Fuqua Development announced that well-known commercial leasing executive Dotan Zuckerman has joined the firm as its new Vice-President of Leasing.

A native Atlantan, Zuckerman spent his high school years in Israel and later served in the Israeli Defense Force before returning to his native city in 2006. He is a graduate of Georgia State University with a degree in Business Administration with a major in Real Estate.

Zuckerman started his commercial real estate career in Atlanta ten years ago with a focus on landlord representation. As such, he managed the intown portfolios of major clients such as Dewberry Capital, Halpern Enterprises and the Atlanta History Center, among others.

In 2011, Zuckerman joined North American Properties where he led the leasing strategy for the dramatic turnaround of Atlantic Station, a major Atlanta destination consisting of 1.3 million square feet of retail space anchored by major tenants such as Target, IKEA, Regal Cinema and Dillard’s. Zuckerman successfully increased the occupancy by 20% by adding over 40 new national and local retailers and chef-driven restaurants.

Zuckerman’s next challenge was Avalon, where he was instrumental in the preleasing of over 500,000 square feet of retail. Success was clear. Avalon opened with an unprecedented 98% occupancy rate while delivering an acclaimed mix of tenants like Whole Foods, Anthropology, Free People, Lululemon and JCrew. Furthermore, Zukerman strategically curated the best-in-class, chef-driven restaurant mix which many consider the cornerstone of the Avalon development.

As Fuqua Development’s Vice President of Leasing, Zuckerman will focus immediately on The Battery Atlanta and the multiple opportunities for prestigious retail, food and entertainment businesses to be part of the mixed use development associated with the Atlanta Braves’ new ballpark.

“We have a full portfolio of projects to keep Dotan busy 24/7,” stated Jeff Fuqua. “With 12 Fuqua Development projects in metro Atlanta in various stages of development, Dotan will be an invaluable addition to our excellent leasing team,” Fuqua concluded.