Andrew McDonald is the new chief executive for the Americas at Cushman & Wakefield. (Courtesy C&W)

Andrew McDonald is the new chief executive for the Americas at Cushman & Wakefield. He replaces Shawn Mobley, who held the CEO’s post for two-and-a-half years.

McDonald was promoted from his previous position as president of Cushman & Wakefield’s Western region, where he oversaw operations in California, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, Utah, Nevada and Oregon.

McDonald began his CRE career in 1996 at ASIMCO, a Beijing-based private equity firm. In 1999, he joined Cushman Realty Corporation until it merged with Cushman & Wakefield in 2001.

McDonald was the firm’s executive managing director for Greater L.A. for 13 years before beginning to move up the management ranks. In 2014, he was promoted to executive managing director & managing principal; and in 2016, to executive managing director and regional managing principal for Greater L.A./Orange County.

His new mandate includes operations in the United States and Canada.

Kruger heads Harbour Opportunity Partners

Toronto-based Harbour Group has formed Harbour Opportunity Partners Inc., and hired Jayme Kruger as its managing partner and president. Kruger was most recently vice-president, investments for Crombie REIT, where he was responsible for leading its corporate development investment strategy.

Harbour Opportunity Partners will focus on acquiring performing and non-performing loans, providing creative debt and structured equity capital solutions for lenders and borrowers, and sourcing opportunistic and value-add direct investing opportunities.

“We believe that a significant opportunity exists, especially in light of the current economic downturn, to provide various liquidity solutions to borrowers and lenders alike. We anticipate that quality real estate will face short-term impairments and in turn, we will seek opportunities to provide much-needed capital injections,” said Kruger in a release.

Also joining Harbour Opportunity Partners as a partner, alongside Harbour principals Alan Winer and Paul Schachter, is Chris Hudson.

Hudson is responsible for identifying investment opportunities and market expansion in Western Canada. He is also vice-president of real estate finance for Western Canada for Harbour Mortgage Corp.

Hudson has over 20 years of real estate lending experience and has held various positions in real estate and financial institutions.

Morrison, McNabb manage Purpose fund

Purpose Investments Inc. has appointed Barry Morrison and Michael McNabb as managers of the Purpose Duration Hedged Real Estate Fund. The fund will be renamed to Purpose Real Estate Income Fund to more accurately reflect its new investment strategy as of Aug. 4.

Morrison is one of the most experienced investors in Canada, with a career spanning more than 50 years. For most of his career, Morrison has managed money for pensions, pooled funds and private wealth clients.

He joined Purpose in 2018 when the company purchased institutional assets from LOGiQ Asset Management.

McNabb has been working in the finance industry since 2003, advancing through client-service roles and working his way up to portfolio management. He has been working closely with Morrison since 2008, focusing on dividend-income securities, particularly REITs.

Chartier joins Southbridge Care Homes

Southbridge Care Homes has appointed Candace Chartier as its new chief seniors’ advocate and strategic partnerships officer. Chartier is the former chief executive of the Ontario Long-Term Care Association.

“Ms. Chartier brings with her more than two decades of experience in Ontario’s long-term care sector, and she has an extensive and established record of advocating for change that will benefit seniors across the province, starting with changes in our own homes,” said Southbridge CEO Ryan Bell in the announcement.

“Her forward-thinking approach to how we care for our elderly is exactly what we need in light of the impacts from COVID-19.”

Chartier will be responsible for leading and implementing strong accountability mechanisms, focused on operational standards and quality of living, for residents at Southbridge’s 37 care homes.

Chartier joins also served as the CEO of Safe Haven Consulting Inc. She sits on the board of directors of Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences and the Ontario Pharmacists Association.

Sienna promotes Webb, adds consultants

Sienna Senior Living Inc. (SIA-T) has promoted Nancy Webb to senior-vice president, public affairs and marketing, and engaged the services of three health-care professionals as consultants as it continues to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Webb was the company’s vice-president of marketing and communications. She will also be responsible for refocusing the branding and marketing efforts for the company’s retirement operations.

Webb brings extensive experience to the public affairs portfolio, including from previous roles at Baycrest Health Sciences, the Ontario Medical Association and the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority.

Also added to Sienna’s advisory team are:

* Andrea Moser, chief medical consultant: Moser is a family physician with deep experience in long-term care, recently co-developing a long-term care medical director curriculum for Ontario;

* Dr. Allison McGeer, chief infection prevention and control consultant: McGeer is a well-known infection control specialist in Canada whose major research interests are in the prevention of infection in hospitals and long-term care homes, and the use of surveillance to advance the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases; 

* Mary Jane Dykeman, consultant: Dykeman is an expert in healthcare risk management; mental health, consent, capacity and substitute decision-making; and family and caregiver engagement.

Clare moves to District Realty

District Realty in Ottawa has announced the hiring of Darren Clare as its director, leasing and investment sales and sales representative. Clare has more than 20 years of experience in the retail real estate industry, including his most recent position as senior retail consultant at Avison Young Commercial in Ottawa.

He began his commercial real estate career with Chambers Hall Real Estate in Hamilton, before relocating back to his home turf in Ottawa. Clare has extensive experience in both landlord and tenant representation

Clare has concentrated on landlord/tenant representation, with experience in industrial parks, office campuses, street fronts, power centres and strip centres as well as regional malls.

Avenue Living adds Le May Doan as trustee

Catriona Le May Doan has been appointed a trustee of the Calgary-based Avenue Living Agricultural Land Trust. (Courtesy Sport Calgary)

Canadian speed skating champion and double Olympic gold medalist Catriona Le May Doan has been appointed a trustee of the Calgary-based Avenue Living Agricultural Land Trust. The investment fund acquires and manages farm land in Saskatchewan and currently has more than 37,000 acres.

Today, Le May Doan is president and CEO of Sport Calgary, and is actively involved in the Canada Games Council and other charity organizations. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has been inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

Avenue Living Asset Management owns and operates about 10,000 residential rental units in 19 markets across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It also has more than 400,000 square feet of commercial space in the Prairies and this year launched initiatives into the United States and into the self-storage market.

5 board members for addy Technology

addy Technology Corporation, a Vancouver-based proptech start-up, has appointed five real estate, technology, and legal experts to its boards.

Steve Evans, co-founder and CEO of Sunstone Realty Advisors, Pure Multi-Family REIT LP, and Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust; Pascal Spothelfer, CEO of Genome BC and past-president and CEO of the B.C. Tech Association; and Keith Spencer, a retired technology lawyer and legal firm partner, join as directors.

Co-founder and former CEO of BuildDirect, Jeff Booth, has been appointed the board chair.

Thuan Pham, former chief technology officer of Uber, joins addy’s advisory board.