November 2014 – Briefs/People

JLL Brings Maureen Ehrenberg Aboard Integrated Facilities Management Business

CBRE’s loss is JLL’s gain. Commercial real estate services giant JLL has tapped Maureen Ehrenberg, formerly global director of facilities management at CBRE, to serve as executive managing director for the firm’s Integrated Facilities Management business in the Americas. Ehrenberg will also step into the position of chair of JLL’s IFM Global Specialty Board. Ehrenberg will rely on a quarter-century of experience to lead JLL’s IFM practice, which focuses on providing a full suite of corporate outsourcing services for companies from the local level to the global stage. She will be responsible for guiding an 8,000-person JLL team that currently manages in excess of 760 million square feet of property across the Americas.

Ehle Named President of Forest City Military

The military housing subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises has a new president. John Ehle will lead Forest City Military Communities (FCMC), a player in the privatization of military family housing across the country, with a portfolio of more than 14,500 units in eight states. Ehle will handle overall strategy and financial performance, and will supervise development, construction, management and relationships with the firm’s military partners. He has been with FCMC since 2005. Prior to joining Forest City, Ehle pursued commercial acquisition opportunities in Chicagoland in partnership with high-net-worth individuals under his own company, Northern Lakes Realty L.L.C.

DDR CEO Hurwitz to Depart at End of 2015

DDR Corp. has announced that CEO Daniel Hurwitz will leave the shopping center REIT after his employment agreement expires at the close of 2015. According to the announcement, Hurwitz and the board of directors agreed not to renew the contract. The announcement comes roughly four years after Hurwitz became CEO. He has worked his way to the top at DDR, starting with the company in 1999 as executive vice president of leasing and moving up to executive vice president of leasing & development in 2002, senior executive vice president & chief investment officer in 2005 and president & COO in 2007, before ascending to the role of CEO on Jan. 1, 2010. During his tenure as CEO, Hurwitz has overseen some of the 50-year-old company’s biggest events, including its name change from Developers Diversified Realty Corp. to DDR in 2011, which acknowledged the REIT’s shift from a diversified retail property owner and developer to an owner and manager focused on open-air, value-oriented shopping centers.

Swire Appoints Linda Chu as CFO

South Florida developer Swire Properties has brought Linda Chu onboard as CFO. She comes from within the Swire family, though a substantial relocation is in the works. Chu was previously the head of finance for Swire Hotels, and will move from Hong Kong to South Florida in order to oversee financial functions for projects like the $1.05 billion Brickell City Centre, the largest mixed-use urban development in Miami. Prior to joining Swire Hotels in 2013, Chu held senior-level positions at Tishman Speyer in London and Shanghai, and at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London.

RW Kline Breakup Creates CMBS Shop for C&W

RW Kline Cos., of Scottsdale, Ariz., has been sold and split in three directions. One of the results will be North America’s largest CMBS debt restructuring practice, when R.W. Kline Advisory Services L.L.C. and R.W. Kline Capital L.L.C. are merged into Cushman & Wakefield Inc. RW Kline CEO Robert Kline will oversee capital markets, primarily in the Western region, and will carry the title of senior managing director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Equity, Debt and Structured Finance Group. The combined Cushman/Kline business will focus on upcoming CMBS maturities, which will likely include a significant volume of loan assumptions.

Crescent Appoints Duncan, Leary as New Group Presidents

Crescent Communities has named White Duncan president of land sales and Brian Leary president of its commercial and mixed-use group. Leary comes on board fresh from Jacoby Development, a developer of corporate, mixed-use and retail assets. He oversaw the design and development of Atlanta’s Atlantic Station, the largest urban brownfield redevelopment in the nation at the time at 13.5 million square feet. Duncan is a 15-year veteran at Crescent, and was previously tasked with leading the firm’s commercial group. He takes the helm of the land sales group from Jim Short, who is winding down his Crescent involvement after 32 years of service.

Parkway Promotes Bates to Chief Investment Officer

Parkway Properties Inc. has promoted Jason Bates to executive vice president & chief investment officer. He has risen through the ranks since joining the firm as vice president of investments in 2011. In November 2013, Bates was promoted to senior vice president & head of transactions. Bates has led more than $3.5 billion in real estate transactions during his tenure at the firm. As chief investment officer, Bates is now tasked with pursuing new investment opportunities and managing the investment and disposition strategies for Parkway’s current portfolio—currently comprising more thn 18.3 million square feet of leasable office space.

Ventas Taps Probst for CFO

Ventas Inc. has named Robert Probst as executive vice president & CFO. He will take over for retiring Ventas CFO Richard Schweinhart. Probst, who will be based in the company’s Chicago headquarters office, served as senior vice president & CFO for Beam Inc. from 2008 to 2014. From 2005 to 2008, Probst was vice president of strategy and M&A for Baxter International Inc.’s $4 billion medication delivery business. The new role will have Probst running accounting, treasury, capital markets and information technology functions for the healthcare REIT, which currently has more than 1,500 properties in its portfolio.