Miami brokerage boosts institutional investment experience with hire from Nuveen Real Estate

MEDIA CONTACT: Levy Public Relations

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Blanca Commercial Real Estate has hired a former Nuveen Real Estate executive to lead its asset management and investment advisory business, giving the Miami-based firm the kind of institutional ownership experience that large investors look for.

Charlie Russo joins Blanca CRE as managing director of asset management, investment advisory and consulting. He will advise owners and investors on improving asset performance and making investment decisions for third-party clients in South Florida and other markets, according to a statement from the firm.

The hire is part of Blanca CRE's push beyond the brokerage business. The firm wants to combine its leasing, property management and consulting work into one platform that serves clients through more stages of the real estate cycle.

“Charlie’s institutional investment experience, strategic perspective and proven ability to enhance asset value will broaden the support we provide,” said Tere Blanca, CEO of Blanca CRE, in the statement.

Blanca CRE was founded in 2009 and has three offices — two in Miami and a third in Fort Lauderdale — and around 60 employees. The firm says it has handled more than 17 million square feet of office leasing and sales in Miami-Dade County since 2016.

Russo most recently served as senior director and asset management lead for Nuveen's East Region. There, he oversaw the strategy and performance of a portfolio of about 12 million square feet valued at $8.5 billion. Over his career, he has overseen more than $15 billion in assets under management and completed more than $5 billion in transactions. He has also held leadership roles at The Carlyle Group, GE Capital and Thor Equities.

At Nuveen, Russo led the sale of 701 Brickell, a 685,279-square-foot office tower in Miami that Morning Calm Management and a partner bought in October 2024 for $443 million. Nuveen sold the property after a $30 million renovation that Russo helped lead. The deal ranks as the second-largest office sale in Florida history, behind the $540 million sale of Southeast Financial Center in 2016.

“Today's commercial real estate owners and investors need more than transactional expertise; they need a strategic partner who can connect leasing, operations, capital investment and long-term asset strategy," Russo said in the statement.

Russo moved to South Florida in 2017 after working in New York and Los Angeles. He serves on the University of Florida Real Estate Advisory Board.