One of CBRE's top Atlanta brokers has joined a firm founded by two of his former colleagues to establish a new investment sales platform.

Tom Shafer, former vice chairman of investment sales with CBRE, has joined Atlanta-based Capital Real Estate Group, where he will focus on selling office, industrial and retail buildings in the Southeast. Shafer, who was named vice chairman at Capital Real Estate Group, brings along his former partner at CBRE, John Hinson, who was hired as an executive vice president.

“Tom’s work ethic, tenacity and creativity are off the charts. As we continue to grow nationally, there is no better team to lead our office, industrial and retail investment sales platform,” Capital Real Estate Group co-founder Bennett Gottlieb said in a statement.

Gottlieb and co-founder John Thornton started Capital Real Estate Group in 2017 as an office leasing brokerage after departing CBRE. The firm established a healthcare investment sales platform in 2019.

Shafer and Hinson both joined CBRE in 2013 when the brokerage giant acquired Resource Real Estate Partners. Shafer is a lifetime member of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors' Million Dollar Club. He brokered $320M in sales last year.