Avison Young taps leader to spearhead Las Vegas growth; Portman promotes pair to pursue development; Cresa hires broker for Nevada business

Avison Young appointed Suzette LaGrange as market leader for Las Vegas, where the brokerage said it is trying to grow regional business. LaGrange joined Avison Young after working for 20 years at Colliers, following a 10-year stint at CBRE.

LaGrange will oversee work, including client and talent recruitment in the Las Vegas region, Avison Young said. Her previous work focused primarily on landlord and developer representation. The Las Vegas native has handled office and industrial developments, including land acquisitions, design and planning, zoning, entitlements, lease negotiations and investment dispositions. She succeeds David Jewkes, who served as Avison Young’s Las Vegas market leader for eight years and will remain as a principal in the office. 

National developer Portman Holdings promoted Andy Kroll to chief operating officer and named Travis Garland to the newly created position of chief development officer, aiding the Atlanta-based firm in expanding its development pipeline, which already exceeds $5 billion in value. The company said Kroll will take the COO role effective April 1, after previously serving as senior vice president of asset management. He will succeed Michelle Barton, who announced her retirement as COO after 28 years with the company.

Garland most recently was Portman’s managing director for office properties, overseeing transactions totaling more than $4 billion in value. Led by CEO Ambrish Baisiwala, Portman owns and manages a national portfolio of office, hospitality, multifamily, retail and industrial properties. 

Xavier Wasiak joined Cresa as a principal in the firm’s Las Vegas office, where he will also represent clients in Reno and other nearby Nevada areas. The brokerage said Wasiak previously worked at JLL and brokerage Grubb & Ellis. His work areas with Cresa will include tenant representation, site selection, property acquisitions, build-to-suit developments and data center projects.

The Las Vegas native’s prior industrial-focused work included occupier leasing assignments, acquisitions and development. He has spent his entire career in the Las Vegas Valley handling leases and property acquisitions involving firms such as Lowe’s, Smith’s Food and Drug, and Hopewell Development.

Justin McMahon has rejoined CBRE and will serve as senior vice president in the brokerage’s Orange County office in Irvine, California, representing owners and tenants of retail properties, the firm said. McMahon is a 20-year industry veteran who returns to CBRE after five years with JLL, focused on marketing and leasing shopping centers and representing several expanding retail and restaurant tenants.

McMahon’s previous roles include having served as a vice president in CBRE’s Orange County office and an associate at Grubb & Ellis, a brokerage that BGC Partners acquired. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives. 

Real estate investment services firm Interra Realty promoted Paul Waterloo to managing partner and Harrison Pinkus to managing director, the Chicago-based company said. To support future growth, the company also hired Joe Braun as a director and Andrew Stassi as an associate.

Waterloo joined Interra Realty in 2017, after working as a sales executive at payroll services firm ADP. He has handled numerous middle-market multifamily transactions. Pinkus has brokered or assisted multiple mid-market apartment transactions since joining Interra in 2018, after earlier work at Groupon, Spring Rewards, Victory Lap and Colliers. Interra, founded in 2010, handles multifamily, office and retail property transactions, along with loan-related sales.