Former C&W Multifamily Head Launching Atlanta Office For Big Houston Brokerage
John O’Neill is reentering the commercial real estate brokerage game by helping a Houston-based firm expand across the Southeast.
O’Neill, who left his role in December as Cushman & Wakefield's U.S. multifamily capital markets president, has been named president and managing partner of Partners Real Estate, leading the firm’s Southeast expansion from Atlanta, the company announced Wednesday.
O’Neill will also be tasked with expanding Partners into the Carolinas, Nashville and Florida, according to the announcement.
“When you get the right people in the right seats, you can deliver superior value to your clients. John shares this core principle and is a terrific match for our firm,” Partners Chief Operating Officer Travis Rodgers said in the release. “He’s incredibly passionate about culture, building a winning team, and making a positive and lasting impact in the community. The right leadership matters in any organization, but especially in the commercial real estate sector.”
O’Neill will also join the board of directors for Partners and start his new job in June as the firm scouts for local office space, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, which first reported the news.
Partners, separated from NAI Global in 2022, is a full-service CRE firm with brokerage, property management, development and investment arms that ranks as Houston’s third-largest brokerage shop. This is the first time Partners is expanding beyond Texas.
“As one of the most highly regarded executives in the industry, I appreciate how John innately understands our unique partnership model and recognizes the value of our investment and development businesses,” Partners CEO Jon Silberman said in the release. “We are a true partnership where our colleagues have ownership in the firm; similar to what you see in every other professional services vertical.”
Partners employs about 280 people and has 37 partners who own a share of the company and manage the business, the ABC reported. The firm has more than $500M in assets under management through its investment funds and more than $100M in developments in the pipeline, according to the ABC.
A mainstay in Atlanta commercial real estate, O'Neill started out with Lavista Associates in 1994 before joining Insignia/ESG two years later, where he remained until that firm merged with CBRE in 2003. At that point, O'Neill was recruited by Cushman & Wakefield as senior managing director and was eventually promoted to head the Atlanta office after Mike Elting retired in 2012.
