Lyons and Vazquez join Savills as vice presidents

Brad Lyons and Steven Vazquez have joined Savills LLC. Both executives will serve as vice presidents at Savills. The new executives each bring a wealth of experience to Savills LLC. "Savills LLC has been growing at a substantial pace," said John Lyons, president and chief executive officer of Savills LLC. "We ensure successful growth by hiring the industry's top talent. Brad Lyons and Steven Vazquez are skilled real estate investment bankers who arrive here as market activity and investor interest in the global real estate capital markets continue to heat up." Lyons joins Savills as a vice president. At Savills, he will be involved in arranging debt financing, including acquisition and construction financing, for new and existing clients. He also will help structure mezzanine and equity tranches, among other responsibilities. Lyons most recently served as a vice president with Capital Trust. During this time, Lyons assisted with the origination of commercial mortgage and mezzanine loans ranging from $30 to $100 million in value. He was directly involved in $1.1 billion in combined balance sheet and managed fund transactions. Lyons also worked closely with Capital Trust's asset management arm on re-valuations, loss severity analysis and the negotiation of loan modifications. He previously was an analyst for New York Life Investment Management, where he underwrote and closed mezzanine loans in the $5 to $25 million range for funds sponsored by New York Life. Lyons also held positions with Emmes & Company and with Legg Mason Wood Walker. A graduate of the New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate, Lyons earned his bachelor's degree from John Hopkins University. Lyons, who is not related to company CEO John Lyons, reports to senior managing director Dan Gorczycki. Vazquez also joins Savills LLC as a vice president in the firm's hotel practice. At Savills, Vazquez will focus on hotel investment sales, financings, and note sales throughout North America for the firm, which most recently completed the W Union Square and Columbia Sussex hotel portfolio transactions. Vazquez was previously director of hotels at the investment banking firms Aberdeen Realty Holdings and Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick-Goldman, where he completed over $3.0 billion of lodging advisory transactions representing hotels across all market segments. Several notable transactions in which he was involved include the sales of the Conrad Chicago, the Holiday Inn SoHo, and the Doral Tesoro Hotel & Golf Club; and the financings of the Fairmont Washington, D.C., the Drake Chicago, and the Paramount Hotel in Times Square. Mr. Vazquez also previously worked in the corporate revenue management department of Loews Hotels in New York and is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. Mr. Vazquez reports to Andrew Stein, the firm's managing director of its hospitality practice.