CoStar's People of Note (July 18-24)

Hodges' Belinda Lauderbaugh (left), controller, and Krista Reid, director of financial management, are two of seven executives named principals at Avison Young.

This week's People of Note includes the following markets: Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and Raleigh/Durham.

ATLANTA
Avison Young Acquires Hodges Management and Leasing

Avison Young purchased Hodges Management and Leasing Co., an Atlanta-headquartered firm that provides third-party property management and leasing services to real estate owners in the Southeast. The acquisition includes HMLC’s 36 employees and its portfolio of 177 properties totaling 19.3 million square feet in Atlanta, Tennessee and Florida.

HMLC’s seven principals, Todd Blalock, Chet Koenig, Bruce Logue, Krista Reid, Chris Stanley, Tom Crowe and Belinda Lauderbaugh, were named principals at Avison. The firm’s leasing brokers, property managers, project management, and other staff will also join Avison’s Atlanta operations. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.

HMLC (formerly M.D. Hodges) is a 50-year-old company that became independent from ING Clarion Partners nearly two years ago. The company’s Riverwood Parkway location will be rebranded as Avison Young.

Avison, a Toronto-based commercial real estate services organization, also acquired Appian Realty Advisors in Tysons Corner, VA, earlier this month. The organization now has 700 professionals in 21 offices and a North American management portfolio of 50 million square feet.

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Editor's Note: CoStar's People of Note is published each Friday covering the latest commercial real estate executive level promotions and new hires. Please click on the headline of each article to jump to full coverage.

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ATLANTA
Grubb Taps Becker as EVP

Grubb & Ellis Co. hired Christopher L. Becker as executive vice president, director of investment services, and local leader of the financial services asset management practice. He will oversee Grubb’s investment brokerage professionals in Atlanta and handle marketing and account management for the financial services group.

Becker has nearly three decades of brokerage experience that includes development, acquisitions and dispositions, with a focus on ownership and the capital markets arena. He got his start with Chase Bank and has spent the last two decades with increasing leadership responsibilities at CRT Properties Inc., Crocker Realty Trust Inc. and Crocker Realty Investors Inc.


RALEIGH/DURHAM
Powell Properties Merges With KW Commercial
By Kelsey Fralick

Cary, NC-based Powell Properties Inc., an independent firm that focuses on the Triangle Region, joined KW Commercial, Keller Williams Realty Cary’s commercial division. John Powell, president of the merged company, was appointed executive director for KW Commercial-Cary. The group will be based out of the Cary Market Center of Keller Williams Realty.

John Powell provided leasing, sales and development services for 17 years as head of the organization and has been involved in more than $750 million in commercial real estate. The new group will focus on Southern Wake County properties.

KW’s Cary Market Center branch opened six years ago and has 115 associates.


CHICAGO
Cushman Names Head of Automobile Dealership Group
By Doug Rivas

Cushman & Wakefield promoted Stephen Kay, a managing director, to national practice leader for the automobile dealership group. His new responsibilities will include overseeing the valuation of automobile dealerships as part of Cushman's growth strategy on specialty property types.

Formerly a managing director, Kay has been active in the appraisal of real estate since 1991. He managed the appraisal process and was involved in the valuation of more than 3,000 dealerships in the past 13 years.

Kay is a member of the Appraisal Institute and a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser throughout six states in the Midwest. He earned a bachelor's degree in urban planning from the University of Illinois.


DETROIT
Lawyer To Lead Portfolio Development at MayfieldGentry
By Alex Weiss

A. Kay Stanfield Spinks joined Detroit-based MayfieldGentry Realty Advisors as director of portfolio development and special counsel in the office of the general counsel.

Stanfield Spinks was previously with Stanfield Brown Spinks, PLLC, as a principal who was a facilitator and arbitrator in commercial transactions and real estate law.

She earned both her law and undergraduate degrees from the University of Michigan, and has recently retired from 23 years as Magistrate of the 46th District Court in Southfield, MI.




ATLANTA
Kirbo Property Services Joins Scott & Associates
By Tara Williamson

Kirbo Property Services will merge operations with Scott & Associates Inc., an Atlanta-based full service commercial real estate company that focuses on brokerage, asset and property management and development.

Thomas Kirbo, a 20-year veteran of the industry, founded Kirbo Property Services, a firm that specializes in leasing and developing medical-related facilities, nearly a decade ago. He started his career as a property manager working for his father-in-law, Hugh Scott Jr. of Scott & Associates, before taking on leadership roles at The Lea Richmond Co. and Cousins Properties Inc. Kirbo will now head Scott's Healthcare Services group.

With the growing demand for medical office development and leasing in the Southeast, Kirbo and Scott will focus on evaluating the management and leasing of existing properties and the acquisition of new facilities.


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