Newmark expands retail team across US; Avison Young targets Texas growth with promotion; JLL hire pursues development business

Newmark added several real estate veterans, including Jonathan Schley and Andrew Turf, as vice chairmen in its Los Angeles office as part of a slew of hires made to expand its global retail services, the brokerage said. Schley and Turf, formerly with CBRE, have advised major retailers, including luxury brands Audemars Piguet, Byredo and Baccarat, on cross-border expansion and first-to-market projects. They have also consulted real estate development and investment clients such as Anderson Real Estate and Caruso.

New York City-based Newmark also said it hired Ben Lazzareschi as senior managing director and David Kessler as associate director in its San Francisco office. Lazzareschi and Kessler joined Newmark from JLL and previously led regional leasing efforts for clients including Williams Sonoma, West Elm, Pottery Barn, Shake Shack and Charles Schwab.

In Miami, Newmark hired Greg Masin and Frank Begrowicz as executive managing directors, both formerly with Cushman & Wakefield. Masin and Begrowicz previously led South Florida expansion for brands such as Supreme, Fendi, Alain Ducasse and Zara. They have represented retail clients in high-profile neighborhoods including South Beach, Coconut Grove, the Design District and Wynwood.

Avison Young promoted Sullivan Johnston, who's based in its Austin, Texas, office, to senior vice president. The brokerage said Johnston is a founding member of Avison Young’s land, development and industrial advisory team and represents developers, corporate users, landowners and institutional investors. She joined Avison Young in 2016 and has handled acquisition, disposition and development transactions across Texas and other states.

Avison Young also hired Stefan Ivanisevic as a vice president in its Chicago office. Ivanisevic previously served as a senior associate with JLL, where he specialized in office tenant representation in the Chicago region. He held earlier roles at Advocate Commercial Real Estate Advisors, including director of business development and client relationship manager.

JLL hired Steve Echols as a senior vice president on its project development services team. He's based in the firm's Dallas office. Echols is a 35-year industry veteran who joined JLL after 21 years with CBRE. His prior work included representing investors, landlords and other clients in several multimillion-dollar capital improvement projects in the Dallas area, such as Preston Commons, Tollway Plaza and The Colonnade. In his new role, he will manage industrial, retail and other commercial projects on behalf of clients, as part of a team that works in tandem with JLL’s agency leasing and property management groups, the firm said.

Development and investment firm Lincoln Property Co. expanded its Florida operations geared to medical real estate with the hiring of 19-year industry veteran Brian Wilcox as senior vice president of healthcare brokerage for the Southeast region. He's based in its Orlando, Florida, office. The Dallas-based company said it also added Matt Poncy as vice president and Jonah Puttbach as senior transaction manager; they'll also handle healthcare deals in the region.

Wilcox, Poncy and Puttbach all worked most recently at Holladay Properties, where they handled the firm’s healthcare brokerage services. Wilcox led Holladay’s Florida healthcare team and platform for the past 15 years, overseeing areas such as leasing, management, acquisitions, dispositions and development analysis, after earlier work at DASCO Cos. 

Hudson Valley Property Group, the national investment firm also known as HVPG and focused on acquiring and preserving affordable housing, promoted James Lee to head of design and construction and Drew McKessey to controller of development accounting. Lee is a 22-year industry veteran who joined HVPG in 2020 and has overseen renovations of about 30 multifamily complexes across 10 states, in projects valued at more than $200 million. He held earlier roles at firms such as Avalon Bay Communities, Help USA and Mulholland Group

McKessey, who joined the company in 2021, will lead development and property accounting functions focused on areas such as low-income housing tax credit financing. He is a 25-year industry veteran who previously served as assistant controller at HVPG. He worked earlier at firms including DDG Partners and GFI Capital Resources Group.