CBRE promotes veteran to boost Boston business; Lee bolsters Las Vegas brokerage team; Davis hires New York market director

CBRE promoted Mike Brucato to executive managing director and market leader of its Greater Boston region. Brucato has about two decades of commercial real estate experience and will oversee regional business development growth for CBRE’s advisory services, the firm said. That includes investment sales, leasing, valuation, financing and management services for clients across Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island.

Brucato most recently served as CBRE’s senior managing director for the Boston area and spearheaded occupier and accounts businesses. Before that, he worked as a managing director in the firm’s client solutions organization, where he focused on large multinational occupiers. Prior to CBRE, Brucato held roles at brokerage DTZ, now part of Cushman & Wakefield, and UniFirst Corp. 

Joanna Zirbes and Brendan Leake joined the Las Vegas office of Lee & Associates as principals, as the brokerage seeks to expand its presence in Southern Nevada. The company said Zirbes and Leake bring experience in and knowledge of retail leasing, investment sales and landlord and tenant representation. Zirbes began her real estate career in California’s Inland Empire in 2016 and transitioned to the Las Vegas region in 2019. Prior to Lee & Associates, she served as a vice president at Logic Commercial Real Estate, where she worked on various retail portfolios.

Leake began his career at the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance before moving into market analytics at Cushman & Wakefield. He became a broker in 2015 and has since represented landlord and tenant clients such as Black Sheep, Firefly, F45 Fitness and Hummus Bowls.

Investment and development firm Davis Cos. hired Andrew Kurd as managing director to lead the firm’s New York City office. The Boston-based company said Kurd will join the firm’s investment committee and will focus on expanding its investments in several property categories in the New York metropolitan region.

Kurd joined Davis after working for more than 15 years in the Greater New York region’s real estate investment and banking industries. He served most recently as co-chief investment officer at Savanna, where he led underwriting, acquisition, disposition and financing transactions valued at more than $4.5 billion combined. He worked earlier in the commercial real estate group at Deutsche Bank.

Commercial real estate investment sales and financing firm Greysteel appointed Cody Cannon as a senior vice president and market executive in Southern California’s Orange County. The Bethesda, Maryland-based company said Cannon will lead its national manufactured housing team with a focus on growing client business in California. The firm said investors are paying more attention to manufactured housing, driven by strong demand for affordable housing amid limited supply.

Cannon will lead all of the firm’s Southern California operations, including supporting staff advisors across multiple property categories and recruiting new talent, Greysteel said. He has more than 20 years of industry experience, having handled more than $1 billion in transactions. Cannon held previous leadership roles at firms such as Cushman & Wakefield, Colliers and Marcus & Millichap.

Brennan Investment Group promoted Dan Smith to senior vice president as the company seeks to expand its industrial investments in regions including Chicago, Minneapolis and Milwaukee. The Rosemont, Illinois-based company said Smith, who joined the firm in 2023, will lead acquisition efforts in its core regions. He will focus on areas such as value-add investments, ground-up development projects and industrial outdoor storage transactions, Brennan said.

Smith held earlier roles at firms including Bridge Industrial, JLL and Prescient. Brennan operates 18 regional offices in the United States, Canada and Europe, and owns a portfolio spanning about 57 million square feet across 29 U.S. states.