Paul Mouchakkaa will become senior managing director, head of real estate at the Alberta Investment Management Corp. (Courtesy Alberta Investment Management Corp.)

Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) has hired experienced industry executive Paul Mouchakkaa as senior managing director, head of real estate. He will join the organization from BentallGreenOak effective May 2.

Mouchakkaa will lead AIMCo’s real estate investment team, responsible for $18 billion in core domestic and opportunistic foreign program assets. He will report to James Barber, co-chief investment officer, head of private investments.

Mouchakkaa succeeds Micheal Dal Bello, who retired as senior vice-president, real estate in January.

Mouchakkaa most recently served as managing partner, head of Canada with BentallGreenOak, leading its Canadian investment management team and its $25 billion diversified real estate portfolio.

Previously, he was managing investment director and head of real assets for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, with a $62 billion real asset portfolio. He had also served as managing director and global head of real estate research and strategy for Morgan Stanley from 2011-’15.

A Canadian citizen, he was born in Ottawa and has worked in Toronto, Old Greenwich, Conn., Los Angeles and Sacramento.

He is an honours economics graduate of Carleton University in Ottawa and holds an MBA majoring in finance from the University of Oregon.

Shpigel moves to CT REIT

CT Real Estate Investment Trust (CRT-UN-T) has announced Jodi Shpigel will join its executive team as senior vice-president, real estate, effective May 24.

Shpigel was previously senior vice-president of development at First Capital REIT (FCR-UN-T), serving on the executive leadership team after moving into progressively senior roles during her nearly 13 years with the company.

She also previously worked at Sobeys, where she honed her retail real estate experience securing and developing new sites for Sobeys’ network of stores in Ontario.

“Jodi’s real estate expertise and impressive track record of strategic leadership, team development and execution of complex development and redevelopment projects will be a tremendous asset to the REIT,” said Kevin Salsberg, president and chief operating officer of CT REIT, in the announcement.

Hill Companies names two CEOs

The Hill Companies has announced two leadership changes including Rosanne Hill Blaisdell as president and CEO, Harvard Developments Corporation, and all other Canadian real estate affiliates.

Matthew Hill has been named president and CEO of Harvard Diversified Holdings.

The appointments represent the fourth generation of the Hill family to lead the company.

Paul J. Hill remains with the firm as executive chairman of The Hill Companies.

The Hill Companies has named Rosanne Hill Blaisdell as president and CEO, Harvard Developments Corp., and all other Canadian real estate affiliates. (Courtesy The Hill Companies)

Hill Blaisdell is a graduate of Gonzaga University, has an MBA from the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba and holds a CCIM designation. She spent eight years in corporate and commercial banking with CIBC.

In 1997, she joined the family business and has focused the leasing, development and asset management of the Canadian real estate portfolio totalling 10 million square feet.

In 2018, she was appointed managing director and COO.

Matthew Hill, a graduate of Boston College, received his MBA from Pepperdine University and a certification in international finance from Oxford University. He brings more than 20 years of venture capital and investment experience.

In his recent role as managing director, Hill led the transformation of Harvard Broadcasting into Harvard Media by acquiring Carbon Marketing, incorporating a digital suite of products and services.

In 2019, Hill had been named managing director of the Diversified Group of The Hill Companies. Harvard Investments, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., went on to develop a new division of the company focused on single-family rental developments.

He will oversee portfolio interests including Harvard Western Insurance, Western Surety, Harvard Media, Harvard Energy, Harvard Investments and Harvard Integrations.

Three new hires at Colliers

Ian Huston has joined Colliers Canada as managing director, Calgary, leading the brokerage office in Alberta’s largest market.

Colliers also announced Simon Becker has joined the firm as vice-president, real estate finance servicing Alberta, along with fellow former Canada ICI team member Michael Salomons, as associate vice-president, real estate finance.

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

Huston has also advised executive management and boards of directors of over 20 companies, particularly in the North American energy sector.

Becker and Salomons are licensed mortgage associates who are to help Colliers establish a new entity in Alberta, solidifying its mortgage industry sector. They will join the national debt advisory practice and be based in Calgary.

Becker brings extensive experience organizing acquisition, construction and term financing for all asset classes.

His career boosts over $3.5 billion of completed financing, including over 37,000 multiresidential rental/condo units and over three million square feet of commercial space.

Since 2014, Salomons has structured over $2.5 billion in financing across all asset classes, primarily in Western Canada. He’s been involved in sourcing and structuring capital for over 250 commercial real estate transactions.

George new SVP at Colonnade Bridgeport

Ottawa real estate investor and manager Colonnade BridgePort has brought in Justin George as senior vice-president and head of development. One of George’s focuses will be to expand Colonnade Bridgeport’s reach in the Greater Toronto Area.

George will lead the growth of the company’s development team and implementation of scalable infrastructure in the Ottawa and GTA markets.

He has expertise in environmental, social and governance development practices, as well as the innovative use of new technology.

George joins Colonnade BridgePort from an Ottawa-based development company, where he led operations and development for six years.

Prior to that, he held project management, consulting and senior leadership roles at several firms.

JLL adds Ramsay as EVP

JLL Canada has brought in Rob Ramsay as executive vice-president and national lead of project and development services. He will play a pivotal role in leading the team and its operations and business development in Canada.

With 35 years of experience in project management and development, Ramsay spent the past 14 years at the reins of RJR Project Management.

He has delved into all facets of land acquisition, planning, development and construction activity, and the associated project management functions.

Ramsay earned a bachelor of economics and a bachelor of applied science in engineering from Queen’s University.

Ger becomes executive VP at Core

Core Development Group named Daniel Ger executive vice-president of development, multiresidential.

Ger will manage Core’s multi-unit residential portfolio from concept to completion and oversee the planning and development department, as well as internal and external sales and marketing teams.

Ger has over 15 years of experience in real estate development. The majority of his career was spent developing a portfolio of seniors housing communities across Ontario.

Most recently, Ger was chief development officer of Options for Homes, Canada’s largest affordable housing developer.

He was responsible for the development of over 2,000 residential units across Ontario from urban infill to greenfield master-planned communities.

Ger received his M.B.A. with honours from the University of Guelph. He is a mentor with the Urban Land Institute, a member of the City of Brampton’s Housing Advisory Committee and a guest lecturer at the University of Guelph and Schulich School of Business.

Knox, Harrison take roles at Avison Young

Avison Young has appointed Keith Knox as principal and president of occupier services, and named Mike Harrison as principal, development land sales

Knox will lead the global occupier platform for space planning, facility management, productivity and more. He will serve on the executive committee and report to principal and president of clients Harry Klaff.

Knox brings over 25 years of experience, most recently as managing director and sales lead for JLL’s integrated portfolio services group in the central U.S.

Harrison’s hiring helps Avison Young broaden its expertise in Vancouver’s land development market. He’ll be responsible for identifying development sites, pitching properties and supporting clients in their land ownership portfolio strategies.

Harrison has nearly a decade of experience in commercial real estate, marketing, project management and business development.

New directors at ApartmentLove

ApartmentLove Inc., has made three appointments to its board of directors: Frank Sur, Mackenzie Regent and Monique Hutchins.

Sur is a partner and head of the corporate practice group for Canada for Gowling WLG as well as co-head of Gowling WLG’s Korea desk, co-head of the China practice group and an active member of the fintech group. He will chair the governance and compensation committee.

Regent is managing partner and co-founder of Kalos LLP, a financial due diligence and valuation firm. She has executed 75-plus deals amounting to billions of dollars in transaction value across energy, financial, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and technology sectors.

She was also appointed chair of the audit committee.

Hutchins, managing director of DSA Corporate Services Inc., is a corporate governance professional. She is fluently bilingual and will be a member of the corporate governance committee.