CBRE Group Inc., a commercial real estate services and investment firm, has hired R. Christian Sonne as executive vice president in charge of its Self Storage Valuation Group in the United States. Sonne will oversee the company’s domestic self-storage business, according to a press release.
He joins CBRE from real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, where he served as executive managing director of its Self Storage Industry Group. “Christian is a proven leader in the self-storage and appraisal field,” said Thomas McDonnell, president of the Americas, Valuation & Advisory Services, at CBRE. “His deep understanding of the industry and its market dynamics are a valuable addition to CBRE’s Valuation & Advisory Services team.”
Sonne was previously founder and president of The Sonne Group Inc., a full-service real estate appraisal and consulting company. He has also been a senior consultant in the Valuation Group at Deloitte & Touche LLP, and a senior appraisal officer in Bank of America’s Commercial Appraisal Group in Los Angeles, according to the release.
He is based in Newport Beach, Calif., and will report to Richard West, senior managing director.
Sonne is a frequent speaker at self-storage industry events and the author of “Self Storage Economics and Appraisal,” published in 2012 by the Appraisal Institute, the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and is a member of the Appraisal Institute and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He is also a certified general real estate appraiser in California.
CBRE Group Inc., a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, employs approximately 70,000 employees, excluding affiliates, and serves real estate investors, occupiers and owners through more than 400 offices worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for appraisal and valuation; corporate services; development services; investment management; mortgage banking; property, facilities and project management; property sales and leasing; and research and consulting.
