Cushman & Wakefield's Long Island office hires Bass, Madigan, Heck and Avelar

Cushman & Wakefield's Long Island office has hired four new employees: Brian Bass, David Madigan, Tim Heck and Matthew Avelar. Bass, a former marketing agent for pro athletes, has joined the office as a commercial sales associate. Bass, who founded RBA Sports in Manhattan, excelled at player development and forming strategic alliances that helped his firm develop a vast network of pro basketball executives, endorsement partners, trainers and coaches. Before his career as a sports marketer, Bass founded Leveraged Networks, a logistics consulting company that assisted companies including Pepsi, Starwood Hotels, Publishers Clearing House and Pall Corporation, drive costs out of their supply chain process. For Cushman & Wakefield, Bass will focus on providing real estate services for high-end corporate accounts. "We are very pleased to add BJ to our roster," said David Pennetta, executive director and managing broker for Cushman & Wakefield Long Island. "He has many years of experience dealing with high net worth individuals and corporations, and appreciates the detail, professionalism and follow-up which has been the hallmark of Cushman & Wakefield." Madigan has joined the office as senior director of capital markets. He brings 20 years of experience in selling and leasing multi-tenant investment properties, and the development of prime net-leased sites throughout the area. A former president of the Sperry Van Ness brokerage on Long Island, Madigan's range of real estate expertise covers the retail, industrial and office sectors. He has also crafted strategies to complete multifamily and affordable housing projects in the Long Island market, utilizing his extensive knowledge in the municipal approvals process. Among the diverse list of clients Madigan has completed successful transactions for are Prudential Financial, Liberty Mutual Insurance, CVS, J.P. Morgan Chase, Starbucks, McDonald's, Wendy's, 7-Eleven, and many more. For Cushman & Wakefield, Madigan will handle investment property sales, sale/leaseback transactions, acquisitions and dispositions of owner-occupied properties, development and investment strategies. "The acquisition of David Madigan has sparked a renewed footing for Cushman & Wakefield Long Island for investment sales in the $2 million to $20 million sector," said Pennetta. "This now has been additionally augmented by C&W's recent $100 million acquisition of the investment real estate firm Massey Knakal." Heck has joined the office as a research analyst. Formerly serving as an analyst for Carlstadt, N.J.-based H&H Realty, a residential real estate firm, he now develops analysis and reports on the area's commercial real estate market and local economy for Cushman & Wakefield. Heck supports brokers and their clients by providing analysis and insight into industry-wide and market-specific occupancy trends and costs, benchmarking studies and forecasting. He also updates and maintains Cushman & Wakefield's database of buildings, availabilities, tenants in the market, and lease comparables and sales records, as well as primary research, data-driven analysis and forecasting for the office and industrial sectors of Long Island. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Heck also has an M.B.A. in Finance from the Rutgers University Business School. "To successfully compete as a global corporation, research is the basis for sound analysis which leads to decisions which stand the test of time," said Pennetta. "Tim has the pedigree, real estate experience and the team spirit to head our efforts in this critical endeavor." Avelar joined the brokerage team as an associate. He will focus on generating new clients, assisting the teams at Cushman & Wakefield. Avelar will specialize in both tenant and landlord representation for transactions in Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens counties. Avelar launched his real estate career as a sales agent for Daniel Gale Sotheby's International. While attending Lynn Business School, he worked directly with commercial real estate developers through a South Florida public relations firm. "Matt represents the generation which Long Island forgot," said Pennetta. "He joins C&W-LI with New York City brokerage experience and knowledge of real estate development and leasing. He also is an expert in leading edge social media and virtual networking."