Executive Team
Bios
Fred Schmidt was appointed president and chief operating officer of Coldwell Banker Commercial Affiliates LLC in February 2010. Schmidt is a veteran commercial real estate professional with more than 30 years of experience in the industry, and held posts with Realogy Corporation and Coldwell Banker Commercial for seven years prior to this promotion. In his current role, Schmidt leads this growing franchise system that has approximately 200 offices and 3,000 commercial real estate professionals operating in 20 countries worldwide.
Schmidt served as senior vice president of the Realogy Global Client Solutions group from 2008 to 2010. In this role, he led the proactive development of client relationships and sourcing of business development opportunities on behalf of Realogy’s commercial real estate entities. Additionally, he was responsible for overseeing the specialty groups including corporate services, hospitality, multi-family, property management, retail, and Real Estate Owned (REO).
Schmidt joined Coldwell Banker Commercial in 2003 as vice president of business development, and two years later was promoted to senior vice president of business development and operations. Prior to Coldwell Banker Commercial, he served as managing director for United Systems Integrators Corporation (USI was later acquired by Johnson Controls Inc.), where he was responsible for the company’s corporate real estate services and new business development in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the Ohio Valley.
Schmidt spent over 20 years with CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), during his tenure at CBRE his responsibilities included brokerage, management and leadership roles in the New Jersey and Connecticut markets. He also he served as first vice president of corporate services for CBRE and was responsible for providing a broad base of advisory services to public and private sector clients requiring multi-market, multi-project real estate services.
Schmidt, who earned his bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall University, is a member of CoreNet Global, the leading professional association for the corporate real estate industry as well as IAMC and ICSC. He also is active in his community, and served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Summit (N.J.) YMCA.
Vik Bangia is responsible for leading the Global Client Solutions team. He has nearly 20 years in commercial real estate including senior management positions at Cresa Partners, United Properties/Northmarq and CB Richard Ellis, along with managing corporate real estate for Fortune 500 oil giant Unocal (now part of Chevron Corporation).
During Vik’s career, he has been involved in all aspects of corporate real estate, including major corporate downsizings, headquarters relocations, land acquisitions and dispositions, environmental remediation, corporate restructurings and turnarounds, lease negotiations of all sizes, M&A support, financial analysis, real estate administration and strategic planning.
He is a regular speaker at corporate real estate industry events, a writer of real estate columns and white papers for various industry publications and has a Master of Corporate Real Estate (MCR) from CoreNet Global where he is a top-rated faculty member of CoreNet Global’s Executive Development Programs.
Vik has an MBA from the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University as well as a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Oklahoma. He also holds the CoreNet Global, Master of Corporate Real Estate (MCR) professional designation.
William F. “Bill” Hinson is Vice President of Business Development with Coldwell Banker Commercial®. In this role, he oversees a team responsible for the proactive development of client relationships and business development opportunities as well as broker advisory services for Coldwell Banker Commercial affiliate offices nationwide.
Bill Hinson is an accomplished real estate executive with over 20 years of experience in successfully managing, administrating and leasing commercial space throughout the United States. His background includes corporate services, third party and ownership representation, management and leasing of over $1 billion in commercial office and retail structures as well as representing Fortune 50 clients in leasing, lease administration and design & construction services.
Prior to joining Coldwell Banker Commercial, Bill worked for United Systems Integrators (currently Johnson Controls Inc.) managing the GMAC Residential account, the Eastern Region of the Wachovia Securities corporate real estate department, as well as managing and leasing several high rise office properties in major metropolitan markets.
During his career, Bill has been responsible for over 500 lease transactions, personally closing over 200 leases totaling in excess of $200 million and 2.5 million square feet. Those leases have been located in 40 states from Washington to Florida and California to New Hampshire.
He has overseen construction projects ranging from small reconfigurations to major relocations and expansions, including a 66,000 square foot call center relocation. He has also been responsible for lease payments in excess of $100 million. As a general manager, Bill has managed over 3 million square feet of office and retail properties.
Bill holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from DePaul University in Chicago.
Jason Silfies is Vice President, Marketing and Technology for Coldwell Banker Commercial and oversees all the marketing and technology initiatives for the brand.
Jason is primarily responsible for maintaining a strong brand image for the CBC company. He oversees the development and execution of all of the company’s traditional marketing functions such as advertising, public relations, product development and communications.
In addition, he administers all activities related to the Coldwell Banker Commercial organization’s technology functions. Most recently, he managed the development and execution of the company’s groundbreaking electronic marketing initiatives which includes the award winning public website CBCWorldwide.com and internal corporate internet CBCBlueprint.
Jason has almost 20 years of marketing experience, including the past nine in the real estate industry. Prior to joining Coldwell Banker Commercial, he was responsible for overseeing the Century 21 Commercial and Century 21 Fine Homes & Estates brand awareness programs.
Jason holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
David Birnbaum, Vice President of Learning directs all training initiatives for Coldwell Banker Commercial, including classroom training, eLearning courseware and strategic planning. David came from AT&T, where he spent 17 years in various management roles. In 1996, he began designing eCommerce web platforms combining web, fax and automated phone systems. In 1998 he joined AT&T’s training department managing their global learning management system & helpdesk and directing a team that developed web site portals and hundreds of online courses. David has also consulted on user experience, web metrics and search engine optimization for online magazines. He has a BS (Magna Cum Laude) from City University of New York and an MS from New York University.
