The head of Cushman & Wakefield’s investment banking practice is leaving the brokerage to open his own real estate investment fund.
Michael Rotchford, who had been at Cushman & Wakefield for 15 years, seeks to raise $150 million for a new venture targeting office, industrial and residential properties. The fund is aiming to do deals nationally and make investments with risk and return profiles catering to corporate bond buyers.
Louis Wolfowitz will assume Rotchford’s role leading Cushman’s investment banking operations, according to Crain’s. Rotchford said his departure from the brokerage is unrelated to its $2 billion merger with global real estate firm DTZ, describing the split as amicable and related to a longtime desire to start his own venture.
Rotchford handled several high-profile deals for Cushman in recent years, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s sale of a $100 million stake in 1 World Trade Center to the Durst Organization. He also helped prepare the investment package for a public bond offering to finance the construction of the neighboring 4 World Trade Center.
His exit from the firm is one of the more prominent since the DTZ merger closed this month. Cushman investment sales brokers Nat Rockett and Helen Hwang both recently left the company for Marcus & Millichap and Meridian Capital Group, respectively, while former DTZ senior vice president Jeffrey Donnelly also departed the new Cushman & Wakefield this month for a role at Colliers. [Crain’s] – Rey Mashayekhi