Cushman Executive Director Jumps to New Firm with Burkhart 

By Steph Kukuljan  – Reporter, St. Louis Business Journal | Jan 7, 2020

Paul Hilton is stepping down from his position as executive director of Cushman & Wakefield to join BurkHill Real Estate LLC, the investment company he quietly co-founded in 2016.

Hilton will serve as managing principal alongside co-founder Mark Burkhart, the former CEO of Cassidy Turley, where Hilton also worked as it evolved to Cushman & Wakefield.

"I've been on the brokerage side for 26 years and was ready for a change and wanting to do something different," Hilton said. "Cushman is a great company. I'm leaving behind a lot of friends and colleagues,"

He's a 35-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry with his career transactions totaling over $8 billion.

"Paul and I have been colleagues for 30 years, and Paul’s extensive experience and relationships in the real estate world add tremendous value to BurkHill,” said Burkhart, co-founder and managing principal of BurkHill.

His full-time appointment comes after BurkHill partnered with Gershman Commercial Real Estate in September to purchase Sachs Properties’ 18-property Chesterfield portfolio, one of the largest commercial real estate deals in the St. Louis region over the past decade.

With an overall investment estimated to be more than $100 million, BurkHill is set to oversee capital improvements and other upgrades to the property. Gershman oversees the leasing and management of the portfolio.

"The focus is to continue ramping up the portfolio. We're starting to look for additional acquisitions for our second fund," Hilton said. BurkHill launched its first, $30 million investment fund in 2017.

The firm’s fund invests in retail, industrial, office, and multifamily real estate assets, with a minimum asset size of $1 million.