Bentley Forbes Names Dezzutti as COO

Dezzutti, a 22-year industry veteran, will be responsible for all facets of the firm's operational procedures and the day-to-day management of its 7.9-million-sf national portfolio of class A office, corporate and luxury hospitality properties. According to Cobb, the appointment of Dezzutti is the latest in a series of steps designed to create an infrastructure in keeping with the growth and changes at Bentley Forbes during the past three years.

During that three years, Cobb explains, the firm devoted substantial resources to platform and infrastructure changes including the transition from external property management to in-house property management. Bentley Forbes is now focused on additional infrastructure/operations growth, including bringing property leasing in-house, and Dezzutti has the experience required for that transition as well as for other growth initiatives, Cobb says.

C. Frederick Wehba, chairman and co-founder of Bentley Forbes, says that the firm sought Dezzutti "because of his extensive experience in the institutional real estate arena." Wehba says that the firm will rely on that experience as it continues to expand its portfolio.

Most recently, Dezzutti served as a senior managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, overseeing leasing and property management services for private, corporate and institutional clients for the firm's nationwide third party service platform. Before that, he was a senior vice president for Equity Office Properties Trust, where he oversaw operations, leasing and property management. Dezzutti's 22-year career also includes executive posts with Transwestern, Koll and CB Commercial.

Privately held BentleyForbes, founded by the Wehba family in 1993, invests in multi-tenant and single-tenant class A office properties in top CBD or regional submarket locations and best-of-class luxury resort and hotel properties in major MSA or resort destination markets. In addition to its Los Angeles headquarters, the company has regional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, FL and Washington, DC.