Transwestern announced that Jonathan D. Tootell has joined the firm’s New York office as partner.
An owner’s representative whose transnational experience exceeds 18 million square feet, Tootell will be responsible for overseeing agency leasing in Manhattan.
Tootell was previously a managing director at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.
He has played an integral role in negotiating several major Manhattan lease transactions on behalf of prominent owners and is current chairman of the Young Men’s/Women’s Real Estate Association of New York.
In addition to Tootell, Transwestern’s New York office has hired three senior vice presidents and one vice president within the past five months.
•••
Eastern Consolidated has named Scott Burk, Esq. a director in its investment sales team.
A Brooklyn expert, Burk specializes in the sales and acquisition of retail, mixed-use, multi-family, development, hotel assets, and working with 1031 buyers.
Prior to joining Eastern Consolidated, he served as a managing director at CPEX Real Estate, where he managed a high performing investment sales team and completed almost 40 transactions in the last three years.
Burk was a commercial real estate attorney at Thompson Hine LLP and Paul Hastings, Janofsky and Walker LLP, where he assisted REIT’s, institutional lenders, developers, private investors, landlords, and tenants with all of their real estate needs.
Among his notable transactions in Brooklyn, Burk arranged: the $8.6 million sale of 368 & 584 Myrtle
Avenue and 134 Kingsland Avenue; the $5.3 million sale of 110-112 North 6th Street; and a series of transactions on Court Street.
He is a graduate of the Fordham University School of Law, and received a B.A. in History at the University of Michigan.
•••
Savanna has hired Valerie Kitay as General Counsel. Kitay is responsible for supervising all of Savanna’s legal activities.
In her new role, she will also provide legal support and guidance with respect to fundraising, investor relations and corporate governance matters.
Kitay joins Savanna with over 11 years of experience practicing real estate law, having most recently held the position of counsel at Hunton & Williams, LLP.
Her practice focused on representing sponsors in the formation of private real estate debt and equity funds, and representing institutional investors, real estate investment managers, fund sponsors, REITs and other public and private real estate companies in a broad range of complex commercial real estate transactions, including purchases and sales, joint ventures, financing, restructurings, recapitalizations, and development projects.
Kitay earned a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and a Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia.
•••
Greystone announced that Steve Cho has joined Greystone as a managing director.
Cho will focus on building Greystone’s CMBS presence in the central states.
Cho brings to Greystone over 17 years of diverse real estate experience in CMBS originations, distressed loan restructurings and dispositions, and private equity acquisitions.
Prior to joining Greystone, he was a managing director at Royal Bank of Scotland and the sole CMBS originator in the Central region.
Serving there for 12 years he also managed to resolution, during the most recent economic downturn, a $1.7 billion portfolio of legacy loans and REO.
Prior to RBS, Cho worked in the private equity acquisitions and financial engineering groups at Fortress Investment Group.
He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.
•••
Pliskin Realty & Development announced that Diane Friedman has joined the firm as an associate broker.
Her primary focus will be on sales and leasing of retail and office space on Long Island and in the five boroughs of New York City.
Prior to joining Pliskin, Friedman served as president and owner of her own real estate firm, Two Way Street Realty, Inc.
During her 14 years leading the company, she concentrated on the sale and leasing of commercial properties.
Friedman is a licensed Real Estate Broker and a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Queens College.
•••
NAI Long Island announced the promotion of Timothy Stapleton, ARM, from senior property manager to director of asset management.
His responsibilities will include training and supervision of the company’s property managers, new assignment transitions, capital improvement projects, reviewing major contracts, and maintaining client and vendor relationships.
Stapleton is a New York State licensed real estate broker and an Accredited Residential Manager (ARM) by the Institute of Real Estate Management, who has been managing residential properties for over 25 years and manages some of NAI Long Island’s most valued residential accounts.
In 2013, he was the recipient of the Greater New York Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management’s Accredited Residential Manager of the Year Award, where he was recognized for his outstanding efforts in the restoration of four properties in Long Beach after Hurricane Sandy.
•••
Borah, Goldstein, Altschuler, Nahins & Goidel, P.C. announced that Anna Guiliano has been elevated to partner and will continue to practice in the firm’s Supreme Court Division.
Guiliano handles complex litigation, including commercial landlord tenant proceedings, condominium lien foreclosures, co-operative foreclosures, board-related disputes, as well as breach of contract, fraud, declaratory relief and injunctive relief matters.
Guiliano earned her J.D. from New York Law School in 2004 and her undergraduate degree from Syracuse University in 2001.
•••
First Nationwide Title Agency has hired three attorneys bringing its legal team total to 13.
Erika N. Kuver DelDuca, who joins as vice president, Senior Underwriting Counsel, oversees underwriting for both New York and national commercial real estate transactions.
She previously served as vice president and senior counsel at Fidelity National Title Insurance Company.
DelDuca’s experience includes insuring complex ownership and lending structures including but not limited to transactions involving real estate investment trusts, bond defeasances, Chapter 11 sales, DIP f, local and state governments, IDA projects, construction loans, FERC regulated projects, development rights and transfers, not for profit entities, and ground leases.
She began her legal career as an attorney with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP where her primary focus was in the energy and project finance sector.
She received her J.D. from Fordham Law School, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University’s Barnard College where she double majored in History and Political Science.
DelDuca also holds two federal patents for an infant teething device, is a third degree black belt in Ryu-Renshi Dan Karate and a First Degree black belt in Goshindo Jujitsu.
David G. Call joins as senior vice president and Senior Underwriting Counsel-Energy.
His responsibilities at FNTA include providing underwriting for National energy transactions and client development.
Call has over two decades of legal and title industry experience. He has worked at Stewart Title and Chicago Title Insurance Company as well as several title agencies in the New York metro area.
He has provided underwriting and advice on transactions ranging from a small condo closing to a multi-billion dollar merger.
His legal experience includes positions with international law firms King & Spalding and Paul Hastings LLP. He acted as lead counsel or real estate counsel on large project transactions involving several NFL stadium developments; military housing privatizations; renewable and fossil fuel energy developments; Islamic Financing transactions; and commercial real estate transactions.
He received his J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and his LL.M in Taxation from Boston University School of Law. He received his BA from The University of Connecticut.
Margaret T. Ling, is an attorney with more than 20 years of experience in the title industry for agencies as well as major underwriters.
As Senior Counsel and vice president, her responsibilities include reading, clearance, underwriting and coordinating and overseeing the growing residential title department at First Nationwide Title.
Ling is also a Certified CLE Presenter and will be assisting the company with their future CLE Seminars.
She has held positions of Senior Underwriting Counsel with multiple agencies, including Skyline TRG Title Agency; Summit Associates, LLC; and Liberty Title Agency LLC.
She has served as Legal Counsel with Couch Braunsdorf Insurance Group; Landstar Title Agency, Inc; Intracoastal Abstract Co., Inc., and Titleserv, Inc.
She also held positions with such prestigious New York Title Insurance Underwriters as Stewart Title Insurance Company, Ticor Title Insurance Company and The Fidelity Title Group.
Earlier in her career, she clerked for Chief Judge Constance Baker Motley of the US District Court, Southern District of New York.
Ling received her JD from New York Law School and her undergraduate degree from Columbia University’s Barnard College.
•••
First Nationwide Title Agency announced that senior vice president and Senior Counsel Vincent G. Danzi has been elected to the position of Officer at the Suffolk Academy of Law, the educational division of the Suffolk County Bar Association.
Danzi has been a lecturer for the Suffolk County Bar Association, is a member of the editorial advisory board for The Legal Description and regularly produces continuing legal education materials for local bar associations among a host of other professional activities.
Danzi operates primarily out of the agency’s Uniondale, Long Island office.
