Cushman & Wakefield bolstered its capital markets team in Chicago with the additions of Jeff Altenau as executive managing director and Zach Yarnoff as managing director. Both come to Cushman & Wakefield from Eastdil Secured, where they worked on notable transactions including Willis Tower, River Point, 150 North Riverside, Easton Town Center and Wells Fargo Center Minneapolis.
Altenau will lead the firm’s debt capital markets platform for Chicago and the Midwest. Yarnoff will partner with Altenau in growing the company’s business and execution of large, highly complex structured real estate financings as well as middle market financings across all asset types and service lines.
“Jeff and Zach are the last piece of the puzzle adding a new capability to the firm’s Chicago capital markets team,” said Vicki Noonan, Chicago managing principal, Cushman & Wakefield. “With a deep bench across all asset types and market expertise, I am confident that our collaborative and comprehensive platform will be a true differentiator to our investor clients.”
Altenau has nearly 20 years of experience in the institutional real estate debt capital markets with an extensive background working across various parts of the capital stack, including first mortgages, B-notes, mezzanine financings and preferred equity, as well as secondary loan sales. Since 2012, he has been responsible for transactions totaling more than $14 billion.
Yarnoff has over a decade of real estate and capital markets expertise. At Eastdil Secured, he was responsible for more than $7 billion of financing transactions on behalf of public and private institutional investors. He was previously a manager in the real estate valuation and advisory practice at KPMG LLP.
“Our company’s capabilities are reflected in our investment to make strategic hires across key markets, reinforcing our commitment to meet the needs of our clients through industry-leading services, while strengthening the depth of our platform,” said Carlo Barel di Sant-Albano, chief executive, Cushman & Wakefield’s global capital markets investor services. “Jeff and Zach’s expertise, track record and client relationships will strengthen our debt platform and ability to provide a full suite of services to our investor clients.”
The additions of Altenau and Yarnoff follows the recent hires of David Knapp, executive managing director, office investment sales, and Josh McGee, managing director, corporate capital markets. In November 2018, Cushman & Wakefield added a seven-person office investment sales team in Chicago, led by Paul Lundstedt, vice chair. Since the beginning of 2018, the company has brought on board new healthcare, multifamily and office investment sales teams in the Midwest.
“We are thrilled to have Jeff and Zach join the Midwest Capital Markets team,” Lundstedt said. “With their extensive debt and structured finance experience coupled with the talent of our existing equity sales professionals, we can offer clients a full menu of capital markets solutions that ultimately meets their investment needs.”
Altenau holds a bachelor of business administration in finance from Ohio University. Yarnoff holds a BS in finance-real estate from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
