After nearly 15 years, Patrick Duffy stepped down as president of Colliers' Houston office and handed the reins to Danny Rice, someone he knows quite well. “Danny is the perfect replacement for me,” Duffy said in a statement. “I hired Danny straight out of college and he spent a few years in GIS and technology before becoming a broker. He started in the company structure I set up and eventually stepped into my previous role, running Colliers in Orlando, Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida." Duffy isn't going anywhere, though. He remains a principal and director at the brokerage.

For Rice and his family, his new job means moving from one fast-growing state to another after nearly four decades. "After 39 years living in the amazing state of Florida, Stephanie, Logan and I are excited for the next chapter in our lives and living in the great state of Texas," he said in a LinkedIn post. In a separate statement, he said the chance to work with his Colliers Houston colleagues "in one of the largest and fastest-growing markets in the country created a perfect match for myself and my family."

JLL has hired office leasing veteran Marin Turney to represent office owners and tenants in Los Angeles. It marks Turney's return to JLL, where she worked as a broker from 2008-2013. She joined JLL from Brookfield Properties, where she served as vice president of leasing and marketed and leased the firm’s 10.5-million-square-foot office portfolio in downtown Los Angeles. She left Brookfield in February, the same month its Brookfield DTLA Fund Office Trust Investor defaulted on loans related to its 52-story 777 Tower and Gas Company Tower in the market.

JLL said Turney's experience working at Brookfield and with institutional investors to best position Class A properties will benefit JLL and its clients. “During this evolving economic and commercial real estate climate, we have seen a greater need for guidance from Los Angeles office landlords and tenants,” Charlie Smith, a JLL senior managing director and its Los Angeles brokerage lead. Turney said it will be good to work again with JLL colleagues with whom she has longstanding relationships as she embarks on the next phase of her career. “I’m also looking forward to re-engaging in the market with a fresh perspective in my new role as an advisor with a focus on a consultative, partnership approach," she said in a statement.

Cortland, one of the largest apartment owners in the country, has added capital markets veteran Manjul Ramchandani to support its investor partnerships in the U.S. and overseas. In his role as executive vice president of client relations and capital markets, Ramchandani will be responsible for raising capital from institutional clients and consultants for Cortland's investment strategies and vehicles. He will be based in the firm's Greenwich, Connecticut, office and report to Ned Stiker, senior managing partner and head of client relations and capital markets.

“Creating and positioning real estate products for investors to raise capital and further grow investment management businesses has been an area I have focused on throughout my career,” Ramchandani said in a statement. His "decades of building relationships and raising capital from a wide swath of real estate investors around the globe will add immeasurably to Cortland’s continued growth,” Jason Kern, Cortland’s president of investment management, said in a statement. Ramchandani spent the past five years as a managing director at Evercore in New York, where he led a team of 30 and raised capital from institutional investors across the globe. Before Evercore, he served as a managing director of Real Assets Capital Advisory for Greenhill & Co in New York. Atlanta-based Cortland ranked No. 6 on the National Multifamily Housing Council's 2023 50 Largest Apartment Owners list with 77,407 units. The firm also is growing quickly in the United Kingdom.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage banking firm BWE has beefed up its Atlanta office with the addition of a trio of industry veterans. Alan Tapie, who spent the past 22 years at Grandbridge Real Estate Capital and predecessor firm Collateral Real Estate Capital, joined BWE as an executive vice president. Thomas Wiedeman and Brad Walker, also from Grandbridge, joined BWE as senior vice presidents. Tapie specializes in tailored finance structures that include equity placement, construction and other products. “Alan, Thomas, and Brad’s deep experience in securing financing from a variety of capital sources, coupled with their extensive knowledge of the Southeastern market" will benefit the firm as it continues to grow, Todd Harrop, BWE’s national director of conventional production, said in a statement.

Combined, Tapie, Wiedeman and Walker bring more than 40 years of real estate finance experience to BWE. Tapie has been involved in over $5 billion in finance deals, and Wiedeman has closed more than $1.5 billion in commercial real estate loans. For his part, Walker "has been involved in the placement of more than $5 billion in debt and equity capital," BWE said. On July 1, longtime BWE executive David James “DJ” Effler succeeded co-founder Ned Huffman as CEO of the Cleveland-based firm. Huffman now is a special adviser to the company.

L&L Holding Co., a New York-based real estate company founded in 2000 by David Levinson and Robert Lapidus, said it has promoted Jamil Lacourt to the new position of chief operating officer. Lacourt, who joined L&L as executive vice president and director of construction three years ago, has played a key role in the company’s biggest projects including the completion of its redevelopment of the 425 Park Ave. office project and the ongoing Terminal Warehouse redevelopment. In his new role, Lacourt will oversee L&L’s development projects and work with Ron Gentile, L&L’s new chief administrative officer, and Howard Slavin, the firm's executive vice president who oversees asset and property management, cleaning and security. Together, they will lead day-to-day operations of the firm.

During his time at L&L, Lacourt also helped lead L&L’s entry into South Florida real estate with the start of The Wynwood Plaza, a one million-square-foot mixed-use campus with residential and retail space and an office tower in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District. He also was pivotal in launching and operating L&L Development Group. Levinson said Lacourt's promotion to COO is reflects his ability “and the impact he has had on the firm." Before he joined L&L, Lacourt served as a principal and director of project management at OC Development Management. Prior to that, he served as vice president at JLL, an associate director of construction at Stanford University and a senior vice president at Citi.

Multifamily investment firm Gelt Venture Partners has promoted Josh Satin to partner. In his new role, Satin will continue to lead Gelt's investment strategy and will oversee equity raising efforts for acquisitions and manage the firm's debut multifamily and storage fund. He joined Gelt in 2016 as an asset manager after playing professional baseball for several seasons with the New York Mets and other organizations.

Satin developed an interest in multifamily investments while playing for the Mets and transitioned to commercial real estate after retiring from baseball. “Josh’s instrumental role in sourcing, underwriting, and analyzing multifamily investments, has enabled Gelt to acquire 5,200 units valued at nearly $1.1 billion," Damian Langere, a partner and founding member of Gelt, said in a statement. "Additionally, his contributions align with our firm's mission of maximizing returns for investors."

M&T Bank has hired 25-year industry veteran Tim Gallagher as its head of commercial real estate. Gallagher spent the past two years as a managing director at Slate Asset Management. At Buffalo, New York-based M&T, he will oversee all aspects of its commercial real estate platform and strategy including on- and off-balance sheet activities. Before working at Slate, Gallagher had stints at Morgan Stanley, Annaly Capital and other firms.

M&T also named company veteran Hugh Giorgio its head of investment banking. He and Gallagher report to Peter D’Arcy, head of M&T's commercial bank. Longtime M&B commercial real estate executive Matt Petrula will serve as head of regional real estate and work closely with Gallagher to execute M&T’s real estate strategy.