Silverstein Properties announced that Katie Kurtz has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer.
As an experienced finance executive with over 15 years success in the financial services sector, Kurtz will be responsible for Silverstein’s finance and accounting organization.
Kurtz was previously an Ex ecutive Vice President at AR Global (ARG) where she served as Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer for multiple Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) and Business Development Companies (BDC).
She most recently served as Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer for three REITs: American Finance Trust, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFIN), Healthcare Trust, Inc. and New York City REIT, Inc. (NYSE: NYC).
Prior to joining ARG in 2013, Kurtz was a Vice President at The Carlyle Group. Before that, she served as Director of Finance and Controller for New Mountain Finance Corporation and Controller at Solar Capital Ltd. She also served in various accounting and financial reporting roles at GFI Group, Inc. Kurtz began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
She is a certified public accountant and holds a BS in Accountancy, a BA in German Studies and a Master of Science in Accountancy from Wake Forest University.
Silverstein also announced that Leor Siri will become Executive Vice President – Global Accounting and Treasurer.
Siri will continue to serve as the CFO of Silverstein Properties Limited, its Israeli entity listed on the TASE, which the company expects to become more active in the institutional debt and equity markets in Israel.
Prior to joining Silverstein Properties in 2014, Leor was the CFO of a privately held real estate company.
Earlier in his career, he was the CFO and member of the investment committee of Seavest Inc. and Chief Accounting Officer and Director of El-Ad Group. Prior to joining El-Ad, Siri worked for 10 years with Ernst & Young.
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JLL has hired 17-year industry veteran Marion Jones as a Managing Director with the firm’s New York Capital Markets team.
Jones, a former Managing Director with Ackman Ziff, has closed $9 billion in investment sales and capital market transactions, and has deep experience in both the institutional and middle-market arenas.
She will work with Andrew Scandalios and Bob Knakal.
Jones previously co-led a team of professionals providing investment sales and advisory services at a variety of top NYC real estate firms. She began her real estate career with CBRE in 2004 and later worked at Eastern Consolidated.
Jones graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Arts; from the University of Pennsylvania with a Master of Architecture and received a graduate certificate in real estate finance and development from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
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The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) announced three additions to its leadership team and the creation of the dedicated Diversity Department to help develop a more diverse workforce in the real estate industry.
Basha Gerhards has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Planning;
Zach Steinberg has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Policy.
Tiffany Johnston joins in the newly created position of Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, focusing on implementing strategies to better increase efforts in creating a more diverse industry.
Basha Gerhards joined REBNY in March 2018 as Vice President, Policy & Planning. Prior to REBNY, he was Deputy Director of Land Use in the Manhattan Borough President’s office and worked as a Zoning Specialist for the NYC Department of City Planning.
Gerhards holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design and a Master of Science in Urban Planning from Columbia University.
Zach Steinberg joined REBNY in December 2018 as Vice President, Policy & Planning. Prior to REBNY, he was the Deputy Policy Director at the New York City Comptroller’s office. Additionally, he has over five years of experience working on Capitol Hill for Senator Tom Harkin.
Steinberg holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Wesleyan University.
Tiffany Johnston joins REBNY from The School District of Philadelphia where she was a Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Procurement Services and Contract Compliance.
before that, Johnston spent time in Washington, D.C. and New York City working on various large federal projects. I
n the newly created role of Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion at REBNY, Johnston will design and execute strategies to increase engagement, expand program reach, and help develop a more diverse workforce in the real estate industry.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and economics from Haverford College.
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MetaProp announced the addition of Monica O’Neill as Partner.
Over the past 30 years, O’Neill has built investment management firms in the US and Europe, including raising more than $10 billion as a partner and Head of Investor Relations for real estate private equity firms AEW and Tristan Capital Partners.
Prior to her move to MetaProp, O’Neill was CEO of ENSO Advisors, an equity capital, marketing, and investment product development consulting firm that she founded in 2015.
She is charged with building MetaProp’s new institutional client program and will oversee investor relations for North and South American, European, and Asian endowments, foundations, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and insurance companies.
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JLL has hired commercial real estate veterans Matt McDonough and Daniel Ligorner to join the firm’s New Jersey office.
They will work within the Northern New Jersey office team, led by Tim Greiner, focusing on delivering new opportunities to existing and future owner and occupier clients.
Matt McDonough, who has a 38-year industry career, joins as managing director.
A former managing director with Transwestern, McDonough has served as vice president at top real estate brokerage firms. He graduated from Lehigh University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and finance as well as a MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.
Daniel Ligorner, with 32 years of experience, joins as executive vice president.
A former managing director with Transwestern, he experience in organizational and operational leadership.
During his career, Ligorner has provided business consulting services to high-performance, high-potential business across healthcare, media, real estate and entrepreneurship.
Prior to entering commercial real estate, Ligorner served as COO at a publishing and media company.
He graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and English.
Together, McDonough and Ligorner currently represent approximately 1.5M square feet of Class-A office product in premier submarkets across New Jersey.
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Avison Young New Jersey announced that Jimo Liu, CFA, has joined the firm as a vice president.
Liu brings over a decade of commercial real estate experience to his new role and will primarily focus on industrial sector brokerage transactions. He will be based in Avison Young New Jersey’s Metropark office.
Since 2012, Liu served as director and then vice president with HHE Investment Inc., managing the firm’s real estate investments in the U.S.
His additional prior experience includes business analyst stints with S&C, Wescott Financial Advisory Group and The MDE Group. Liu started his career in investment management at The MDE Group, now Beacon Trust, involved with portfolio management, risk analysis, and asset allocation.
He graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University, School of Engineering in New Brunswick, NJ, with double majors in Biomedical Engineering and Economics, and is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charter holder.
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Belveron Partners announced that Jeremy Levkoff has been appointed Director/VP, Portfolio and Investment Strategy.
Levkoff previously held various real estate finance roles in the public and private sector in New York City. Most recently, he worked at Santander Bank where he originated and structured low-income housing tax credit equity investments and debt transactions.
He began his career in real estate finance in Brazil, working on public-private partnerships and infrastructure upgrades in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and has 15 years of affordable housing finance experience,
Levkoff holds a Master of Public Administration from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, a Master of Arts in International Development Studies from The University of Amsterdam and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University Colorado at Boulder and serves on the Board of Directors at Citizens Housing & Planning Council.
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Helmsley Spear announced the hiring of Frederick Kane “Rick” Marek to serve as Vice Chairman. Marek will focus primarily on tenant representation.
Following a short tenure with Avison Young, Marek previously served as the president and co-founder of The Vortex Group, a boutique commercial real estate advisory company, for 15 years. He began his career at Julien J. Studley, Inc. at the age of 21, right after earning an MBA from Syracuse University.
During his career he has completed numerous major assignments for prominent companies including Credit Suisse, Lazard Freres, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP and numerous others.
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Co-living developer and operator The Collective has appointed Simon Koster as Chief Executive Officer.
Founder and current CEO Reza Merchant becomes chairman and will continue to advise and support the business’ senior management team and Board of Directors on setting the long-term vision of the company.
Koster was appointed by The Collective in 2019 as head of U.S. development, before becoming Group Development & Operations Director in 2020.
He joined the firm after a decade at JDS Development Group where he served as a principal heping develop such properties as 111 West 57th Street and the American Copper Buildings, Walker Tower and Stella Tower.
Koster, who will split his time between the UK and US.
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AmTrust Title Insurance Company’s New York Agency Division announced that Margaret T. Ling, has joined as Business Development and Underwriting Counsel.
Ling’s focus will be on the continued support, development and growth of the New York State Agency Division.
Prior to joining AmTrust, Ling held the role of Senior Counsel at Big Apple Abstract Corp. She also previously served as Senior Underwriting Counsel at MacGregor Abstract Corp, New York Title Services and First Nationwide Title Agency, LLC.
In her more than 25 years in the industry, Ling has also worked at companies including First American Title National Commercial Services, Fidelity National Title Group and Stewart Title Insurance Company. She began her career as an attorney in private practice.
Ling currently serves as the Development Director and Co-Chairperson of the Real Estate Committee of the Asian American Bar Association of New York.
She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History, Cum Laude from Barnard College-Columbia University and her Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School.
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AmTrust Title Insurance Company announced that Jack R. Sudol has joined the firm as a Senior Agency Representative.
In his new role, Sudol will utilize his 18 years of title business experience to assist and expand AmTrust Title’s network of independent agents.
Sudol has a diverse and varied professional background which began in title insurance in 2003, including, most recently, Vice President & New Jersey State Manager for CATIC.
Earlier, he worked for a big four underwriter in several capacities including agency sales and assistant district manager.
Sudol currently serves as Second Vice President on the Executive Committee of the New Jersey Land Title Association. He holds BA and MBA degrees from Rutgers University.
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Woodmont Properties announced Andrew Marshall has joined its executive team as Executive Vice President.
Marshall brings over 20 years of experience in real estate development and a combined 30 years in the design, development and construction industry to the Woodmont Properties leadership team.
Prior to joining Woodmont, Marshall served as president and COO of Roseland Residential Trust, a subsidiary REIT of Mack-Cali. During his nearly 17 year tenure at Roseland, he was responsible for day-to-day operational enterprise as well as the portfolio of development projects across the Northeast.
Notably, Marshall oversaw the $3 billion multi-phase, mixed-use redevelopment of Port Imperial, a 200-acre, former industrial brownfield site on the Hudson River that was transformed into a transit-oriented community.
Marshall is a licensed architect and prior to joining Roseland, worked as such for 10 years.
Marshall earned his B.A. in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley and holds a certificate in Finance for Executives from Wharton University of Pennsylvania.
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Castle Lanterra Properties (CLP), has hired 40-year real estate industry-veteran Dwight “Arne” Arnesen and senior housing and healthcare institutional investment expert, Frank Small.
The two newest members of the team will work in spearheading the firm’s Investment Group nationally.
The two are currently building out their teams as CLP plans to acquire 10,000 to 15,000 additional multi-family units and diversify its platform across geographic markets and asset types.
With over four decades of experience in the real estate industry, Arne Arnesen will lead the acquisitions efforts.
Arneson pmost recently, served as a Senior Managing Director at Rockwood Capital. Before that, he was a Managing Director of Acquisitions in North America at JER Partners as well as Head of Asset Management for JER’s European funds. Earlier, he served as Managing Director and co-Head of U.S. Acquisitions at Starwood Capital Group Global.
He received his B.A., with Honors, in History, Economics, and Business from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. from Washington and Lee University.
Frank Small will have overall responsibility for setting CLP’s portfolio management initiatives.
Small joins the firm with 30 years of expertise in institutional investment management in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. D
Prior to joining CLP, Small was a senior housing industry advisor for KKR & Co. and Jaguar Real Estate Partners, launched Greystone Healthcare Investments, was Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group and was global head of healthcare real estate at JER Partners.
He received his B.A. from Princeton University and M.B.A from NYU Stern School of Business.
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Apollo Global Management announced that Craig Farr will join the Firm as a Senior Partner to lead Apollo’s capital solutions activities.
In this newly created role, Farr will spearhead Apollo’s centralized origination, structuring and distribution platform, reporting directly to Apollo Co-Presidents, Scott Kleinman and Jim Zelter.
Farr will lead Apollo’s continued expansion in front-end origination, structuring and distribution to ensure that Apollo’s broad capital base is being effectively delivered to borrowers in a solutions-oriented manner.
Farr most recently served as a Senior Advisor to Carlyle from 2017 to 2019, where he was focused on growing the credit business and expanding into capital markets. He previously was Head of Credit and Capital Markets at KKR. Before that, he spent 12 years at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. where he was a managing director and served as Co-Head of North American Equity Capital Markets.
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Akerman LLP has expanded the national footprint of its Real Estate Finance Practice with the addition of Samuel Zylberberg in New York.
He joins as a partner from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and brings with him over 30 years of national experience in a broad range of real estate transactions.
Zylberberg is an authority in the representation of financial institutions, private equity funds and real estate investors in real estate financing transactions. He regularly advises purchasers and sellers and his leasing experience includes the representation of landlords and tenants in toffice, retail, hotel, sports arena, and other commercial properties.
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Bravo Capital has named Ernest Benjamin, Jr. as Chief Credit Officer and FHA Chief Underwriter.
Benjamin will lead the company’s HUD financing underwriting and credit approval departments.
He has over 20 years of underwriting experience building the financing groups at some of the most prominent financing firms in the U.S. .
He was previously Chief Underwriter and Senior Vice President with Walker & Dunlop and, before that, a consultant with Deutsche Bank Berkshire Mortgage and a Risk Officer/Underwriter with Wachovia Multifamily Capital.
Over the course of his career, Benjamin has underwritten and closed upwards of $750 million in FHA/HUD insured loans.
A graduate of the College of William and Mary and more recently Harvard Business School’s Real Estate Management executive education program, he will work with Bravo’s founder and CEO, Aaron Krawitz, to execute HUD financings.
