Berkadia Expands Knight Frank Alliance Stateside with Addition of Ed Owen to DC Metro Office
Washington, DC – September 7, 2023 – Berkadia announced today that Knight Frank’s Head of International Capital USA Ed Owen will join its DC Metro office to foster the strategic alliance between Berkadia and Knight Frank. As an extension of the Berkadia team, Owen will be responsible for the pursuit and execution of large-scale capital markets transactions in the U.S., sourcing offshore capital via Knight Frank’s extensive global network.
“We’re thrilled to have Ed join us in the U.S. and sit in our DC Metro office. With Ed working stateside, he and Berkadia’s advisors will maximize returns for clients on major capital market transactions, both in the U.S. and overseas, as well as connect our clients with a wealth of new capital sources and unforeseen opportunities,” said Justin Wheeler, Berkadia Chief Executive Officer.
Owen is a commercial real estate professional with over 16 years of global experience. In his role, he will establish an International Capital desk tasked with managing inbound capital into Berkadia’s network, as well as engaging with U.S.-based investors seeking to deploy capital into the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific region.
Berkadia announced the alliance with global property consultancy Knight Frank in January 2023. The alliance has offered clients connectivity with the world’s most active investors, enabling more diverse capital sources and opportunities. Owen will work closely with Global Head of Capital Markets at Knight Frank Neil Brookes, Global Head of Living Sectors at Knight Frank James Mannix, and Berkadia’s Knight Frank Alliance Ambassador and EVP – Head of Production Ernie Katai.
“Ed’s appointment further bolsters our strategic alliance with Berkadia, which has created the world’s largest privately-owned capital markets platform, offering unparalleled access to capital globally, including institutional, sovereign, and private wealth,” said Brookes. “The alliance comes at a pivotal time, with a surge in investment activity led by North America-based investors. Buoyed by a strong U.S. Dollar and interest in diversifying portfolios and targeting liquidity across a wide geographical and sectoral range, U.S.-domiciled investors are currently the most active in terms of cross-border investments.”
“Over the next 10 years, the living sectors will be the largest investable asset class globally. In response, Knight Frank is on a mission to build the world’s best and most-trusted global living sectors advisory platform. Our alliance with Berkadia is founded upon our shared specialism in this area,” said Mannix. “The appointment of Ed will supercharge our partnership to ensure we are delivering best-in-class advisory services to clients all over the world by leveraging both Knight Frank’s vast global network and Berkadia’s deep footprint in the U.S. capital markets.”
Prior to joining Knight Frank, Owen spent four years between 2017 and 2021 as a Senior Director and Head of New Markets EMEA at WeWork. There he led the company’s real estate expansion across Europe and the Middle East during its hypergrowth phase. Owen was responsible for sourcing, negotiating, and signing over 1.5 million square feet of commercial office space for WeWork across key markets, including Madrid, Barcelona, Warsaw, Prague, Bucharest, Stockholm, Oslo, Johannesburg, and Cape Town.
Owen also spent almost 10 years living in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Miami between 2009 and 2017 while at Swire Properties. He held various roles during his time at the company, including as a Director of Commercial Portfolio and Office Leasing. In this position, he led the commercial leasing team on two Class A office towers in Miami as part of Swire’s $1 billion mixed-use development, Brickell City Centre.
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