Newmark taps pair to raise retail sales; Lee & Associates grows North Carolina team; CapRock trio to boost industrial investments

Newmark tapped retail property investment veterans Keely Polczynski and Eric Williams as senior managing directors as the brokerage seeks to expand its U.S. retail capital markets practice. Each has more than 20 years of industry experience, with Polczynski based in Newmark’s Chicago office and Williams based in the Miami office. Polczynski and Williams joined Newmark from JLL.

Polczynski previously spent nearly 20 years at CBRE. During her career, she has handled finance transactions totaling more than $6.5 billion. Before his time at JLL, Williams worked at Cushman & Wakefield and HFF. He has been involved in more than $9 billion in sales and recapitalization transactions during his time in the industry. The new hirings come as Newmark said it seeks to expand retail-focused operations in the Midwest and Florida over the next several years. 

Lee & Associates hired Sandy Thorpe as managing director to lead its new office in Wilmington, North Carolina. The brokerage said Thorpe will specialize in retail, office, industrial, land and multifamily transactions, aiding the company's expansion in North Carolina and other states. The Wilmington office is an extension of the brokerage’s office in North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham region. It's led by CEO Moss Withers and President Ted Boyd.

Thorpe is a Wilmington native with more than a decade of experience in development and commercial real estate. He previously owned real estate firm Thorpe Co. and was a partner in the Soda Pop District, a mixed-use redevelopment of properties including a former Coca-Cola bottling plant in Wilmington with more than 100,000 square feet of restaurant, retail, industrial and office space. 

CapRock Partners promoted three executives as it seeks to increase its industrial investment and development operations across several western and central U.S. states, the Newport Beach, California-based company said. Bob O’Neill is now executive vice president, with Paul Liebermann and Sean Grubbs each named as senior vice presidents.

O’Neill joined CapRock in 2016, leading acquisition and development of more than 7 million square feet of industrial projects in regions such as Phoenix, San Diego and the Pacific Northwest. His new role includes expanding acquisitions and developments in California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington, the firm said. Liebermann and Grubbs have been with CapRock for three years, with Liebermann heading funding and asset management teams and Grubbs handling duties, including loan negotiations and closings.

CBRE expanded its healthcare capital markets team in Boston with the hiring of Mindy Berman as executive vice president, the brokerage said. Prior to joining CBRE, Berman founded and led JLL’s healthcare capital markets practice, overseeing sales, finance and equity placements for various healthcare properties.

She joins a staff of brokers, headed by Chris Bodnar, who are part of CBRE’s U.S. healthcare finance team. The brokerage said it seeks to expand services to healthcare providers.

Berman is a board member for organizations that include RevistaMed, Healthcare Real Estate Insights and the Urban Land Institute’s healthcare and life sciences council. 

Alex Russo joined Ventas as a senior managing director of investments, while the company expands its holdings in categories such as senior housing and healthcare, the Chicago-based real estate investment trust said. Russo most recently worked at financial services firm Lazard, where he served in the real estate and lodging investment banking group and led Lazard’s coverage of the healthcare real estate sector. His 18 years at Lazard included advisory and implementation of acquisitions, dispositions, partnerships and related transactions.

Ventas has a portfolio of 1,400 properties in North America and the United Kingdom, in sectors such as seniors housing, healthcare facilities, outpatient medical buildings and research centers.