This week's People of Note includes the following markets: Dallas, Denver, National, New York City, Orange County, San Francisco and Washington, DC.
DALLAS, NATIONAL
Behringer Harvard Appoints New President, CEO of REITs
By Laurie Forbes
Behringer Harvard hired Michael J. O'Hanlon as an executive vice president of the firm and as CEO and president of Behringer Harvard Opportunity REITs I and II. He took the place of Robert S. (Bob) Aisner who was tapped as vice chairman of the REITs.
O'Hanlon has more than three decades of industry experience with a background in asset management, corporate and loan restructuring and capital markets. He formerly served on the board of BH REIT II and as an audit committee member. O'Hanlon’s background also includes the titles of COO and president of Billingsley Co., four years as chief of Inland Western Retail REIT Inc. and four years leading Grubb & Ellis Co.’s Midwestern region. The Columbia University and Fordham University grad also held management positions at Insignia/ESG, Cushman & Wakefield and The Balcor Co.
"We stand to benefit tremendously from Michael's professional experience in operating public, non-traded alternative investment programs as well as his expertise in many other facets of real estate management. We're confident that Michael's strong leadership will be particularly beneficial to our opportunity-style investment programs," said Aisner, CEO and president of Behringer Harvard.
Mark V. Petersen also joined the company as head of distribution--retail. Petersen has been a member of the securities community for more than 25 years. He joined Behringer after 15 years with CNL Financial Group where he was senior vice president of market development and led the launch of its business development company. The Baylor University alum also served at Equus in Houston and VMS Realty in Chicago.
Editor's Note: CoStar's People of Note is published each Friday covering the latest commercial real estate executive level promotions and new hires. Click on the headline of each article to jump to full coverage. Follow the news on Twitter @LaurieForbes and @TheCoStarGroup.
ORANGE COUNTY
HFF Appoints New Managing Director
By Jim Naderer
HFF hired James Fowler as managing director for its Orange County office. Formerly a principal with US Realty Capital, he brings almost 30 years of real estate related experience.
Fowler will focus on debt placement and structured finance transactions for Southern California properties.
SAN FRANCISCO
CBRE Promotes Bosch to Managing Director
By John Walz
Darin Bosch was promoted to managing director of CBRE's San Francisco office. Bosch replaced Michael Smith who was recently promoted to president of the western division for CBRE.
Bosch has been with the firm since 1994 and has served as a senior vice president until the recent promotion. His responsibilities will be to continue to grow the office's tenant advisory practices and provide oversight for the firm.
WASHINGTON, DC
Brokers Launch New Tenant Rep Firm
By CoStar Research
Six area brokers from Studley and Boyd Partners have formed a new tenant rep firm called Serten Advisors. The new firm, which is based in Tysons Corner, VA, is headed by managing principals Steven Hubberman and Paul Schweitzer, both formerly with Studley, and Kirk Boyd, formerly with Boyd Partners and Cushman & Wakefield before that.
Also joining the new firm are Bob Walker and Cullen Malone, both from Boyd Partners, and Chris O’Brien and Adam Schindler, both from Studley.
"Dots on a map don’t add value, it’s the intellectual capital that we provide that is most important," Boyd told CoStar news. "We like to think we’re building a better mouse-trap when it comes to tenant advisory in this current economic and market environment."
The new firm hopes to provide a broad scope of tenant services "without the impositions, conflicts, mandates and/or politics that sometimes go with being with a publicly-traded or broad based multi-disciplinary company," added Hubberman.
NEW YORK CITY
Cassidy Turley Taps Weinberg as EMD
By Lauren Hale
Bruce Weinberg joined Cassidy Turley as executive managing director in its New York office. Weinberg will focus on tenant and landlord representation.
Prior to joining Cassidy Turley, Weinberg was previously with CBRE and has more than 25 years of experience in the industry. He has also served with The Ginsberg Organization
Weinberg has completed more than $2.4 billion in national and international transactions. He represented Facebook at 335 Madison Avenue as well as the United Nations at 380 Madison Avenue.
NEW YORK CITY
Rizzi Joins HFF'S New York Office
By Karen Kester
Robert Rizzi joined HHF LP's NYC office as managing director. Rizzi will focus on equity and joint venture capital as well as investment sale transactions in the New York metropolitan area.
Prior to joining HFF he worked at Broad Street Advisors, where he was the co-founder and managing partner since 2000. His career also included serving as regional markets manager at Harbert Realty Services in Tampa. Rizzi has served an array of both private and institutional clients such as Investcorp, Morgan Stanley, PM Realty and Starwood Capital.
DENVER
Cassidy Turley Recruits New Managing Director
By Victor M. Castillo
Cassidy Turley appointed Travis Young as a managing director in the transaction services division. He will be based in Denver while providing clients with consulting services in Texas, California and Colorado.
Young’s experience encompasses commercial real estate, corporate finance and investment banking. Prior to Cassidy Turley the top producer was director of transaction consulting at Cushman & Wakefield. Four members of the firm’s tenant representation practice recently moved to Cassidy Turley in Dallas to oversee the office’s tenant representation operation. Young closed 2 million square feet of deals with a total value of $550 million while at Cushman and brokered the largest deal in the four decade history of the firm’s Dallas office.
Follow the news on Twitter @LaurieForbes and @TheCoStarGroup. Check out the last edition of People of Note.
Would you like to advertise your property offerings and services in People of Note? An A-list of commercial real estate decision makers read this column on the Web. Put your message, listings or needs in front of investors, lenders, advisors, asset managers, analysts, developers and brokers who rely on People of Note news for the latest executive level promotions and new hires. Ask me about weekly or monthly sponsorships by e-mailing me at Laurie Forbes.