Cresa has entered the Las Vegas market, an area still basking in the spotlight from Super Bowl LVIII, and it's hired Christopher Crooks to run the new operation. For Crooks, the job means a return to Cresa, where he worked from August 1995 to October 2018, when he left the firm, to become the Las Vegas market leader for Newmark. A brokerage that represents only occupiers, Cresa may find opportunities in the Las Vegas market where there's a need for tenant representatives, according to local brokers. “In the last decade there has been a concerted effort to diversify the city’s economic base with an emphasis on technology, business and entertainment," Crooks said in a statement. "Las Vegas is no longer just a gaming destination but a more business-friendly city. Companies see what is happening here and want to be a part of this dynamic and thriving community." Las Vegas becomes the fourth new office Cresa has opened in the past 16 months as part of the Chicago-based firm's expansion strategy.

Walker & Dunlop added managing directors Steve LaMotte Jr. and Dane Wilson, and associate director Ross Wettersten to its Midwest investment sales team led by Todd Stofflet. The Indianapolis-based team was added to represent institutional and private clients across the Midwest and specializes in the valuation and disposition of multifamily properties, Walker & Dunlop said. LaMotte, Wilson and Wettersten joined the brokerage from CBRE. Combined the team members have more than 50 years of industry experience and originated a total deal volume of $6.7 billion.

The addition of the trio will help Walker & Dunlop expand its investment sales business in the Midwest and foster “the promotion of communication and collaboration across our numerous offices,” Stofflet said in a statement.

Matthews Real Estate Investment Services has recruited a team of retail brokers including Pierce Mayson and Kyle Stonis from SRS in Atlanta. Mayson and Stonis joined Nashville, Tennessee-based Matthews as senior vice presidents. Their teammates Jeff Enck and Boris Shilkrot also made the move to Matthews. Enck joined as a first vice president and Shilkrot as an associate vice president. While at SRS, Mayson and Stonis were managing principals and led the retail brokerage’s Southeast investment properties group. While at SRS, the team, whose members have more than 50 years of industry experience combined, managed the disposition of institutionally and privately owned shopping centers in 17 states across the Southeast, Midwest and Northeast. Matthew Wallace, Matthews’ national director of shopping centers, said in a statement that the foursome have a combined career transaction volume of more than $4 billion, making them valuable “as our shopping center division continues to take market share and expand throughout the U.S.”

Cushman & Wakefield hired Kevin Phelan, a broker with more than 13 years of experience to its multifamily services division in Denver. Phelan, who has worked with several property types, specializes in multifamily investment sales in the Mountain West region. Before joining Cushman & Wakefield, he served as a senior adviser at Capstone Companies, a multifamily brokerage. Prior to that he was a senior associate at CBRE in Denver. Earlier in his career in New York City, Phelan worked as a director at Capstone Realty Advisors. Steve Schwab, Cushman & Wakefield’s managing principal for Colorado, Idaho and Utah, said the addition of Phelan is part of the brokerage's expansion in the region. “Within just the past 18 months, Cushman & Wakefield has continued to deepen our line of multifamily services in Colorado" with experienced real estate pros such as Phelan, Schwab said in a statement.

CBRE has expanded its healthcare team in Boston with the addition of Brannan Knott, who spent the past eight-plus years at rival JLL, where he worked on its healthcare capital markets team. In his new role at CBRE, Knott will serve as an executive vice president and join Chris Bodnar, Zack Holderman, Cole Reethof, Trent Jemmett, Jesse Greshin and Jaime Vantsa as part of CBRE’s U.S. healthcare capital markets team. During his 15-year career in the industry, Knott has executed on more than $10 billion in healthcare real estate transactions, CBRE said. The addition of Knott is part of CBRE's plan to expand its talent base and healthcare group nationally, said Bodnar, a vice chairman and head of healthcare advisory for CBRE. Before he worked at JLL, Bodnar held positions at Realterm Global and LaSalle Investment Management, where he oversaw acquisitions and asset management for its medical office building fund.

Savills has added Eric Nelson, a broker with more than 20 years of financial experience, to its Los Angeles office as an executive managing director. In his new role, Nelson will focus on capital market transactions such as sourcing debt and equity and offering investment strategies for clients on how to best leverage their real estate portfolios, Savills said. Before he joined Savills, Nelson was a principal of Tower Lane Capital, where he managed the investment process including deal sourcing, debt origination and deal structuring and execution. He also served on Tower Lane's investment committee. During his career, he has been involved in commercial property transactions with an aggregate value of more than $25 billion. Savills Los Angeles region President Josh Gorin said Nelson's experience will help the brokerage's clients seeking to unlock value from their real estate holdings. "In today’s capital markets landscape, there are ample opportunities for investors to capitalize on favorable market conditions,” Gorin said in a statement.

JPMorgan Chase has expanded its agency lending team with its hire of Rob Prouty, who joined the financial services giant this month as an executive director in Irvine, California. Prouty’s responsibilities at JPMorgan include sourcing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and bridge loans from institutional and middle-market clients across the West Coast. Prouty reports to John Hofmann, head of agency production.

Prouty joined JPMorgan from Colliers’ mortgage group, where he most recently served as a senior vice president for the Southwest region. Before his time at Colliers, Prouty worked at Barings Multifamily Capital, KeyBank, Red Capital Group and Credit Suisse.