Engel & Völkers Scoops Seven Realtors from The Agency

Engel & Völkers Dallas hired Bret Whitfield as director of its Park Cities office, along with six agents, from The Agency.

Whitfield will lead recruiting and growth for Engel & Völkers, which also brought on Debbie Soriano, Jacob Wilson, Zach Bell, Kathryn Herrerias, Dakota Deal and Nora Windham.

JLL added Trey Neville as executive vice president to help lead retail expansion in Dallas–Fort Worth. Neville has over 30 years of brokerage experience in North Texas, with a background in investment sales, leasing, site selection and retail development.

He joins a DFW retail team that’s added seven members since last year and will focus on building out the firm’s presence in Fort Worth, advising institutional and private clients, a release said. Neville was previously Managing Principal at Graham LTD, according to LinkedIn.

Design firm TBG Partners hired Gonzalo Echeverría as principal and director of design for its urban design and planning studio.

Based in Houston, he is joining the Austin-based firm from McCord Development, where he led the 4,300-acre Generation Park master plan. Echeverría brings nearly 30 years of global experience to the role and will oversee the creative direction of planning projects across TBG’s four Texas offices, with a focus on resilient, “people-first” community design, a release said.

Houston-based law firm Norton Rose Fulbright appointed three new leaders within its U.S. real estate group. Katie Van Dyk, based in Austin, was named U.S. Head of Commercial Real Estate, while John F. Young and Christine Fernandez Owen in Chicago were tapped as U.S. Co-Heads of Projects Real Estate. Van Dyk joined the firm in 2017 as an associate; Young and Owen were both hired from Clean Law PC in 2022, according to LinkedIn.

The trio will support national practice lead John Jennings, based in San Antonio, as the firm continues expanding its bench of lawyers focused on asset work in real estate development, finance and clean energy.