JLL expands data center services
JLL added John Pasta as executive vice president of its data center solutions group in Dallas as the brokerage seeks to meet rising demand among clients in the region. Pasta is a 13-year industry veteran who most recently served as director of strategic accounts at QTS Data Centers, after seven years representing tenants with brokerage Avison Young. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.
“With the rise of artificial intelligence, 5G processing and overall increased technological capabilities, there is more demand for data center real estate everywhere, but especially in Dallas-Fort Worth,” said Curt Holcomb, managing director in JLL’s data center practice, in a statement. “The area’s abundance of available land and access to energy sources is incredibly attractive to developers.”
Cushman boosts Twin Cities development offerings
Cushman & Wakefield promoted Joan Firnhaber and Jennifer Stumm to lead its Twin Cities project and development services team in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region of Minnesota.
The brokerage said Firnhaber will lead the team as senior director and continue to head its investor services group. She started work in 1999 with a Minneapolis firm that was subsequently acquired by Cushman & Wakefield.
In her new role at Cushman, Stumm will serve as director, leading occupier services within the project and development service team, and guiding tenant-representation clients through real estate processes including design and construction, the brokerage said. She joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2014 and has 20 years of design experience on behalf of local and national corporate clients.
Newmark bolsters Southeast investment team
Newmark named three executives to lead the brokerage’s office investment sales services for Southeast regions that include Atlanta; Nashville, Tennessee; Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; and portions of Florida. Jay O’Meara and Justin Parsonnet will serve as vice chairmen, and Ryan Reethof will serve as senior managing director, Newmark said. The team is based in Atlanta.
The brokerage said O'Meara, Parsonnet and Reethof have more than 65 years of collective experience in transactions valued around $23 billion across more than 25 regions. They have been involved in transactions including the $380 million sale of Bank of America Plaza and the $201 million disposition of two other prominent towers in Atlanta. The trio joined Newmark from CBRE and have represented national investment clients such as Oaktree Capital, Shorenstein and Cousins Properties.
CBRE adds to Tampa occupier services
Scott Garlick joined CBRE as an executive vice president in the firm’s occupier services team in Tampa, Florida. The brokerage said Garlick will provide leasing and consulting services to tenants throughout the Tampa Bay region, including national office and industrial clients. Garlick has nearly 18 years of industry experience, joining CBRE from Cushman & Wakefield, where he served as managing principal in the Tampa region.
Before working in commercial real estate, Garlick played professional soccer for 12 years as a goalkeeper with several Major League Soccer teams, including DC United, Tampa Bay Mutiny and Colorado Rapids. He is a two-time MLS All Star and two-time runner-up for the U.S. Open Cup. Garlick is a graduate of Leadership Tampa and a past board member of USF Real Estate Advisory.
Core5 industrial executive plans to retire
Core5 Industrial Partners announced the pending retirement of Lisa Ward as senior vice president and managing director, effective July 15, 2025. The Atlanta-based industrial development services provider, a subsidiary of Kajima USA, said Ward will wind down daily oversight of the firm’s Southeast region at the end of 2024, staying on through mid-July in an advisory role.
The company said Rodney Davidson will assume the role of senior vice president and managing director for the Southeast, and Mitchell Townsend will take Davidson’s former job as vice president of investments.
Ward, who has more than 25 years of experience representing industrial landlords, was among the original executives of Core5 and a founding employee of a predecessor development firm, IDI. She previously led Southeast operations of development firm DCT Industrial as senior vice president and managing director. She currently oversees Core5 operations in regions that include Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; and Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee.