WASHINGTON, DC–As we reported yesterday, George Vogelei has left Newmark Knight Frank (the company recently rebranded from Newmark Grubb Knight Frank) to join Transwestern as EVP of agency leasing in the Washington, DC office. This was a new role that Transwestern created for Vogelei, who has been on the job for not quite one month.

GlobeSt.com spoke with Vogelei to find out more about his position, background and how he brought in new business after being at Transwestern only a few weeks. Following are excerpts from that interview.

One goal he has for his new position

I want to keep growing the team here in the District. We have grown the teams in Virginia and in Maryland and now we are focused on growing the team in DC.

About his unconventional background

I haven't always been in real estate and that is not usual for the industry. [Editor's note: Vogelei was managing director of Asset Services at Newmark Knight Frank and prior to that, he was associate director of Leasing at Vornado Realty Trust.]. I got an MBA from Georgetown University and earlier in my career I was in China for three years overseeing the development of Papa John's in the northern part of the country. That was from 2004 through 2007, which was an exciting time to be in China.

How he's going to use this experience at Transwestern

Being in China required an entrepreneurial spirit, being collaborate with the team and thinking outside of the box. At Transwestern we are trying to be more innovative and drive change within the traditional leasing model.

One way we are doing that is that we believe that owners need tighter integration between property management and leasing. They need something different from service providers. We are working on coming up with a new model that gives owners a higher level of service, more resources and that makes them more competitive.

More info about this leasing initiative

It is something that started when we hired Heather Nevin who is overseeing our asset management. We are working on it and rolling it out as we innovate. [Editor's note: Nevin was hired in February of 2017 as managing senior vice president of Asset Services. She is leading property management for the entire Mid-Atlantic region while working with the agency leasing teams. Before joining Transwestern, she was the regional leader for technology clients at Gensler and also previously worked as a management consultant and tax attorney.]

How he got the leasing assignment for Harbourside North

It happened through an introduction I made with a group as I joined Transwestern. They recognized the success I had at previous assignments.

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