A multi-faceted real estate investment company in Southern California has appointed a new president during a time of strategic growth, according to the firm that has recently acquired nearly $150 million in industrial and creative office properties totaling 350,000 square feet.

Santa Monica-based BLT Enterprises has promoted Rob Solomon to president, naming a successor to Bernie Huberman, co-founder and president of BLT, who died in July 2021.

"Rob continues to be a driving force as we navigate this new chapter," said Dan Rosenthal, co-founder of BLT Enterprises, in a corporate statement announcing the move. "Rob’s devotion and integrity have gained him unrivaled respect among his colleagues, while his professional prowess directly aligns with our mission."

Solomon has served as chief development officer and legal officer of BLT since 2009. He brings more than 30 years of experience as a commercial real estate law and transaction attorney, having handled nearly all aspects of property acquisitions and dispositions, lease negotiations, financing and new development.

In his new role, Solomon will lead BLT in furthering its real estate investment initiatives with a focus on identifying well-positioned industrial and creative office assets in growth markets throughout the country.

The company's recent purchases include seven properties in Southern California, as well as four last-mile distribution facilities it acquired through a sale-leaseback transaction. BLT also recently completed its largest disposition to date, selling the 200,000-square-foot Television Center campus in Hollywood.

Rosenthal adds that the Huberman’s legacy also lives on in two of his children who serve as growing leaders within the firm. Nikolette Huberman Jacob, manager of real estate investment and director of corporate philanthropy, and Lukas Huberman, director of acquisitions, have both been promoted to vice president within the company.

"Founded by Bernie and Dan in 1984, our firm was built through teamwork and measured, strategic growth," Solomon said in the statement. "The most powerful lesson I have learned through my time at BLT is that the success of a company stems from its culture and its people. To this day, that principle drives everything we do, resulting in our solid financial position and reputation as a trusted buyer, seller, owner and operator."

Matthew Brown joined commercial real estate services firm NAI/Merin Hunter Codman in West Palm Beach, Florida, as its chief operating officer.

In his new role, Brown will oversee the growth and operation of the firm's brokerage and property management business lines in addition to identifying and closing real estate acquisitions throughout the Southeast on behalf of the company's affiliated MHCommercial Real Estate Funds.

Brown brings more than 20 years' experience, most recently as chief investment officer at New York-based Dabby Investments, where he handled the acquisition of value-add commercial real estate investments throughout the country. Before that, he worked in brokerage, capital markets and team leadership roles at Colliers, Newmark and the Carlton Group.

Lee & Associates is opening a new office in Baton Rouge that will focus on industrial, office, retail and land brokerage throughout southern Louisiana, and has tapped Evan Scroggs to lead the charge.

In his new role as managing principal with the firm, Scroggs will strategically build a team and grow the firm's capabilities in the market. He will work closely with the Lee & Associates Houston team during the initial start-up period.

Scroggs brings more than 13 years of experience in office and industrial sales and leasing, most recently as a senior adviser with NAI Latter & Blum. He currently serves on the planning and zoning commission for East Baton Rouge Parish and previously held leadership positions with the Louisiana CCIM chapter as president and member of its board of directors.

CBRE hired Dennis Visser as a senior vice president and Weston Yahn as a vice president with its industrial and logistics practice in Carlsbad, California.

In their new roles, the pair will continue to focus on industrial and life sciences properties throughout northern San Diego. They bring more than four decades of combined experience, and both join CBRE from Cushman & Wakefield.

Visser has more than 32 years of experience in institutional leasing and sales, having completed more than 17 million square feet of transactions valued at nearly $2 billion. He served as the San Diego chapter president of NAIOP in 2017.

In the past decade, Yahn has completed nearly 1.8 million square feet of transactions valued in excess of $200 million for a client list spanning the industrial, financial, healthcare, technology and biotech industries.

Marlon Stone has rejoined Katz & Associates as a senior vice president in Northbrook, Illinois.

In his new role, Stone is tasked with growing the brokerage firm's retail leasing and sales capabilities across the Midwest.

Stone brings 30 years of experience in retail planning, site selection and leasing transactions for department stores, junior anchors, in-line specialty stores, sit-down and quick-service restaurants across regional malls, power and lifestyle centers, grocery-anchored neighborhood strips and urban retail spots. He had previously spent roughly a decade at Katz, from 2000 to 2010.

In other company news, Katz has promoted five brokers across the East Coast with new performance-based title changes in the new year: Jonathan Greenberg is now a vice president in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey; Daniel D. DePasquale is now a senior director in its New York City office; Vanesa Rodriguez is now a senior director in Orlando, Florida; and Leandro Pereira and Michael Betancourt were both promoted to director in the firm's Boca Raton, Florida, office.

Eric Shaw has joined Partner Valuation Advisors as a senior vice president in the firm's newly opened office in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since launching in September 2022, the Chicago-based company reports it has grown to 33 employees nationally and has completed valuations in all 50 states.

In his new role, Shaw will continue to focus on valuations for the in-demand industrial and self-storage property sectors.

Shaw brings more than a decade of experience valuing various commercial real estate properties across Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and the Midwest on behalf of local, regional and national lenders and investors. He most recently served as a director at Integra Realty Resources, and before that he contested real property valuations in 16 states for Macy's Inc. Shaw is a designated member of the Appraisal Institute and holds an MBA from Xavier University.

International design firm Ware Malcomb has promoted Lynne Orlowski to director of interior architecture and design in the firm's Phoenix office.

In her expanded role, Orlowski will lead the continued growth of the company's interiors studio in the region.

Orlowski brings more than 10 years of in-depth industry experience, having previously led the Phoenix interior architecture and design studio while managing a wide variety of interior projects across the office, healthcare and industrial sectors. She joined Ware Malcomb as a designer in 2015 before moving into project manager and studio manager roles. Orlowski holds the National Council for Interior Design qualification and a bachelor's degree in interior design from Arizona State University.