By Joshua Burd
Cushman & Wakefield has fortified its team of multifamily investment sales brokers in New Jersey with the appointment of new co-leaders and the addition of three industry veterans.
According to the firm, Niko Nicolaou and Ryan Dowd will now helm the multifamily capital markets group based in its East Rutherford office, working to drive growth initiatives, foster client relationships and deliver innovative solutions to clients in the multifamily sector. The move comes alongside the recruitment of brokers Justin Lupo, David Jarvis and David Oropeza, who will serve as executive managing directors with the New Jersey-focused unit.
Notably, the new additions will focus on enhancing Cushman’s market coverage with their specialty in urban housing and garden apartments, the firm said.
“The appointment of Niko and Ryan to lead our Multifamily Capital Markets platform is an exciting development for us and we are thrilled to welcome our new team members,” said Peter Bronsnick, C&W’s managing principal of New Jersey. “With a deliberate strategy to expand our offerings in the middle markets multifamily sector, the guidance and expertise of our new co-leads and the invaluable experience of our new hires will undoubtedly contribute to the prosperity of this market.
“Backed by Cushman & Wakefield’s global platform and extensive resources within capital markets, we aim to bring a new level of sophistication to the middle market multifamily sector that has never been seen before.”
Nicolaou, who joined the firm in early 2022, has more than 15 years of experience representing a wide range of property owners and investors, from institutional entities and private equity funds to family offices and private individuals. Dowd, meantime, brings more than 10 years of experience to his new role, having sold multifamily properties ranging from trophy luxury towers to infill development projects within several of the region’s prominent suburban communities.
Jarvis joins Cushman after more than 20 years with Gebroe-Hammer Associates, where he served as an executive vice president, the firm said. He began working in family real estate in 1994 and, throughout his career, has been involved in deals valued at more than $7 billion.
Oropeza, also a former Gebroe-Hammer broker, spent nearly 37 years with the Livingston-based firm. He was involved in the sale of billions of dollars of multifamily, office and retail space during that time and has completed transactions involving thousands of buildings.
Lupo, for his part, arrives with nearly a decade of experience in the multifamily industry. He most recently was a senior vice president with The Kislak Co. Inc., where he specialized in the sale of investment properties in the Mid-Atlantic and was consistently one of the firm’s leading salespeople.
“The expertise of this veteran group of brokers will greatly enhance our market coverage as we continue to elevate our services and deliver unparalleled results for our clients,” said John O’Neill, Cushman’s president for U.S. multifamily capital markets. “Their addition fills a critical gap in the New Jersey market, enabling us to cover the full range of the multifamily asset class in the region.
He added that, through a strategic partnership with the firm’s equity, debt and structured finance team and the legacy capital markets team, the unit “will have access to unprecedented resources and relationships, enabling us to grow our market share as we set our sights on being the number one team in the multifamily sector.”
