Cresa appoints executive for Northeast growth; Colliers adds pair for industrial deals in Florida; JLL brings back executive to financial services group

Occupier-centric brokerage Cresa tapped Tony Juliano to serve as managing principal for its Northeast region. In his expanded role, Juliano will build on the success he's had as the firm's Philadelphia market leader to support Cresa's New York City and New Jersey offices in growth, recruiting and mergers-and-acquisitions, the company said. He will work with the firm's teams to continue its expansion in the Northeast, "a significant and important region for our clients," Cresa President Greg Schmenti said in a statement.

Juliano, who joined Cresa as Philadelphia market leader in 2021 from JLL, said once the economic uncertainty swirling around international trade and tariffs settles down that the Northeast region should see a robust office recovery. "There are very encouraging signs in the Northeast region with a marked 'return to office' trend as new sublease space coming onto the market has slowed substantially, if not stopped in some submarkets, and corporate decision making has ramped up across the board," he said in an email. "There will continue to be instances of office buildings going into special servicing or foreclosure, but a strong trend in 'flight-to-quality' will solidify the Class A office space and keep the strong landlords going."

Colliers expanded its industrial team in Florida's Tampa Bay region with the addition of brokers Kyle Kidd as a vice president and Dominic Hewitt as a senior associate. Kidd and Hewitt joined Colliers from Apex Industrial Real Estate Advisors. In their new roles, the pair will focus on landlord and tenant representation across West Florida as a part of Colliers’ industrial practice, the Toronto-based real estate services firm said.

Kidd and Hewitt worked as a team at Apex Industrial and together have executed more than $100 million in total lease and sales volume. Kidd has more than six years of commercial real estate experience and has represented local, regional and national companies across the Southeast. He also previously worked at Foundry Commercial in Atlanta. Hewitt, who has four years of industry experience, previously held positions at Stream Realty Partners and MDH Partners.

JLL Work Dynamics appointed Raul Esparza solutions development principal for its financial services division. The appointment marks Esparza's return to JLL, where he spent 13 years in various leadership roles, including some for Work Dynamics. In his new role, he will create and execute new real estate and workplace services strategies. He will also focus on setting up and managing real estate portfolios, buildings, technology and workplace services for clients, JLL said. He is based in New York.

Esparza, who has more than two decades of financial services and commercial real estate expertise, spent the previous decade at CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield. "By aligning an organization's physical assets with its operational needs, financial objectives and long-term vision, proper real estate strategies enable companies to optimize costs, enhance productivity, attract talent and create environments that support innovation and growth," he said in a statement.

Gilbane Building Co., one of the largest, privately held construction firms in the country, picked Raquel Diaz as business leader for its New York City operations. In her new position, Diaz will lead the growth of the company in the largest commercial property in the U.S. and work to expand its market portfolio and services and help develop Gilbane's team, the firm said. Diaz joined Gilbane in 2019, and since then has expanded Gilbane’s public sector portfolio as market leader, the firm said. Some of her notable projects include the New York City Department of Design and Construction Centers of Excellence and the restoration of the Orchard Beach Pavilion for the New York City Economic Development Corp. and the New York City Parks Department. An engineer by training, Diaz has more than 18 years of industry experience and has delivered projects with a total value of more than $2.8 billion and containing 4 million square feet in New York City.

CBRE appointed Randal Dawson as national leader of the litigation support and dispute group for CBRE Valuation and Advisory Services, or VAS. Dawson, a Chicago-based executive vice president for VAS, has more than 30 years of experience in real estate valuations, tax appeals and consultation. He has been at CBRE for nearly 18 years and specializes in the valuation of commercial and special-use properties, including industrial, retail, multifamily properties and healthcare facilities.