NEW YORK CITY—Colliers International's office here is looking to grow its presence in the middle capitalization investment sales market, eastern region president Joseph Harbert tells GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVELY. The company took a giant leap toward that goal last week when it hired Jeffrey Donnelly and Ulrike Ahrens as executive director and director, respectively, of its capital markets division.

The two industry veterans join the firm from DTZ immediately following the closing of that company's merger with Cushman & Wakefield. The timing isn't a coincidence. “They were obviously in the midst of industry consolidation, and they approached us some time ago and were curious about our plans.”

And they're not the only ones looking around. When asked if others from DTZ or Cushman have approached Colliers, Harbert says “Absolutely. We're actively recruiting in the mid-cap space and we're talking to people in most of the major firms. But we don't canvas, we hear from people.”

He sees big potential in the mid-cap space. “The $10 million to $60 million or $70 million market is very vibrant; there are owners looking to cash out while buyers want to get into New York. Plus it isn't as heavily discounted as the large cap market. So it's a good opportunity for us to take some market share versus going head to head with the big institutional players on large deals.”

Donnelly and Ahrens come to Colliers with more than 35 years of industry experience combined. In their new roles, Donnelly and Ahrens will advise on, structure, and execute a wide range of capital transactions including: structured financing and recapitalization; equity and debt placements; sale-leasebacks; asset sales; and loan sales.

Among their notable accomplishments, Donnelly and Ahrens completed renovation/repositioning financings, including for a 252-key hotel in Hawaii. They have also been active in placing bridge, pre-development financing locally, including for a luxury condominium project in Manhattan and for a luxury gated community in Queens.

Additionally, Donnelly redeveloped a ground lease business into a comprehensive structured ground lease finance platform while serving as principal of Spectrum Capital Partners.

Previously, Ahrens worked in private banking/private wealth management at Deutsche Bank in Germany. Earlier, during her time an executive regional market manager at a NJ based bank, Ahrens also served as the executive director of the European American Chamber of Commerce. She is fluent in German and French.

Instant Insights /

Harbert: “We're Actively Recruiting for Investment Sales”

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