Berkadia Adds Brendan Shields, Two Others to Boston Multifamily Investment Sales Team

BOSTON — August 25, 2026 — Berkadia has added three multifamily investment sales advisors to its Boston platform, the firm announced, bringing on Senior Managing Directors Kevin Gleason and Brendan Shields and Director Maggie McFarland to strengthen its presence in the New England market.

All three began their roles on August 25. They join Berkadia's Boston office, where they will serve as the firm's lead multifamily investment sales advisors locally.

A High-Volume Team With Deep New England Roots

Gleason, Shields, and McFarland collectively bring more than 40 years of combined commercial real estate experience, along with a track record of more than $15 billion in completed volume across property sales and capitalizations in the New England region. Their work focuses on the origination and execution of multifamily investment sales and capitalizations.

Prior to joining Berkadia, the three were part of Walker & Dunlop's investment sales platform in Boston. Before that, Shields and Gleason spent five years within the Capital Markets Group at JLL.

"We are thrilled to be joining Berkadia, a firm we have long admired as a leader in the multifamily space," said Gleason. "We look forward to leveraging Berkadia's platform to better serve our clients across New England," added Shields.

Strategic Fit for Berkadia's Expanding Multifamily Platform

The hire comes as Berkadia has reported significant growth in its multifamily investment sales business. The firm's multifamily investment sales volume increased nearly 38% in the first half of 2026, pushing it to 9.6% market share among brokers on multifamily transactions of at least $25 million and moving the firm to No. 4 in Real Estate Alert's ranking of top multifamily property brokers for that period. At year-end 2025, Berkadia reported $35 billion in investment sales transaction volume across 615 transactions and an 8.1% multifamily investment sales market share.

The new Boston team will collaborate with Berkadia's mortgage banking partners in the region, the firm said, forming what it described as a client-focused, full-service advisory group. The addition represents a talent acquisition into an existing Boston office rather than a new market entry.

Boston Multifamily Market Provides Active Backdrop

The expansion into Boston's multifamily advisory market comes at a moment of elevated transaction activity in the region. Over the prior year ending in early 2026, approximately 16,594 units traded for a total of $4.6 billion in Boston multifamily sales. Sales volume in the first quarter of 2025 doubled compared to the same period in 2024, reaching a three-year high. Boston's size-weighted average multifamily cap rate stood at 5.6% in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting a pricing environment that has reset from the compressed yields of 2021 and 2022.

Vacancy in the Boston rental market remains tight, with the real-time vacancy rate in the City of Boston at 1.43% and the Greater Boston metro at 1.68%. Average asking rents in Boston reached $3,408 per month, up 2.62% year-over-year.

Early 2026 investment activity showed some moderation, with sales volume through April 2026 running below the prior year's pace, even as longer-term fundamentals — low vacancy, steady rent growth, and an active construction pipeline of approximately 13,400 units — continue to draw institutional capital to the market.

Backgrounds and Credentials

Gleason graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and a minor in Entrepreneurial Leadership. Shields received his bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from the College of Charleston. McFarland earned her bachelor's degree in real estate finance from the University of Miami's Herbert Business School.

Berkadia is a commercial real estate company offering investment sales, mortgage banking, and institutional solutions services, with a focus on the multifamily sector.

Sources

• Berkadia — Official Announcement