Top JLL Executive Resigns After Three Weeks on the Job

Michael Colacino is out as JLL’s Americas Leasing Advisory chief executive officer, barely three weeks into taking the job.

Colacino resigned from his post after a brief run that began on Jan. 15, the Commercial Observer reported. The resignation was sudden, as Colacino had only recently ascended to the role vacated when John Gates transitioned to executive chair.

JLL confirmed Colacino’s exit, but didn’t give any details to further illuminate the departure. The publication could not reach Colacino for comment.

In his absence, Karen Brennan — chief executive officer of JLL’s overall leasing advisory business — will take on Colacino’s former responsibilities. It’s unclear if that will be on an interim or permanent basis.

In a release announcing Colacino’s promotion, Brennan praised Colacino’s “proven leadership, strategic acumen and technology-forward approach.”

He was expected to leverage “deep understanding of evolving client expectations and competitive market dynamics, alongside his data management, AI and technology expertise” to take JLL’s Americas leasing business into the next era.

Colacino started at JLL in 2023 as its president of Tri-State Brokerage. His commercial real estate experience began at Studley, where he was president from 2002 until the firm’s acquisition by Savills in 2014. He ran the U.S. operations at Savills and served on the company’s global executive board.

Colacino also founded proptech investment firm Haiku Partners in 2019 and served as president and CEO at SquareFoot before his arrival at JLL.

Colacino’s exit is the second high-profile ouster in a matter of months at JLL.

In November, JLL fired top commercial broker Scott Panzer after he compared newly elected New York mayor Zohran Mamdani to Adolf Hitler and expressed a desire not to hear Islamic prayers year-round at City Hall.

Panzer made the inflammatory comments in response to an office-wide email from Peter Riguardi, president of JLL’s New York office, who encouraged employees to work with the mayor.

“Is it just me, or does this sound eerily similar to what much of Germany and Europe said about you know who back in 1938?” Panzer wrote. “We all know how that worked out for them — and for the world.”

Colacino had been reporting to Riguardi prior to his promotion.

— Holden Walter-Warner