Alexander & Baldwin, a premier commercial real estate company in Hawaii, has promoted its current chief operating officer to the additional role of president, effective Jan. 1.

Lance K. Parker, a 28-year commercial real estate industry veteran, will succeed Christopher J. Benjamin, who currently serves as president and chief executive officer of the firm. Benjamin will remain the company's CEO.

Parker took the helm of A&B's real estate business in 2015 and has served as its chief operating officer since November 2021. He joined the company in 2004 with a focus on acquisitions.

Throughout his time with the company, Parker has overseen the migration of A&B's disparate mainland portfolio back to Hawaii as well as the development of fully integrated, in-house property management and leasing teams.

Alexander & Baldwin is the only publicly traded real estate investment trust to focus exclusively on Hawaii commercial real estate. The 152-year-old company reports it is the state's largest owner of grocery-anchored, neighborhood shopping centers, owning or operating 3.9 million square feet of commercial space including 22 retail centers, 12 industrial assets and four office properties, as well as 141 acres of ground leases.

"Over the past 18 years, Lance has been instrumental in transforming A&B into one of Hawai'i's leading commercial real estate companies." said Benjamin in a corporate statement announcing the move. "His deep Hawai'i roots and commitment to the local community will enable him to continue to grow A&B's real estate presence and strengthen our position as partners for Hawai'i."

Parker was born in Hawaii and began his commercial real estate career in Southern California, before returning to the islands to join the firm. He is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools and earned a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Southern California.

CBRE has promoted Kevin Higgins and Garrett Toft to vice chairmen, the highest designation for production professionals in the firm's advisory and transaction services group.

The two become the first in CBRE's Las Vegas office to achieve the title, and together provide a full range of services to industrial owners, occupiers, investors and developers in the state. During their time at CBRE, Higgins and Toft have consistently ranked as the top industrial producers in Las Vegas and in the top 10% of producers in the Americas.

Higgins joined CBRE in 1985 and has more than 35 years of commercial real estate experience, having served as both a producer and interim managing director of the Las Vegas office during his time with the company. He is a past president and board member of the Southern Nevada chapters of NAIOP and the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors.

Toft joined CBRE in 2015 and has more than 18 years of experience in the industry. He is a member of the Southern Nevada chapters of NAIOP and SIOR and a board member of Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada.

Global advisory and investment firm Gordon Brothers has promoted Michael Guelfo to managing director of commercial and industrial properties and Samantha Findley to managing director of capital.

In his expanded role, Guelfo will structure and execute large, multi-asset transactions across the manufacturing sector. He is based in Atlanta and has more than 30 years of experience in valuations, dispositions and project management assignments in the textile, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical processing and metalworking segments.

In her expanded role, Findley will oversee lending and investment opportunities in Australia and New Zealand. She is based in Sydney and has more than 20 years of experience in financial restructuring, business liquidity and operations for the entire life cycle of a portfolio. Findley leads a team of finance and investment experts and works alongside the firm's deal and origination team to assist with sourcing, structuring and identifying retail and industrial prospects and various financing structures.

CBRE has hired Gordon Benedict and Courtney Oldenburg to its advisory and transaction services group in Atlanta. Benedict joins the firm as a senior vice president, and Oldenburg joins as a first vice president.

The duo previously worked together at Cushman & Wakefield, overseeing tenant representation for industrial and logistics occupiers. They will continue to specialize in the industrial sector in their new roles at CBRE.

Benedict and Oldenburg bring more than 35 years of combined experience in commercial real estate brokerage. Benedict most recently served as a senior director and had worked at Cushman & Wakefield since 2006. Oldenburg was previously a director, and before that worked with Group Six Real Estate, the Lynch Group and NASCAR.

Thomas Patriarca has joined Kidder Mathews in El Segundo, California, as a senior vice president.

In his new role, Patriarca will continue to focus on office investments and owner/user properties, as well as landlord and tenant representation throughout metropolitan Los Angeles.

Patriarca brings more than 25 years of experience in commercial real estate, most recently as a senior vice president with NAI Global, and before that was with Grubb & Ellis. His client list includes investors, private trusts and occupiers in the medical, government, technology and nonprofit sectors.

Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, has hired property investment adviser Mark DeGiorgio as a senior director in El Segundo, California.

In his new role, DeGiorgio will execute office and industrial property transactions on behalf of large private clients and institutional investors throughout greater Los Angeles.

DeGiorgio brings more than 10 years of experience handling acquisitions, dispositions, equity placements and debt transactions for a client list that includes Pimco, EverWest, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Tishman Speyer, Angelo Gordon, SteelWave, UBS, TA Realty and Fortress Investment Group. He most recently worked as a director with JLL.

Gannon Coffman has joined Velocity Retail group as an associate vice president and account manager in Phoenix.

In his new role, Coffman will work with Dave Cheatham, Darren Pitts and Bonnie Arlia on key tenant accounts in the region.

Gannon brings a diverse background in retail brokerage, leasing, site selection, analytics, development and sales, with more than 10 years of experience in the retail sector, handling tenant rollouts with national and regional clients and negotiating dozens of transactions for a variety of retailers.

International design firm Ware Malcomb has promoted Francisco Arias to director of design in the firm's Los Angeles office.

In his expanded role, Arias will assist in the growth and evolution of the company's national design platform with a focus on the Southern California region.

Arias joined Ware Malcomb in 2019 as a senior project manager and was promoted to studio manager in 2021. He brings more than 14 years of architectural design and master planning expertise in the retail, mixed-use, industrial, healthcare and office sectors.

ML Realty Partners has hired Tracy Albrecht as an acquisition transaction manager in the company's Itasca, Illinois, office.

In her new role, Albrecht will work with the firm's acquisition, development and third-party teams to coordinate and close business transactions.

Albrecht spent the past 15 years in a variety of diverse commercial real estate industry roles, most recently as a marketing director at Cawley Chicago, where she focused on the industrial property sector.