Houston-based global commercial real estate investment, development and property management firm Hines has formed a new global business unit to address disruptive changes in the built environment.

EXP by Hines will address the shifts underway in real estate and experiment with solutions around flexibility, sustainability and environmental, social and governance, or ESG, issues on behalf of clients, according to a corporate statement on the move. It will consist of two business groups, Global ESG and Global Venture Lab.

Hines has assembled an experienced team to lead the charge, including Doug Holte, who will serve as CEO of EXP.

Earlier in his career, Holte was a senior partner in Hines' West region from 1987 to 2009 before joining the Irvine Co. and launching his own innovation firm, Agile Workweek Investments.

"EXP by Hines is an engine of growth using the most innovative ideas in capital, culture and environmental stewardship to connect every stakeholder in the built environment and create healthy, activated communities," Holte said in the statement. "EXP is looking beyond the boundaries of real estate to solve complex problems while creating long-term value."

Kathryn Scheckel will lead Hines' new Global Venture Lab, tasked with identifying and accelerating ventures, partnerships and investments. The group will offer a venture incubator for early-stage startups as well as a venture investing arm, with a focus on evolving the use of physical space and next-generation ESG solutions, as well as technologies that revolutionize the built world in areas that Hines operations.

Founded by Gerald D. Hines in 1957, the firm now operates in 30 countries and manages nearly $96 billion in assets, including 457 properties totaling 213 million square feet worldwide across the residential, logistics, retail, office and mixed-use sectors. Hines has committed to a net-zero carbon target by 2040 without buying offsets.

Peter Epping will lead the global ESG platform and is focused on expediting the reduction of carbon emissions in the built world and expanding holistic ESG strategies while creating long-term value for building owners, tenants and communities.

CBRE Capital Markets hired industry veteran David Knapp as an executive vice president in the firm's Chicago office.

In his new role, Knapp will focus on institutional sales of office properties in the Midwest.

Knapp brings more than 20 years of commercial real estate experience, most recently as an executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield's office investment services team. Before that, he was a partner and managing director at Eastdil Secured in Chicago. Throughout his career, Knapp has been involved in nearly $20 billion of office and retail property sales, including Willis Tower, One North Wacker, 1KFulton, the Normandale Lake Office Park and 225 West Wacker.

JLL has hired experienced tenant representative Zach Wendelin as a managing director in Miami.

In his new role, Wendelin will help the firm capitalize on the increased demand and interest from new-to-market and established firms across Florida.

Wendelin brings more than 16 years of commercial real estate experience, most recently as a senior vice president with CBRE. Before that, he was a vice president at Cresa Partners in Florida. Throughout his career, Wendelin has negotiated more than 7 million square feet of leased office space spanning over 1,000 transactions, in addition to advising on real estate planning, workplace strategy, financial consulting and transaction management on behalf of a client list that includes FIS, TD Bank, Ford Motor Co., Shutts & Bowen and Banco General.

Sevinc Yuksel has joined Rudin, a full-service real estate organization and one of New York City's largest private owners, operators and developers of real estate, as a senior vice president and its head of design and construction.

In her new role, Yuksel will direct and oversee capital planning and design construction activities throughout Rudin's 15.2 million-square-foot portfolio of commercial and multifamily properties. She will also oversee new development scheduling, budgets and quality control.

Yuksel spent the past five years at the Related Cos., where she most recently served as a vice president of construction and oversaw the development of 50 Hudson Yards, the city's fourth-largest office tower, as well as planning for the 6 million-square-foot Western Rail Yards mixed-use urban development project. Before that, she spent nearly a decade at Turner Construction, where she specialized in construction management and preconstruction as a project engineer.

ColumbiaNational Real Estate Finance has promoted Washington, D.C., loan production team member Ashish Amin to senior vice president.

Ashish joined ColumbiaNational in 2013 and has closed mortgage loans with life insurance companies, banks, debt funds and commercial mortgage-backed securities shops, with a focus on hotel financings on behalf of hotel lenders, owners and operators.

Throughout his career, Ashish has executed complex hotel transactions including ground-up construction loans, acquisition financing, rehabilitation bridge loans, adaptive reuse and conversions, and re-flagging projects, in addition to numerous permanent, fixed-rate and nonrecourse loans for hospitality, office, retail, multifamily, industrial and self-storage properties.

Jon Moyer has joined Bendetti as director of acquisitions, a newly created position for the real estate investment and property management firm.

In his new role, Moyer will generate and evaluate investment opportunities as the Southern California-based firm looks to grow its industrial portfolio.

Moyer most recently served as vice president of acquisitions for Crede, where he led land sales and due-diligence activities for industrial and multifamily real estate developments in Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas and Utah. He held similar acquisitions roles at Alexander & Baldwin and Arden Realty before that. Throughout his career, Moyer has been involved in more than $1.5 billion in real estate acquisitions across the country.