David Podmore, who co-founded Concert Properties in 1989 and has served in senior executive roles with the firm for 35 years, plans to retire as company chairman on June 30.

Podmore has been planning his retirement for the past several years, and will step down in the same month in which he celebrates his 75th birthday.

“I am confident that now is the time to step aside and entrust the company's continued success to our highly qualified and knowledgeable board of directors, and the experienced leadership team led by Christine (Bergeron),” Podmore said in the announcement this week.

The board plans to name a new chair within a few weeks, and Podmore will work closely with the appointee to ensure a smooth transition. He will remain in an advisory capacity as chair emeritus to support the board and Bergeron, the president and CEO of Concert.

Co-founder Jack Poole and Podmore began the company with an initial investment of $27.4 million and a strategy to build rental housing on leased government land. Since then, Concert has grown to include a number of corporate entities with diversified operations across the country, with over $9 billion in assets.

In addition to retiring as chair of Concert Properties, Podmore will also step down as chair of Concert Infrastructure Fund (CIF).

Kohli expands role with CBRE

CBRE Group has announced chief operating officer Vikram Kohli will assume direct oversight of the company’s two real estate services business segments – advisory services and global workplace solutions (GWS).

Executives responsible for leading these businesses will report to Kohli. Advisory and GWS will continue to be reported as separate segments. 

Kohli will also continue to oversee the leaders of CBRE’s digital and technology, and research teams.

Jack Durburg, who has served as CEO, advisory services, will now exclusively lead the U.S. and Canada advisory business, and Chris Kirk, who has served as COO of advisory, will lead the international advisory business. Both executives will report to Kohli.

Chandra Dhandapani, who has served as CEO, GWS, will transition her responsibilities and then leave CBRE on Sept. 8, and the leaders of the GWS enterprise and GWS local businesses will report to Kohli.

AY streamlines board of directors

Avison Young has streamlined its board of directors in the wake of its recent recapitalization and reorganization. The board is now comprised of five members:

• Mark Rose, Avison Young, chair and CEO;
• Cynthia Foster Curry, independent board director;
• Carol Johnson, independent board director, the former president of AlliedBarton Security Services;
• Eva Maglis, independent board director, the former global CIO of CGI Inc.; and
• Dean Mullett, senior managing director, and head of investment banking at FTI Capital Advisors, Canada.

Dudtschak to succeed Ranson at HomeEquity Bank

HomeEquity Bank president and CEO Steven Ranson will be retiring after a 27-year career building the reverse mortgage industry in Canada, with Katherine (Katie) Dudtschak stepping in as president and CEO.

Ranson has led HomeEquity during a period of significant growth. When he joined the bank in 1997, the company had 36 employees and $100 million of total mortgages. Today the bank has over 300 employees, a portfolio of almost $8 billion, and has originated over $1 billion of new mortgages in each of the past three years.

"We have achieved what I set out to achieve many years ago; to establish reverse mortgages and HomeEquity Bank as a respected choice for older Canadians,” Ranson said in the announcement.

Dudtschak joins the bank from RBC, where she was most recently executive vice-president, regional banking. In that role she led a team of over 25,000 advisors and co-led the development of RBC's omni-channel distribution strategy. 

Dudtschak also held the position of CEO of RBC's Caribbean bank, overseeing operations in 19 countries where she led the repositioning of the business.

Dudtschak holds an MBA and the ICD.D designation.

She will join the bank as president on May 1 and Ranson will continue as CEO until his retirement on June 30. On July 1, she will assume both responsibilities as president and CEO.

Gerwitz steps down as Alterra CFO

Alterra Group of Companies has announced that after 35 years service, Sharon Gerwitz has passed on the chief financial officer role to Malai Muthu. Gerwitz will continue with Alterra as vice president of finance, assisting Muthu in overseeing the department.

Muthu joined Alterra in 2022, and brings nearly two decades of experience in finance and accounting to his new role. Muthu’s specialties go beyond traditional accounting, emphasizing risk management, budgeting and strategic planning.

Gouveia moves to GWL Realty Advisors

GWL Realty Advisors has hired Lucy Gouveia as its new vice-president of multi-residential property management.

Gouveia has over 20 years of experience in the residential sector, working for leading property management firms such as Hazelview, Greenwin, and One Properties. She has extensive experience in leasing and marketing, development, and business development. 

She has also been an active member of various industry associations such as FRPO and GTAA.

Gouveia will oversee the operations of GWL Realty Advisors’ growing residential portfolio, which currently consists of 10,000 rental units.

Proveras hires Yuke as principal

Brandon Yuke has joined Proveras Commercial Realty in Ottawa as principal.

Yuke has spent over a decade in the Ottawa market in roles of increasing responsibility since starting out as a sales trainee at CBRE. He moved on to become a leasing representative at the then-Bentall Kennedy before returning to CBRE and spending over seven years at the firm. He was most recently a senior sales associate.

Olynick joins Colliers Toronto

Colliers announced that Jonathan Olynick has been hired as vice-president, sales representative in Toronto. He will focus on office sales and leasing with the downtown brokerage team

Over the past 20 years Olynick has held progressively senior roles in asset management and leasing at Manulife Investment Management and Brookfield Properties, where he focused on the landlord and asset management side of the market.