Caruso Will Head CBRE's Westchester/Fairfield Operations

Caruso, 34, has been Shapiro's right-hand man in Westchester and Fairfield for the past several years. In fact, Shapiro recruited Caruso from Pitney Bowes, where he served as senior real estate manager for eight years. Caruso joined Insignia/ESG in 2000 and has headed the consulting group here for the past four years. During his tenure at CBRE, Caruso has also supported Shapiro in the management of the firm's Westchester/Fairfield office, including the integration of the office operations following the merger of Insignia/ESG and CB Richard Ellis in 2003. The CBRE Westchester/Fairfield office currently totals approximately 50 employees, including brokers, professionals and support staff.

Company officials say Shapiro, who will take on his new post in Midtown Manhattan on Sept. 7, will transition his Westchester/Fairfield duties to Caruso over time. Shapiro says, "Bob has been my right arm for the past several years and I know he will be very successful as the leader of the Westchester/Fairfield operation."

"Bob's promotion is the natural progression in the management of our Westchester and Fairfield operations," says Patrick Murphy, executive managing director responsible for CB Richard Ellis' Tri-State suburban operations. "He has been instrumental in helping us to sharply expand our market share in the northern suburbs, and has worked side-by-side with Dean in implementing our managed brokerage business model."

Caruso, a resident of Ridgefield, CT., has worked on a number of major lease transactions of late, including Lillian Vernon's corporate relocation move to White Plains and Poloma Partners' 105,000-sf lease in Greenwich to name just a few. Caruso is the chairman of the Connecticut chapter of CoreNet, has served on the board of directors of NAIOP and currently is a member of the program committee of the Real Estate Finance Association.

Caruso relates that the Westchester County office market has been performing quite well of late and the troubled Fairfield County market is also showing some improvement. "I believe we are poised for considerable growth in both markets."