Cushman & Wakefield has appointed Pay Wu as the New York Tri-State Regional Lead for Global Occupier Services (GOS). GOS assists to deliver real estate solutions that align with a client’s business strategy and goals.
Wu has more than 25 years experience driving strategy, operations and workplace initiatives for large corporations. As Tri-State Regional Lead for GOS, Wu will develop and implement strategy for Cushman & Wakefield’s largest occupier client accounts across all service lines. She will lead a team of over 2,500 account-based professionals and will also be responsible for expanding existing client relationships, delivering value to new clients and enhancing financial performance.
Wu has experience in portfolio and workplace strategies, M&A, program management, cost management/reduction, vendor/outsourcing advisory, process/operations optimization and technology implementation.
Prior to leading GOS, Wu led Cushman & Wakefield’s Tri-State Region Consulting Practice, where she worked to solve clients’ most complex workplace and real estate challenges.
Wu succeeds Toby Dodd in this role, who was appointed to President of the Tri-State Region in 2019. A commercial real estate veteran, she previously held positions at TD Bank, American Express and Deloitte Consulting, LLP. She will continue to work out of the firm’s Midtown Manhattan office.
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Law firm Seyfarth has announced the arrival of partner Rotem Bar-Kokhva to the corporate department and tax practice in the firm’s growing New York office. Rotem joins from the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he practiced in the Tax group for more than a decade.
Rotem advises private and public multinational clients, including private equity funds, hedge funds, and Fortune 500 companies, on tax matters in a wide range of transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, dispositions and restructuring transactions, IPOs, and other security offerings, in both the United States and foreign markets. Rotem also advises clients on real estate matters, including acquisitions and sales, joint ventures, recapitalizations, and workouts.
An Israeli native and American citizen, Rotem served in the Israeli Defense Forces’ Military Advocate General’s Office, where he was a District Military Prosecution Head involved in matters of National Security, retiring in the rank of Captain. Rotem holds a number of degrees, earning his LLM from New York University School of Law, and both LLM and LLB from Tel Aviv University Law Faculty.
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Avison Young has named two new principals in the firm’s New York City office. Robert Slaughter, chief legal officer, announced that Elissa Port, legal counsel, is now a principal, and Mitti Liebersohn, president and managing Director of Avison Young’s New York City Operations, announced that Erik Edeen, director of Tri-State Investment Sales Operations, has been named a principal.
Port, who joined Avison Young in 2018, specializes in corporate transactional matters and acts as a liaison to Avison Young’s international offices.
Edeen joined Avison Young in 2014 and coordinates the day-to-day operations of the 36-person Tri-State Investment Sales Division.
Avison Young has more than 600 Principals globally.
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Natalie Nachman has joined Besen Partners as an associate specializing in the sale of retail, commercial, multifamily, mixed-use and industrial properties in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Prior to joining the firm, she was with Brooklyn-based Ascent Properties, where she worked on sales and retail leasing transactions.
Nachman learned the fundamentals of commercial real estate and investment sales growing up in her family’s commercial real estate business, which recently celebrated its centennial anniversary in Herndon, VA. Before returning to her real estate roots, she taught English as a Second Language at New York University and Columbia University.
Nachman, who also speaks Hebrew and Italian, received her undergraduate degree at Indiana University and a Masters in Linguistics from Tel Aviv University in Israel. She is an active member of the Commercial Real Estate Women’s Network (CREW) and is on track to receive her CCIM designation, achieving the highest standard of real estate brokerage.
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Francis Cauffman Architects (FCA) has announced that Liz Archer has joined the team as business development and client relations manager. Based in New York, Archer will be responsible for increasing the New York office’s corporate interiors market share as well as manage business development for the location’s healthcare, science and technology, medical equipment planning, urban planning, and higher education markets.
With over 26 years of experience in marketing, affirmative action compliance, and administration for top design and construction firms across New York and New Jersey, Archer will bring her perspective to help create successful client relationships.
Having previously managed her own business — Archer was Founder and President of Out of the Box Marketing Strategies — she is at her happiest when she is able to serve as a mentor to others.
Archer has a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Technology from the New York Institute of Technology and a Marketing Certificate from New York University. She has previously served on the AIA New York Chapter’s marketing and PR committee, and was a Governor on the Board of Trustees of the New York Building Foundation. In addition, Archer is a former Women Builders Council Outstanding Woman of the Year Award winner. She is an active contributor to the New York chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services, CoreNet Global – NYC and NJ Chapters and the NJ and NY Chapters of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association (NAIOP).
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B6 Real Estate Advisors has announced the appointment of Dylan Kane as managing director in B6’s Capital Advisory Division. Kane will join the team led by Steven Sperandio, partner and senior managing director in the Capital Advisory Division. Kane will be responsible for business development and will focus on the Midtown East and Upper East Side territories of Manhattan.
An award-winning professional, Kane has significant experience across financing all asset classes and transaction types, both within New York City and nationally. Some notable recent transactions Kane has successfully been involved in include: the $205 million refinancing of 10 Jay Street, the $404 million refinancing of 32 Old Slip, and the $250 million refinancing of 80-90 Maiden Lane.
Kane was most recently a director in the Debt & Structured Finance Group at Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) where he was a senior member of a team that was responsible for over $20 billion in originations. Prior to NKF, Kane worked in the Real Estate Structured Finance Group of Bank of America Merrill Lynch originating and underwriting real estate loans for CMBS and balance sheet execution. Kane was recently included in Commercial Observer’s Top Debt & Equity Professionals 2019 ranking and also received National Rising Star distinction during his tenure at NKF.
Kane holds a Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College where he earned College Scholar distinction.
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SB One Bank has promoted Ali Mattera to senior vice president, technology and digital bank officer and Elizabeth Watts to first vice president, human resources.
Ali Mattera joined SB One Bank in 2017, and in her new role is responsible for maintaining information technology, digital strategy and digital channels for the Bank and its subsidiaries. She will primarily focus on accelerating innovation throughout the organization, identifying disruptive threats to the Bank’s business models and leading change management and strategic thought leadership.
Additionally, Mattera will develop and implement strategy to provide an even better banking experience.
Elizabeth Watts, who has been with SB One Bank since 2015, is responsible for building and implementing strategies, programs and infrastructure to develop, engage and retain the best talent for the SB One Bank organization. She will handle all aspects of human resources including compensation and benefits, talent management, training and development, succession planning, employee relations and performance management.
Additionally, Watts is responsible for creating innovative ways to engage employees, reinforcing the culture and establishing systems and training that will develop leaders.
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NAI James E. Hanson has announced that Thomas A. Vetter, SIOR, was recently named president of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Industrial and Officer Realtors (SIOR NJ).
Established in 1971, the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors is a commercial and industrial real estate association. The New Jersey Chapter of SIOR is made up of 75 commercial real estate brokerage specialists in the state, ten of which are NAI James E. Hanson brokers.
Widely regarded as one of the top brokers in the Meadowlands market, Vetter has decades of experience in representing tenants, landlords, buyers, and sellers in industrial transactions. Throughout his distinguished career, Vetter has helped sell or lease millions of square feet of industrial space throughout the market. His work has had a direct impact in facilitating the ongoing economic activity of the market through bringing numerous companies and job creators to the region.
A member of SIOR NJ since 2013 Vetter has played a vital role in expanding the chapter’s profile by contributing to the broader community through their strong relationship with The Rutgers Center for Real Estate.
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Greystone has announced that Quinn Barton has joined as chief investment officer of the commercial platform.
In the newly created position as CIO of commercial, Barton will oversee capital markets activities and capital deployment strategies for Greystone’s commercial division. He will serve an integral role in designing the overall blueprint for Greystone’s expanding CRE finance and investment activities.
Barton joins Greystone from Carmel Partners, a private equity firm, where he led that firm’s origination of debt investments, including b-pieces and distressed multifamily mortgages. Prior to Carmel Partners, Barton was head of CMBS trading at Banc of America Securities, led B-Note and Mezzanine loan trading at Natixis, and also held senior CMBS trading roles at RBS Greenwich Capital Markets and JPMorgan Chase Securities.
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CBRE announced today it has promoted Peter N. Shikar to first vice president at the firm. Having joined CBRE in 2011, Shikar has consistently been recognized for his work on industry-leading transactions.
Specializing in strategic planning and developing long-term real estate solutions for his clients, Shikar brings a broad range of skills with more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing and new business development. At CBRE, he focuses exclusively on office leasing and sales, providing occupier and owner representation on both a national and international platform.
Serving on the landlord’s behalf, Shikar has represented numerous prestigious owners throughout New Jersey, including KABR Real Estate Investment, National Business Parks and The Silverman Group.
A licensed real estate salesperson in New Jersey and New York, Shikar earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and an MBA from Baruch College.
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Black Mountain Capital has announced the appointment of James S. Dorcely as executive vice president/regional manager.
Dorcely is a dynamic banking and finance executive with over 18 years of progressive experience in developing and managing relationships to drive business success within the real estate and mortgage lending industry.
Dorcely, who started his career as an investment banker on Wall Street, built several of the largest origination teams within the Lending Divisions across five of the largest financial institutions in the United States that include Citibank, Everbank, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America.
In 2001, he transitioned into the real estate financing and lending industry where he successfully managed a large sales force and financed more than $5 billion in commercial and residential properties.
Dorcely has shown a commitment to under-served communities through his partnerships in the development and rehabilitation of low and moderate income housing in Northern New Jersey and New York City as well as through his philanthropic endeavors and membership on the boards of nonprofit organizations.
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Merchants Capital has announced the hiring of Evan Gibson as vice president of debt strategies.
Gibson brings with him a diverse background in capital markets and commercial real estate to Merchants Capital.
Most recently, Gibson served as the head of a direct lending platform for a top HUD lender, with a focus on health care and multifamily asset classes, which included both value-add and stabilized properties. Gibson is a graduate of the University of Washington with a degree in mathematics.
In his new position, Gibson will lead Merchants Capital’s debt strategies group, which will focus on developing both bridge and permanent debt solutions outside of the typical balance sheet and agency landscape. Based in the company’s New York City office, Gibson will work collaboratively with Merchants’ originations, credit and capital markets teams.
Gibson is also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, where he was a Team Leader at 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion. In 2009 he deployed to Now Zad in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province as both a Reconnaissance Marine and Scout Sniper.
