The Kaufman Organization has announced the promotion of Michael Kazmierski to principal and Director of Acquisitions under Kaufman New Ventures, the division of the Kaufman Organization that acquires, renovates, repositions and operates commercial buildings throughout New York City (NYC).
He is the youngest in the firm’s 107 year history to be elevated to this level.
Kazmierski will continue to hold a leading position in the sourcing, capitalization, underwriting and management of new acquisition opportunities in NYC – of which total over $1 billion to-date.
Among his major accomplishments within the past year is a title role in the recapitalization and closing of Madison Square Portfolio, four buildings in Midtown South (19 West 24th Street, 119 West 24th Street, 13 West 27th Street and 45 West 27th Street), surpassing over 350,000 s/f.
Kazmierski joined New Ventures as Vice President back in 2013. Prior to joining the firm, he spent three years at HFF, as an associate director and analyst – closing over $600 million in transactions. His responsibilities included underwriting, marketing and packaging, among others.Kazmierski holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Finance from Bentley College and a Master’s of Science in Real Estate Development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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TerraCRG announced that Nicole Rabinowitsch has joined as Senior Vice President, enhancing the firm’s foothold in the North Brooklyn region of Brooklyn.
In her new role, Nicole is focused on sales of multifamily, mixed-use and retail assets.
Prior to TerraCRG, Nicole was a Director of Investment Sales at Eastern Consolidated, where she handled over $300 million in commercial transactions throughout Brooklyn, most notably the sale of 200-216 Kent Avenue for $34.5 millon and the sale of 296-300 Wythe Avenue for $26.5 million.
Before Eastern Consolidated, Nicole was the founder and CEO of Takiba Tile & Stone, a high-end retail tile business, for over 15 years.
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Greiner-Maltz announced the appointment of Atanu Bhattacharjee as an Industrial Broker to the firm.
Bhattacharjee is a New York State licensed real estate broker and will be specializing in industrial and flex assets in the Bronx and Westchester areas.
Atanu began his career in commercial real estate at Friedland Realty in 2013 and, over the past three years, has completed transactions of over 450,000 s/f with a gross value totaling over $38,000,000.
Most notably, he was involved in the 2014 relocation of the Willets Point Auto Co-Op in Queens to their new Bronx facility.
Atanu attended the State University of Pennsylvania where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.
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Gotham announced the addition of Bryan Kelly to its leadership team as Executive Vice President, Development.
As the senior executive in the Gotham Development division, Kelly is responsible for oversight of the asset acquisition process, deal structuring, capital raising, entitlements and approvals, design, marketing strategy stabilization and refinancing.
Prior to joining Gotham, Kelly served as project executive for Fisher Brothers. He led the development of numerous projects and oversaw more than $400 million in development, including the condo conversion of 101 West 87th Street and the design and development of 225 East 39th Street.
Previously, Kelly was a senior project manager with Atlantic Development Group, a developer of affordable and mixed-income housing.
He began his career as an originations manager at First Sterling Financial.
Kelly holds a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and is currently a member of the Advisory Board for the New York Housing Conference.
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Roy Chipkin has been promoted to Senior Vice President of CBRE Group’s Long Island Office.
As a Senior Vice President, Chipkin will continue to represent both landlords and tenants in the leasing and subleasing of office space throughout Long Island and New York City’s outer boroughs. His agency expertise provides him with an in-depth knowledge of the current occupancy requirements of the tenant community.
During his tenure with CBRE, he has represented a plethora of high-profile companies including, Ameriprise, TD Ameritrade and New York State, to name a few.
He has also served as the exclusive leasing agent for over one million square feet of office space for a number of developers in Queens and Long Island including, The LeFrak Organization, Cammeby’s, Blumenfeld Development, Wharton Realty and Mindel Associates.
Among the most recent transactions he completed, Chipkin represented Plaza College in its 66,000 s/f lease at 118-35 Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, NY. He also acted on behalf of Integra in the firm’s 40,000 s/f office lease at The Fountains on Marcus Avenue in Lake Success, NY, as well as a 20,000 s/f lease for NYU Langone Medical Center in Huntington, NY.
Before joining CBRE (Insignia/ESG prior to the merger), Chipkin served as a leasing agent for Sutton & Towne, Inc.
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The Fordham Real Estate Institute at Lincoln Center announced that Hugh F. Kelly, PhD, CRE has been named Special Advisor to the program.
Kelly will be responsible for guiding the direction of academic programs, developing content, recruiting faculty and performing industry outreach.
He will report directly to Anthony R. Davidson, PhD, MBA, dean of Fordham’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies.
In addition to his work with the Fordham Real Estate Institute at Lincoln Center, Kelly also heads his own consulting practice, Hugh F. Kelly Real Estate Economics.
He previously served as Clinical Professor in New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, where he taught for more than 30 years. Prior to 2001, he was chief economist for Landauer Associates.
A member of the Counselors of Real Estate (serving as Chairman in 2014), Kelly is author of the book “24-hour Cities: Performance Beyond Promises”, published by Routledge in 2016.
He holds a PhD from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland in Urban Economics and the Built Environment, and a B.A. in Philosophy (magna cum laude) from Cathedral College, Douglaston.
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Polsinelli announced that Jarno Vanto has joined as shareholder in its New York office.
Vanto is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Department where he will assist clients in navigating the world of cybersecurity and data privacy, and advise European technology companies on their U.S. operations.
Prior to joining Polsinelli, Vanto was a partner at Borenius Attorneys LLP, where he served as lead counsel to a global engineering and services company on employee data privacy worldwide, advised a multinational technology company on a licensing and finance transaction with a Japanese web services company, and counselled a multinational software analytics company on global consumer data protection.
Vanto is the editor-in-chief and co-author of the “International Privacy Guide” and the co-editor and co-author of “The International Contract Manual” for Thomson Reuters.
He sits on the Board of Directors of Amcham Finland NYC, an organization that advises Nordic companies seeking business opportunities in the U.S.
Vanto holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Turku in Finland and an LL.M. from New York University School of Law.
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The New York Wheel announced Joel Ward as its General Manager.
Tasked with leading the charge to transform Staten Island into New York City’s next “big tourism destination,” Ward brings over 25 years of experience in the tourism and attraction industry, overseeing large scale projects both at home and abroad.
Ward will take on new responsibilities in his role as General Manager of the New York Wheel for ProFun Management Group, the New York Wheel operations management company.
Previously, he oversaw ProFun’s business operations in Asia as Senior Vice President of Operations, with a focus on operations planning and strategies for attractions and tourism projects based in China, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.
Those projects included: Twentieth Century Fox World Malaysia, a new tourist complex at the Great Wall of China in Badaling, China, Monkey King Theme Park in Beijing, China, Tianzishan Cultural Park in Hunan Province, China and more.
Ward began his career with an 18-year tenure at Universal Studios in Hollywood, California, where he spearheaded the transformation of the studio theme park from tourist attraction to world-class destination.
Holding various positions in operations and marketing before becoming Vice President of Brand Marketing, Ward was an integral part of launching the park’s most popular attractions.
After Universal, Ward joined DreamWorks Animation, where he headed the creation of the location-based entertainment department, which was dedicated to the licensing of film content for use in theme parks and other live entertainment.
Ward also developed the business strategy, pursued licensing opportunities and oversaw the creative development with various licensing partners, which included Universal Studios Singapore, Royal Caribbean and other projects worldwide.
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NAI Mertz announced the appointment of Nilgün Foley assales associate in its Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, headquarters office.
Raised in Istanbul, Turkey, Foley brings banking and international corporate experience to NAIMertz.
She has worked overseas in Istanbul, Frankfurt and London. She has held lending, relationship management and financial planning positions in global firms such as the Bank of Boston and Lafarge, S.A.
In addition, she served in finance and consulting positions in service sector businesses.
Foley acquiredva real estate salesperson license in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in an effort to utilize and expand her vast knowledge of foreign investment in U.S. realvestate and development markets.
She holds a B.A. in Economics from Skidmore College in New York State.
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Rockwood Capital has admitted Tony Lariño as a Partner in the Firm.
Lariño is based in the firm’s New York office.
Lariño has more than 20 years of real estate experience, spanning mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and asset management. He joined Rockwood in 2010 as the firm’s head of hotel investments and continues to specialize in the lodging sector. He is the Portfolio Manager for Rockwood Funds VI and VIII and serves on the investment committees of various funds.
Prior to joining Rockwood, he was a Managing Director with Westmont Hospitality. Prior to that, he held various positions at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
He began his career as a Vice President of Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley.
Lariño holds a Bachelor of Arts from New York University and a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School.
