CBRE promotes Florida industrial broker; Kirksey hires first operations chief; Lee & Associates adds broker in Ohio

David Murphy has been named vice chairman in CBRE’s Orlando, Florida, office, a title reserved for the company’s most productive brokers. Murphy has closed more than $5 billion in industrial lease and sale deals over a 26-year career, according to CBRE.

NAIOP's Central Florida chapter has recognized Murphy as the industrial broker of the year for 20 years in a row. His team manages industrial transactions throughout their life cycle, including land acquisition, leasing and dispositions. Orlando's industry, like others across the country, is facing obstacles. Orlando has more availability in industrial buildings measuring 500,000 square feet and larger than any other U.S. market, according to CoStar data. "Leasing activity in the last year is down roughly 10% during the same period and market participants have shared that there are fewer large space users looking to expand in the Orlando market than there were between 2022 and 2023," CoStar said in a recent report. "The number of tenants seeking spaces larger than 250,000 SF has been dwindling for the past couple of years."

Kirksey Architecture said it appointed Martin Gollwitzer as the Texas-based firm's first chief operating officer. He will focus on strengthening how Kirksey operates internally and its client relationships as it continues to grow in the wake of recent expansions to offices in Dallas and Austin, Texas, the firm said.

“To continue this success and maintain a pattern of growth, we needed to add depth to the strategic management of our architectural practice and staff,” Kirksey CEO Wes Good said in a statement. Gollwitzer has more than two decades of leadership experience in the field, having worked at Perkins & Will and Gensler in addition to Kirksey. He was already familiar to Kirksey through his activism with community organizations such as Preservation Houston and the South Texas chapter of 7x24 Exchange.

The commercial real estate firm Lee & Associates hired Matthew Smith as a brokerage associate in its Columbus, Ohio, office focused on industrial leasing and sales. At his previous brokerage, Smith generated new business, provided counsel and analyzed proposal packages.

“With Matthew already having a year of commercial real estate sales experience under his belt, he has been able to hit the ground running to assist with our existing projects,” Todd Spencer, a principal at Lee, said in a statement.

Logan Chambers Powell and Gabriel Paisner stepped into the role of vice president of retail at Odyssey Retail Advisors. Chambers Powell will focus on site selection, negotiations and strategic expansion, the New York-based company said. Paisner will drive business development and provide strategic advice, especially to European retailers entering the North American market, according to Odyssey.

Chambers Powell has more than a decade of experience and has worked on more than 225 successful retail deals totaling $670 million in value. She comes to Odyssey from Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors. Paisner’s new role is a promotion. He joined Odyssey in 2019.

Rhonda Rasmussen has brought her 25 years of experience in the hospitality sector to Project Management Advisors’ San Diego office. In her new role, she will oversee the expansion of the firm’s luxury hotel and resort project roster in markets such as California, Hawaii, Colorado and Nevada, while mentoring staff on hospitality development, PMA said.

“We are unique in that our senior hospitality leaders, including Rhonda, are directly involved in projects from start to finish,” Vice President Mark Knott, the firm's hospitality sector lead, said in a statement. Rasmussen previously served as director of interior design at T2 Development, where she oversaw several high-profile hotel projects.