Transwestern announced that Bert Checa has been appointed to the firm’s South Florida office as Vice President, focusing on office agency leasing and tenant advisory across the Southeast region.

Checa will join the team of Managing Director Glenn Gregory, where he will be responsible for evaluating, developing, and executing real estate strategies for owners, investors, and occupiers of office space.

Checa utilized long-standing relationships and experience in the market to quickly secure the leasing assignment for 1000 Park Centre, a 132,878-square-foot single-story building with a blend of flex, warehouse, and office ideally situated at the crossroads of Florida’s Turnpike and Florida State Road 826 in Miami Gardens.

The North Central Dade submarket, in which the asset is located, accounted for 26 percent of leasing activity in Miami-Dade County in the second quarter of 2017, and with no new construction, current total vacancy rates of 2.2 percent are expected to decrease further.

“It was a top priority to recruit the best industry talent to meet the complex real estate needs of our clients,” said Gregory. “Bert has vast experience in a variety of real estate services and has proven to be an immediate asset to our growing footprint in the market.”

Checa brings more than 13 years of experience to Transwestern. Most recently, he served as Senior Associate at Coldwell Banker Commercial Advisors. Previously, he was a Senior Associate at the Pointe Group and Holly Real Estate. During his career, he has overseen the leasing of premium assets including Santona Corner, a 77,000-square-foot, Class A office building; Miami Green, a 110,000-square-foot, Class A office tower; 1805 Ponce De Leon Blvd., a 66,000-square-foot, mixed-use commercial and residential Class A development; and 4770 Biscayne Blvd., a 143,000-square-foot office building.

Transwestern is intentional in recruiting top-performing talent to meet the increasing demand for full-service real estate advisory across all sectors and product types. In that vein, the firm recently hired Brent Barnes as Senior Vice President to spearhead the firm’s Healthcare Advisory Services in Florida.