Techrin Hijazi Leaves Brown Harris Stevens, Starts Brokerage

Techrin Hijazi, a luxury broker who once starred in TLC’s “Million Dollar Agents,” started her own firm called Gallery Estates International Realty.

The brokerage will be based in Coral Gables and focus on waterfront Miami properties, according to a press release. Hijazi most recently hung her license with Brown Harris Stevens, and was previously with William Raveis Real Estate South Florida and Christie’s International Real Estate.

Hijazi brokered sales totaling more than $45 million last year, and has been involved in deals totaling more than $20 million so far this year, according to the release. She’s been involved in major deals in Star Island and Gables Estates.

Blanca Commercial Real Estate hired Matthew Birnbaum as its new director of market research. Birnbaum was with CBRE in Washington, D.C., where he worked for four years after getting a master’s in real estate finance. Blanca also recently recruited Brian Gitlin as its COO.

Colliers brought on Maggie Kurtz, Kevin Gonzalez and Jake Freeman, who will all work out of the brokerage’s Brickell office and focus on the office market. Gonzalez and Freeman joined Team Kingsley-Rutchik, a group that focuses on office and industrial leasing.

Both Kurtz and Gonzalez previously worked with CBRE, as a senior vice president and vice president, respectively. Kurtz is now a senior managing director with Colliers.

Adam Doktor joined Fort Lauderdale-based Native Realty to focus on commercial brokerage and development. Native, which was founded in 2017 by Jaime Sturgis, recently brokered leases with the Peruvian sushi restaurant Sakana and How You Brewin Coffee Company, representing the landlord BJ Verde Properties in the deals.