Cushman Expands Elite EDSF Team, Meridian Completes Executive Succession Plan, Bluestone Launches Brokerage Firm

Global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield is adding a veteran financing professional to its equity, debt and structured financing team, a group that serves many high-profile projects across all major commercial property types.

Paul Roeter has joined the brokerage firm’s Seattle office as a senior director.

In his new role, Roeter will partner with Vice Chairman Dave Karson and Executive Managing Director Chris Moyer to serve the firm’s clients throughout the Pacific Northwest region.

Karson and Moyer lead a team that has been involved in numerous loan financing deals for significant projects and developments in the Puget Sound and surrounding area, including a $700 million construction loan for Fortress Development’s 1.1 million-square-foot Avenue Bellevue, serving as exclusive adviser to Security Properties on its procurement of a $65.16 million joint-venture equity investment and $115.25 million in construction financing for The Confidential mixed-use development in Belltown, and advising Gemdale USA Corp. in procuring $113 million in construction financing for its 29-story Skyglass Tower multifamily development in Seattle.

Roeter joins Cushman & Wakefield from Urban Renaissance Group, where he sourced, evaluated and executed on property acquisitions as a member of the investments team. In addition, he led capital transactions related to the company’s existing portfolio and supported the operations team with strategic decisions dealing with asset value.

During his tenure at Urban Renaissance Group, Roeter directed over two dozen capital transactions valued in excess of $3.3 billion.

Roeter also has experience in commercial real estate development as principal and founder of Pandion Partners, and previously worked as a project manager at CBRE following various development roles at Chevron and SNC-Lavalin Engineers & Contractors, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Roeter holds an MBA in finance and strategy from the University of Washington, where he also earned a certificate in commercial real estate and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He is active in NAIOP, the Urban Land Institute and ULI’s Young Leaders Group.

The Meridian Group, a Bethesda, Maryland-based real estate investment and development firm, has completed its executive succession plan and related management changes.

Mark King, previously chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the company, has become president and COO, effective immediately.

King succeeds David Cheek as president of the firm. Cheek is now serving as chairman and managing partner of TMG.

As part of the succession plan, Bruce Lane, formerly the executive vice president, is now vice chairman. Gary Block remains partner and chief investment officer at TMG.

“Mark King has been an important part of our senior leadership team for the past 10 years and will continue his key leadership role in our business,” Cheek said in a corporate statement announcing the moves.

Co-founded by Cheek and Lane in 1993, TMG now has a staff of 43 people and has completed more than $5.5 billion in investments across the D.C. market.

David Goldberg has opened his own brokerage firm, Bluestone Brokers, which is affiliated with full-service property management company Bluestone Asset Management.

In his new role, Goldberg will continue to focus on the sale and lease of commercial office and industrial properties for users and investors throughout Chicago and its suburbs.

Goldberg has spent the past 10-plus years with Special Assets Inc., where he was involved in several notable transactions including the sale of a 204,000-square-foot, multitenant industrial building in Lincolnwood, Illinois; a 161,000-square-foot office complex in Skokie that’s slated for renovation; representing the tenant in a full-floor office lease in the heart of downtown Chicago; and serving as lead broker for the owner of a five-building, 250,000-square-foot flex portfolio in Skokie.

CBRE has hired Joy Crimmins as sales manager for its Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska, offices.

In her new role, Crimmins will oversee business development, broker collaboration, recruiting and strategic team formation across the region.

Crimmins most recently served as executive director at the Urban Land Institute, where she was responsible for overall strategy and direction of the group’s local district council in Kansas City. Before joining ULI, she spent 14 years in the insurance industry as a manager and agency consultant.

National general contractor Graycor Construction Co. has promoted Rusty Martin to general manager of its growing Southwest division.

In his expanded role, Martin will lead the Phoenix-based team and expand its business across the region, shoring up its core industrial building market while expanding into adjacent sectors.

Martin joined Graycor in 2017 as a project executive, and last year was promoted to operations manager, tasked with providing operational oversight for the Phoenix office and directing all project operations in the Southwest. He brings more than 26 years of industry experience, having completed prominent projects in the industrial, manufacturing, retail, mixed-use, hospitality, office and tenant-improvement spaces.

Kaytlin Knudson has joined Matter Real Estate Group as development construction manager.

In her new role, Knudson will manage the construction of properties within Matter’s development portfolio, including UnCommons, the company’s new $400 million urban campus in southwest Las Vegas. She will also work on developing real estate with a focus on health and wellness and implementing WELL Certifications.

Knudson brings nearly a decade of experience in industrial and commercial project management, most recently as a project manager at Compass Development. Earlier in her career, Knudson oversaw the development of a 1 million-square-foot automated distribution center in the Netherlands for Arrow Electronics.

Privately owned national real estate firm Lee & Associates has promoted Phil Rosenfeld to principal.

In his expanded role, Rosenfeld will continue to focus on industrial and retail real estate across the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

Rosenfeld joined Lee & Associates more than seven years ago, handling tenant representation, acquisitions and real estate consulting for the industrial markets in south Stemmons and northwest Dallas, in addition to providing retail investment sales in downtown Dallas. Before that, he served as an attorney in Dallas and Houston.

Ryan Cos. has hired Brook Barefoot as vice president of real estate development for Southeast multifamily in its Atlanta office.

In his new role, Barefoot will take over leadership of the builder’s 1,300 units already in the pipeline across the region.

“Development in the Southeast is not slowing any time soon as we’ve seen consistently healthy demand and rent growth across the region for multifamily and other commercial properties,” said Cloteen Jasmin, senior vice president and Atlanta market leader, in a corporate statement announcing the move. “Atlanta and other major Southeast metro areas are taking an interesting turn as home ownership increasingly becomes less affordable for prospective buyers who are competing against each other for a limited supply of single-family stock. The multifamily sector is poised to capture much of that excess demand, and Brook’s extensive leadership background in multifamily development, investment, construction and design makes him a natural fit for a position that will be one of Ryan’s most important roles in the months and years ahead.”

Barefoot brings more than 30 years of industry experience, having previously worked for Lincoln Property Co. in Atlanta as vice president of development. Before that, Barefoot held similar roles at Duke Realty Cop. and Sarofim Realty Advisors.