Brian Watkins Promoted to Director at ING Clarion Partners

NEW YORK, (April 30) – ING Clarion Partners LLC, a leading real estate investment advisor, will partner with Grupo Carrousel and Operadora Punta Maroma to develop a new $150 million (excluding land) ultra luxury ocean front resort on Bahia Maroma along Mexico’s Riviera Maya, the firm announced today. The project will include an 86-villa, ultra-luxury hotel from Capella Hotels and Resorts, one of the world’s finest hotel operators.

At ING Clarion, Mr. Watkins manages an acquisitions team responsible for the South and Midwest regions of the U.S. as well as New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. He pursues the acquisition of all property types, covering the spectrum of real estate strategies, including core, value-add and opportunistic/development transactions.

Since joining ING Clarion Partners in 1996, Mr. Watkins has been responsible for the purchase of more than $5 billion in real estate on behalf of ING Clarion clients. Mr. Watkins led the firm’s acquisition and joint venture foray into Mexico for the ING Clarion Lion Mexico Fund and was part of the team that acquired Gables Residential Trust, a $2.8 billion publicly traded REIT in one of the largest public-to-private transactions in the residential sector.

Mr. Watkins and his team recently acquired more than 1,100 acres along the Houston ship channel for the development of a potential port and has just closed on 1000 Jefferson, a newly constructed multi-family mid-rise project in Hoboken, N.J.

Mr. Watkins has over 15 years of real estate experience and is based in the firm’s headquarters in New York City.