(ALLEN, Texas)- FTK Construction Services, a nationwide General Contractor specializing in Affordable Housing/LIHTC projects, is pleased to announce the promotion of Paul Mefford to Vice President of Construction, effective 2/1/2024. 

In his role as Vice President of Construction, Mr. Mefford will oversee the Preconstruction and Financial Administration of projects in FTK’s three divisions: Affordable Housing Projects, Market Rate Renovations and Insurance Restoration Projects. Mefford assumes his new position after leading the Business Solutions focus at FTK for the last two years. In that role, Meffordwas responsible for resolving process challenges, conducting contract reviews and estimating audits for an average of 250 projects annually for FTK. Mefford began his career with FTK in 2017 as a Project Estimator, quickly moving into implementing procedures and software to enhance the estimation process. Prior to joining FTK, he managed global logistic strategies with Paragon Offshore. Since 2017, Mefford worked diligently to develop FTK’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Project estimating processes, contributing to the completed contracts for over 5,300 units and $310,000,000 in contract value. Mefford graduated from Northwestern State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, then received his master’s degree in finance from Sam Houston State University.

Mefford is based out of the DFW area and enjoys spending his free time at his family ranch in Central Texas.

Northmarq has announced the addition of Ryan Shoars, senior vice president, to its debt and equity platform. Shoars is based in Rochester, New York, and will be responsible for affordable housing originations. He brings over 23 years experience as a trusted agency lending expert.

Shoars will report to Cheryl Higley, senior vice president/managing director in Northmarq’s Austin, Texas Debt + Equity office, and work in collaboration with the Austin Investment Sales team.

Before joining Northmarq, Shoars served for 13 years as vice president of Originations for Colliers Mortgage, previously known as Dougherty Mortgage. His responsibilities included debt placements for Fannie Mae, Federal Housing Administration, and Colliers’ bridge platform.

Prior to that, Shoars was a director of Originations at Greystone Servicing Corporation for six years where he co-managed its affordable housing program.

Nuveen Green Capital, a provider of sustainable commercial real estate financing solutions, announced that Christopher Lawton, a veteran of commercial real estate finance, has joined the firm as Head of Originations.

Lawton will play a pivotal role in leading NGC’s origination and growth strategies, and will report to Jessica Bailey, President and CEO of Nuveen Green Capital.

Lawton brings more than 20 years of experience in commercial real estate structured finance, most recently having spent eight years at Bank OZK (formerly Bank of the Ozarks), where he was Managing Director of Northeast Originations for the bank’s Real Estate Specialties Group in New York City. In his time with Bank OZK, Mr. Lawton closed over $8 billion of construction and bridge facilities, formed the bank’s life-science lending program, and built the bank’s loan portfolio in Boston and Philadelphia.

Before joining Bank OZK, Lawton was a Director in the New York office of Frankfurt, Germany-based DekaBank, where, in 2009, he helped establish the bank’s first U.S. office. From 2004 to 2009, Lawton was with Hypo Real Estate Capital where he originated, structured, and closed over $4 billion of senior and mezzanine commercial real estate financings.

Lawton began his real estate career in 2003 as an Analyst with CBRE Capital Markets. He graduated with a B.S in Business from Miami University and an M.S. in Real Estate from New York University.

EMBER Real Estate Investment & Development, a Houston-based private real estate investment and development firm specializing in land acquisition and delivery of master-planned communities, industrial and select residential projects, made two changes to its corporate hierarchy.

Sandra Ferguson has joined the company as director of marketing and Marco Galgo has been promoted to the position of project manager.

Ferguson joins EMBER with over 20 years of experience in real estate marketing. In her new role, she is tasked with identifying and executing key marketing objectives across all company assets, in addition to other responsibilities in collaboration with EMBER Director of Sales Kyle Mikulenka.

Prior to joining EMBER, Ferguson served as vice president of marketing for The Signorelli Company, a diversified real estate firm based out of The Woodlands, TX. In that role, she oversaw the marketing efforts for several business lines, including homebuilding, multifamily, land acquisition and development, commercial, and corporate branding. In addition to The Signorelli Company, Ferguson boasts relevant industry experience accrued from time spent at AIRIA Development, Toll Brothers, and Newland Communities.

Growing up alongside his family’s custom homebuilding firm, Galgo possesses residential real estate acumen as part of his very fabric. A former intern at Concourse Development – one of the firms that merged in late 2023 to establish EMBER Real Estate Investment & Development and most recently an EMBER Assistant Project Manager – Galgo is being elevated to the role of Project Manager, having established himself as a valuable asset with his work on The Grand Prairie and in broader company operations.

In his new role, he is spearheading efforts for the day-to-day execution of EMBER’s civil and amenity projects. Also, he is a liaison between EMBER and its multiple third-party consultants and works closely with its active builders, including David Weekley Homes, Perry Homes, Sitterle Homes, Village Builders, and Westin Homes.

Nick Naumann has been promoted to director of brokerage in Austin, Texas, for Weitzman, a brokerage focused on retail real estate.

Naumann will oversee the Austin office’s brokerage team and work to extend the firm’s reach and presence with clients, prospects and the overall industry at large. In Austin, the team is responsible for leasing duties for retail properties totaling more than 10 million square feet.

Naumann, who joined Weitzman in 2016, will continue to handle general retail brokerage, including retail project leasing, retail tenant representation, and investment sales throughout the Austin area.

Naumann has represented several notable clients, including BH Holdings, Riverside Resources, Crow Holdings, Stratus Properties Inc, Rainier, Harbert Management Corporation, Lincoln Property Company, Realty 1 Partners and VEREIT.

As a tenant representative, Naumann works on site selection and market expansions for well-known restaurants, financial institutions and retailers, including JPMorgan Chase, Sam’s Club, 7 Brew Drive-thru Coffee, Taco Cabana, Pollo Regio, Crisp and Green, D1 Training, Puttery, Benjamin Moore, FastSigns, Prime IV, Kid’s Empire and Garbo’s Lobster, among many other businesses on a national and local level.

Naumann is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers. On the community level, he is a volunteer with Marathon Kids, which promotes healthy and active lifestyles for special-needs children.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the UT Men’s Tennis Team.

Newmark is pleased to announce the addition of top producer Elliott Hirshfeld to the Houston office agency team. Working closely with Executive Managing Director David Baker and Director Kristen Baker, Hirshfeld will play a pivotal role in expanding Newmark’s office agency practice in Houston, while executing market-leading transactions. 

With over 25 years of leasing experience, Hirshfeld’s track record encompasses a variety of projects, including large corporate headquarters, new mixed-use developments, building repositionings and standard leasing. Over the course of his career, Hirshfeld has consistently delivered exceptional results across Houston in both favorable and challenging market conditions, completing over 600 leases with a total value exceeding $1.5 billion.   

Prior to joining Newmark, Hirshfeld served as Senior Vice President with CBRE, where he played a key role in leasing an office portfolio of over 8 million square feet for institutional investors, real estate developers and private owners.  

Quotes:

Ran Holman, Executive Vice President and Texas Market Leader: “We are thrilled to have Elliott join the Newmark team. Elliott’s incredible reputation and career accomplishments make him an immediate impact player for us, and he embodies the character and professionalism that will continue to elevate our firm. The Houston market is a core focus of Newmark’s  growth, and the addition of Elliott to the team will be one of many exciting developments for Newmark Houston in 2024.”

Elliott Hirshfeld, Managing Director: “I’m excited to join Newmark and be part of a team that is synonymous with excellence and client-centricity. My highest priority is to create value for clients, and I’m eager to bring this commitment to elevate Newmark’s agency leasing practice in Houston and achieve remarkable results.”