Industry Veteran Valdez Joins DTZ

NEW YORK CITY-David M. Valdez is joining DTZ as SVP in the company's New York tri-state regional office in Manhattan. He comes to the global property services firm with a background that includes senior positions with Colliers International, Goldman Sachs and the Edward S. Gordon Co.

At DTZ, Valdez will be responsible for developing new client accounts, advising tenants and landlords and contributing to the ongoing training and development of New York staff. Before joining DTZ, he was most recently senior managing director with Colliers, and before was with Goldman Sachs between 2005 and 2009 as VP of corporate services and real estate transactions.

During his Goldman tenure, Valdez co-managed and conducted lease negotiations and real estate transactions related to the firm's 14.5-million-square-foot leased and owned office portfolio. A specialist in providing real estate advisory to nonprofits, he arranged the GMHC's relocation from 12 floors on West 24th Street to a floor-and-a-half at 450 W. 34th St., a transaction that saved the organization $27 million compared to the cost of renewing in place.

Valdez also created and presented “Real Estate Leasing Best Practices for Nonprofit Organizations” at a capacity-building-initiative conference for nonprofit sector entities sponsored by Goldman's Charitable Services Group and the Goldman Sachs Foundation in New York City. He also served as mentor to the owner of small women-owned companies in the firm's global “10,000 Women Initiative.”

Before that, Valdez served for nine years as managing director of Edward S. Gordon and first VP at CBRE in New York following its acquisition of Insignia/ESG. In those capacities, he managed lease negotiations and strategy for clients on portfolio-level national corporate requirements as a commercial broker.