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Thor hires Mitsui Fudosan veteran to head US acquisitions team
Jeff Menard recently served as VP of acquisitions at the Japanese firm
Joseph Sitt’s Thor Equities hired Mitsui Fudosan veteran Jeff Menard to head its North America acquisition team, the company announced Monday.
Menard had worked at Mitsui Fudosan America since 2007, most recently as vice president of acquisitions. In September, the Japanese investment firm bought a 90 percent stake in Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group’s $4 billion office project 50 Hudson Yards.
Menard joins a company that aggressively bought New York retail properties in recent years but is now dealing with a softening leasing market. Late last year the company lost most of its interest in three Manhattan retail properties, including 685 Fifth Avenue, to joint venture partner General Growth Properties to pay off debt.
The company’s longtime CFO, Michael Schurer, stepped down in January 2017 after nine years at Thor. He was replaced by Fess Wofse, who previously served as CFO for Apollo Global Real Estate Management. Around the same time Shurer departed, the company’s top two residential executives, Alan Klein and Jonathan Fishman left for Silverpeak Real Estate Partners.
In December, Thor closed on the James New York Hotel in Soho for $66.3 million after a protracted legal battle with the seller. Earlier this month, The Real Deal reported that Thor and partner Premier Equities are selling the Meatpacking District fully occupied by Lexus to a subsidiary of Germany’s largest bank for $88 million. — Konrad Putzier