Perspective

Last week, New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the appointment of Robert Lieber, a managing director of Lehman Brothers Real Estate Group, to serve as president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the primary vehicle for implementing the City’s economic-development strategy.  When I heard about the appointment, I was impressed that the Mayor turned to such an accomplished and well-respected real estate professional to direct this initiative.  We often hear about other successful real estate executives who leave behind the “big bucks” to assume critical public-service roles that help revitalize our cities by running government like a business.  Let’s hope this trend grows, and more successful business executives enter government to raise the bar and end ‘business as usual’ in the political arena. 

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

WYNDHAM HOTELS
 (PARSIPPANY, NJ) Director, Accounting Policies and Procedures The new hire will perform new accounting pronouncements and assist on treasury activities, mergers and acquisitions and dispositions.

AMERICAN REALTY ADVISORS
 (GLENDALE, CA) Director of Real Estate Research This position is responsible for overseeing and executing the research analysis efforts for all aspects of the firm’s real estate investment activities nationwide.

CASSIDY & PINKARD
 (WASHINGTON, DC) Senior Associate The hire will work on coordinating and transacting debt and equity finance transactions primarily for ground up development.

CLASSIC RESIDENCE BY HYATT
 (CHICAGO) Assistant Vice President of Development Due to growth, we are seeking an assistant vice president of development to provide overall management responsibility related to the design and pre-construction process for new development projects.

 

WACHOVIA
 (DALLAS/SAN ANTONIO) Corporate Real Estate Senior Portfolio Manager This hire will be located in Texas to support the Central Region, and will execute real estate strategy as developed through collaboration with the region manager and relationship managers.

GRUBB & ELLIS
 (NEW YORK CITY) Project Manager The hire is responsible for the complete management of a project from the planning phase though final completion and delivery to the client. The hire is also responsible for the day-to-day contact with and for the client and is responsible for meeting project fiduciary requirements and time schedules.

ACTUS LEND LEASE RETAIL & COMMUNITIES
 (DENVER) Senior Project Finance Manager The role is to support the project director by bringing both technical and practical finance and investment skills to the project team, who will plan, design and develop a major new US community project.
Promotions

NORTH AMERICAN TITLE CO.
(LONG BEACH, CA) Craig Sullivan moves to vice president and manager, hospitality group. He has been with the company for nine years.

CB RICHARD ELLIS
(PHOENIX, NEW YORK CITY) Bert Kempfert and Rick Abraham are named senior vice president and vice president, respectively. In New York City, James C. Ackerson and Brad Needleman are promoted to vice president from senior associate.

OPUS GROUP
(DENVER) Marshall Burton takes the helm as vice president and general manager of Opus Northwest's Colorado operations. He previously was vice president of the Denver office. Also, John Shaw rises to senior vice president and general manager for the Denver and Kansas City regions.

JONES LANG LASALLE
(BOSTON) Kyle B. Warwick rises to director of investment development and Peter A. Bailey replaces him as New England regional director. Bailey previously was co-head of the firm's investment group.
New Hires

INNOVATIVE DEVELOPERS
(FORT WORTH) Nina Petty is named managing director of strategic growth after six years with RadioShack Corp., where she was vice president of retail innovation and strategy.

TRANSWESTERN
(MIAMI) Benjamin Eisenberg, Walter Byrd and Thomas Kresse join the firm from Trammell Crow Co., where they led the industrial practice in South Florida. Eisenberg and Byrd are named managing directors and Kresse starts as vice president.

OPUS GROUP
(WASHINGTON, DC) Opus Government Programs gets new team members: Bill Norman and Mary Akers. Norman, based in Atlanta, starts as a director and Akers, assigned to the Rockville, MD office, begins as a project manager. Norman retired from the GSA in 2005. Akers previous experience includes crafting proposals and reports for various US government departments, the World Bank and InterAmerican Development Bank.

TREMONT REALTY CAPITAL
(BOSTON) Sean Coffey assumes an underwriter's post in the firm's Boston office. Previously, he was an associate with Joseph Blake & Associates.

CB RICHARD ELLIS
(BOSTON) James M. Tribble joins as an analyst after working in a similar position for Wells Fargo Bank's Boston real estate group.

BINSWANGER
(PHOENIX) William J. Graham, heading up the firm's newest office, hires Douglas S. Heller as a vice president of brokerage and Charles S. Pawlak as vice president and managing director of the technology group.

FOLEY & LARDNER
(LOS ANGELES) Craig P. Wood joins as a partner in the business law department and member of the real estate practice. Wood, previously with Greenberg Glusker, focuses on managing complex tenant-in-common offerings.
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Anthony J. LoPinto

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.