the office properties, healthcare and enterprise solutions groups. The 20-year industry veteran served as a director of leasing at Grubb & Ellis Management Services before transitioning to CBRE where she spent 11 years in corporate services prior to Avison Young. Past clients of hers include DS Waters, AXA Financial and Liberty Mutual.
CoStar’s People of Note is published each Friday covering the latest commercial real estate executive level promotions and new hires.
Click on the headline of each article to jump to full coverage.
Follow the news on Twitter @TheCoStarGroup and @JSumner2.
Send new executive hires and promotion announcements to news@costar.com.
ATLANTA
Worsham Appointed Senior Managing Director of NKF Hotel’s Investment Sales Group
By Terrence Allen
Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) expanded its service lines once again this time with a boost to its hospitality division. Keith Worsham will specialize in dispositions, debt financing and advisory services for a wide variety of hotel and leisure properties, in addition to golf courses and mixed-used assets, as a senior managing director of the hotel investment sales group for NKF Hotels, the firm’s national hospitality advisory practice based in Atlanta.
Most recently, Worsham served as senior director at Ten-X, one of the nation’s leading marketplaces for commercial real estate dispositions. His efforts helped grow the private client group to more than $2.2 billion in hotel commercial real estate transactions. Previously, the 25-year industry veteran served as director of franchise sales and development for Accor Hotel’s Red Roof Inn and Cendant Corp., respectively. He earned distinction as a top producer at both companies after signing more than 170 franchise agreements and generating over $120 million in annual revenue combined. In 2003 Worsham co-founded Wesley Hotel Group, a company that developed, owned and operated hotels for major institutional and private clients. In his career, he has worked with such flagship brands as Hilton, Marriott, InterContinental Hotel Group and Wyndham.
ATLANTA
Walker & Dunlop Expands Southeast Multifamily Investment Sales Practice
By Terrence Allen
Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD) has named Elliot Howell managing director of Walker & Dunlop Investment Sales (WDIS) in Atlanta. In his new role, Howell will help expand WDIS’ coverage in the Southeast through the origination and execution of multifamily investment sales in the region.
Howell joins WDIS from Trammell Crow Residential where he served as managing director. There, the 10-year industry veteran was involved in multifamily property acquisition, financing, and development in the Southeast. Preceding TCR, Howell was directly involved in the underwriting and sale of more than $1.8 billion in transaction volume as a member of the multifamily capital markets group at JLL.
BALTIMORE
Chesapeake Real Estate Group Adds Assistant Property Manager
By Jeanine Kaminski
Chesapeake Real Estate Group has brought on John Crossen to help strengthen its asset management platform as an assistant property manager.
Crossen will handle property management for industrial, office and retail space. He brings more than five years of experience to the company, previously working at Towne Park and Verint Video Solutions.
BOSTON
Nelson Mullins Adds Commercial Real Estate Attorney
By Esmeralda McKie
Susan Davis has joined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP’s office in Boston as the corporate group’s commercial real estate attorney. In her role she will represent owners and investors in complex real estate transactions such as acquisitions, financing, sales and joint ventures. Additionally, she will represent landlords and tenants in commercial real estate leasing matters.
Davis has many years of experience counseling on the acquisition of multifamily properties, most recently in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and New York. She has counseled on the acquisition, disposition, financing and leasing of office and industrial properties in Massachusetts. Owners for downtown Boston as well as suburban offices have used Davis for leasing and financing transactions.
CHARLOTTE
Grant Thornton Appoints National Management Partner for CHRC Practice
By Dillan Shifflett
Grant Thornton LLP, an American member firm of Chicago-based Grant Thornton International and one of the largest accounting and advisory firms in the U.S., has appointed Greg Ross national managing partner of its Construction, Real Estate, Hospitality and Restaurants (CRHR) industry practice, effective August 1st.
Ross has spent the last 15 years with Grant Thornton, most recently heading up its CRHR practice in the Carolinas as a partner in the Charlotte office. He is also a sector leader for the firm’s national real estate practice. He will succeed Alvin Wade, who has headed up Grant Thornton’s CRHR practice since 2009.
HOUSTON
Hankla Joins Lee & Associates as a Director
By James Saris
Lee & Associates expanded its industrial brokerage platform with the addition of Clint Hankla as a director.
Hankla specializes in industrial brokerage in the North, Far North and Northwest Houston submarkets. He comes to Lee & Associates from Northwinds Commercial Realty where he spent the last four years as an associate broker.
SAN FRANCISCO
GI Partners Names Yao Managing Director
By Eric Kies
GI Partners, a leading middle market private equity firm headquartered in San Francisco, has hired Philip Yau as managing director. Yau will pursue strategic origination and business development opportunities, oversee the investor relations team, and manage the firm’s co-investment efforts.
Yau brings 24 years of investment banking experience to the firm, including 12 years at UBS Private Funds Group, a global fund placement and secondary LP advisory practice. In his role as managing director and co-head of the North America team, Yau advised numerous private equity, infrastructure, distressed, and capital firms, as well as limited partners around the world.
SOUTH FLORIDA
West Named the New Chair of ULI SE Florida/Caribbean
By Christine Dorr
Greg West, president and CEO of ZOM, has been named the new chair of the Urban Land Institute (ULI). West will serve the Southeast Florida and Carribbean region.
In his new role, West will be ensuring the responsible use of land and of sustaining communities in Southeast Florida by working to resolve the important land issues facing the region, according to a corporate release. The organization will continue focusing on housing affordability, resiliency and mobility. West’s service is voluntary and will be for a two-year term.
TORONTO
Timbercreek Financial Promotes Goodnough to CEO
By Paul Watson
Cameron Goodnough has been appointed CEO for Timbercreek Financial, a non-bank commercial real estate lender based in Toronto. Goodnough will succeed Andrew Jones upon his retirement from the firm at the end of this year. Jones will continue working with the company as a director and continue in a lead-origination role for Timbercreek Asset Management.
Goodnough joined Timbercreek in November 2016. He was appointed president in March of this year and was also named managing director of corporate development for Timbercreek Asset Management Inc. Goodnough has more than 17 years of experience in investments and capital markets, having worked for such organizations as CIBC Wood Gundy, Merrill Lynch Canada, RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities.
Follow the news on Twitter @TheCoStarGroup and @JSumner2.
Check out last week’s edition of People of Note.
