First National Realty Partners introduced a key new executive April 13, CEO Josh Champion.

According to the announcement from the Red Bank-based commercial real estate private equity firm, which specializes in grocery-anchored, necessity-based retail products, Champion brings experience in investment, asset and fund management, in addition to leading high-functioning teams, to the role.

“We are both fortunate and excited to have Josh join the FNRP team. Josh brings a track record of investment success combined with deep experience scaling growing firms that we believe is unmatched in the industry,” said Jared Feldman, executive chairman of FNRP. “We look forward to Josh being able to apply his background and prior accomplishments to help FNRP embark on its next phase of growth.”

According to the hiring announcement, Champion previously served as president and chief investment officer of CARROLL, a Georgia-based vertically integrated private equity real estate business. There, he oversaw day-to-day operations of the investment platform, asset and portfolio management, capital raising, investor reporting and fund management, according to FNRP, in addition to being responsible for crafting and implementing CARROL’s national acquisition and disposition strategy.

According to FNRP, at CARROLL, Champion:

• led the acquisition of 75,000+ multifamily units nationwide
• led more than $20 billion of multifamily and mixed-use deals, through multiple market cycles
• raised over $4 billion of equity through discretionary funds, separate accounts and programmatic joint ventures
• sourced and secured more than $8 billion of debt financing.

The company said that during his tenure there, the firm realized gross portfolio returns of 28% internal rate of return and 2.2x equity multiple across than $8.5 billion of dispositions.

Champion is based in Atlanta, Ga.

He follows Andrew DeNardo in the role, who continues to be an instrumental part of FNRP’s growth, a company representative told NJBIZ.

DeNardo was elevated to the role of president and leads the Investor Relations team, with a focus on growing the company’s private equity line. According to FNRP, under DeNardo’s leadership, the Investors Relations team will focus on strategic capital raising efforts.

Feldman previously served as CIO for FNRP. In November 2022, the company announced the addition of Michael Hazinski in that role, while Feldman was promoted to executive chairman.

Champion’s appointment follows the recent addition of another c-suite executive: Chief Marking Officer Angela Hwang, who joined the team in January.

The acquisitive FNRP’s latest addition was announced in March, a 359,484-square-foot grocery-anchored property in Maryland that brought the firm’s total number of assets in the DMV-metropolitan area to four.

That first deal of the new year followed a record-setting 2022 for FNRP, according to the company, during which it closed 105 new leases covering a cumulative 538,000 square feet, marking “a significant increase over 2021 and a reflection of notable portfolio growth as well as industry momentum.” FNRP also reported a significant increase in its market share for 2022, with a projected $1.5 billion in assets under management nationwide, including more than $800 million in acquisitions.

As of that January announcement, the company’s portfolio comprised more than 11.2 million square feet across 22 states.