National multifamily developer expands to Florida with St. Pete office
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 30, 2022

National multifamily developer Cypress Equity Investments' new Florida presence includes an office in St. Petersburg.

This is the third regional expansion since CEI’s joint venture partnership with New York-based real estate investment, management and development company Winter Properties in October 2021. CEI will also have an office in Fort Lauderdale.

In St. Petersburg, the company recruited Wesley Geys, senior vice president of development. In Fort Lauderdale, Errol Blumer will be senior vice president of acquisitions. The two will “seek garden, mid-rise and high-rise off-market multifamily opportunities across the state," according to CEI.

“While our national expansion has been advancing strategically, with three new regional offices, we understand that the key to building a strong foundation for each location is to bring onboard the right local leaders to drive it forward,” Michael Sorochinsky, CEI’s founder and chief executive, said in a release. “In Errol and Wes, we are confident we have secured regional experts who share our commitment and passion for working with community leaders to build and own multifamily communities with integrity, honesty and a dedication to quality.”

From the downtown St. Pete office at 333 Third Ave. N, Suite 230, Geys will focus on “sourcing, capitalization and execution of multifamily projects throughout Florida,” according to the release. He has more than 20 years of real estate experience and was vice president of Jefferson Apartment Group, director of development of Tavistock Development Co., director of development with Greystone and development manager with Landmark Cos.

In total, he has been involved in the development of approximately 6,400 multifamily units with a capitalized value of $1.8 billion.

CEI, which began in 2001, has completed just over 9,000 apartments to date and has “more than 11,000 in the pipeline.” It has offices in Aspen, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Florida, Los Angeles and New Jersey. The Dallas office opened in March 2022, and the Denver office opened in December 2021.