Chris Bell is Starlight Investments’ president and chief investment officer. (Courtesy Starlight Investments)

Longtime real estate investment banking executive Chris Bell has joined Starlight Investments as president and chief investment officer.

Bell has more than three decades of real estate experience and over 20 years in real estate investment banking. He moved to Starlight Investments from CIBC World Markets, where he held the role of managing director, co-head, real estate, global investment banking.

Bell has advised both public and private clients in connection with over $40 billion in real estate merger and acquisition activity, property brokerage and debt transactions.

He holds an HBA (honours business administration) from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

Hutcheson joins CBRE board

CBRE Group, Inc. (CBRE-N) announced E.M. Blake Hutcheson has been appointed to the company’s board of directors.

Hutcheson is president and chief executive officer of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), one of Canada’s largest defined-benefit pension plans with $120 billion of AUM as of year-end 2021.

Prior to being named CEO in 2020, he served as OMERS’ president and chief pension officer. Prior to that, he served as president, CEO and chief investment officer of Oxford Properties Group, OMERS’ real estate investment subsidiary.

Earlier, Hutcheson was head of global real estate at Mount Kellett Capital Management, a private equity firm, and chair and president of CBRE’s operations in Canada and Latin America.

He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Western Ontario, a master’s degree in real estate development from Columbia University and a graduate diploma (with distinction) in international and comparative politics from the London School of Economics.

Kennedy new VP at Colliers

Colliers has hired Ellen Kennedy as its vice-president, portfolio management and national retail for real estate management services Canada.

This new role is a result of Colliers’ expanding position in retail management, particularly in necessity-based and enclosed-mall retail.

For the past 20 years, Kennedy has held progressively senior roles at Ivanhoe Cambridge, including general manager of the Mapleview Shopping Centre in Burlington, Ont., director of retail operations, and most recently as senior director of national retail operations.

In this capacity, she elevated the role of operations data to drive decision making and enhanced collaboration between operations teams with leasing, finance, procurement and asset management to achieve key business goals.

Sweeney leaving SmartCentres REIT

SmartCentres REIT (SRU-UN-T) announced chief financial officer Peter Sweeney will leave the REIT to pursue endeavours outside of the publicly traded real estate sector. As such, Sweeney will maintain his responsibilities until a successor is in place.

“I am extremely proud to have been a participant in the extraordinary growth and transformational change that we have made with the support of all stakeholders, and I am confident that SmartCentres’ strong foundation will permit the team to continue to find new and meaningful ways to grow for the future,” Sweeney said in a prepared statement.

Sweeney had spent over seven years with SmartCentres.

Taylor appointed to Mattamy board

Kathleen (Katie) Taylor has joined the board of directors of Mattamy Asset Management. (Courtesy Mattamy Asset Management)

Mattamy Asset Management has appointed Kathleen (Katie) Taylor to its board of directors.

Taylor is chair of the board of the Royal Bank of Canada, vice-chair of the Adecco Group and a director of CPP Investments and Air Canada.

She serves as chair of Altas Partners, a private equity investment firm. Taylor also chairs the board of trustees for the Hospital for Sick Children.

She is the former president and chief executive officer of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, a firm with which she spent 24 years in increasingly senior roles.

Taylor is a member of the C.D. Howe Institute’s national council, chair of its Human Capital Policy Council and a member of the Task Force on the Digital Economy. She serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Schulich School of Business and on the Principal’s International Advisory Board at McGill University.

Taylor holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and a bachelor of arts (honours) from the University of Toronto.

Rodgers becomes managing director for Slate

Slate Asset Management has appointed Jeff Rodgers as managing director, North American infrastructure. Rodgers will oversee origination and asset management for Slate’s infrastructure platform in North America, supporting the build-out of Slate’s Cities and Communities Impact Infrastructure Strategy in Canada and the U.S.

Rodgers is an infrastructure specialist with over 16 years of experience, including 11 leading principal investments. Prior to joining Slate, he was a managing director at DIF Capital Partners.

Rodgers has led over $1.2 billion of equity investments across various infrastructure sub-sectors, including energy transition, renewable energy, telecommunications and transportation. Prior to DIF, Rodgers worked for prominent infrastructure development companies Plenary Group and Bilfinger Project Investments.

Rodgers is being joined at Slate by Ryley Gartshore as vice-president. Gartshore, most recently director of investments at Core Development Group, previously served as associate director at DIF, where he worked closely with Rodgers.

Avison Young adds Weinert to senior mgmt. team

Seth Weinert has taken a position at Avison Young as principal and director of strategy and risk management. Based in Chicago, Weinert will sit on the executive committee.

Weinert joins Avison Young from JLL, where he spent 20 years in client-facing, product and corporate development, and strategic planning roles.

He most recently served as head of strategic planning and growth for the firm’s Work Dynamics group where he delivered multi-year growth plans and led global transformation workstreams.

In his new role, Weinert will drive development of the firm’s overall long- and mid-term strategies, partnering with the executive committee on plan design and implementation.

He will partner closely with the firm’s chief strategy officer, Hiren Thakar, who is focused on the firm’s strategic growth by recruitment and M&A.

Keddy becomes COO at Tribe

Tribe Property Technologies Inc. (TRBE-X) has brought in Drew Keddy in the new role of chief operating officer.

He will focus on organic growth opportunities, operational efficiencies and accelerating the company’s acquisition strategies.

Keddy has an extensive real estate background with three decades of experience in operations, most recently as president of Sutton Group Realty Services. Prior to his time at Sutton, Keddy was VP of Canada, VP of North American operations and director of corporate development with Colliers International.

PCL adjusts Toronto leadership roles

PCL has adjusted its senior leadership team based in Toronto, making a series of appointments to support its expansion into new geographical areas in Central and Eastern Canada.

Marc Pascoli has been appointed senior vice-president and district manager of PCL Toronto, assuming overall responsibilities for operations in the Greater Toronto Area and Southwestern Ontario.

Monique Buckberger continues in her role as vice-president and district manager.

To round out Toronto’s three-person management team, Myke Badry transitions from district manager in Regina to district manager in Toronto.

He succeeds Bruce Sonnenberg who has been promoted to regional vice-president, Central Canada, responsible for PCL operations in Winnipeg and in Ottawa.

Sonnenberg shares the regional stage with Todd Craigen, president of Eastern Canada, who continues to have oversight of PCL’s Toronto and Montreal districts, and with Kris Hildebrand, president of Western Canada.

Patava new member of NexPoint board

NexPoint Hospitality Trust (NHT-U-X) has announced the appointment of Jerry Patava to its board of trustees.

Patava is also chair of Great Gulf Group and chair of Ashton Woods USA LLC.

Previously, Patava served as CEO of Great Gulf Group. He joined Great Gulf in 2007, bringing more than four decades of experience in real estate and finance.

Before joining Great Gulf, he served as executive vice-president and CFO of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. and as director and executive vice-president, CFO, and treasurer of Legacy Hotels REIT.

Patava has served on numerous public and private boards in North America and internationally.

He is currently a board member and chair of the investment committee of Terra Firma Capital Corp. and a member of the Fiera Capital Corp. independent review committee.