Early 2022 was a good time to be a multifamily executive on the move, particularly if you worked on transactions. 

“If anybody made a move in 2022, it was great because the market was hot and everybody needed people,” said Melanie Robb, a Pittsburgh-based consultant that helps multifamily firms attract and retain talent. “There was capital to do things. So a lot of people got big bumps or bonuses. That really slowed down in the fourth quarter last year when the transaction positions got pulled back.”

As multifamily transactions and development have slowed, hiring has also fallen off. And in some cases, especially among developers and contractors, like Australia-based Lendlease and Toronto-based Brookfield, there have been layoffs. “The institutional capital people are really pulling back right now,” Robb said.

When apartment executives are making jumps, they’re not getting the large salary increases that were common in 2022, according to Robb. But despite softening in the market, hiring isn’t dead. Over the summer, many prominent apartment owners, managers and even developers announced new hires. 

Robb said that the hiring generally revolves around specific roles or companies that want to expand or make opportunistic additions. “The transaction positions I’m still getting are not on the development side,” Robb said. “They're on acquisitions. They are from firms that have more high-net-worth and family office capital.”

Some companies are shying away from acquisitions and looking to bulk up in other areas. As the push to centralize operations and technology continues, management firms are looking for talent to take their operations to the next level.

“I've done head of IT, head of HR positions and asset management roles,” Robb said. “So that is what a lot of my search has moved to that was heavily transactional before.”

Staffing up to expand

Although the development sector has seen layoffs as many apartment firms postpone projects, some opportunistic companies are adding people. In June, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida-based Eastwind Development hired Omar del Rio as vice president of acquisitions and development. The 25-year veteran was most recently a senior vice president at Quarterra — the former Lennar Multifamily Communities.

“We saw an opportunity to land Omar,” Eastwind President Jack Weir told Multifamily Dive. “A number of people in the firm have known him over the years and, when he became available, we thought it was a good opportunity.”

Other firms are ramping up hiring as they expand. Cleveland-based developer and owner The NRP Group hired Austin Kates as vice president of development in Phoenix and Mike Moriarty as vice president of development in Las Vegas as it moves into those markets, according to a news release shared with Multifamily Dive. Kates last worked at Scottsdale, Arizona-based apartment owner and developer The Wolff Company and Moriarty was at Las Vegas-based owner and developer The Ardour Company.

Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm BH Properties hired Bill Stoll to lead a $1 billion initiative aimed at affordable housing. He spent his last 14 years at Irvine, California-based apartment owner, manager and developer Steadfast Companies. But as that company wound down its affordable platform, he was seeking new opportunities. 

“I was looking for a new opportunity and BH was like, ‘Hey, we want someone to come and start a new platform from the ground up,’” he told Multifamily Dive.

Despite these recent hires, Robb doesn’t think executive hiring will truly return until the big money players come back into the transaction and development game in a big way. “The turning point is when institutional capital opens up,” Robb said.

Multifamily Moves

Some other notable recent hires shared with Multifamily Dive include:

• Atlanta-based apartment manager The RADCO Companies hired new senior vice president of operations Chris Simon from Ft. Washington, Pennsylvania-based Toll Brothers as it aims to operate 25,000 apartments by 2025.
• Dallas-based Ashland Greene Capital hired Peter Hales as chief financial officer and Jesse Rosenstock assumed the role of vice president of finance and accounting. Hales was recently at Swiss global financial services firm UBS, while Rosenstock worked at Dallas-based real estate investment firm Prescott Realty Group.
• Newtown Square, Pennsylvania-based GMH Communities hired Nick Lee as its new chief acquisitions officer. He was recently at Chicago-based real estate equity and debt investor Blue Vista Capital Management.
• Atlanta-based Cortland hired Manjul Ramchandani as executive vice president of client relations and capital markets. He recently served as director of real estate capital advisory for investment banking advisory firm Evercore in New York.
• Wellington, Florida-based The Bainbridge Companies added Gail Ruggles as its new executive vice president of operations. With over 30 years of experience, Ruggles most recently served as senior vice president of operations at RADCO Residential and Steadfast Living.
• Chicago-based real estate investment and property management firm Trilogy Real Estate Group hired Travis Hamlin as a senior regional vice president. He was previously at Costa Mesa, California-based investment firm Pacific Oak Capital Markets.

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