ONE Sotheby’s lures Fortune exec

After working with Fortune International Group for 12 years, one of the firm’s key executives has joined ONE Sotheby’s International Realty.

Fernando de Nuñez y Lugones, who got his start in real estate at Fortune, has been hired as ONE Sotheby’s executive vice president of the firm’s luxury condo development division. The division has the exclusive listings for some of Miami’s biggest upcoming developments like Brickell City Centre and One Thousand Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects.

De Nuñez y Lugones told The Real Deal that he saw One Sotheby’s growth in the market and wanted to be a part of it.

After spending a week getting adjusted to his new position, he said he’s focusing on three things: streamlining ONE Sotheby’s, speeding up sales and increasing the firm’s presence abroad.

De Nuñez y Lugones previously served as vice president of Fortune International Group’s international division and director of operations and finance for Fortune International Realty.

Though he left Fortune, he told TRD that he will miss his friends at the firm and those who brought him up into the real estate industry.

“I’m leaving behind a lot of very professional and great people,” he said. “And I owe them a big part of who I am.”

Before he joined Fortune, Nuñez y Lugones said he worked as an investment banker in cities including New York, London and Geneva. But his job felt flat, so he quit in 2001 to work in real estate.

“The main attraction [of real estate] was to see things actually being built,” he said. “I get to see little pieces of myself around town.”