MCLEAN, VA. — Freddie Mac has announced that Deborah Jenkins will be named executive vice president and head of its Multifamily division, effective immediately. Additionally, Jenkins has assumed a role as member of the company’s Senior Operating Committee. “Debby’s transition into her role as head of the Multifamily business has progressed very well,” said Donald Layton, CEO of Freddie Mac. “Debby is dedicated to ensuring this growing segment of our company continues to be an industry leader, innovator and a critical financier of rental housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income families.” In September, Freddie Mac announced the retirement of CEO Donald Layton taking place in the second half of 2019, as well as the commencement of the CEO Succession Plan and the elevation of former head of Freddie Mac Multifamily, David Brickman, to president of the company. Since 2010, Jenkins has led Multifamily Underwriting and Credit, overseeing all credit approvals and due diligence processes, asset level securitization activities, as well as credit policies and governance for all Multifamily’s products.
DALLAS AND HOUSTON — Former Trammell Crow Co. and CBRE healthcare executives Kevin O’Neil and Mark Allyn have launched Fidelis Healthcare Partners, a venture that will focus on developing and acquiring healthcare properties. The new company will be affiliated with Houston-based Fidelis Realty Partners Ltd. and will utilize the firm’s existing tools and relationships to align its operations with the growing trend of “retailization of healthcare.” Each founding member has more than 20 years of experience in commercial real estate.
FARMINGTON, UTAH — Best Buy has opened its first new U.S. store in seven years at Station Park in Farmington. The 36,000-square-foot retail property features a variety of appliances, premium audio and home theater technology, and other products. The store employs 91 people and plans to hire additional employees for the holiday season. The company operates more than 1,000 stores across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
ATLANTA — BlackRock, an asset management firm and a technology solutions provider, has selected Atlanta for the company’s newest Innovation Hub. The company plans to expand its presence in Fulton County, partner with the Atlanta business community and local universities and create 1,000 career opportunities over the next several years. This expansion will extend BlackRock’s technology capabilities, as well as provide close proximity to Georgia Tech, where BlackRock sponsors the BlackRock Hallac Scholarship for socioeconomically disadvantaged students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). “Atlanta’s culture of collaboration with public and private stakeholders bolsters our region’s economy, creates well-playing jobs and expands economic opportunity,” says Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. “The opening of BlackRock’s Atlanta Innovation Hub continues this legacy, and we look forward to welcoming and working with them.” According to Dr. Eloisa Klementich, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, the technology business expansions in Atlanta in 2018 alone are projected to create an economic impact of $500 million, as the companies create thousands of new jobs and millions of dollars of capital investment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — SIOR Foundation has announced Aaron Barnard as its new president for the 2018-2019 term. The transition from current president Bill Ginder to Barnard occurred last week at the Society of Industrial & Office Realtors (SIOR) Fall World Conference in Denver. Barnard is a veteran broker in Minneapolis with Cushman & Wakefield and specializes in investment analysis, tenant and landlord representation. Additional 2018-2019 SIOR Foundation officers are President-Elect Chris Curtis (Nugent Curtis Real Estate), Vice President Albert McNeel (Endura Advisory Group) and Treasurer Stan Kleweno (Transpacific Investments). New SIOR Foundation Trustees who began three-year terms at the latest conference include Nancy Morse (Newmark Knight Frank), Jack O’Donoghue (Grant Street Associates/Cushman & Wakefield Alliance), Adrian Arriaga (AAA Real Estate & Investments), Robert Horn Jr. (JLL), Jesse Laikin (Lee & Associates) and Peter Richardson (Primera Cos.). As the largest association of commercial real estate brokers, Washington, D.C.-based SIOR Foundation promotes and funds programs that advance the real estate profession through educational scholarships, research projects, publishing and development of real estate curricula for higher education.
SEATTLE — Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and founder of investment and project management firm Vulcan Inc., which includes its real estate development arm, has died at age 65. Allen passed away Monday from symptoms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Born in 1953 in Seattle, Allen attended school in the Seattle area and founded Microsoft, along with Bill Gates, in 1975. Almost 10 years later, he resigned from Microsoft and began focusing on philanthropic interests and commercial real estate development and investments, as well charity efforts across the Pacific Northwest. In 1986, Allen and his sister, Jody Allen, founded Vulcan Inc., as a vehicle for real estate, investment, entertainment and philanthropy efforts. The company has built more than 7.8 million feet of office, life sciences, residential and mixed-use projects since 1998. Included in Vulcan’s development portfolio is South Lake Union, the hub of Amazon in Seattle; the Allen Institute of Brain Science; and the Allen Institute of Cell Science, and combined these properties comprise 80 percent of the company’s development efforts. As owner of the Seattle Seahawks since 1997, Allen invested $140 million toward the construction of CenturyLink Field. Additional commercial properties that Vulcan and Allen contributed to include Museum of …
ATLANTA — CBRE has promoted Chris Bosworth and Will Pike to vice chairman, the highest-ranking title among CBRE producers. Based in the firm’s Atlanta office, Bosworth and Pike serve as partners and co-leaders of CBRE Net Lease Properties, a national practice that provides net lease investors with acquisition and disposition advisory services for single-tenant assets, national net lease portfolios and corporate sale-leasebacks. Over the course of their careers, Bosworth and Pike have executed more than $16 billion worth of assignments spanning more than 2,600 properties. Since 2016, the team has been responsible for the disposition of 720 properties with a value of over $8.2 billion. Bosworth joined the firm in 1999 and is a founding member of Net Lease Properties and the firm’s Corporate Capital Markets practice. Additionally, he is the first retail-focused capital markets professional in the firm’s history to be named vice chairman. Pike, who joined in 2004, is a founding member of Corporate Capital Markets, head of Retail-Occupier Capital Markets and currently serves on the board of CBRE’s Investment Properties and America Brokerage divisions. Pike is the third-youngest CBRE professional to earn the title of vice chairman.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — 3M, the Minnesota-based manufacturer best known for office products like Post-It notes and Scotch tape, will close its 220,000-square-foot plant in north Austin by the end of 2019. The property will be marketed for sale once it closes. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the closing will impact approximately 120 jobs, though laid-off employees can apply for positions at 3M in other locations.
ATLANTA — Floor & Decor, a specialty retailer of hard surface flooring and related accessories, plans to relocate and expand its headquarters to Cobb County from Atlanta. The company’s expansion will create 500 jobs, including administrative and customer service positions, over five years, according to Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. Additionally, the company will receive a $500,000 grant to help establish the new headquarters and could be eligible for more than $3 million in state tax breaks for five if it creates 500 qualifying new jobs, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Floor & Decor was founded in Atlanta in 2000 and currently operates 95 warehouse-format stores in 26 states, including seven in Georgia. In February, the company opened a 1.4 million-square-foot distribution center, which employs more than 100 people, outside of Savannah.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Hunt Real Estate Capital has hired Chad Thomas Hagwood as senior managing director and Southeast regional manager. Formerly with Capital One Multifamily Finance, Hagwood will be based in Hunt’s Birmingham office. In this role, Hagwood will be actively involved in the origination of multifamily and manufactured home community debt throughout the nation, with a focus on loan originations through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CMBS and FHA programs. Additionally, Hagwood will oversee the firm’s Southeast Region and the Manufactured Home Community production nationally. Over the course of his career, Hagwood has closed in excess of $8 billion in commercial real estate transactions throughout the United States, and he is annually ranked as one of the industry’s leading loan originators.