Scott Cryer is leaving his position as CFO of CAPREIT. (Courtesy CAPREIT)

Scott Cryer has decided to leave CAPREIT (CAR-UN-T) effective April 15 to pursue other opportunities after 12 years at the trust, including over a decade serving as its chief financial officer.

Cryer helped CAPREIT grow from a market cap of about $1 billion to its current $9.4 billion operation.

Stephen Co will become CAPREIT’s interim CFO after a six-week transition period. Co has been with CAPREIT since 2011 and is currently vice-president, accounting.

Co is also the CFO of European Residential REIT (ERE-UN-T), a role he assumed in January 2021, replacing Cryer who had been ERES REIT’s first CFO.

Co previously worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in the assurance practice servicing clients in the real estate sector.

He holds a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Toronto, as well as CPA and CFA designations.

Ha takes presidency at Boardwalk

James Ha is the new president of Boardwalk REIT (BEI-UN-T) and Leonora Davids has been named senior vice-president of operations.

Since joining Boardwalk in 2007, Ha has assumed numerous leadership roles and responsibilities from finance and treasury to capital markets, investor relations, acquisitions, investments, strategic partnerships, revenue optimization and corporate strategy.

Concurrently, Davids’ appointment is a reflection of her operational excellence and expertise. Davids began her career as a resident manager in one of Boardwalk’s communities in Calgary in 1999 and since has progressively grown her responsibilities with her most recent role as vice-president of operations.

Great Gulf appoints three senior execs

Great Gulf Group has announced new members of its residential leadership team to lead the firm’s low-rise, high-rise and resort residential groups in Canada and the U.S.

Kathleen Schofield is appointed president of low-rise residential Canada, Niall Collins becomes president and COO of Great Gulf’s newly created North American high-rise residential platform and Michael Sneyd has been appointed president of the new North American resort residential platform.

The Great Gulf Group includes Great Gulf Homes, a low-rise and high-rise residential developer; Ashton Woods Homes, developer of private design-build industrial facilities; Tucker HiRise, a construction management company specializing in high-density, mixed-used projects; H+ME Technology, an engineering panelization manufacturing facility; and Taboo Muskoka, a golf course resort in Ontario.

Picciola new CIO at BTB REIT

Peter Picciola has been appointed chief investment officer at BTB REIT. (Courtesy BTB REIT))

BTB REIT (BTB-UN-T) has appointed Peter Picciola as its chief investment officer, effective April 4.

Picciola is a top-performing real estate executive with more than 24 years of experience in development, management and the advancement of multi-billion-dollar real estate portfolios.

He started his career in 1997 as a real estate broker at Devencore. Picciola then joined Canderel in 2003 where he became vice-president of leasing and development and worked successively on complex transactions across various asset classes while maintaining investor relationships in Europe and in North America.

In 2014, he joined Ivanhoé Cambridge as vice-president office leasing for Québec, overseeing leasing activities for the $2 billion Québec market.

He holds a bachelor of commerce, with a specialization in finance, from Concordia University.

Northcrest hires Mitchell Marcus

Northcrest Developments, a wholly owned subsidiary of PSP Investments, has announced Mitchell Marcus — a member of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 and one of Toronto’s best-recognized arts leaders — will lead the artistic and cultural activation of the Downsview Airport Lands development.

The centrepiece will be the transformation of the 2.1-kilometre airport runway into a pedestrian boulevard alive with retail, recreation and cultural attractions year-round.

Marcus will also help develop ways to creatively activate the runway and surrounding lands not slated for immediate development before build-up and final construction in future years.

Marcus will take up his role as executive director, site activation and programming on March 28.

As Luminato’s former associate producer and the founding artistic director and CEO of The Musical Stage Company, Marcus is recognized as one of Toronto’s most accomplished and innovative artistic leaders.

PSP Investments acquired 370 acres of the Downsview Airport Lands in 2018 and created Northcrest Developments to plan the redevelopment.

Anand added to Regional Group team

Regional Group has hired Sachin Anand as the company’s senior director, acquisitions. Anand will oversee the identification of value-add commercial and mid-/high-rise development opportunities — supporting the growth of the Ottawa-based firm’s portfolio and revenue goals.

Having lived in five cities across four countries (and travelled to 40 countries), Anand possesses a diverse and global perspective.

He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the Regional team including real estate development financing, modelling capital structures, deal negotiation, portfolio and investor management, business development, security and legal negotiation, relationship management, capital markets and direct lending solutions, and real estate life-cycle needs and CAPEX/ROI planning.

InBC chooses Nguyen as CIO

Leah Nguyen has been appointed as chief investment officer of InBC Investment Corp. (InBC), a new Crown corporation responsible for a $500-million strategic investment fund to help B.C.-based businesses grow and diversify the economy.

Nguyen joins InBC from her position as investment director for the TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good, one of the world’s largest corporate impact funds.

Nguyen will assume her new role on April 4.

Nguyen is an investor and technology executive with more than 17 years of experience across various industries, including telecommunications, retail, utilities and natural resources.

Nguyen is a graduate of Simon Fraser University and an active community member serving on several private sector and community boards.

New executives at AY Calgary, Vancouver

Avison Young is expanding its Canadian mergers and acquisitions sector presence with the appointment of Aaron Swanson as vice-president in the Calgary office.

Bringing over 15 years of capital markets experience and expertise, Swanson will be responsible for building the operating business advisory reach, playing an integral role in M&A execution, debt capital raising and economic research.

The majority of Swanson’s career has been as a public equity research analyst, most notably leading the Canadian research division for a U.S.-based energy investment bank. Prior to joining Avison Young, he was a principal at a debt advisory firm.

Also in Calgary, Laurel Edwards joined the property tax services team, with a focus on providing tax advice for real estate portfolios in Western Canada.

She will leverage her 20 years of real estate experience in the commercial, multiresidential and self-storage sectors with expertise in valuation, leasing, tax and development.

In Vancouver, AY has appointed Mike Harrison as principal, development land sales.

With nearly a decade of experience in commercial real estate, Harrison brings experience analyzing properties and sub-markets, as well as in marketing, project management and business development.

He is a graduate of Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Entrepreneurial Leadership program, where he was awarded the Dean’s Medal for outstanding achievement.

Wallin managing director at Firm Capital

Firm Capital Corporation named Justin Wallin its managing director, mortgage investments Western Canada to head up its mortgage and realty equity investments, from the Calgary office.

Firm Capital will focus its bridge lending program out of this office by providing land, construction, stabilization loans, secondary debt on investment properties, mezzanine equity capital, JV equity and DIP financing to builders, developers and investment property owners.

Wallin has many years of experience in real estate finance, most recently as a vice-president, commercial real estate at a financial institution in Alberta. He is a commerce graduate of the University of Alberta.

Huston joins Colliers in Calgary

Ian Huston has joined Colliers’ senior leadership team as managing director, Calgary.

Huston has over 15 years of progressive experience in investment banking, corporate and capital markets, financing and strategic advisory. He has led over $40 billion of successful merger and acquisition transactions, and numerous equity and debt financings.

He has also advised executive management and boards of directors of over 20 companies, particularly in the North American energy sector, including upstream, midstream, downstream and energy services.

Huang added to RESAAS advisory board

Real estate technology firm RESAAS Services Inc. (RSS-X) has brought James Huang aboard to join its advisory board.

Huang is president of eXp Commercial, a division of eXp World Holdings Inc.

Formerly, he was president of Sperry Commercial Global Affiliates, where he grew the company across more than 20 states and into multiple countries.

Previously, Huang spent several years at Marcus & Millichap after a tenure as vice-president at Morgan Stanley.

Huang was most recently president of the Asian Real Estate Association of America.