Lee & Associates South Florida Promotes Christian Baena to Senior Vice President
MIAMI, Florida— August 21, 2024 — Lee & Associates South Florida is pleased to announce the promotion of Christian Baena to Senior Vice President. Based in Miami, Baena is a key member of the industrial sales and leasing team, working in close collaboration with Principal Greg Milopoulos. Previously serving as Vice President, Baena has rapidly distinguished himself as a leader within the firm.
Since joining Lee & Associates South Florida in March 2023, Baena and Milopoulos have brought over two decades of combined experience in development, investment sales, and landlord and tenant representation to the firm. Their partnership has already yielded impressive results, with the team closing numerous high-profile commercial real estate transactions. Recent notable deals in the South Florida area include:
- August 2024: The $7.25 million off-market acquisition of a 33,200-square-foot industrial building in Pompano Beach, Florida
- July 2024: The $5.26 million off-market acquisition of a 22,882-square-foot industrial building located in Sunrise, Florida
- March 2024: The $4.07 million sale of a 22,118-square-foot industrial building located in Lake Worth, Florida, achieving the full asking price.
- March 2024: The $3.45 million sale of a commercial property in Davie, Florida in March 2024, setting a new price per square foot record for the submarket.
- January 2024: The $5.57 million off-market acquisition of a 28,362-square-foot warehouse in Fort Lauderdale. Following the sale, the new owner retained Milopoulos and Baena to exclusively to lease the building, which is being brought to market this summer.
“Christian Baena excels in leveraging innovative industry technology to provide unparalleled analytical and organizational value to our clients, and people really enjoy his company.” said Lee & Associates South Florida President Matt Rotolante. “Christian and Greg’s ability to bring top buyers and tenants to the table for the owners, to which they are committed, has been a recipe for success, even in the more challenging economic climate we’ve experienced the past several quarters. We’re committed to supporting their creative dealmaking with our industry-leading platform and referral network, and excited for their futures.”
Before partnering with Milopoulos and joining Lee & Associates South Florida, Baena honed his industrial real estate acumen at Newmark and FIP Commercial, where he completed over $20 million in sales for clients. A Florida native and Florida State University graduate, Baena also gained valuable experience working as a Business Analyst for various mutual funds in New York City, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton.
Fluent in both English and Spanish, Baena and Milopoulos continue to set the standard for excellence in industrial real estate.
“Christian and I partnered in 2022 during a challenging time for the commercial real estate market, as rising interest rates put many deals on hold,” Milopoulos said. “Not only did Christian weather the storm, but he was instrumental in sourcing new opportunities, identifying and bringing deals to the table that many thought were impossible. We’ve sold over 120,000 square feet of industrial real estate this year alone, and I’m thrilled to have him co-leading our growing team, which recently welcomed two new members. Christian’s dedication and resilience make him not just a valued colleague, but a trusted friend of over two decades.”
About Lee & Associates South Florida
Lee & Associates | South Florida is a fully vertical commercial real estate brokerage firm focused on industrial, office, retail, multifamily, investment and land sectors. Our dedicated team of professionals is led by Matthew Rotolante, CCIM, SIOR a 4th generation South Florida native in a family that has owned and operated commercial property here since 1928. Lee & Associates is the largest agent owned brokerage in the nation with Senior Agent’s ability to earn profit share resulting in the highest splits while still receiving full resources, support and leads from our national network. Our collaborative and cheerful culture allows for open communications throughout the company, fostering the sharing of information and best practices to better enable client decision making. The Lee & Associates’ robust national network that sold and leased over $115 Billion in the last 5 years offers clients a cross-market platform of expertise and deal opportunities across all asset specialties and representation roles. For the latest news from Lee & Associates South Florida, visit leesouthflorida.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, our company local news.
About Lee & Associates
Lee & Associates is a commercial real estate brokerage sales, leasing and management firm. Established in 1979, Lee & Associates has grown its service platform to include over 75 offices in the United States and Canada. Lee & Associates is the largest agent owned commercial real estate brokerage where agents get the greatest return for their efforts and hence are more committed and better enabled to provide superior results for their customers. For the latest news from Lee & Associates, visit lee-associates.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Link, our company blog.