CBRE Group, Inc. announced that Adam R. Leshowitz, a 19-year brokerage professional in Manhattan office leasing, has joined the firm as a Senior Vice President. Mr. Leshowitz will be located in CBRE’s Downtown Manhattan office.
Mr. Leshowitz spent the last 15 years at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank and has completed hundreds of transactions totaling more than four million square feet. He has represented numerous building owners, including Savanna, The Gural Family, CIM Group, The Moinian Group, Boymelgreen Development and A.M. Property Group. He has successfully led leasing campaigns at 17 Battery Place South, 2 Washington Street, 5 Hanover Square, 14 Wall Street, 80 Broad Street, 110 William Street, 65 Broadway, 90 John Street and 90 William Street.
Recently, Mr. Leshowitz completed several notable agency leasing transactions: Nyack College (170,000 sq. ft.), the City of New York (150,000 sq. ft.) and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (40,000 sq. ft.) at 2 Washington Street, as well as the New York Film Academy (75,000 sq. ft.) at 17 Battery Place South. Throughout his time with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, he represented financial service firms, law firms, nonprofit organizations and TAMI-sector companies, including Mizuho Bank, Wall Street Access, IT USA, Inc., Weitz & Luxenberg, Japan Network Group and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development.
Prior to joining Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, Mr. Leshowitz was a partner at a boutique real estate brokerage firm specializing in representing technology and telecommunications tenants in the acquisition of data center sites to expand their national platforms.
Mr. Leshowitz is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York and has a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University at Albany. He is a board member of The Scott McGovern Memorial Fund.
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In a move to support its recent growth, Advance Realty announced that it has hired four experienced real estate professionals, who will bolster the firm’s capacity in project and asset management as well as development.
With more than 12 years of commercial real estate experience, Senior Project Manager Miguel Pinho Serra has joined Advance Realty from Adelhardt Construction, in New York City, where he prepared and oversaw several retail and commercial fit-outs, ranging in budget from $400,000 to $5 million. Prior to that, he worked for Michiilli, Inc., and Aragon, LLC – both also in New York City – managing all aspects of fit-out for a range of class A and B commercial buildings. At Advance, Serra is responsible for developing RFPs, bids, contracts and estimates; negotiating contract-terms with service providers; and monitoring overall performance of various project participants.
Project Manager Dan Cocoziello has joined Advance Realty from Structure Tone Inc., in New York City, where he spent five years as a construction superintendant working with a client roster that included Morgan Stanley, Monday Properties and the Durst Organization. Notably, Cocoziello worked alongside the project team leader at Structure Tone throughout the entire course of the Grand Hyatt New York’s renovation. He also oversaw day-to-day operations of $12 million in construction at 230 Park Avenue and day-to-day operations at 1 Penn Plaza. Cocoziello brings an expertise in project scheduling, budgeting, tracking long-lead items, subcontract coordination and overall management of client relationships.
David Ortner, Advance Realty’s new development associate, worked for Brick City Development Corporation (BCDC) in Newark for four years prior to joining Advance’s team. At BCDC, Ortner maintained the city’s abandoned properties inventory of 800 buildings while coordinating and managing development consulting efforts across numerous asset classes. This included site selection, entitlements, cost review and tenant marketing. He also led efforts to utilize new financing tools, such as establishing an EB-5 regional center, securing a Section 8 HUD revolving loan, applying for federal and state tax credits and abatements, issuing municipal bonds and securing grants. Before pursuing a career in commercial real estate, Ortner practiced law for seven years.
Before joining Advance, Asset Management Associate Naresh Patel underwrote more than $2 billion in commercial real estate loans as an investment associate at NorthMarq Capital and also helped manage Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI), a $2 billion private REIT.
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The Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island (CIBS-LI), the authoritative voice on Long Island for commercial real estate, announced that David Chinitz has been elected president for a two-year term. His term began Jan. 1. The professional group also elected other officers and board members.
Chinitz, a resident of Northport, is president of Melville-based Park Place Realty Group LLC. He formerly was vice president of CIBS and had served as a board member for 10 years.
Kyle Burkhardt, of Seaford, a partner at Deer Park-based Alliance Real Estate Corp., was elected vice president. He previously had been treasurer.
David Leviton, of East Setauket, a senior vice president in the Melville office of CB Richard Ellis, was elected treasurer. He previously served as secretary.
Daniel J. Wiener, of Huntington, a partner in Garden City-based Integrated Realty Group LLC, was elected secretary. He previously was a board member.
CIBS-LI members reelected to serve to the board were:
David Pennetta, SIOR, of Huntington. He is executive director and managing broker Cushman & Wakefield of Long Island, Inc., Melville.
Daniel T. Gazzola, of Cold Spring Harbor. He is a managing director in the Melville office of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.
Newly elected board members are:
– Joseph A. Lagano II, of Massapequa. He is an associate in the Melville office of Jones Lang LaSalle
– Ted Stratigos, of Northport, He is a principal and managing director of the Melville office of Avison Young.
Bradley J. Diamond, ofGreat Neck, an associate at Lee & Associates BQLI in Great Neck, was elected an associate board member.
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Grassi & Co. announced that four of its top performing professionals have been promoted within the firm. In recent weeks, Tammy Straus, Yigal Rechtman, Frank Vitale and Lori Bono have all been acknowledged for their outstanding contributions to the firm by being promoted to either the Partner or Principal level.
Tammy Straus, who joined Grassi & Co. in January of 2012 as a Senior Manager, has been promoted to Partner. With over twenty years of experience in public accounting on both SEC and nonpublic engagements, Tammy continues to bring extensive experience and knowledge to Grassi & Co. and its clients. She has also led dozens of financial due diligence engagements in a variety of industries in both domestic and international markets, including financial services, manufacturing/distribution, energy and technology.
Yigal Rechtman, who heads up the firm’s Litigation and Forensics Practice, and has been with the firm since October of 2013, has been promoted to Principal. Yigal specializes in fraud investigation and forensic accounting, information technology, data mining, statistical analysis, and internal controls. He manages engagements of forensic accounting, SOC attest, risk assessment, financial audits, locating income sources, and electronic discovery. He manages engagements of forensic accounting, electronic discovery and analysis, search for assets and income sources, and financial audits.
Frank Vitale, who joined the firm in January 2012 as the firm’s Director of Marketing has been promoted to Principal and Chief Marketing Officer. In Frank’s three years with the firm, he has made significant advancements in the firm’s marketing and business development strategies, which have strengthened the firm’s brand and driven revenue across Grassi & Co.’s industry segments and service lines.
Lori Bono, who has been with the firm since 2000 and has served as an Audit Manager and Director of Internal Operations, has also been promoted to Principal. Lori previously worked on coordinating the planning and execution of audit services to a diverse client base, she met with clients on a quarterly basis to review their financial results and plan for future transactions. Lori currently works internally with Grassi & Co. training staff in both technical and non-technical areas and works closely with the Chief Operating Office as a champion for continuous improvement for the firm’s internal processes.
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The law firm of Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP with offices on Long Island and Manhattan has announced that Ralph Delouis and Julia Gavrilov have joined the firm as an associates in its Commercial Litigation practice area.
Ralph Delouis concentrates his practice in all facets of complex commercial litigation which includes business and financial services litigation, as well as labor and employment law. Mr. Delouis earned his Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law and is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey. Prior to joining the firm, he was a trial attorney at Duane Morris and also served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Susan D. Wigenton of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Julia Gavrilov concentrates her practice in all areas of complex commercial litigation. She has represented both institutional and individual clients with actions involving breach of contract, fraud, trademark infringement, counterfeiting, trade diversion, RICO, talent management agency disputes, attorney malpractice and bankruptcy-related disputes before the Federal and State courts, as well as various arbitral bodies. Ms. Gavrilov earned her Juris Doctor from New York Law School and is admitted to practice in New York. Prior to joining the firm, she was a senior associate at Brown & Whalen in New York City.
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The Rockefeller Group, the global property investment, development and management company, announced that Justin Huebener has joined as director of marketing. He is based in the company’s New York headquarters at 1221 Avenue of the Americas.
Mr. Huebener was previously a leasing marketing manager with The Blackstone Group’s Equity Office Properties division, where since 2008 he directed the strategy and implementation of marketing and advertising programs for the company’s New York portfolio.
At The Rockefeller Group, Mr. Huebener will be focused on marketing strategy and initiatives for the company’s national development projects, spanning all asset types from office and industrial to mixed-use, as well as the company’s class-A Manhattan office portfolio, including 1221 and 1271 Avenue of the Americas in Rockefeller Center. In addition, he will develop and implement corporate branding initiatives on behalf of RGI.
Mr. Huebener is active in industry and philanthropic organizations, including the Avenue of the Americas Association, where he serves as an executive committee vice president and on its Board of Directors; the Bryant Park Corporation; and the Stonewall Community Foundation.
Mr. Huebener is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and has completed coursework in design and marketing at Parsons and Columbia University, respectively. He is working toward a master’s degree in real estate development at NYU.
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Michael Cottle has joined Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) as executive vice president and manager of the Fairfield County, Conn., and Westchester County, N.Y., offices, bringing 25 years of institutional and asset management experience covering 10 million square feet and $1.4 billion in capitalization to assist NGKF brokers in the market.
In this newly created role, Mr. Cottle will advise brokers on how to maximize the real estate strategies of landlord and tenant clients and coordinate opportunities for clients to tap other service lines available through NGKF. Additionally, Mr. Cottle will work closely with James Ritman, NGKF executive vice president and managing director, to oversee the operations of the two offices and assist in recruiting efforts.
Mr. Cottle is a current member of the Real Estate Finance Association for Fairfield and Westchester Counties. He graduated from Colgate University with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematical economics.
