Joseph A. Farkas, president of Metropolitan Realty Associates (MRA), announced the promotion of Adam Rubinstein to senior vice president of the Jericho, N.Y.-based development company.
Rubinstein joined MRA in August 2009 as director of acquisitions and has worked closely with Farkas to acquire and reposition commercial properties valued at over $380 million.
His added responsibilities include evaluating new acquisitions, financing and dispositions, as well as increased involvement in project management and portfolio asset management.
Rubinstein previously worked at a major brokerage firm for more than five years, where he was a member of the capital group and the principal investment group.
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Avison Young announced that Gabriel Sasso has joined the firm to drive the continued expansion of Avison Young’s project management platform in New Jersey.
Sasso joins Avison Young as a vice president based in the company’s Morristown, New Jersey office.
A 30-year veteran of the construction industry, Sasso was most recently a senior vice president at The Gale Construction Company — a subsidiary of Mack-Cali — where he ran the company’s Roseland, New Jersey office.
At Gale, Sasso was a member of the company’s senior management team and also served as a project executive for several of Gale’s most significant assignments.
Sasso’s hiring coincides with Avison Young’s announcement that the United States Golf Association (USGA) has signed a contract with the firm’s project management services division to replace and upgrade the mechanical system at the organization’s headquarters facility in Far Hills.
Sasso will manage the USGA relationship on behalf of Avison Young, having overseen other projects for the organization over the past several years.
Sasso is a LEED Accredited Professional who earned his OSHA 500 and 510 certifications.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Rutgers University.
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Blackstone and its real estate portfolio company, Invitation Homes, announced that Bryce Blair will be joining Invitation Homes’ Board of Directors.
Blair currently serves as a senior advisor to McKinsey & Company and is on the Board of Pulte Homes.
He spent 20 years at AvalonBay Communities, where he most recently served as chairman of the board and chief executive officer.
Bryce joined AvalonBay in 1993. He became chief executive officer in 2001 and chairman of the Board in 2002. During his tenure he also oversaw construction and acquisitions, served as chief investment officer, chief operating pfficer and president.
Prior to joining AvalonBay, he was a partner at Trammell Crow Residential, a real estate investment firm. He served on the
Board of Carr America and currently serves on the board of Pulte Homes.
He served as chairman of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) and as a Trustee at the Urban Land Institute. He attended the University of New Hampshire and Harvard Business School.
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DTZ announced the appointment of David M. Valdez as senior vice president in the firm’s New York Tri-State regional office in Manhattan.
Valdez continues his career in commercial real estate after serving as senior managing director at Colliers International in New York City.
Prior to his tenure with Colliers, Valdez was vice president of Corporate Services and Real Estate Transactions for Goldman Sachs from 2005-2009.
A specialist in providing real estate advisory to non-profit organizations, he conducted the 165,000 s/f space requirement for GMHC that resulted in a relocation of its New York headquarters to 450 West 34th Street in a lease transaction that saved the organization $27 million dollars compared to the cost of renewing the lease.
Valdez served for nine years as managing director of the Edward S. Gordon Company and first vice president of CB Richard Ellis in New York,.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA.
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Jones Lang LaSalle has hired Michael D. Berman as a managing director.
Berman has more than 25 years of experience in commercial real estate, including asset management, agency leasing, tenant representation and brokerage advisory services.
He has held senior positions with large, national, publicly traded commercial real estate firms and has been responsible for managing national portfolios and premier New York assets.
Prior to joining JLL, he served as a senior vice president and head of asset management for Silverstein Properties. Earlier, he was a senior vice president and head of asset management for Gramercy Capital Corp..
Berman also previously served as head of leasing for Equity Office Properties and was a senior vice president at Brookfield Properties; director of leasing for Reckson Associates; regional leasing director for LaSalle Partners; and managing director with Studley Inc.
He received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of San Diego.
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Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services has named Rick Lechtman as eastern director, national office and industrial properties group (NOIPG).
He is based in the firm’s New York City office, reporting to managing director Alan Pontius who oversees NOIPG.
Prior to joining Marcus & Millichap, Lechtman served as managing director for the Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group in New York City.
His responsibilities included sourcing, underwriting, structuring and originating commercial real estate debt and equity.
Lechtman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy from Tulane University and an Advanced Professional Certificate in Real Estate from The New York University Real Estate Institute.
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Cushman & Wakefield announced that Ron Turner has joined in the company’s Valuation & Advisory Group as a managing director.
Turner will head the newly formed Real Estate Due Diligence practice group within V&A. I
He will focus on providing clients with full due diligence and underwriting assistance on individual real estate investments and portfolios.
With over eighteen years in the commercial real estate business, Turner most recently was a managing principal at Outlier Financial, where he specialized in underwriting and due diligence support for the commercial real estate industry.
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Datawatch Systems announced the promotion of Sean S. Brown to vice president of Business Development.
Brown, who serves as general manager of Datawatch Systems’ Northeast region, is now responsible for the firm’s regional sales and operations in New York, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Prior to joining Datawatch Systems in 2010, Brown was general manager for a leading national security services vendor in the Northeast where he helped grow a national book of business.
Before that, he was the director of strategic accounts with the real estate division of Winstar Communications and vice president and asset manager of New York City-based Schroder Real Estate Associates.
He also worked for Grubb & Ellis as district manager overseeing its New England division.
Brown is a member of the Board of Directors for BOMA Westchester, and a member of the Town of Darien Architectural Review Board.
He earned a BS degree from the College of Business Administration Fordham University.
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Massey Knakal Realty Services announced that Winfield Clifford has been promoted to director of sales, covering Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Columbia Street Waterfront District, Gowanus, Park Slope, and Red Hook markets.
Winfield joined the firm in 2010 as an associate to Stephen Palmese, focusing on the Downtown Brooklyn market.
Since joining the firm, he has been involved in the marketing and sale of 68 transactions with an aggregate value exceeding $400 million.
Clifford was the recipient of the 2011 Annual Stephen Spinola Award for the associate who has demonstrated superior performance and dedication company-wide.
Clifford joined Massey Knakal from Harbert Management Corporation in Nashville, where he worked on the Mezzanine Capital Investment Team. Previously, he worked at Clayton Bank & Trust in Knoxville.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee’s College of Business Administration with a Bachelors degree in Finance, hewas part of the Financial Management Association and a HOPE Scholarship recipient for his academic successes.
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Rose Associates announced that it has hired Charlotte A. Sturgis as managing director of pre-construction.
Sturgis joins Rose from Trinity Works LLC, where she acted as development manager.
She has more than a decade of experience in real estate development.
At Bovis Lend Lease LMB, Inc. she oversaw the coordination and construction management of large-scale residential and mixed-use, luxury high-rise buildings in Manhattan including Carnegie 57, Tower 111, 200 West End Avenue, Chelsea House, RiverEast, and the Mandarin Hotel at Time Warner Center.
At Trinity Works, Sturgis served as vertical project manager for the Summit, a 10,600-acre camp for a private client that included the construction of over 330 buildings.
Sturgis graduated from the University of Florida with a BS in Civil Engineering. She is currently completing NYU’s SCPS Real Estate Finance Program.
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Sabre Real Estate Group LLC has promoted Douglas Bomzer to associate director.
Bomzer, a senior associate since joining Sabre in 2011 from Breslin Realty, specializes in retail tenant representation.
Bomzer has been successful in bringing to Long Island such new retailers as UFC Gym, Rue21, and Bolton’s.
He has a bachelor’s degree in management from Johnson & Wales University and is a member of the ICSC, the Retail Network, the Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island and the Long Island Real Estate Group.
