Cissel tells GlobeSt.com that there is some $500 million worth of deals inplay on which he and Melnick have a line, and will likely be closingover the course of the next two quarters. "We expect 2010 to be an active year--there are a lot of opportunities in the discussion stage now that we will bring to JLL innear future," he says.

[IMGCAP(2)]For example, Cissel says he and his partner have begun hearing frombuyers interested in new construction and condo conversion projects."They are interested in acquiring now and converting later. That is new for the market" since the condo space crashed more than two years ago. The DC area market is attracting interest nationwide, he continues, with at least 50% or more of bids coming from outside the area. "Cap rates have come down 100 to 125 basis points from Q3 2009 and theywill continue to come down even more."

Cissel and Melnick will also assist JLL in building out its Mid-Atlantic practice across the East Coast. Both executives will partner with Jubeen Vaghefi, managingdirector and leader of the firm's national multifamily investmentsales practice; Jay Koster, Americas Capital Markets president; and MikeEllis, Mid-Atlantic market director.

Transwestern is currently in negotiations with a team to replace itsdeparting staffers, says Tom Nordlinger, Mid-Atlantic region president, who also points out that the company has a 50-year legacy in the multifamily space "that includes a lot of other people besides Al and Scott." The discussions are confidential, he tells GlobeSt.com, declining to elaborate further. "We are definitely remaining committed to thisspace." Transwestern is also getting set to add to its office leasingplatform, he adds, with plans to announce new hires in the comingweeks.

JLL made recent hires prior to Melnick and Cissel. Tom Fish,Mike Melody and Tom Melody joined the firm's Real Estate InvestmentBanking team recently. The company has also hired in Seattle, Houstonand Dallas.

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Erika Morphy

Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.