Olivia MacAngus will step into the role of president at Colliers Project Leaders. (Courtesy Colliers)

Colliers has announced Colliers Project Leaders Canada and Middle East founder and president Franklin Holtforster will retire and Olivia MacAngus will succeed him.

MacAngus is currently chief development officer and will step into her new role on June 1. Holtforster will support the transition process with MacAngus and the executive team.

Prior to joining Colliers in 2019, MacAngus was managing director of capital projects and infrastructure at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and vice-president at Plenary Group.

MacAngus has 15 years of experience in infrastructure, procurement and government and is a regular contributor to expert panels on the topic of infrastructure. In her previous roles, MacAngus built a broad-based experience with Canadian infrastructure as part of owner, developer, investor, advisor and political stakeholder teams.

She is the founding chair of the Future of Infrastructure Group and is a recent recipient of The Globe and Mail’s 2022 Best Executive Award.

Holtforster founded Colliers Project Leaders as MHPM in 1989 with the idea to dedicate a team of project managers to advocate on behalf of public and private sector clients. His owner-side representation model has impacted clients on more than 15,000 projects.

Colliers Project Leaders has grown to 30 offices across Canada and six offices in the Middle East.

Aliyah Mohamed joins KingSett as CCO

KingSett Capital Inc. announced Aliyah Mohamed will be joining the firm as chief capital officer effective May 16. Mohamed will join KingSett from TD Securities, where she spent more than 16 years in investment banking, most recently as managing director, real estate.

As chief capital officer, she will join KingSett’s management committee and will report to Anna Kennedy, KingSett’s chief operating officer. Mohamed will oversee equity capital investor relations, debt capital finance strategy, firm marketing and communications and talent development at KingSett.

“Aliyah is a highly accomplished and respected capital markets professional who brings expertise in finance, business development, and a complementary perspective on real estate markets, in Canada and internationally,” said Rob Kumer, KingSett’s president and chief investment officer, in the release.

Evergreen founder/CEO Cape to step down

Evergreen has announced founder and CEO Geoff Cape will step down later this year. Under Cape’s 33-plus years of leadership, Evergreen has evolved into a nationally recognized organization creating sustainable urban environments in public spaces and communities across the country.

During the transition to new leadership, Cape will continue to lead Evergreen as the board of directors moves forward with the executive search process.

“This is the right time to pass the momentum forward to a new leader. As the world is opening up post-pandemic, there is a real opportunity for Evergreen to lead,” Cape said in the announcement.

“Change is all around us and something Evergreen has faced many times in the three decades of advancing new solutions for sustainable city-building.”

Evergreen was founded in 1991 to connect people to nature in cities. Since then, it has evolved into a national not-for-profit working to help solve urban issues from climate resilience and housing affordability to public space revitalization and access to nature.

In 2010, Cape led the creation of the Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto, transforming a deteriorating former brick factory in the Don Valley into a showcase for green design and an award-winning public space.

The adaptive reuse project made Brick Works a test site to pilot sustainable practices and was one of the first projects in Canada to strive for a carbon-neutral target.

Cape also led the convening of Future Cities Canada, a collaborative platform to accelerate innovation in cities.

Hirani named VP at Brainbox AI

BrainBox AI has appointed Ahmed Hirani, P. Eng, to the role of vice-president, global strategic partnerships.

With more than three decades of global experience in the application of energy management technology for commercial buildings, Hirani will lead the development of loyal partner channels.

Throughout his career, Hirani has worked with leading commercial building technology organizations, specifically Cylon Controls and Distech Controls where he has held senior management roles leading sales and channel development.

Most recently, he was retained by ABB as a strategic consultant to help advance ABB’s global position in smart buildings.

Hirani is a licensed professional engineer in Ontario and holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Ryerson University.

Hon to depart from Sienna

Sienna Senior Living Inc. (SIA-T) announced Karen Hon, senior vice-president and chief financial officer, has decided to leave the company, effective April 18, to pursue other leadership opportunities. She will be succeeded by David Hung as executive vice-president and chief financial officer.

During the interim, she will work with Sienna management to assist with the transition. Hon has been a member of the Sienna leadership team for seven years, first leading corporate finance, investor relations and shared services.

Hung has also been a member of the Sienna leadership team for close to seven years, having led multiple areas within the finance and corporate services functions. Most recently he has been chief investment officer and executive vice-president, corporate services.

As an executive team member, he provides strategic direction and oversight for Sienna’s investments, real estate and development and corporate services.

Elwes joins Trez as managing director

Gavin Elwes has joined Trez Capital as the new managing director in New York, with over 25 years of experience in originating, structuring and closing commercial real estate loans.

Prior to joining Trez, he co-founded Brighton Capital Advisors LLC (BCA) for investors looking to restructure and recapitalize their CMBS loans, and to provide customized solutions to meet complex financial needs.

Prior to BCA, Elwes was a managing director in the corporate and investment banking group of Natixis where he managed a team who sourced and closed in excess of $4 billion of commercial real estate loans.

Prior to joining Natixis in 2015, he served as a senior originator for UBS, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and GE Capital Corporation.

He earned his bachelor of science from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration with a minor in real estate finance.

Utley promoted at Western Wealth Capital

Western Wealth Capital has promoted Ryan Utley to the post of vice-president, finance and accounting. He joins the leadership team overseeing finance and accounting members and is responsible for investor and institutional financial reporting and lender compliance.

Utley has been with the company since May 2021 and has 16 years post-chartered professional accountant designation experience. He holds a BA in economics from the University of Victoria and an MBA from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University.

He has extensive career experience managing at two of Canada’s largest gold and forestry organizations, and senior leadership experience at a Vancouver-based real estate company where he developed institutional-level standards for the corporate, property, institutional reporting, treasury and tax process.

Zonda hires Slocombe as director, business development

Elliott Slocombe has been hired as director, business development at Toronto-based real estate industry analytics firm Zonda Urban (formerly Urban Analytics).

Previously a building performance advisor with SensorSuite Inc. for the past two years, Slocombe has more than two decades of professional experience in a wide range of settings.

He worked as a senior account executive with CoStar Group, as real estate sales executive with Right at Home Realty, as sales manager at Reserve Properties and Paul Johnston Real Estate as well as several other positions.

He holds a bachelor degree in international development from McGill University.