Hasty Johnson, who played an important role in Hines' evolution to a commercial property powerhouse, has retired from the company after 45 years. Before stepping down recently, he had been serving as a member of the Houston-based firm's executive and investment committees and was responsible for all of Hines' investments. From 1992-2012, Johnson served as the firm's chief financial officer after leading the development or redevelopment of numerous projects. Hines credits Johnson with launching its acquisition program and investment management business.

Johnson helped move Hines from mainly a developer to a global investment manager, according to Hines. “Equally significant are the lessons he imparted on weathering the inevitable cycles and emerging stronger,” Hines Chairman and co-CEO Jeff Hines, son of later founder Gerald D. Hines, said in a LinkedIn post. Johnson shared Gerald Hines’ “guidance to always do the right thing,” Jeff Hines said. “Above all, Hasty has been a friend and a partner to three generations of the Hines family."

Empire State Realty Trust, the real estate investment trust that owns the Empire State Building in Manhattan, has promoted Christina Chiu to president. Chiu, who joined the REIT nearly four years ago, previously served as chief financial officer, executive vice president and chief operating officer. Empire State Realty also said it promoted Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer Stephen Horn to succeed Chiu as CFO, COO and executive vice president and chief operating officer. Anthony Malkin will continue to serve as chairman and CEO, the REIT said. Malkin said in a statement that Chiu's promotion reflects Empire State Realty's commitment to "the attraction, development and promotion of talent for our present and future opportunities."

Tom Durels will continue to serve as executive vice president of real estate and be a partner to Malkin, Chiu and Horn, the REIT said, and Chiu will work closely with Malkin and Durels on company business. Empire State Realty owned approximately 8.6 million square feet of office space, 700,000 square feet of retail space and 727 residential units as of Dec. 31.

Newmark has hired John Hundley, who has 20 years of experience in brokering life science real estate deals, as an executive managing director in San Diego. Hundley joined Newmark from Kidder Mathews this month with his team member Jon Engle, who also made the move. During his career, Hundley has specialized in representing multimarket life science occupiers and providing landlord advisory services in the San Diego, Los Angeles, Bay Area, Boston and Seattle markets. He also has represented clients in the office and technology sectors.

Hundley has worked on several high-profile transactions including Pacira Biosciences' 170,000-square-foot Torrey Pines campus lease and the sale of the Scripps Health headquarters to Alexandria Real Estate Equities for the expansion of its megacampus in University Town Center Campus Point in San Diego. Greg May, executive vice president and West region market leader for Newmark, said Hundley's and Engle's multimarket focus and experience will help the brokerage as it expands in the life science sector. Hundley said in a statement that he and Engle moved to Newmark during "a new phase of recovery in the life sciences sector."

Armada Hoffler, a real estate investment trust that develops multifamily, office, and retail properties in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, has promoted Chief Operating Officer Shawn Tibbetts to president. Tibbetts, who has served as COO of Armada Hoffler since he joined the REIT in 2019, also will continue in that role. Armada Hoffler said it expected to appoint Tibbetts as its CEO in spring 2025, current CEO Louis Haddad plans to retire. The moves are part of "a deliberate and thorough succession planning process over the last several years," Armada Hoffler said. In his dual roles as president and chief operating officer, Tibbetts will oversee all aspects of Armada Hoffler's operations, guide its strategic initiatives and advocate for innovation, the company said. Since he joined Armada Hoffler, Tibbetts has successfully led the team out of the pandemic, helping increase the net operating income of the REIT's portfolio by 45% and overseeing the execution of more than $1.2 billion of transactions, according to Armada Hoffler.

In additional moves, the REIT said Chairman Dan Hoffler intends to relinquish his role as board chairman in June. Immediately following that, Haddad is expected to assume the role of chairman while continuing to serve as CEO during the transition. After Tibbetts replaces Haddad as CEO as planned, he is expected to serve as executive chairman for approximately one year, Armada Hoffler said. Pending approval by shareholders at the REIT's 2024 annual meeting, Hoffler will continue to serve as a member of the board as chairman emeritus, the company said.

CBRE has tapped Jessica Ostermick to serve as its new Colorado market leader. In her new role, Ostermick will oversee the advisory services lines of business in the state, including leasing, sales, debt and structured finance and property management, the brokerage said. She also will lead CBRE’s five Colorado offices in downtown Denver, the Denver Tech Center, Boulder, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, CBRE said. Ostermick, who has 20 years of industry experience, has spent the past 10 years at CBRE. For the past eight years, she has served a partner on CBRE’s industrial institutional investment sales and leasing team that has arranged several of Colorado’s largest industrial property transactions, according to the brokerage. Her team was recognized as the NAIOP Colorado Industrial Team of the Year for three consecutive years "with nearly 80% market share of capital markets transactions greater than $25 million," CBRE said. Before she moved into brokerage, Ostermick served as CBRE’s director of research and analysis for Colorado. "She is ardent on Colorado’s growth potential," Pete Schippits, president of advisory services for CBRE's West region, said in a statement.

Cushman & Wakefield hospitality brokers Steven Vazquez and Lauren Greenberg have rejoined their former colleagues at Berkadia's New York office. Vazquez, a senior director, and Greenberg, a director, made the move to Berkadia about a month after their partners Jared Kelso and Steve Michels joined Berkadia as senior managing directors in January. The addition of Vazquez and Greenberg continues to the expansion of Berkadia's hotels and hospitality group under leader Andy Wimsatt, who joined Berkadia last summer. The firm also has added senior managing directors Christian Charre and Paul Weimer and managing director Natalie Castillo, as Berkadia works to deepen its bench across its institutional hotel sales and debt placement business lines. Before his time at Cushman & Wakefield, Vazquez served nine years as head of U.S. hotel capital markets at NAI Global, and Greenberg worked for four years as part of E&Y’s transaction real estate team.

Edge Realty Partners has promoted LeDonna Spongberg, who has 22 years of commercial property brokerage experience, to principal. Spongberg, who has worked in Edge’s Phoenix office since 2021, previously served as a senior vice president. She leads the brokerage's Southwest’s premiere property and hospitality division that works with hotel landlords, restaurants and specialty tenants. During her career, Spongberg has leased more than 20 million feet of specialty retail and restaurant space in deals with a total value $500 million. She has worked with national landlords and tenants. She has represented high-profile projects including Scottsdale Quarter, Scottsdale Waterfront and Tempe Marketplace in Arizona. On the tenant side, she has represented Caesar’s Republic Hotel at Fashion Square, Sephora, Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, REI and Velvet Taco.