Laurie Golub has joined HFZ Capital Group as general counsel and chief operating officer, based in New York.
She was previously general counsel and managing director of business affairs at Africa Israel, USA. There, Golub played a major role in restructuring the debt related to the company’s largest assets including the Times Square Building, the Clock Tower and the Miami Marquis. She also oversaw the sale of Africa Israel’s largest assets, including the Times Square Building Office Condo, the Clock Tower and 88 Leonard Street.
Before that, Golub served as associate general counsel to Forest City Ratner Cos., where she played a critical role in all pre-development activities of the $5 billion Atlantic Yards and Brooklyn Arena redevelopment project. She also negotiated and closed the acquisition of the New Jersey Nets basketball franchise, provided general counsel services to New Jersey Nets senior management and led negotiations for the $400 million Barclays Center naming rights transaction.
NREI talked to Golub about how her public/private experience will work in her new role and what she sees to come for the finance industry.
An edited transcript of that interview follows.
NREI: You've done so much in the public/private partnership world—how does that experience translate or assist you in your new position?
Laurie Golub: What I learned in my experiences in the public/private partnership (PPP) world is that the public sector is not only motivated by economics when they do a deal, but by other factors such as affordable housing, infrastructure and other variables that inure to the "public good." They are also highly motivated by the political consequences.
Therefore to successfully do a PPP, you need to understand how you can relate to and blend those variables. By understanding these variables, it enables you to deals in a complicated area that has higher barriers to entry then ordinary projects and thereby lessens the competition. That understanding has also created an awareness and sensitivity to community boards, neighbors, elected officials, government agencies and environmental impact that I bring with me to HFZ and its projects.
NREI: What are two of the biggest issues facing the real estate investment world right now, and what can HFZ do about them?
Laurie Golub: Number one is the ability to source good deals in which to invest. Number two is the increase of global investors seeking to invest in U.S. real estate and the complex issues associated with doing so.
HFZ has been extremely active in acquiring new deals in the past few years and has become one of the most active developers in the New York area. As it is becoming more and more challenging to source new deals, HFZ often finds complicated value-add deals that often have complex legal issues associated with them.
Because of Managing Principal Ziel Feldman's legal background, and my legal background, HFZ has been able to more competitively source deals at a lower cost basis and realize upon them. With respect to global investors, HFZ has many international investors and has been able to structure deals from a tax perspective in a way that makes sense for them.
NREI: Working on the Atlantic Yards and Brooklyn Nets projects must have been intense and fascinating. What’s one example from that experience that was particularly rewarding or memorable for you?
Laurie Golub: It was an intense and fascinating time as the project was so complicated. The most rewarding part of that experience has been my work on the Barclays Center. It gives me great pride to see the impending opening of the arena as I was involved and instrumental in all pre-development and legal activities for the project, including the naming rights deal. As an avid sports fan and former general counsel to the Nets, it is so exciting to see professional sports come back to Brooklyn!
NREI: As a woman in a male-dominated field, what advice do you have for other women who wish to pursue careers in finance?
Laurie Golub: Today, the world has changed and there are opportunities for smart, hard-working talented women in every industry. Go out and find what you love to do—know your subject matter, be passionate about it, work long hours and take responsibility for what you do. If you are not in a place where you can grow and succeed, then move on. Don't allow the fact that you're a woman to be an excuse for why you're not succeeding. There is only a glass ceiling if you look for one.
HFZ Also Adds 4 More Exes to Management Team in NYC
Anthony Marrone was named HFZ’s managing director of construction. Formerly a senior vice president at Bovis Land Lease, Marrone has more than 28 years of experience managing projects totaling more than $1.4 billion in construction costs and more than 6 billion sq. ft.
MacKenzie Landers was hired as the firm’s new director of asset management and development. Formerly with the New York City Department of Design & Construction, Landers assisted in the development of the New York Police Academy in College Point, Queens and previously worked at Silverstein Properties.
Steven Spektor was named senior project manager at HFZ Capital Group and is overseeing the construction of a major residential site on Second Avenue in Manhattan. He previously worked for a large New York City contractor overseeing projects ranging from high-end condominiums to rentals and universities.
Matthew Arbeit joins HFZ as a senior project manager. Formerly with Bovis Lend Lease, he has more than 16 years of experience in hi-rise construction management with projects totaling more than $2 billion in value.
Eastern Union Commercial Hires Pilchick as COO
Eastern Union Commercial hired Avi Pilchick as the company’s chief operating officer, a new position within the firm.
Because he is assuming a strictly corporate role within the company, Pilchick’s presence will allow Eastern Union Commercial President Ira Zlotowitz, Managing Partner Abe Bergman, and other members of the Eastern Union executive team to more fully focus their energies on deal-making, customer service and new business development.
Pilchick most recently served as a senior executive with a Pennsylvania-based real estate vendor, reporting directly to the CEO, with an emphasis on building out and running the customer service division. Under Pilchick’s leadership, the company expanded to a staff of more than 100 employees and was ultimately sold to a venture capital firm.
Promotions at Wilson Commercial Real Estate
Wilson Commercial Real Estate promoted Scott Burns to president and partner of the firm. Chris Wilson will now serve as founder and chairman of the organization. Additionally, Shauna Mattis and Peter Kay have been promoted to senior vice president and vice president, respectively.
Burns, who has been with the firm since 1998, will be responsible for the strategic direction of the firm, including managing its leasing and investment teams. He will also oversee the leasing and account management of the firm's 75-center portfolio and its tenant representation assignments.
Mattis has more than 15 years of retail real estate experience, having been with Wilson Commercial Real Estate since 2007. She will oversee the firm's leasing team as well as more than 2 million sq. ft. of listing assignments.
Kay is responsible for the leasing of multiple retail centers throughout Southern California.
Promotions at M&M
Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services promoted Glen Kunofsky to executive vice president investments, the highest designation at the firm.
Previously, Kunofsky’s was a senior vice president, investments. He joined Marcus & Millichap in June 2001 and was promoted to senior vice president investments in August 2008. He is a senior director of the firm’s national retail group.
The firm also promoted eight Northeast-based agents to vice president investments.
The agents, their office locations and specialties are: Robert M. Horvath, Boston, retail and net-leased; Scott Edelstein, Manhattan, multifamily; Matthew Fotis, Manhattan, multifamily; Joseph Koicim, Manhattan, multifamily; Ross J. Mezzo, Manhattan, multifamily; Mark A. Thomson, Philadelphia, multifamily; Ken Wellar, Philadelphia, multifamily; and David Weber, Washington, D.C. , multifamily.
Before being promoted, all of the agents above except for Horvath held the title associate vice president investments. Previously, Horvath was a senior associate.
Ryan Companies Promotes Barranco to VP of Development
Ryan Companies US Inc. promoted Tony Barranco to vice president of development. His focus is on retail and mixed-use properties nationwide with a particular emphasis on projects in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Barranco leads project teams through all aspects of the development process including site selection and acquisition, constraint analysis and due diligence, municipal and approvals, design and construction coordination, and lease or sale negotiation.
Since joining Ryan in 2005, Barranco has been a part of such notable projects as 222 Hennepin, a downtown Minneapolis mixed-use redevelopment with 286 luxury apartments and a Whole Foods Market, and Underwood Crossing, a shopping center anchored by Target and Trader Joe’s in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
Hires at Transwestern
Transwestern has brought on Gregory A. Laycock to head the firm’s new office in Seattle as executive vice president.
Laycock joins Transwestern from Grubb & Ellis Co., where he served as senior vice president of investment sales. Before that, he served as director of acquisitions and development for Fairfield Residential LLC, where he closed $155 million in acquisitions and dispositions.
The company also hired Steve Rowland as senior vice president, head of industrial investment sales.
With more than 29 years of experience in commercial real estate, Rowland specializes in the sale of leased office, R&D and industrial projects. Prior to joining Transwestern, Rowland served as senior director in the San Diego office of Cushman & Wakefield, where he led institutional office and industrial investment sales within their capital markets group.
During his career, he has completed more than $1.8 billion in sales, totaling more than 16 million sq. ft., while representing institutional clients and mid-market private owners with significant holdings. Rowland’s clients include GE, TA Realty, Citibank, MetLife, RREEF, US Bank, Bank of America and Westcore.
Transwestern also hired Jennifer Dawson to serve as the firm’s first national business writer. Dawson joins the national marketing team, which manages Transwestern’s brand awareness and collateral material, and provides industry insights for the firm’s global clientele.
Dawson comes to Transwestern from 25 years in the news business industry, having spent the last 21 years at the Houston Business Journal, a weekly business-to-business newspaper in the American City Business Journals chain of publications.
The firm also named Jodie L. Jiles director of business development. Jiles will work across all business lines to develop client relationships and secure new business assignments.
Prior to joining Transwestern, he served as the managing director of RBC Capital Markets.
Cresa Appoints Thomas as SVP
Cresa New York appointed Eric J. Thomas senior vice president.
Thomas has worked in commercial real estate brokerage for over 12 years, focused exclusively on tenant representation. His most recent position was vice president at Cassidy Turley. He was also a director at Staubach, responsible for overseeing business development and client management for regional and national accounts focused in the financial services and related industries. He is also a former assistant director at Studley, where he was directly involved in more than $250 million of leasing and structured-finance transactions.
RKF Tabs Adney as VP in Chicago
RKF hired Lorraine Adney in the firm’s Chicago office as a vice president.
Adney previously served as director of the Midwestern division at The McDevitt Co., where she assisted national and international brands in developing retail networks in the U.S. and in Europe. She worked on behalf of such prestigious brands as Marc Jacobs, Urban Outfitters, Free People, Anthropologie, L’Occitane en Provence and Eileen Fisher.
Dosen Joins WNC as VP
WNC, a national investor in community renewal and affordable housing projects, hired Amy Dosen as vice president, originations.
She will oversee WNC’s acquisition activities in the Midwest region. Prior to joining WNC, Dosen served as the equity sales manager at Key Community Development Corp., a subsidiary of KeyBank, where she managed the originations team. In this role, she enhanced the firm’s underwriting process and increased production in the investment portfolio to the highest level in the bank’s history.
Pinnacle Names Bales Regional VP in Orlando
Pinnacle Family of Cos. named David Bales as regional vice president in Orlando, Fla..
Bales comes to Pinnacle with more than 28 years experience in the property management industry and has worked with companies such as Insignia, United Dominion and Concord in Orlando.
KBS Capital Markets Group Hires Ledbetter
KBS Capital Markets Group, an affiliate of KBS Capital Advisors and KBS Realty Advisors, welcomes Timothy Ledbetter as regional vice president of the High Plains region, encompassing Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska.
Ledbetter will cultivate and maintain existing partnerships with financial advisors, money managers and planners within the three-state region to support the company’s growing portfolio of public non-traded REIT products. He comes to KBS from Hartford Mutal Funds in Denver, where he was an external wholesaler responsible for non-wire firms in northern Colorado.
Three Tenant Reps Join MB Real Estate
MB Real Estate hired three new tenant representatives for the firm’s corporate services team in Chicago.
Jason P. Kleiman, Bob Budington and Anwar Ali come to MB from Avison Young in Chicago. Kleiman, formerly a principal at Avison Young, joins MB Real Estate as senior vice president. Budington, now a vice president with MB Real Estate, is a former senior director at Avison Young. Formerly an associate director with Avison Young, Ali joins MB Real Estate as a senior associate.
Real Estate Vet Joins With Chestnut Hill Realty to Launch CHR Investors
Jerome L. “Jerry” Rappaport, Jr., a longtime player on the Boston real estate investment stage, has joined with Chestnut Hill Realty CEO Ed Zuker and his son, Robert Zuker, to found CHR Investors, an affiliate of Chestnut Hill Realty.
The division will focus on real estate investment primarily in New England’s multifamily housing sector and Rappaport will serve as managing director of CHR Investors.
For the past two years, Rappaport has been consulting with Chestnut Hill Realty to help develop a strategic plan and research various capitalization options. He also has assisted the development group at Chestnut Hill Realty, which has completed over $40 million in development and redevelopment projects, with another $100 million planned.
As managing director of CHR Investors, Rappaport will work with the Chestnut Hill Realty acquisitions team to identify strategic growth opportunities and pursue off-market investment targets.
Rappaport brings 30 years of real estate investment, development and fund management experience to CHR Investors. He co-founded New Boston Fund in 1992, and under his leadership, New Boston created eight real estate equity funds that raised more than $1 billion in discretionary equity. New Boston used this equity to build and acquire $4 billion worth of assets comprising 20 million sq. ft. of commercial property and over 7,000 housing units.
Originations Directors Come to Arbor
Arbor Commercial Mortgage LLC expanded its multifamily FHA loan origination capabilities with the appointment of two experienced FHA originations directors.
Andrew Proctor will serve in Boulder, Colo. and Jason Gray will serve in Chicago Both are responsible for originating FHA-insured multifamily, seniors housing and healthcare facility loans nationwide on an expedited basis for acquisition, refinance and construction transactions.
Prior to Arbor, Proctor was president of Proctor Community Enterprises, where he provided comprehensive housing finance and community development services. While there, he assisted clients by coordinating the acquisition, financial analysis, project management and financing of properties throughout the state of Colorado and elsewhere.
Gray most recently worked at Oppenheimer Multifamily and Healthcare Finance, where he was an associate director of origination. While there, he successfully developed a nationwide portfolio of clients, while focusing on seniors housing and FHA loan origination.
Lee Hires Three Brokers in L.A.
Lee & Associates added three key industrial and office brokers to its offices in West Los Angeles.
Principals Keith H. Fielding, Tibor S. Lody and Aleks Trifunovic, who previously worked as a team with Klabin Co., are joining Lee.
At Klabin, which he joined in 2005, Fielding specialized in both landlord and tenant representation and property disposition with a concentration in office. At Klabin since 1998, Lody has specialized in landlord representation for office and industrial properties with an emphasis in creative properties. Trifunovic, who joined Klabin in 2002, specializes in both tenant representation and property disposition with a concentration in industrial, office, creative office and land.
JLL Promotes Three Professionals
Jones Lang LaSalle has promoted three professionals to international director: Jubeen Vaghefi, leader of multifamily capital markets, based in Florida, John Huguenard, leader of industrial capital markets, based in Chicago, and Faron Thompson, leader of the firm’s multifamily agency finance practice, based in Atlanta, have earned that distinction.
Vaghefi serves as managing director and leader of the firm’s multifamily capital markets practice group and also oversees a broad range of investment sales and capital raises in the Southeast. Vaghefi has also handled a number of the largest office trades in Florida. He has more than 18 years of real estate experience, with cumulative volume exceeding $6.5 billion in every major product type around the country.
Newmark Hires Senior Managing Director
Michael Margolis has joined the Philadelphia office of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank as a senior managing director in the company’s capital group.
Margolis brings nearly 30 years of experience representing institutional and private client owners in the Philadelphia market and throughout the northeast, having closed more than $1.4 billion in investment sales transactions during his career.
Margolis comes to Newmark Grubb Knight Frank from Professional Realty Advisors, where he served as president, Investment Sales for the past four years, representing special servicers, banks, REITs and private owners on exclusive sale assignments for office, industrial, retail and healthcare properties.
HFF Hires Managing Director in Atlanta
HFF hired Rhonda Toming as a managing director in the firm’s Austin, Texas office.
Toming will focus on office and industrial investment sales throughout central Texas. She has 28 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Prior to joining HFF, she worked as an investment sales broker at Oxford Commercial, an affiliate of Cushman & Wakefield. Before that, she worked with Fischer Financial in the investment division and as an investment sales broker at The Staubach Co.
CBRE Hires Managing Director
Mahesh K. Katkar has joined CBRE Global Investors as a managing director with Strategic Partners U.S.
He is involved with the sourcing, underwriting, structuring and management of new equity investments, capital markets activity and the development of new program offerings and business opportunities.
Prior to joining the firm, Katkar was with JPMorgan Real Estate special opportunities, JPMorgan’s proprietary commercial real estate investment platform, where he managed the New York office. Katkar has previous principal experience with Barrow Street Capital (a former affiliate of Greenhill & Co.), and Morgan Stanley.
Waterford Hotel Group Names Development Director
Waterford Hotel Group appointed Christopher Flagg director of development.
Prior to Waterford, Flagg was the managing director of Definitive Consulting Group in California. He also worked for HEI Hotels & Resorts in Connecticut as director of development and later as vice president of development. His experience in hotel development began with Ocean Park Hotels in San Luis Obispo, Calif. as vice president of development and acquisitions.
RiverRock Hires Real Estate Pro
RiverRock Real Estate Group hired Jim Lynch as retail practice leader/account manager.
He will oversee the company’s retail team as well as the 3-million-sq.-ft. Red Mountain Retail Group portfolio and its 13-member management team.
Prior to RiverRock, Lynch served as general manager for Century National Properties where he was responsible for managing The Shops at Rossmoor, a 400,000-sq.-ft. 1960’s era neighborhood center in Seal Beach, Calif. that was redeveloped into a premium lifestyle center.
Green Joins Kelley Drye & Warren
Andy Green has joined Kelley Drye & Warren LLP's real estate practice in New York City, from Jones Day.
Green has worked in all aspects of real estate law, including securitized, syndicated, and construction lending; acquisitions and dispositions; sale-leaseback transactions; restructurings and workouts; and net, office, retail and build-to-suit leasing.
He has represented Bank of America, Bank of New York, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, among other financial institutions, owners, developers, and corporate facilities groups, and has represented landlords and tenants in some of the largest office leases in New York, including multiple Manhattan and New York Metropolitan area office leases in excess of one million sq. ft. He is also a leading practitioner in workouts and restructurings.
Green has guest-lectured at the Baruch School of Business and The New York University Real Estate Institute and is a New York “Super Lawyer” (2007-2011).
GC Comes to Sabal
Sabal Financial Group L.P. brought on Mark E. Foster as general counsel.
Foster will be responsible for all legal aspects of Sabal’s business operations. He will focus on strategic corporate issues and legal issues surrounding real estate transactions, including acquisition, management and disposition of assets and alternatives for distressed loans.
Foster comes to Sabal from the Rockefeller Group where he was vice president and senior counsel responsible for negotiating and finalizing transactions relative to the company’s development, management and ownership operations. Prior to that, Foster served as regional GC at Toll Brothers Inc., where he managed legal issues related to development, land acquisitions, purchase contracts, joint ventures and land banking transactions.
New Partner at Pircher, Nichols & Meeks
Pircher, Nichols & Meeks welcomes Michael R. Ray to the firm as a partner in the corporate and real estate private equity practice areas.
Based in the Los Angeles office, Ray was previously a corporate partner with Husch Blackwell LLP. Ray’s practice focuses on advising clients in connection with domestic and cross-border commercial transactions and business ventures, public and private offerings of securities, and the representation of real estate private equity investment fund sponsors with respect to the organization and formation of their funds and the execution of real estate joint venture, acquisition and disposition transactions.
Senior Property Manager Hired by Liberty Property Trust
Liberty Property Trust brought on Kyle D. Fulk to work in the Lehigh Valley, Ill. region as senior property manager. Fulk will manage more than 18 million sq. ft. of office and industrial space in the Lehigh Valley, and lead a management team with three property managers, an administration staff and several maintenance technicians.
Fulk comes to Liberty from Pitcairn Properties Inc., where, as senior property manager, he provided asset and property management services
Exec Launches New Venture
Scott Sweeney has launched Property Income Advisors Inc., a real estate advisory firm focused on assisting non-U.S. clients in the investment and management of U.S. commercial real estate.
Property Income Advisors will assist high net-worth investors, family offices, private banks and institutions in providing comprehensive services, including customized investment strategies, creation of tax-efficient holding structures, Shari'a-compliant transactions, asset management, acquisitions, dispositions, financing and consulting services.
Sweeney, serving as the firm's CEO, previously worked for 19 years as executive vice president, head of U.S. asset management and Middle East marketing for a large advisory firm. Throughout his career, he has successfully supervised asset management activities for more than 13 million sq. ft. of commercial real estate located in major markets throughout the United States valued in excess of $2 billion. Additionally, he has directed property acquisitions, dispositions, financings and lease transactions totaling more than $3 billion.
Alliance Creates New Green Position
Alliance Residential Co. promoted Kelly Vickers to the company’s newly created national director of sustainability position, in charge of Alliance’s Focus Green program and the company’s overall strategy for maximizing green initiatives across its more than 55,000 owned and managed units nationwide.
Vickers brings more than 13 years of experience in the property management industry, previously serving as a regional training director for Alliance in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Her longtime interests in green business, sustainability and social justice led her to pursue an MBA in sustainable enterprise at Dominican University of California.
Griffin Partners Creates New Subsidiary
Griffin Partners, a Houston-based real estate firm, has formed a new subsidiary, Griffin Partners Development, led by Terry Early.
Early previously led three separate Engineering News-Record Top 400 general contractors operating coast-to-coast, and most recently was president of E.E. Reed Construction. His construction portfolio totals 38 million sq. ft. of buildings, including 43 build-to-suit office projects for companies like Chevron Phillips Chemical, First Health, Jacobs Engineering and Kent Electronics.
The new subsidiary represents an increased emphasis on development of build-to-suit office buildings and light industrial facilities by founder Fred Griffin, who has a three-decade track record of developing commercial properties in Texas. Griffin Partners, with Fred Griffin as Co-Chairman and Edward Griffin as President, has developed or acquired properties totaling $850 million, including the current mixed-use complex Nassau Bay Town Square, which is adjacent to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.