Drew O’Connor Decamps C&W to Head Portfolio Management at Rudin
By Mark Hallum July 20, 2023 2:09 pm
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Cushman & Wakefield (CWK)’s Drew O’Connor has left the brokerage after 11 years for a gig as head of commercial property management at Rudin, Commercial Observer has learned.
O’Connor now oversees the daily operations of Rudin’s 10.5 million-square-foot office portfolio in New York City in his new role, which he started in June. He reports directly to head of commercial office Mehul Patel, according to Rudin.
“For generations, the Rudin family has set the standard in New York City for operational excellence and dedicated customer service,” O’Connor said in a statement. “I view it as both an honor and a responsibility to maintain and build upon that legacy in the years to come.”
O’Connor has 28 years of experience in the industry, having most recently done similar work for C&W’s 47 million-square-foot commercial portfolio in the five boroughs while managing a team of 680 people, according to Rudin. He now has 165 under his wing at Rudin.
“Drew is a fantastic team member and we wish him all the best,” a C&W spokesperson said in a statement.
Prior to his time at C&W, O’Connor clocked 15 years at Grubb & Ellis, where he was an executive in the tri-state management services division with 14 million square feet and 380 employees under his purview.
“Drew brings a wealth of experience managing people and properties to his new role here at Rudin,” Michael Rudin, executive vice president at the family firm, said in a statement. “His deep understanding of what companies and their employees need in order to thrive, gleaned from nearly three decades in the industry, will greatly benefit Rudin and all of the people we serve throughout our commercial portfolio.”
O’Connor also serves on the management division board of directors for the Real Estate Board of New York, which gave him credit as portfolio manager of the year in 2019.
His education includes a bachelor’s degree in economics from Niagara University and a graduate certificate in real estate investment and development from New York University.
O’Connor is one of several high-ranking C&W employees to leave the firm this year.
In June, Robert Given took his team of top South Florida multifamily brokers including Troy Ballard, Zachary Sackley, Calum Weaver and Brad Capas to CBRE (CBRE) where they would turn their attention to land sales, structured debt and equity finance, and private capital sales, CO reported at the time.
In April, C&W retail broker Eric Le Goff left the firm to lead Retail by MONA’s luxury practice after 25 years negotiating leases for designer stores. Then in February, investment sales heavy-hitters Adam Spies and Doug Harmon left C&W for jobs at Newmark.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
