Corporate Restructures
A byproduct of the great recession is the restructuring of how companies think about, plan for, and deal with their often massive real estate positions in the form of leases, owned real estate, and a broad range of facilities services (food, mail, procurement, etc). Historically, corporate real estate was a third-rung cost center, but that’s all changing, big time. Corporations have become sharply focused on the extraordinary impact real estate has on the balance sheet and bottom-line results. Across all industries, CEO’s are getting aggressive about change management and new approaches to what is now recognized as a core element of their business. At the same time, M&A activity, such as the Pfizer/Merck merger , and corporate failures such as Lehman, jettisoned an incredible array of talent into the market. This mix of cutbacks and restructuring, realignment, new directions, excess human capital, and for many of the largest corporations, challenging expansions throughout AsiaPac, is creating one of the most dynamic real estate stories in history, and with it, the repositioning and retooling of corporate real estate talent, both inside the company and with its service providers.

Tony LoPinto is a senior client partner and head of Korn//Ferry International’s Real Estate Practice and founder of SelectLeaders. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.

CO STAR GROUP
Director of Building Rating Systems
(WASHINGTON, DC) With an in-depth understanding of commercial real estate market property quality and features that differentiate the value of property, short term and long term, to renters and owners, the director of building rating systems will become the manager and point person in charge of the new CoStar 5 star building rating system. The building rating system will cover all property types but focus first on office, then industrial, retail and multifamily.

WILLIAMS & WILLIAMS
Vice President of Asset Management
(DALLAS) The firm is seeking a vice president of asset management that can re-engineer a scalable customer support and operations division and spearhead business innovation and process improvement throughout our operational divisions. Candidate must have 10 years of operations with an emphasis in process development/process reengineering in an asset management setting.

THE PALMER TEAM
Capital Markets Partner
(SACRAMENTO) The Palmer Team, an industry leading private commercial real estate firm, is seeking a real estate professional to join its capital markets team. A successful candidate will be responsible for underwriting, marketing, structuring debt and equity, and the management of client relationships.

SELECTLEADERS
Sales Manager
(NEW YORK CITY) SelectLeaders, the leader in online professional and executive hiring for the commercial real estate industry, has an immediate need for an e-commerce business to business sales and online marketing manager. (end of sponsored)

JENSEN & COOPER
Senior Director of Capital Projects
(KIRKLAND, WA) Initial responsibilities for the position will involve management of a large international capital construction project from inception through completion including land acquisition, facility design, entitlements, and construction.

VOIT REAL ESTATE SERVICES
Director of Property Management/Asset Management
(NEWPORT BEACH, CA) This position will provide oversight for asset and property management in the company’s five regional offices, responsible for coordinating consistency in processes and reporting. The firm currently has approximately five million square feet under management.

GRUBB & ELLIS
Vice President of Internal Audit
(SANTA ANA, CA) The vice president, internal audit, is responsible for assessing and monitoring internal controls over the company, including accounting and financial reporting systems, to ensure their effective design and operation, and for recommending changes and improvements to internal controls that mitigate risk, improve operational efficiency, safeguard assets and ensure compliance with laws, regulations and company policies and procedures.

AMB PROPERTY CORP.
Director, Lease Administration and Statistics
(SAN FRANCISCO) The candidate is responsible and accountable for the management, operations, training, and growth of the lease administration function for a global public real estate company, including managing the activities of a 15-20 member outsourced lease administration team in India, plus two to three AMB lease administrators in the US.

No more than one submission per company will be considered per week.
Submissions with multiple names will be capped at three for coverage in Executive Watch.

CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
(WASHINGTON, DC) Cushman & Wakefield announced that James M. Underhill has been named chief executive officer of the Americas. Underhill, who has been with Cushman & Wakefield for five years, replaces John Santora who was appointed CEO of Cushman & Wakefield’s Client Solutions group in June 2010. Prior to becoming CEO of the Americas, Underhill served as executive vice president and area leader for Cushman & Wakefield in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions.

CRESAPARTNERS
(MIAMI) Stephen E. Gaunt, executive vice president of CresaPartners, was recently reappointed to two Florida commercial real estate boards. At the Realtors Commercial Alliance of the Miami Association of Realtors he is on the Commercial Board of Governor for a two-year term. He was also named on the Florida Association of Realtors as a board member representing the Miami Association of Realtors for a one-year term.

No more than one submission per company will be considered per week.
Submissions with multiple names will be capped at three for coverage in Executive Watch.

BRADFORD ALLEN
(CHICAGO) Mustafa Basit has joined the firm as managing director. Basit specializes in tenant advisory services throughout Chicago and has advised clients in the non-profit, education, engineering, information technology, finance and insurance sectors. Basit most recently held the position of managing director with ProTen Realty Group.

CASSIDY TURLEY
(NEW YORK CITY) Cassidy Turley, a leading commercial real estate services provider in the US, announced today that Lisa Huls-Fry has joined the company as executive managing director of facility Management. She has 25 years of real estate experience, including her most recent experience of 13 years at Trammell Crow Company and then CB Richard Ellis when the firms merged.

MERIDIAN DESIGN BUILD
(DEEFIELD, IL) Joe Grimes has joined Meridian Design Build as vice president. He worked in the construction department at Opus North Corporation in Rosemont for almost 19 years, and has extensive experience managing design-build projects from the due diligence and proposal stage through to facility turnover.

CB RICHARD ELLIS INVESTORS
(LOS ANGELES) CB Richard Ellis Investors, the global real estate investment management firm, announced today the appointment of Jean Lamothe as President of CB Richard Ellis Investors Europe. He served for 16 years with the Caisse de d