Newsmakers: March/April 2011
Rommie Mojahedand Mary Ridberg were appointed directors of leasing for the Phoenix office of Sperry Van Ness. Mojahed and Ridberg will be responsible for recruiting, business development and growth of the leasing team.
Brian Smuckler and Jeff Seaman joined CB Richard Ellis’ Multi-Housing Private Client Group in Phoenix. Smuckler, senior vice president, and Seaman, senior associate, will form a new team working with private-capital multi-family investors. Smuckler, who leads the team, comes to CBRE from Marcus & Millichap, where he was a director of the National Multi-Housing Group. Seaman also joins CBRE from Marcus & Millichap, where he was a senior associate. CBRE also hired Timothy Keating as senior office operations manager.
The Plaza Companies announced it is opening a new Tucson office and hired a leasing professional. Plaza Companies currently provides property management and leasing services to three medical office properties in the Tucson area: Academy Medical, Desert Medical Center, and LaCholla Medical Center. Plaza Companies has hired Lauri Abbinante, a Tucson resident who has worked in the Tucson brokerage community for more than nine years, as senior portfolio manager and leasing specialist.
Commercial Properties Inc. (CPI) has added 11 new agents over the past few months at its Tempe and Scottsdale locations. They are: John Soldo, Trent Rustan, Josh Gosnell and Brandon Koplin, Tempe; and Nicholas Miner, David Verwer, Homer Savard, Donn Kinzle, Sam Walker, Phill Tomlinson and Bob Deininger, Scottsdale
Quarles & Brady announced that Brian Booker, a partner in the firm’s Phoenix office, has been appointed to the board of directors of The Wellness Community. Booker’s practice focuses on commercial litigation with emphasis in commercial and professional liability, real estate, securities fraud and products liability.
Grubb & Ellis announced that Robert Stephens has joined the company as vice president, Industrial Group. Specializing in the representation of industrial tenants and landlords, Stephens joins Grubb & Ellis from Cushman & Wakefield, where he spent 15 years as a senior director. Grubb & Ellis also announced that Andrew Banister and Alan Gillespie joined the company’s Investment Services group as senior vice president and vice president, respectively. They will specialize in the sale of office and industrial properties.
DLR Group recognized seven individuals at its regional annual meeting. They were rewarded for their commitment to the firm and willingness to accept and excel in leadership roles. David Boehm was appointed as senior principal; Scott Shively was promoted to principal; Elizabeth Rendon and Eric Loos were promoted to senior associates; and Karen Heck, Rickey Austin, Andrew Dunlap and Jason Hocking were promoted to associates.
CB Richard Ellis promoted Gavin McPhie to managing director of its Valuation & Advisory Services (VAS) Group in Phoenix. McPhie, who has nearly 10 years of real estate appraisal and consulting experience, joined CBRE in 2005. CBRE also hired Timothy Keating as senior office operations manager.
NAI Horizon added Rick Foss to its Industrial Properties Group. He has spent the past 10 years representing a wide range of industries in the acquisition of their real estate facilities. Prior to joining NAI, Foss worked at Insignia ESG, Grubb & Ellis and Cassidy Turley | BRE Commercial in Phoenix.
Grubb & Ellis announced that Jeffrey Chalfin has joined the company as vice president, Investment Services. Chalfin specializes in the sale of multi-tenant retail assets and joins Grubb & Ellis from Sperry Van Ness, where he began his career in 1998.
Mortenson Construction promoted Paul Kitching to director of operations. Kitching has been with Mortenson since 1997 through the joint venture project, Minnesota Correctional Facility in Rush City, Minn. He became an official Mortenson team member in the Minneapolis office in 2000, with a focus in sports and healthcare
Gilbane Building Company named D. Thomas Goderre district operations manager in its Phoenix office. Goderre will manage all of Gilbane’s business and construction operations throughout the district.
Cassidy Turley | BRE Commercial announced that Scott Boardman has joined the company’s Office Services Group as a senior associate. Boardman will be partnering with senior VPs Trevor Klinkhamer and Jeff Hartland to form a new Office Services Group team.
Cushman & Wakefield promoted Will Strong to the senior associate post within the Bo Mills and Mark Detmer Industrial Specialty Group. Strong specializes in representing and consulting corporate tenants, institutional landlords and developers in the acquisition, development and disposition of industrial real estate.
Sundt Construction promoted three employees: Thomas Mertz to senior vice president and manager of Sundt’s federal division (formerly vice president of business development); Herbert Chong to vice president of business development (formerly project director); and Gregory Ayres to area manager (formerly senior project manager).
Vince Lujan accepted the position of president and CEO of Salt River Devco, the asset management and commercial development company for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. Lujan, a Pueblo Indian from New Mexico, served as interim president and CEO of Devco since March 2010. Jeff Roberts was appointed asset manager and will oversee management of six commercial office buildings totaling 370,000 SF in Chaparral Business Park.
Jones Lang LaSalle vice president Jason Moore moved from the agency to the tenant representation team in the company’s Phoenix office. Moore will specialize exclusively on tenant representation and consultation for corporate clients in Phoenix.
AZRE Magazine March/April 2011
