Columbia Property Trust announced that Constance B. Moore has been appointed as chair of its board of directors.
Moore, who has served as an independent director on Columbia’s board since 2017, succeeds John L. Dixon, who has served as chair since 2012 and as a member of Columbia’s board of directors since 2008.
Dixon has elected to step down as chair but will continue as an independent director on the board.
Moore has more than 40 years of experience in the real estate industry, most recently serving as president, CEO, and a board member of BRE Properties.
She previously held executive positions with Security Capital Group & Affiliates.
Moore was the 2009 chair of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) and currently is a trustee and governor of the Urban Land Institute (ULI).
She also serves as a board member for the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, the ULI Foundation, and ULI Global, as well as several other public companies and non-profit organizations.
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Cushman & Wakefield has hired Amy Zhen as an Executive Director focusing on office leasing.
Zhen has more than 11 years of experience in commercial real estate in Manhattan, most recently as an Executive Vice President at JLL where she specialized in both tenant representation and agency leasing and was a top 10 percent national revenue generator every year from 2016 to 2019. Zhen will be a part of Bruce Mosler’s global office leasing team.
Over the course of her career, Zhen has leased over one million square feet of office and retail space in high profile leasing transactions in New York, with notable clients including Nuveen Real Estate, The Trustees of Columbia University of the City of New York, Himmel & Meringoff Properties, Savanna, Madison Capital, Samsung, Nespresso and JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Zhen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology.
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Colliers International Group has hired industry veteran Dina Coulianidis as managing director.
Coulianidis joins the firm with a decade of experience focusing mainly on the retail and office sectors across New York City’s outer boroughs and Long Island.
She joins the firm from CBRE, where she represented a number of landlords and tenants and specialized in project leasing and investment sales transactions. Some notable organizations that Coulianidis has worked with over the years include the nonprofit group AHRC, Spectrum and Cliffs Rock Climbing Gym.
Coulianidis will divide her time between the firm’s New York City and Jericho offices.
Couiliandis received a bachelor’s degree in Banking and Business Management from Adelphi University.
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JLL announced that Galina Breslav has joined the firm as a Director of National Accounts for the firm’s Office Property Management group.
Breslav will serve as a client relations account manager to align JLL’s Property Management accounts throughout the U.S.
She has more than 15 years of experience in commercial real estate and joins JLL from Nuveen Real Estate, the Asset Management Division of TIAA, where she was a Senior Director of Asset Management.
She also spent time with TIAA as a Finance Manager and Business Unit Controller.
Based out of New York City, Breslav is an active member of the NYC ULI Technology and Innovation Council. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from City University of New York.
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Dattner Architects announced that Gia Mainiero AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Assoc. DBIA has been elevated to principal in recognition of her contributions to the firm and her evolving role in the practice.
Mainiero came to Dattner Architects in 2006. She was a core team member for the Manhattan Districts Garage and Spring Street Salt Shed. Her recent clients include NYC
Department of Design & Construction, NYC Department of Sanitation, the General Services Administration, and MTA Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority.
In her new role as Principal, Mainiero will lead the design and management of infrastructure, transportation, and design-build projects and continue her role as a mentor within the office.
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Enterprise Community Partners has named Judi Kende senior vice president and chief program officer of its Solutions division.
Kende will be a critical member of the senior management team as Enterprise embarks on a new five-year Strategic Plan. She will lead efforts to execute Enterprise’s three priorities of increasing housing supply, advancing racial equity and building resilience and upward mobility.
She’ll remain based in Enterprise’s New York City office, where she previously served as vice president and New York market leader. She will report to and collaborate with Jacqueline Waggoner, the newly appointed president of Solutions.
With more than 20 years of experience in community development, nonprofit leadership and housing finance, Kende previoulsy led a cross-functional team, working with New York City officials, financial institutions, foundations, developers and other partners to build and preserve affordable homes.
In 2014, she was invited to serve on the mayor’s Housing New York Implementation Advisory Board and the mayor’s office of Sustainability Technical Working Group. In 2016, she was also appointed to the mayor’s Supportive Housing Task Force.
Prior to joining Enterprise in 2014, Kende led the Low Income Investment Fund’s Eastern and Central region. She also previously served as Director of Nonprofit Finance in Citibank Community Development and spent six years in Citigroup’s Corporate and Investment Bank.
Kende graduated from Kenyon College with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and received her M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
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The Building & Realty Institute (BRI) announced its new President is Lisa DeRosa, also the President of DeRosa Builders.
She will be the first female president in BRI’s 75-year history.
DeRosa has been active in the BRI for many years, serving as as a Vice Chair of the Apartment Owners Advisory Council (AOAC) from 2016 to 2020 and as a member of that association’s Board of Directors from 2006 to 2020.
She has also been a member of the BRI’s Negotiating Committee during its Labor Contract Negotiations with Local 32-BJ Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
She was first elected to the BRI’s Board of Trustees in 2016, and has served as Secretary since 2018.
The election of DeRosa continues a longtime link between her family and the BRI. Her late father, John DeRosa, served as President of the BRI in the 1960’s and was a longtime member of the organization’s Board of Trustees.
Her late mother, Margit DeRosa, was a President and longtime member of the BRI’s Women’s Council.
DeRosa takes over the position of BRI President from Vincent Mutarelli, who as Immediate Past President will be chair of the Board of Trustees for the next year.
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Spinnaker Real Estate Partners has welcomed Staci H. Bachman to the new position of Executive Vice President of Legal Affairs & General Counsel.
She will oversee and manage all internal and external legal services for Spinnaker and its affiliates and provide strategic guidance, consultation and support on a wide range of business and legal issues as the company manages its current portfolio and expands its platform.
During her 29 years in the legal profession, Bachman has represented various developers, landlords, tenants, franchisees, institutional and private equity lenders as well as other businesses.
She has counseled clients in all aspects of real estate and business, from the acquisition, sale and leasing of specialty and multi-use projects to the governance and operation of joint ventures.
In addition, she has acted as local counsel for a variety of out-of-state businesses and national law firms.
Bachman received a B.A. from Wellesley College and a J.D. from the George Washington University National Law Center and is licensed to practice law in Connecticut. New York and Massachusetts.
She joins the firm from Cohn Birnbaum Shea P.C., where she served as principal and a member of the Commercial Real Estate Group and the Business and Finance Group.
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EisnerAmper announced that Irina Kimelfeld has joined the firm as a tax partner in the Financial Services Group.
Kimelfeld has more than 20 years of experience providing tax planning and compliance services to private equity funds, hedge funds, funds of funds, investment advisors, and other financial services companies.
Prior to joining the firm, Kimelfeld was managing director at a CIFC Asset Management where she oversaw all tax-related matters and managed funds as well as the firm’s deferred compensation plan.
She began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she provided tax planning and compliance services to asset management clients.
Kimelfeld, who is based in EisnerAmper’s New York City headquarters, has a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.S. in Taxation from the University of Southern California.
She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and an adjunct professor at the Fordham University Gabelli School of Business.
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Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty announced that Monica C. Murray has been named sales manager of its Rockville Centre and Long Beach sales offices.
Murray will support the sales of 50 real estate advisors.
Murray, who has practiced law since 1997 and became a partner in the Brooklyn-based firm of Coffey & Coffey (where she remains as of counsel) in 1999, brings the varied experience of a general practitioner with a particular concentration in real estate law, representing buyers and sellers in transactions from sales and contracts to mortgages, title and closings.
She also prepared tort cases for trial for the New York City Transit Authority and conducted depositions and prepared and argued motions in the New York State Court System.
Murray was the principal and owner of Monica Murray Home, which developed interior design concepts and prepared interior systems including furniture, lighting and accessories.
She earned her law degree from Seton Hall University and a Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University.
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iBUILT announced that Gonzalo Gonzalez, a manufacturing and electronic engineering expert who previously served at Tesla and Jabil, has joined the company as chief manufacturing officer.
Gonzalez brings over 20 years of experience in designing, leading, and driving large-scale manufacturing solutions to head the company’s offsite manufacturing at iBUILT’s facility in Pennsylvania.
In addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations, he will help nurture and develop the on-site company culture, focusing on upskilling workers and creating an environment that enhances learning and advances innovation.
Before joining iBUILT, Gonzalez served as senior director of manufacturing engineering at Tesla, where he led the engineering teams responsible for manufacturing Tesla’s battery pack, drive unit and energy storage systems. He worked on upgrading the Model 3 and Model Y and spearheaded automation solutions that optimized the overall manufacturing process.
Before that, he was vice president of operations and engineering at Jabil, responsible for a $2.6 billion operation and 15,000 employees working at sites in China, Taiwan, Indonesia, and across the United States. Gonzalez played an integral role in managing Jabil’s client relationships with Apple and GoPro.
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Janover announced the promotion of Christopher Gagliardi, CPA and Jason Hoffman, CPA, to Partner.
Christopher Gagliardi has over 13 years of public accounting experience and primarily focuses on assurance and consulting services for the Construction and Financial Services Industries.
Additionally, he provides Virtual CFO Support Services to private and middle market, public companies.
He obtained his Bachelor’s in Accounting from SUNY Old Westbury,.
Jason Hoffman, CPA is the leader of the firm’s Cannabis group. He focuses his practice on clients that need full service tax and advisory assistance.
Hoffman earned a B.A. in Business administration with a concentration in Accounting from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
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Lincoln Property Company announced Jeffrey Rosenblatt and Christina De Jesus have joined the firm’s New York City brokerage team.
Jeff Rosenblatt joins as Senior Vice President, bringing over 35 years of experience to the team.
He is a two-time recipient of REBNY’s “Most Ingenious Deal of the Year” award, most recently in 2019 for his role in creating Open Jar Studios, which will serve as the largest Broadway rehearsal space in Manhattan.
Over the course of his career, Rosenblatt has closed more than 30 million square feet of transactions, representing a diverse portfolio of corporate, institutional and entrepreneurial clients throughout NYC. Prior to joining Lincoln, he held senior positions at other major brokerages throughout his career, including Newmark and Cushman & Wakefield.
Christina De Jesus joins LPC as an associate. She brings nearly 15 years of knowledge to the team. Previously, she was with Newmark, where she received an Employee of the Year Award. She has also held positions with Coldwell Banker and the Kaufman Organization.
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Savills announced the addition of industry veteran Jim Wenk as vice chairman and member of the firm’s North American board of directors.
Wenk, who previously served as a vice chairman at JLL, will be joined at Savills by Kirill Azovtsev, executive managing director, and Allison Buck, assistant director.
Wenk will be an active member of the firm’s leadership group.
In his 21 years at JLL, he established himself as a key member of the brokerage’s leadership team.
Wenk and Azovtsev have a successful track record of representing tenants with large square footage requirements. They were an integral part of the JLL team responsible for executing over 700,000 s/f of transactions on behalf of Spotify in New York City.
Other notable transactions include deals with Snapchat, Genpact, Regus/Spaces, Lexington Partners and Better.com
At JLL, Wenk received top-production awards for 15 consecutive years and also selected to the David Rockefeller Fellow program during the 2019-2020 class. In his career, he has closed over $4 billion in real estate transactions.
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Stonehenge NYC announced that Keith Rand has been appointed vice president of acquisitions.
Rand previously held a number of key positions with reputable real estate firms. Most recently, he served as senior director of Northeast Investments for Greystar Real Estate Partners where he was involved in the acquisition of more than $570 million of multi-family properties and asset management of a portfolio valued at more than $1.1 billion.
He holds a Master in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania as well as a Master in Public Administration with a focus on housing, urban development and transportation from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
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Marks Paneth LLP has appointed Neil Sonenberg and Michael Siino as co-partners-in-charge of the firm’s Real Estate Group.
They succeed Abe Schlisselfeld, who became managing partner.
Neil Sonenberg has been serving the real estate industry for nearly 40 years, applying his expertise in tax planning for corporations and partnerships, with a special focus on co-ops and condominiums.
Michael Siino has over 30 years of public accounting experience and serves commercial and residential real estate clients as well as real estate management companies, advising on all facets of accounting and tax issues.
He has a particular specialty in the investment side focusing on REITs and real estate funds with SEC filing requirements.
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Marks Paneth LLP announced the promotion of the following professionals to partner:
Steve Brodsky, Real Estate Group, focuses on advising clients on complex tax matters related to the real estate industry.
Brodsky’s areas of specialization include Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) planning and compliance, tax consulting, and filing of federal and state returns for partnerships/limited liability
companies, C and S-Corps, REITs and individuals.
Russell Ephraim, Private Client Services Group, provides tax preparation and advisory services to both small businesses and individuals.
He specializes in advising high net-worth clients with complex tax situations and frequently works with family office groups to service all aspects of income tax planning and advisory services on a comprehensive scale.
Sherry Fan Grand, Real Estate Group, focuses extensively on commercial and residential real estate and has experience in various industries including hotels, hospitality, architecture, professional services and small business.
She also provides tax advisory services to international
clients with business interests in the United States.
Joshua Hanover, Private Client Services Group, provides guidance to US and foreign high-net-worth individuals and businesses.
He has planned and implemented business and real estate acquisitions, structured equity compensation agreements and eventual dispositions, managed the restructuring and US tax compliance of multinational and multistate operations, reduced the tax burden of export-related businesses and their owners through the use of IC-DISCs, formulated and executed pre-immigration tax plans, and reduced the FIRPTA withholding tax upon the sale of US real estate interests by foreign owners.
Sujith Pushpakaran, Commercial Business Group, specializes in audit, tax and advisory services for wholesale and retail distributors, telecommunications companies, maritime transport and professional services firms.
Eduard Suleymanov, Real Estate Group, provides accounting, tax planning and advisory services to commercial and residential real estate owners.
His background includes preparing certiorari filings, operating escalation statements, as well as multi-state partnership tax returns. He also has experience in tax compliance for high-net-worth individuals and closely held businesses, including partnerships and limited liability companies.
Alvin Yeung, Real Estate Group, Real Estate Group, provides tax planning, consulting and preparation services for individuals, partnerships, corporations and foundations.
