Industrial developer Ferdinand Seefried, whose firm has worked on about 50 logistics centers for Amazon, has retired from the company he founded 40 years ago. Seefried stepped down as Atlanta-based Seefried Industrial Properties executive chairman on July 1. The same day, Rob Rakusin, who joined Seefried Industrial in 1993 and served as president and CEO, also retired, the company said. Longtime Seefried Industrial executive Greg Herren immediately succeeded Rakusin as president and CEO. After moving to the United States from his native Austria in 1977, Seefried experienced initial success by developing warehouses and distribution centers for freight-forwarding companies just as non-stop cargo travel took off between Europe and East Asia at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. "As a consequence, freight forwarders settled here, opened offices and needed warehouse space," Seefried told CoStar News in a 2020 profile. "Then I moved to other cities, always with the same freight forwarders as a tenant, to Orlando, Dallas, Chicago, Washington, D.C."

Seefried Industrial’s business really took off after the Great Recession, when Seefried began developing build-to-suit logistics facilities for the nation's largest retailers, including Home Depot and Amazon. The company grew to become one of the biggest developers of Amazon sorting, non-sorting and last-mile distribution facilities. The developer's work for Amazon led to new jobs for other major retailers, including PetSmart and Best Buy. "Everyone realized that we are a big developer for Amazon and have been for 10 years," Seefried said. "So they are figuring out, 'These guys must know what they’re doing, otherwise they wouldn’t get more and more business from Amazon.'” Now retired, Seefried said he plans to split his time between his native country and the U.S. "I will spend more time in Austria in the forthcoming years,” he said in an email. “However, my main residence will continue to be Atlanta.”

As part of the succession plans, Seefried Industrial made several other executive moves. Jim Condon, who will continue in his role as chief development officer, also assumed the position of chief operating officer, the firm said. Paul Seefried, the founder’s son, moved up to executive vice president and also will continue in his role as regional partner for North Carolina and Florida. And longtime employee Doug Smith has become Seefried’s Southeast regional partner and is responsible for sourcing development deals in Georgia, South Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama, the developer said.

W.P. Carey President John Park will step down from the position on Sept. 30, the net lease real estate investment trust said. Once Park departs, the title will be assumed by W.P. Carey CEO Jason Fox, the company said. As for Park, he will serve as a senior adviser through February and continue in his role as a trustee of Net Lease Office Properties and the W.P. Carey Foundation, W.P. Carey said. Park, who has served as the REIT's president since 2018, joined W.P. Carey in 1987 and worked closely with company founder Wm. Polk Carey in several roles. "John has been an integral member of the W. P. Carey team for nearly 37 years," Fox said in a statement. Park said he is leaving the REIT in good hands. "Having spent my entire career at W. P. Carey, I am proud to have helped steer its growth and evolution from a private asset manager to the leading publicly traded net lease REIT it is today," he said in a statement.

CBRE has recruited Washington, D.C., broker Greg Culver as a senior vice president in the firm's advisory and transaction services group. Culver joined CBRE from rival Cushman & Wakefield, where he served as a managing director in its tenant advisory group. In his new role at CBRE, Culver will specialize in advising occupier clients in the Washington metropolitan area and across the globe, the brokerage said. The addition of Culver, who spent 11 years at Cushman, is part of CBRE's strategy to attract and develop talent in the industry and D.C. market, said Jamie Georgas, executive managing director and leader of CBRE’s mid-Atlantic occupier business. Culver is to be joined at CBRE by Ryan Wu, who joined the brokerage as an associate. He previously worked at The Tenant Agency and as a financial analyst at JLL.

LaSalle Investment Management, a Chicago-based subsidiary of JLL, has promoted longtime LaSalle veterans Kyle Dupree to head of asset management and Pat Pelling to head of transactions. In their new roles, Dupree and Pelling will report to Brad Gries, head of Americas, the company said. Dupree, based in LaSalle's San Diego office, joined the firm in 2010. He now is responsible for leading asset management initiatives and processes across various property sectors, LaSalle said. He also will lead the valuation process for U.S. private equity, the company said. Pelling, who works in LaSalle’s New York office, most recently served in a significant role sourcing, underwriting and executing new investments in the transactions group. He has also driven new investment initiatives and programmatic partnerships and cultivated key relationships, LaSalle said. “These promotions highlight LaSalle’s continued focus on strategic leadership succession," Gries said in a statement.

Bell Partners, a national apartment investment and management company, has hired Kate Byford as chief administrative officer and Lisa Tully-Lavian as senior vice president of customer experience. Both roles are new positions created to support the Greensboro, North Carolina, company's growth. Byford and Tully-Lavian will be based in the Bell's Alexandria, Virginia, office. In her role as chief administrative officer, Byford will oversee Bell's human resources, information technology, procurement and environmental, social and governance operations, the company said. She will also help lead other corporate initiatives to support the company's CEO and president and serve on its executive committee, Bell said. Byford, who has more than 20 years of experience in the multifamily industry, spent the past seven years at Capital One, where she most recently served as managing vice president and head of multifamily agency finance. “As we prepare for the future, the CAO role will help centralize some of our corporate services to enhance efficiency and focus,” Bell President and CEO Lili Dunn said in a statement. As senior vice president of customer service, Tully-Lavian will be responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of systems and processes to support customer experience and lead efforts related to Bell’s insights into current and prospective customers, the company said. She also will oversee the company’s marketing initiatives, Bell said.

RADCO Residential, the property management services company for RADCO, has appointed multifamily veteran Amie Robertshaw as vice president of client services. In her new role, Robertshaw will work to expand RADCO Residential's third-party services group, the company said. She also will work closely with department leaders to ensure a seamless transition for clients during management changes and acquisitions, RADCO said. Robertshaw, who is based in the Atlanta company's Denver office, has more than two decades of experience in the multifamily industry. Before working at RADCO, she served as vice president of client services at Asset Living. She also has held executive positions at Capital Real Estate, now Avanti Residential, where she oversaw financial operations, budgeting, investor relations and other functions.