Executive Watch

Perspective

The class of 2007 is now in full gear at colleges and universities across the country. The past three years have proven to be good times for graduates, as employers continue to recruit actively on campus, not only for freshly minted MBAs and graduate real estate programs, but also for undergraduate students who are more economical to hire and malleable--if employers are willing to invest in the training process. I expect that this hiring trend will continue into next year. The other by-product of graduate recruiting is the trend on campus to greater diversity. The latest real estate boom has attracted students from a wide range of diverse backgrounds, and over the next 10 years we will see a profound increase in women and other minorities appear among professional real estate ranks. The next hand will then be played by employers who will have to hire this talent and ensure that they receive every opportunity for growth and success.

Tony LoPinto is CEO of Equinox Partners, an executive search firm specializing in the real estate industry, and parent company of SelectLeaders.The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.

Job Opportunities

PA REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST
(PENNSYLVANIA) Vice President, Leasing PA Real Estate Investment Trust, a leading east coast real estate management and development company, seeks an experienced, creative professional to manage a team of leasing representatives whose responsibility includes in-line leasing opportunities in regional shopping centers located in the Eastern US.

AVALONBAY COMMUNITIES
(ILLINOIS) Regional Operations Director – Chicago Portfolio This position is responsible for directing and coordinating activities of AvalonBay’s Chicago portfolio to ensure that the company’s financial, business and customer service objectives are achieved. The portfolio currently includes a total of six properties and approximately 1,696 apartment homes including two renovations.

EQUITY OFFICE PROPERTIES
(ILLINOIS) Director – New Program Development The director of new program development will drive the design and development of new marketing programs, and will oversee the new program/product lifecycle across the planning, testing, implementation, and development phases.

TRAMMELL CROW CO.
(FLORIDA) Construction Project Manager Program development responsibilities include creating the value proposition, identifying the program components and requirements, assessing the appropriate risks, valuing the financial impact, and delivering executive-level presentations and recommendations.

JONES LANG LASALLE
(CALIFORNIA) Transaction Manager We are currently seeking a transaction manager to join our National Accounts Team located in Los Angeles. This individual will be a key member of a team dedicated to providing real estate strategy, transactional services, financial and qualitative analysis and account management to our client, with a primary focus in Southern California.

FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP LLC
(CALIFORNIA) Asset Management Analyst As part of the asset management team, successful candidates will aggregate and identify key financial and statistical data from various sources, identify and asses credit strengths and risks of assets and recommend actions to portfolio managers and credit analysts.

FIDELTY INVESTMENTS
(MASSACHUSETTS) Real Estate Analyst The selected candidate will be responsible for a host of applied economic and commercial real estate related research activities, working as an integral member of the research team. The research team provides analytical support to three business units within Fidelity: private real estate, REITs and CMBS

Promotions

URBAN LAND INSTITUTE
(NEW YORK) The District Council has appointed Merrie S. Frankel to chair person at the Real Estate Finance group. Frankel has worked as assistant chair and vice chair of the education committee for the last three years at Moody’s Investors Service.

CB RICHARD ELLIS
(Los Angeles) Adrienne Barr, a member of Team Lustig-Bower in the Century City / Beverly Hills office, has earned the title of first vice president.

MARCUS & MILLICHAP
(HOUSTON) James H. Bell, Brent Smith, Michael Yu, Ross Cannizaro and Paul Gardner are named senior associates, rising to one of the firm's highest levels for sales associates. Bell joined the firm in 1998; the others in 2003.

DUBLIN RESIDENTIAL
(CHICAGO) Kenneth Sankot moves up the ladder to senior project manager for the builder of townhomes, lofts and condominiums. He previously served as project manager.

CB RICHARD ELLIS
(SADDLE BROOK, NJ) Scott Belfer becomes first vice president in CB Richard Ellis’ Saddle Brook office. He was previously vice president and has been with CBRE since 2001.

GVA ADVANTIS
(ORLANDO, FL) Advantis Real Estate Co., a partner in GVA Worldwide, promotes two sales associates. Emily Zinaich becomes director of office services and Mindy Boehm becomes associate director.

JONES LANG LASALLE
(CHICAGO) The firm promotes Janice Ochenkowski to managing director of Global Risk Management. She previously served as senior vice president; she joined the firm in 1980.

STUDLEY
(HOUSTON) Drew Morris moves from associate director to managing director of the firm’s Houston office. He joined Studley in 2003 and spent the previous six years at Trione & Gordon.

New Hires

DLA PIPER RUDNICK GRAY CARY US
(AUSTIN) Jay Hailey is named partner for the real estate practice group. He most recently was a partner with Locke Liddell & Sapp

LLP.LEGACY PARTNERS
(DENVER) Christopher Gillies takes the lead spot as senior vice president and partner for the Colorado region's operations, acquisitions and development. The industry veteran, who previously worked for Legacy, most recently was development director for Intrawest Placemaking.

TRAMMELL CROW CO.
(BOSTON) David Brunelle joins as a development manager in the regional office, assigned to commercial, retail and industrial projects in New England. He previously was a consultant for development and research companies.

NEWMARK KNIGHT FRANK
(NEW YORK CITY) Stephen J. Apple comes to Newmark Knight Frank as senior managing director. Prior to his new position, Apple was director of sales at Massey Knakal Realty Services. He also worked with CB Richard Ellis/Insignia ESG.

COUSINS PROPERTIES
(ATLANTA) Thad Ellis comes to Cousins as senior vice president. He will head the company’s third-party office management and leasing arm. Ellis joins the firm from GVA Advantis where he was managing director of the Atlanta office and a member of the executive committee.

STILES REALTY CO.
(FORT LAUDERDALE, FL) Jacqueline Blake moves to Stiles realty Co. as director of real estate leasing for Fort Lauderdale’s CBD. She joins the firm after a stint in the office leasing division of Cushman & Wakefield.

DOUGLASTON DEVELOPMENT
(NEW YORK) James P. Angley joins the company as chief operating officer; he will report directly to principal Jeffrey Levine. Prior to this position, Angley served as senior vice president and special assistant to the president for programs and policy for the New York State Housing Finance Agency and the State of New York Mortgage Agency.

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Tony LoPinto is the Global Sector Leader of Korn Ferry’s Real Estate Practice and founder of SelectLeaders. For the past 18 years LoPinto has been serving his clients with deep knowledge and perspective on talent needs and organizational challenges to public and private companies – knowledge gained from a 25-year career in real estate. Prior to his current position, he founded and served as chief executive officer of a boutique real estate executive search firm, where he oversaw offices in New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He has successfully led several high profile search engagements for chief executive officers, directors and a wide-range of executive level positions across all industries and sectors. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in European history from Loyola University in Chicago.