Property services firm DTZ is opening a Latin America regional headquarters in here, and veteran commercial real estate executive Guillermo Sepulveda has been appointed to serve as president of DTZ in Latin America and Mexico. Additionally, Emile Sarraf has been appointed chief operating officer, and the two will oversee DTZ’s Latin American and Mexico business operations.
“Strong growth in Latin America and cross-border economic activity has created a demand for top quality commercial real estate and facility management services in the region, and DTZ’s global clients are very active in Latin America,” comments Tod Lickerman, global CEO of DTZ.
To meet this demand DTZ has appointed an experienced team of professionals to deliver tenant representation; agency leasing, project, property and facility management; real estate consulting; and appraisals to the office, industrial and retail sectors.
“We are delighted to have Guillermo and Emile join our team,” Lickerman adds. “They are highly regarded professionals with global experience conducting and operating business throughout Latin America.”
Alfredo Armendariz, SVP and a long time DTZ professional, will continue to lead the Global Occupier Services team in the region working with major multinational corporations.
Sepulveda’s 25-year career includes executive leadership positions with JLL and CBRE. From 2000 to 2006 as SVP at JLL, he was responsible for creating and consolidating the construction, project and facility management divisions for Mexico. He also served as managing director of CBRE Mexico from 2008 to 2009 where he led a 250-member team across five offices. More recently he served as executive vice president of Coldwell Banker Commercial, where he was in charge of the Corporate Services operations. He will join DTZ’s America’s Executive Committee and will report directly to Lickerman, Global CEO. Sepulveda earned an architecture degree from the Universidad LaSalle in Mexico City and holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. He is tri-lingual in Spanish, English and Portuguese.
“Latin America is a key market for DTZ as a majority of our clients are expanding operations in this growing region,” commented Steve Quick, chief executive, Global Occupier Services of DTZ. “As the second largest trading partner of the U.S. only behind Canada, and due to the significant economic and political role the country has undertaken globally, we clearly see an opportunity for us in Latin America.”
“Corporate real estate owners, occupiers and investors are demanding more service options globally and DTZ is well positioned to provide attractive solutions in Latin America,” added Sepulveda. “We have a very fragmented market and we have the opportunity to consolidate and provide the level of service global companies expect and demand.”
A seasoned real estate professional, Sarraf has held many prominent corporate roles leading teams in Mexico and Latin America for General Electric (GE), American Express, Citibank, and more recently for Grupo Salinas.
He holds a civil engineering degree from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and Administration Studies at Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon. He is a Six-Sigma Green Belt and also attended the experienced management course while with GE. He speaks and writes Spanish, English, Arabic and French.
