This week's People of Note includes the following markets: Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Seattle, South Florida and Southwest Florida.
SOUTH FLORIDA, SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Pages Joins Blanca CRE as EVP
By Justin Sumner
Blanca
Commercial Real Estate hired Alison Pages as executive vice president.
Pages brings more than 20 years of industry experience, having worked with top firms including Colliers International, Flagler Realty Services and CBRE. Her career has seen the closing of office transactions totaling roughly 1.5 million square feet of space valued at more than $250 million, representing clients like CarePlus/Humana, Wicker Smith, TIAA CREF, Florida Career College and Miami Children's Hospital. She was also responsible for increasing the occupancy at Mellon Financial Center from 65 to 99 percent.
Pages joined Blanca on its third consecutive year of continued growth. Since the boutique firm was founded in 2009, at the front end of one of the greatest recessions this country has seen, it has grown its staff and completed a transaction volume nearing $431 million with more than 1.8 million square feet of lease and sales transactions.
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. Send your People of Note announcements to News@CoStar.com. Follow the news on Twitter [at] LaurieForbes and [at] TheCoStarGroup.
SEATTLE
Transwestern Opens Seattle Office, Hires Laycock as EVP
By Laurie Forbes
Transwestern’s latest expansion on the West Coast includes a new office in Seattle. It will focus on commercial brokerage, property management and multifamily investment sales. The firm tapped veteran broker Gregory A. Laycock as executive vice president to head the team.
Laycock is a former senior vice president of investment sales for Grubb & Ellis Co. where he worked with both institutional and private clients. He also served as director of acquisitions and development for Fairfield Residential LLC and senior director for Cushman & Wakefield of Washington Inc.
Transwestern is a commercial real estate services, investment and development firm with 32 offices in the United States. The company hired 17 professionals in the East San Francisco Bay Area and will expand its office in Los Angeles. Transwestern also opened locations in New York City and St. Louis in the past 12 months, and established an international alliance with BNP Paribas Real Estate.
LOS ANGELES
Khan Joins Laurus Corp. as Chief Investment Officer
By Laurie Forbes
Laurus Corp. appointed Austin Khan chief investment officer. He will manage all investment activities for the Los Angeles-based private real estate investment and development firm.
Khan has been in the commercial real estate investment and finance industry for more than 13 years. He recently served as vice president of acquisitions for TRT Holdings where he led global sourcing for new investment deals. His transactions of note include the acquisition of the Amelia Island Co., development of the 1,000-room Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel and recapitalization of the 720-room Champions Gate Resort in Orlando.
“His leadership skills and investment background will benefit Laurus tremendously because it aligns with our vision for growth and investment goals. Austin’s experience in the hospitality sector is particularly valuable as we take advantage of the opportunity to acquire historically low priced assets that are typically income producing,” said Jean Paul Szita, president and chief financial officer.
CHICAGO
Franz Joins Quantum Real Estate Advisors
By Linh Nguyen
Quantum Real Estate Advisors hired Tim Franz as senior vice president. He will focus on single and multi-tenant acquisitions.
The product leasing and acquisitions specialist formerly worked at Zifkin Real Estate Group. He focuses on the Midwest and Chicago metropolitan markets.
Quantum is a Chicago-based investment sales brokerage that works with clients in the acquisition and disposition of commercial real estate.
PHILADELPHIA
Briddell Named CEO at Urdang
By Justin Sumner
BNY Mellon, a global leader in investment management and services, has named E. Todd Briddell as its new chief executive officer of Urdang Capital Management Inc. and Urdang Securities Management Inc.
Briddell joined Urdang in 1993, most recently holding the position of president and chief investment officer. Richard Ferst, Urdang's current CEO, will become chairman.
Urdang, founded in 1987, is BNY Mellon's investment boutique focused on public and private real estate with $7.3 billion in assets currently under management. The firm employs 56 people in offices from its headquarters in Plymouth Meeting, PA, to Newport Beach, CA, as well as London and Singapore.
Follow the news on Twitter [at] LaurieForbes and [at] TheCoStarGroup. Check out last week's edition of People of Note.