Atlanta-based Portman promoted Travis Garland to the newly created role of chief development officer. In this role, Garland will drive daily operations across all property types. Garland previously served as managing director of office for Portman, where he oversaw transactions valued at more than $4 billion. 

Andy Kroll has been promoted to chief operating officer. He will replace Michelle Barton, who is retiring. Barton spent 28 years with Portman and began her career in 1997 at AmericasMart. 

Kroll currently serves as senior vice president of asset management, overseeing a $3 billion portfolio across asset types.

A good chunk of Portman’s future development pipeline is in Atlanta, from the redevelopment of Amsterdam Walk to a proposal to remake the aging Brookside office park in Alpharetta.

Portman has developed over 80 million square feet of real estate, according to the company. It owns and manages over $3 billion of assets across office, hospitality, multifamily, retail and industrial. The company has about 120 employees.

Leyad, a real estate investment firm based in Canada, has acquired the Ink48 Hotel in Midtown Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in a 50/50 joint venture with locally based private equity firm Capstone Equities. The deal marks Leyad’s first purchase in the New York City market and its second hotel acquisition to date.

Located at 653 Eleventh Ave., Ink48 Hotel has 226 keys. The closing price represents a value of $275,000 per key, or approximately $62,150,000, which would make it one of the lowest closings per key of a renovated hotel in Manhattan in years.

Henry Zavriyev, CEO of Leyad, said, “The acquisition of Ink48 Hotel represents a significant step forward in Leyad’s vision to expand our presence in prime urban markets.” He added that his company “hopes to capitalize on current market upswings in the NYC hospitality sector, as well as a growing tourism industry and is actively pursuing other distressed hospitality opportunities.”