Toll exec departs for Equity Residential

Sam Zell’s Equity Residential has poached a top member of Toll Brothers’ executive team to head up its hunt for new development sites in the New York metropolitan area. According to Crain’s, George Kruse, the former managing director of Toll Brothers Realty Trust, joined Zell’s company last month and will be looking for building opportunities as well as overseeing the construction of TEN23, Equity Residential’s new 111-unit rental building on the High Line, which is slated to kick off leasing efforts this fall. Kruse who was at Toll for only eight months, was previously on the real estate team at Fortress Investment Group, and before that, at Forest City Ratner as the head of multi-family and mixed-use development on the East Coast for 10 years. Kruse said his new employer is currently “in negotiations for development sites in the five boroughs” but wouldn’t get into specifics. [Crain’s]