Lee & Associates grows hotel team; JLL fortifies Los Angeles retail services unit; Altman expands logistics leasing group

Lee & Associates fortified its hotel investment services group in South Florida with the addition of Garrick Benabe, who will serve as a principal in the firm’s Miami office. In his new role, Benabe also will be advising clients on deal execution, partnership negotiation and real estate technology, Lee said. Benabe most recently served as director of hospitality investments at Apex Capital Realty, where he oversaw development, acquisitions and dispositions. He also previously worked in Marcus & Millichap’s national hospitality group, handling financing, stakeholder management and account oversight.

Ryan Hawley joined JLL’s Los Angeles office as the brokerage expands its retail-focused services in Southern California. Hawley is a 15-year real estate industry veteran who worked previously with retail developer Caruso and most recently at Cypress Equity Investments. Hawley will join JLL’s landlord leasing team after prior experience handling leasing and asset management for prominent retail developers, according to Chris Wilson, JLL national agency lead and executive vice president. Hawley is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. His work will focus on lifestyle, mixed-use and urban upscale and luxury properties throughout Southern California, the brokerage said. 

Altman Logistics Properties hired Madeline Fine as vice president and director of leasing, overseeing activities across the company’s growing nationwide portfolio of industrial facilities. Fine joined Altman from JLL in South Florida, where she handled office leasing, property marketing and client relations and specialized in landlord representation for large institutional and private equity firms. Her early career work included managing marketing campaigns for a variety of corporate brands in Melbourne, Australia. Duties in her new position will include establishing marketing and branding strategies across Altman’s investment platform, the company said. Altman Logistics President Mark Levy said the firm hired Fine as the Miami-based company, a subsidiary of BBX Capital, seeks to grow its market share across key Eastern U.S. regions. 

SRS Real Estate Partners added Carlos Lopez as executive vice president of capital markets at its regional office in Newport Beach, California, after his prior work at Hanley Investment Group. Lopez brings nearly 30 years of experience to his new role during which he has focused on the sale of single-tenant, triple-net-lease retail buildings and traditional shopping centers. His previous work includes the sale of buildings in downtown districts and high-profile mixed-use and retail corridors.

He was involved in the sale of several high-profile California properties, including TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. His hiring comes as SRS seeks to expand its Southern California presence, particularly in high-traffic retail districts, according to Senior Managing Principal Matthew Mousavi. 

Sitex Group, a New Jersey-based private equity real estate firm, promoted Jackson Kaplan to senior vice president. The company said Kaplan, who previously served as vice president, will lead the firm’s direct equity investments across industrial markets in Florida and also handle debt investment transactions. Kaplan joined Sitex in 2020 and has closed more than $1 billion in real estate transactions across 25 acquisitions. He has also completed more than $500 million in bridge and permanent financing with various types of lenders. Prior to joining Sitex, he worked at North Park Ventures in Chicago. He is a graduate of Colorado College in Colorado Springs and is a member of real estate organizations including NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, and Urban Land Institute.