Global commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield has added three key valuation and appraisal professionals to its Midwest team in the Chicagoland area. The hires are the latest in a string of 140 key talent acquisitions the firm has made over the last year as it expands the reach of its valuation & advisory practice group across the Americas.
Michael Gathman, MAI, has worked in the real estate industry for more than 20 years and has serviced a wide array of valuation clients including corporations, financial entities, developers, and pension funds. He has provided valuation services for mixed-use developments, industrial, office, retail and hotel assets, with a particular emphasis on existing and proposed multifamily projects including condominium properties. He joins the firm from NPV Advisors and was previously an appraiser with Realty Services International and Real Estate Counselors International, Inc. Gathman holds a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University and is a member of the Appraisal Institute and the Illinois Coalition of Appraisal Professionals.
Andrew Menck, MAI, MRICS, joins the firm from competitor CBRE, where he was a vice president responsible for complex appraisal assignments for multiple property types across the Midwest. A graduate of Loyola University Chicago, Menck brings 12 years of experience in valuation and appraisal of multifamily housing to his role with Cushman & Wakefield and specializes in low-income housing tax credit and GSE-sponsored assignments. He is a member of the Appraisal Institute, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Chicago Real Estate Council.
Kari Olbrecht, MAI, returns to Cushman & Wakefield from Stout Advisory, where she was a senior vice president for the company’s valuation & advisory practice group. She has more than two decades of experience in the real estate industry with a particular emphasis on valuation consulting. Olbrecht has provided valuation services for a variety of property types, including CBD and suburban office properties, multifamily housing, industrial assets, healthcare facilities and shopping centers. She is a graduate of DePaul University and a member of the Appraisal Institute.
“At Cushman & Wakefield, we take tremendous pride in providing best-in-class valuation and advisory services to a wide array of institutional clients—and our people are at the core of what we do,” said Mike Schaeffer, MAI, FRICS, executive managing director of valuation & advisory at Cushman & Wakefield. “The additions of Michael, Andrew and Kari are a tremendous asset for our Chicago team and for our clients across the Midwest region, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome these extremely talented, senior-level appraisers to our ranks.”
