CBRE Welcomes James Mitchell and Erin Rice to Lead Capital Markets – Auto Dealerships Business

CBRE announced today that the company has hired Executive Vice President James Mitchell and Vice President Erin Rice. Based in CBRE’s Washington, D.C. office, Mr. Mitchell and Ms. Rice join CBRE’s Capital Markets line of business and will focus on advising automotive clients throughout the country. They provide an array of business solutions and services to their automotive clientele, including buy/sells, debt & equity procurements, debt workouts, and real estate finance alternatives.

Mr. Mitchell and Ms. Rice join CBRE from Cushman & Wakefield, where they led the firm’s national Dealership Capital Services team. Prior to working at Cushman & Wakefield, they led CBRE’s Dealership Capital Services Group and worked directly with some of the top automotive retail groups in the U.S.

“We’re thrilled to welcome James and Erin back to CBRE,” says Kyle Schoppmann, CBRE’s President, Advisory Services, Mid-Atlantic. “We’re continuing to expand our unique offerings in the Mid-Atlantic and grow and diversify our services. We offer an unparalleled platform for professionals like James and Erin to access, so they can deliver exceptional client outcomes, while continuing to grow their business.”

Mr. Mitchell has more than 27 years of experience in the automotive industry, spanning the diverse areas of retail, finance and real estate. He first entered the automotive brokerage business in 2007 at Marcus & Millichap, where he was founder and director of their National Automotive Group. Before focusing on brokerage, he co-founded and managed Automerica, a dealership chain specializing in pre-owned sales. Mr. Mitchell’s expertise in automotive real estate originated from his time on the acquisitions team at Capital Automotive Real Estate Investment Services, Inc. (CARS), an automotive real estate investment trust in McLean, Virginia, where he assisted in the sourcing and underwriting of more than $650 million of auto dealer real estate. He began his career at American Honda as a Senior District Manager.

Ms. Rice has over 18 years of experience in commercial real estate with 15 of these years specializing in the automotive industry. Prior to joining CBRE, she spent nine years at CARS, working her way up from a Senior Analyst to an Assistant Vice President/Portfolio Manager role. Ms. Rice’s achievements included closing more than $250 million of sale-leaseback acquisitions, property dispositions, improvement fundings, real estate due diligence, legal negotiations, lease restructures and over $1.4 billion in debt re-financings.

“We are thrilled to be back at CBRE, where we can harness the largest commercial real estate platform nationally and globally,” says CBRE Executive Vice President James Mitchell. “We’re excited to share our expanded resources with our clients and look forward to delivering buy/sells and other services with them in 2023.”