A full-service real estate investment and management company based in Woodbridge, New Jersey, has appointed a veteran commercial real estate executive as its chief operating officer.

Jeffrey Buchman has joined Bergman Real Estate Group with more than 25 years of experience in financial oversight, investment management and local commercial real estate.

In his new role as COO, Buchman will be responsible for management of the firm's office properties throughout the region in addition to helping source new acquisitions and value-add investment opportunities in the office, industrial and multifamily sectors.

"Jeffrey is a well-respected industry professional with a broad background in acquiring and managing commercial properties in New Jersey and in repositioning assets to achieve optimal performance," said Bergman Real Estate Group President Michael Bergman in a corporate statement announcing the new hire. "He will be a significant addition to our team as we continue to grow our portfolio and maximize value for our investors."

Bergman Real Estate Group is a privately owned real estate company with more than 33 years of operating history in New Jersey and some other markets. The company owns and manages 22 office buildings totaling more than 2.2 million square feet of commercial space.

Buchman joins Bergman from STRO Cos., where he most recently served as COO. Before that, he worked as an executive vice president of asset management for Ivy Realty and held various senior leasing and management positions at RREEF/Deutsche Bank, Mack Cali and Reckson Associates.

Throughout his career, Buchman has focused on repositioning large portfolios of office and industrial properties across multiple markets. He earned his bachelor's degree in corporate finance and business from American University and has held a New Jersey real estate license since 1988.

Benjamin Seeger has joined Dermody Properties, a national private equity real estate company focused exclusively on the logistics sector, as its Northwest region partner.

In his new role, Seeger is responsible for the sourcing and execution of acquisition and development opportunities throughout the Northwestern U.S., with a focus on industrial real estate in Seattle and Portland. He will also lead asset management and customer relations for the region.

Seeger is based in the firm's Bellevue, Washington, office and will work closely with Phil Wood, also a partner in the region.

"The Pacific Northwest offers expedient access to national and international customers and bright prospects for new acquisitions and developments," Seeger said in a statement.

Seeger joins Dermody from Amazon, where he worked as a senior manager and led the company's real estate program for last-mile logistics facilities in the Americas, Australia and Singapore, in addition to managing a team of real estate professionals responsible for sourcing and developing existing and build-to-suit facilities.

Before that, Seeger served as a commercial real estate attorney for nearly a decade, assisting clients with leasing, acquisitions, financing and development across various asset types. A member of the Washington State Bar and a graduate of the Urban Land Institute's Center for Sustainable Leadership, Seeger holds a Juris Doctor degree from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Washington.

National commercial real estate finance company Greystone has hired Lance Wright as a managing director in Dallas.

In his new role, Wright will focus on the origination of multifamily and commercial real estate loans across the country, including bridge lending, mezzanine financing and commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Vince Mejia, senior vice president of agency production at Greystone, said in a statement, "The addition of this great new talent will be beneficial for both Greystone and our growing joint venture with Cushman & Wakefield."

Wright most recently served as a managing director at Lightstone Capital Group, where he led origination efforts in the Central and Southeast U.S. regions. Before that, he helped open the Dallas office of Acore Capital in 2015 and previously worked at GE Capital Real Estate/Heller Financial for over 18 years. At GE Capital, Wright was consistently a top producer and closed more than $10 billion in debt volume there.

Jonathan Hawks has joined full-service commercial brokerage Franklin Street as a senior director of multifamily investment sales in Nashville.

In his new role, Hawks will partner with the firm's existing sales, capital advisory and insurance professionals to provide solutions for multifamily investors throughout Tennessee and Kentucky while building out a Nashville-based multifamily investment sales team as the company, headquartered in Tampa, Florida, continues to expand in the U.S. Sun Belt.

Hawks is an experienced multifamily broker in the Nashville market, having completed more than $1 billion in transaction volume across multiple asset classes throughout his career. He most recently served as a multifamily investment sales adviser with Capstone Apartment Partners and before that worked in office and industrial investment sales with Marcus & Millichap.

JLL has hired Brett Thompson as a senior vice president in the brokerage firm's Phoenix office, which this fall will relocate to The Grove, a $400 million mixed-use project being developed by Red Development in the city's Camelback Corridor.

In his new role, Thompson will continue to focus on landlord representation for Class A office buildings in the region, working alongside office leasing broker Ryan Timpani, who joined JLL in 2020.

Thompson most recently served as a director with Cushman & Wakefield, where he handled corporate leasing, expansions, relocations, acquisitions and dispositions for local and multi-market accounts.

Commercial real estate firm The Ashforth Co. has promoted Sandra Funk to senior vice president in the firm's Stamford, Connecticut, office.

In her expanded role, Funk is responsible for overseeing the firm's diversified portfolio, with a focus on fixed-income, equity, hedge fund and private-equity assets. She also serves on Ashforth's investment committee and works with outside advisers to source new opportunities, perform due diligence and monitor existing investments.

Funk first joined Ashforth in 1993 in its investment department. In 1994, following Ashforth's acquisition of a majority interest in high-net-worth investment advisory firm Barrett Associates in New York, she joined that company until 2004, when she returned to Ashforth in its diversified investments department.

International design firm Ware Malcomb has promoted Brian Nguyen to civil engineering manager in the firm's Pleasanton, California, office.

In his new role, Nguyen will help lead the growth and management of the firm's civil engineering team in the Bay Area and manage select projects.

Nguyen is a civil engineer with more than 17 years of experience in civil engineering, design, construction, planning, site optimization, stormwater management, easements, public works and feasibility studies across the public, industrial, auto, healthcare and retail sectors. He joined Ware Malcomb as a project manager in 2015 and was promoted to senior project manager in 2018.

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