Bob Caruso to head CBRE's Westchester operations.

CB Richard Ellis, Inc. announced that Robert Caruso will assume responsibility for the firm's operations in Westchester and Fairfield counties. Mr. Caruso, based in the firm's Stamford, Conn. office, will be promoted to managing director.

Dean Shapiro, who will take over responsibility for the firm's midtown Manhattan brokerage operations, will transition his Westchester/Fairfield duties to Mr. Caruso. Mr. Caruso has headed the consulting group in the Stamford office for the past four years, where he has been involved in business development and client service activities and supported Mr. Shapiro in the management of the Westchester/Fairfield operations.

"Bob's promotion is the natural progression in the management of our Westchester and Fairfield operations," said Patrick Murphy, executive managing director responsible for CBRE's tri-state suburban operations. "He has been instrumental in helping us to sharply expand our market share in the northern suburbs and has worked side-by-side with Dean in implementing our proprietary managed brokerage business model. He is highly regarded by the professionals in our Stamford office--as well as the local real estate and business communities--and is the ideal person to assume the leadership mantle."

Prior to joining CBRE in 2000, Mr. Caruso was a senior real estate manager with Pitney Bowes for eight years. This background serves him well in analyzing the occupancy needs of corporate space users, developing effective real estate strategies and building a rapport with corporate decision-makers.

Mr. Caruso has helped to secure many new accounts for the Stamford office, including Nextel, Kraft Foods Federal Credit Union and CRA RogersCasey, and has implemented high-profile transactions, such as a 113,000 s/f lease for Fleet Bank in Windsor; a 105,000 s/f lease for Paloma Partners in Greenwich; a 53,000 s/f lease for Lillian Vernon in White Plains and a 46,000 s/f lease for the Golf Digest division of Conde Nast in Wilton.

Working directly under Mr. Shapiro, Mr. Caruso has helped to set the office's growth strategy and manage the integration of the Westchester/Fairfield operations following CBRE's acquisition of Insignia/ESG in 2003.

"Bob has been my right arm for the past several years and I know he will be very successful as the leader of the Westchester/Fairfield operation," Mr. Shapiro said. "I am committed to ensuring a smooth transfer of management duties in Stamford and will remain involved in both the servicing of my Westchester and Fairfield clients, as well as in numerous community activities."

Mr. Caruso, 34 years old, has been chairman of the Connecticut chapter of CoreNet, served on the board of NAIOP and serves on the program committee for the Real Estate Finance Association. He earned a B.S. in civil engineering from The George Washington University and resides in Ridgefield, Conn. with his wife Karen and two daughters.