Forest City Ratner Taps Development Director for Nets Arena

The Brooklyn-based company named Michael Hallmark to oversee the arena at the center of its planned redevelopment of Atlantic Yards. Meanwhile, several area design firms have hired new executives.

Michael Hallmark has joined Brooklyn-based Forest City Ratner Cos. as director of arena development for the proposed $2.5 billion residential, commercial, and retail project at Atlantic Yards in downtown Brooklyn. He oversees development of the $435 million, 19,000-seat, Frank Gehry-designed arena planned for the National Basketball Association's Nets franchise.

Walter McKenna has taken the post of chief of the marine division at McLaren Engineering Group, a marine and civil engineering company based in West Nyack, N.Y. The company also hired David Wisotsky as chief of its site and civil division.

Suzanne Baumgardt has joined Vollmer Associates, an architectural and engineering firm based in Rochelle Park, N.J., as director of architectural services for New Jersey.

Jordan Fox has been appointed director of Cosentini Interiors, a unit of Cosentini Associates, a New York-based consulting engineer. Cosentini also tapped Robert Bazewicz to be director of business development.

Richard Crockford has joined Pittsburgh-based Nicholson Construction as manager and business development director of its new regional office in Sparta, N.J., which the company recently relocated from upstate New York. The geotechnical construction company also hired Keith LaRue as district manager for bidding, construction, and design in the Sparta regional office.

Richard Hartz has been hired as executive vice president at New York-based Aragon Construction, where he focuses on project negotiation and corporate marketing.

David Radue and Damian Besculides have joined Cannon Design, the planning and design firm based in Buffalo, N.Y., as associate vice presidents in the New York office. It also promoted Eric Lindstrom and Raymond Schultz to associate vice president in Buffalo.

Matthew Salerno has joined the New York-based Hall Partnership as partner, where he heads the architectural firm's sustainable design initiatives.

Gloria Yonkin joined W.A.C. Lighting, a lighting systems manufacturer and designer in Garden City, N.Y., as chief financial officer.

Daniel McLoughlin has been hired as unit manager for New York transportation programs at Carter & Burgess, an engineering and architecture consultant based in Fort Worth, Texas. It also hired Keith Kelly as vice president for Northeast regional program controls and Alan Abramson as facilities unit manager. All three work from the New York office.

Edward Stand has joined Perkins Eastman, a New York-based architecture and planning firm, as principal.

Kenneth Fisher, a former New York City Council Member, has joined the New York real estate and land use practice of Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen, a law firm based in Philadelphia.

Darren Schumer has taken the post of vice president and director of construction at Falcon Pacific Construction, an affiliate of New York-based Swig Equities, a real estate development and management company.

Gary Zhuravsky has joined Steven Kratchman Architect of New York as project architect, while Kleber Jara has joined as a technical staffer.

Frank Stephan has been promoted to director of operations at Papp Iron Works, a steel fabricator, erector, and architectural metals contractor based in Plainfield, N.J.

Jeffrey Czajka and Richard Humann both were promoted to vice president at H2M Group, a construction management, engineering, and architecture company based in Melville, N.Y.

David Lapping has been promoted to director of New York operations by the RBA Group, an engineering and architecture firm based in Morristown, N.J.

New York-based Urbahn Architects has promoted Robert Addieg, Urs Bamert,
Ranabir Sengupta, and Peter Verne to senior associate.

Marc Gordon has been promoted to principal of architecture at Harris Smith Design, an architecture, design, and planning firm based in New York.

Hoffman Architects, an architectural firm that focuses on exteriors, has promoted Craig Hargrove to vice president and director for architecture, Richard Kadlubowski to vice president and senior architect, Lawrence Keenan to director for engineering, and Arthur Sanders to senior vice president and director for architecture. The firm is based in North Haven, Conn.

George Tamaro, senior partner at New York-based Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, has received the American Association of Engineering Societies John Fritz Medal in recognition of his professional contributions.

Thomas O'Neill, president and CEO of New York-based Parsons Brinckerhoff, has been elected president of the Moles, the Woodcliff Lake, N.J., association of individuals who work in underground heavy construction such as tunnels, subways, sewers, and foundations.

Michael Ahearn, president of Seaboard Weatherproofing and Restoration of Port Chester, N.Y., has been elected president of the Sealant, Waterproofing, and Restoration Institute based in Kansas City.

Gary and Linda Jacob of Glenwood Management, a New York-based property developer and manager, recently received the American Jewish Committee's Human Relations Award for their professional achievements in the real estate industry and their community service efforts.

Michelle Medaglia, president of ACC Construction, a New York-based interiors contractor, was honored recently with the Women of Power & Influence Award from the New York Chapter of the National Organization for Women.

Susan Chin - assistant commissioner for capital projects at the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs - has been elected president of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects.