Icon Global brought on Don Bell, the land broker behind the $320 million sale of the Four Sixes Ranch to “Yellowstone” co-creator Taylor Sheridan, as the firm ramps up expansion.
Bell, who previously ran Don Bell Properties near Weatherford, joined the Dallas-based firm with licenses in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico. His hire coincides with Icon Global’s push into new markets across the West, including upcoming offices in Wyoming, Montana and Colorado.
Kyler Ferris, YouTube star and founder of Ferris Realty, rejoined eXp Realty with a 45-agent team and $164 million in 2024 sales volume. Ferris partnered with Joe Rodriguez — a fellow eXp agent and founder of the at-one-point competing “Original Living in Houston Team” YouTube channel — to form a video-driven “mega team.”
The Ferris team had previously joined eXp Realty in 2023 before departing to launch an independent brokerage, a news release said. The Conroe-based team will maintain its brand identity while using eXp’s platform to scale across Texas and into other markets. The two channels have over 100,000 subscribers.
Savills hired Charles Brewer, once a pitcher for Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks, as vice chairman in Dallas, where his focus will be on advising industrial occupiers. Brewer was previously a senior vice president at Stream Realty Partners and a broker at Transwestern.
Avison Young promoted Sullivan Johnston to senior vice president in its Austin office. A founding member of the firm’s land, development and industrial advisory team, Johnston represents institutional investors, developers, landowners and corporate users in commercial property and land sales. She joined Avison Young in 2016.
Mohr Partners named Jennifer Syx managing director of business and economic incentives in its Dallas office. Syx brings more than 20 years of experience in public and private sector economic development; she was most recently director of economic development at Envision Group in the greater Cleveland area, according to LinkedIn. She’ll lead the firm’s incentives practice across North America.
JLL brought on Steve Echols as senior vice president in its project and development services group in Dallas. Echols joined after 21 years at CBRE, where he led multi-million-dollar capital improvement projects and advised institutional clients on build-to-suit and renovation strategies as senior project manager.
JLL also tapped Lee McKenna to lead its healthcare real estate efforts across Central and South Texas. Based in San Antonio, McKenna will oversee project leasing, development, investment sales and tenant representation for healthcare clients in San Antonio and Austin. He previously spent nearly seven years at Stream Realty Partners and began his career as a U.S. Air Force medical service administrator.
Partners Capital named Alex Board senior vice president of finance in Houston. He previously served as deputy CFO and principal accounting officer at Houston REIT Silver Star Properties, managing $600 million in assets and leading initiatives including a major merger integration and multiple refinancings. Before that, he spent the last eight months of his six years at PwC as assurance manager.
In other news: The Dinerstein Companies was named the No. 1 student housing company in the U.S. for 2024 by J Turner Research, marking its seventh consecutive year at the top. The Houston-based developer was also recognized in five categories of onsite operations, including customer service and maintenance, and said in a news release it plans to expand its 4,000-bed portfolio into new markets including Baton Rouge and Orlando.
In case you missed it: Houston luxury brokerage Nan & Company Properties, for years the exclusive Christie’s International Real Estate affiliate in the Bayou City, joined forces with Forbes Global Properties last week, six months after parting with Christie’s. The partnership allows Nan & Co. to promote listings priced at $2 million and up across Forbes’ digital channels.
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