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Executive Changes
Cynthia Keskinkaya
Top New York City agent Cynthia Keskinkaya has recently joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New York Properties (BHHSNYP).
Keskinkaya was most recently a top producer at Douglas Elliman where, in the last 12 months, she totaled over $50 million in sales. She has brokered nearly a half-billion dollars in sales volume across her career.
Born in Portugal, Keskinkaya — who is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish and conversant in Turkish — has been a resident of New York City for decades. The international market has been a mainstay for her business.
“We are delighted to be joined by one of the industry’s greatest and most skilled professionals,” said Steven James, president and CEO of BHHSNYP. “Cynthia has not only been a leader in the luxury sector for many years, but she has one of the strongest client retention rates of anyone in the industry.”
Horovitz Named Senior Vice President at Brown Harris Stevens Residential Management
Richard Horovitz
Brown Harris Stevens has promoted Richard Horovitz to senior vice president/director of property management after serving for six years as on-site manager for the BHS-managed 15 Central Park West condominium. In this new role, Horovitz will oversee the day-to-day operations of the firm’s Residential Management division, working alongside President of Residential Management Paul J. Herman and Executive Vice President of Accounting Greg Zammit. Horovitz will continue to oversee 15 CPW’s ongoing and scheduled capital projects, working with the building’s board of managers, residents and staff.
He joined BHS in 2016 after serving at some of Manhattan’s most sought-after condominiums, including the landmark Plaza Condominium and Private Residences, the firm said. Previously, he worked for several hotel groups in operational and service management roles, including Morgans Hotel Group, Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Hyatt hotels, among others. Horovitz earned a Hotel, Restaurant and Business Management degree from Purdue University.
Livly Hires Multifamily Industry Veterans Wyant, Toomey
Jon Wyant Greg Toomey
Livly, an enterprise-grade resident experience platform for multifamily apartment communities, is hiring multifamily veterans Jon Wyant and Greg Toomey to lead and support sales as the team ramps up expansion across the United States. Both join Livly directly from Alfred, where Wyant served as vice president of real estate growth and Toomey as director of growth. As vice president of enterprise sales at Livly, Wyant will oversee Livly’s sales organization and help implement initiatives to optimize the sales process for the team, alongside Vice President of Business Development Devin Wirt. Prior to Alfred, Wyant served as the head of sales at Hop Life. He previously worked with Updater and Entrata.
Toomey joins Livly as a national sales executive, responsible for identifying and nurturing new and existing multifamily clients. Prior to Alfred, Toomey served as regional vice president of sales at Hop Life, and also worked with Updated and Entrata.
CrowdStreet Adds Fintech Executives Farda, Mackley
John Farda Scott Mackley
With individual investors increasingly turning to private equity commercial real estate to find a haven from market volatility, CrowdStreet, the online private equity real estate investing platform, has hired two executives with deep fintech and marketplace experience: John Farda as chief product officer and Scott Mackley as president of marketplace business.
CrowdStreet has closed more than 645 online real estate syndication deals since 2014, with 115 of them fully realized as of May 2022.
“We were innovators when we brought CrowdStreet’s online marketplace to retail investors. No one else was offering the same breadth and depth of meticulously evaluated deals for all property types — multifamily, office, hotel, industrial and more. But to meet increased investor demand for strong private real estate opportunities, it’s critical to keep developing and implementing groundbreaking, state-of-theart products and solutions,” said co-founder and CEO Tore Steen.
Given their past accomplishments, Steen added, Farda and Mackley will help CrowdStreet continually evolve its investor and sponsor experience with our platform. Farda is charged with demystifying, streamlining and elevating the commercial real estate investing experience for individual investors, whether they are self-directed or prefer some level of guidance. Most recently, he was managing director of North America for global foreign exchange trading platform Oanda, where he headed growth in the United States and Canada. Before that, he was an executive at Fidelity Investments and at E*Trade.
Mackley will head up capital markets, investments, strategic partnerships, marketplace operations, investor relations and internal sales. He brings more than 25 years of financial industry experience with QuinStreet, Citigroup and Salomon Brothers. Mackley will oversee all aspects of CrowdStreet’s private equity commercial real estate deals. Post-funding, his team will oversee performance management and investor management.
CRTKL Adds Two Retail Hires
As part of a wider strategy to expand its design influence beyond architecture, global architecture, planning and design firm CRTKL has announced the appointment of Robin Osler and John Naranjo as principal and associate principal, respectively.
“From the climate crisis to urbanization, the issues we face are growing in complexity and so too must our industry evolve. The need now is for a greater, more diverse perspective. For CRTKL, that diversity of perspective is achieved by recruiting outside of tradition and tapping into creative thinkers from more
John Naranjo Robin Osler
varied backgrounds who look at things differently from how a traditional architect might,” said Kim Heartwell, CEO at CRTKL.
Osler’s career began in fashion, working for designers including Oscar de la Renta as an in-house model.
“I always had an eye for detail, and while fashion had captured it initially, the years I spent living and working in Europe turned my sights toward architecture and awoke this gene in me that I guess was there all along,” she said. Osler’s great-uncle, George Elmslie, was a prolific Prairie School architect; her grandfather, Emil Lorch, founded the architecture school at the University of Michigan (and whose work inspired Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, among other works). Her father, David Osler, was also in the profession, as was her uncle, Roger Bailey. The latter founded the architecture school at the University of Utah and was a mentor to Charles Moore, often referred to as the father of post-modernism.
Osler completed her master’s degree in architecture at Yale University, established her namesake practice and built a portfolio of an eclectic mix of modeling studios, galleries, boutique residences and major retail fitouts including Anthropologie, Free People and Terrain.
Bevan Bloemendaal Elevated to Chief Brand and Creative Officer at Nelson Worldwide
Bevan Bloemendaal
As part of an ongoing strategic effort to reorganize under a practice-led model, Nelson Worldwide, an award-winning architecture, design and strategy firm, has promoted Vice President and Retail Practice Leader Bevan Bloemendaal to chief brand and creative officer.
Bevan’s promotion comes on the heels of a “pivot to practice” strategy launched two months ago that shifts Nelson’s organizational structure from a regional model to one led by each of its 10 practices/ platforms: Retail; Workplace; Mixed-Use; Industrial; Healthcare; Hospitality; Asset Strategy and Civic, Community, Justice and Education (CCJ&E); Global Solutions and Architectural Implementation.
In this newly created role, Bloemendaal will serve as creator, evangelist and quantifier, forming a critical bridge between magic, logic, art and science and partnering with practice leaders to shape the Nelson brand purpose, creative vision and visual brand language to ensure relevance in a highly competitive and constantly evolving industry, the firm said. Bloemendaal will lead the brand marketing, sales marketing, strategy and insights, digital experience and brand identity and communications groups. His role will focus on creating brand unity and a transformative human experience, unifying leadership, shared services (HR, Finance, Legal, IT), and all practices and platforms.
Prior to joining Nelson, Bloemendaal served as the vice president of global retail experience and creative services at the Timberland Co. as a creative leader who delivered disruptive marketing solutions. While at Timberland Co., he led the creative disciplines responsible for global store design, visual merchandising, art and copy, digital/e-commerce, and corporate events.
FCA Appoints McCarthy as President
Aran McCarthy
Architecture, planning and interior design firm FCA has elected FCA Principal Aran McCarthy, AIA, NCARB, as the incoming president, effective on July 1 following the retirement of President John Campbell, AIA, ARIAS, RIBA, LEED AP.
Campbell’s FCA career spanned over 36 years, five of those years as president.
“I’m proud to have been a part of FCA’s evolution throughout my career,” he said. “I’ve always strived to honor the legacy of our firm’s founders, inspiring smart design while reaffirming our organization’s strong values and company culture. I’m confident in the ability of our existing teams across all market sectors to continue providing cutting-edge design solutions, and I know that I leave the firm in intensely capable hands. I am looking forward to seeing FCA’s continued growth for years to come.”
Campbell joined FCA as part of an exchange program between The Carpenters’ Company in Philadelphia and The Worshipful Company of Carpenters in London, working closely with two of the firm’s founders, Hughes Cauffman and James Francis. McCarthy brings decades of experience with healthcare environments to the leadership role.
“It is an honor for me to assume the presidency of FCA, a legacy firm with an incredibly rich history and a recognized culture,” he said. “Like all members of our firm, I strongly believe we owe it to ourselves to listen and learn before leading. I look forward to empowering those around me to keep building upon our strengths, providing world-class design that is sustainable and timeless for our clients. The bravest among us are the clearest of vision, and I am confident that our quality of vision will continue to light the way forward during my tenure as president.”
McCarthy, who has been with FCA for 22 years, led the firm’s expansion to Orlando, Florida, in 2019, and the acquisition of established firm Fred M. Humphrey & Associates in January 2022.
Sage Realty Promotes Lenchner to Executive Vice President, Director of Leasing
Sage Realty
Sage Realty, the leasing and management division of the William Kaufman Organization (WKO), has promoted Michael Lenchner to executive vice president and director of leasing. Having joined the company in 1990, Lenchner has played a crucial role in the development of Sage, completing more than 12 million square feet of leasing transactions, valued in the billions of dollars, the company said. During his tenure at Sage, Lenchner has been involved in many high-profile leasing transactions representing Sage’s properties. Some of the highlights include: Goldman Sachs’ 550,000 square-foot lease at Sage’s 77 Water St.; Grey Global Group’s 430,000 square-foot lease renewal at the firm’s 777 Third Ave. tower and WeWork’s long-term, 362,197-square-foot lease at Sage’s 437 Madison Ave. property. “Michael’s in-depth knowledge of the New York City marketplace and his keen negotiating skills have played a key role in securing so many largescale deals over the years,” said Jonathan Iger, CEO of Sage. “I’m excited for Michael and am looking forward to working with him more as he increases his leadership responsibilities. He has been such a driving force in Sage’s growth, and we couldn’t envision the company without him.”
In his new role, he will manage all aspects of day-to-day negotiations, oversight and coordination of all leasing transactions in Sage’s office portfolio, comprising approximately three million square feet of office and retail space in Manhattan.
Marisha Clinton
Savills has tapped Marisha Clinton as senior director, Northeast research, to oversee the firm’s research teams across the Northeast Region (New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Boston).
Clinton will work alongside the Savills North American research and digital services teams and will leverage her deep experience and success in building research platforms in competitive markets to deliver innovative data and insight for the firm’s brokerage teams and professionals, while also supporting its national service lines, Savills said. She will collaborate with other departments locally and nationally to produce data-driven content and tools for client-facing pitches and other business development efforts.
“Having served as an equity financial analyst at some of Wall Street’s most prestigious firms, as well as leading research for major commercial real estate companies, Marisha brings a unique perspective to our research team. Her ability to parse through layers of data to showcase real trends will bring tremendous value to our revenueproducing professionals and clients,” said Janet Woods, vice chairman, Northeast region lead at Savills.
Clinton brings over 21 years of deep research experience to Savills and previously led Avison Young’s Tri-State research team. She began her real estate career at JLL, where she established its baseline capital markets research platform and developed a process for capturing and cultivating granular local investment insights, creating best practices, and publishing valuable market analysis.
Clinton is a Certified Public Accountant, a graduate of Howard University and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she respectively earned her a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA with a dual major in finance and strategic management.
