John Jacobsson is the new executive vice-president at The Related Companies L.P., the real estate firm based in New York City, reported The Wall Street Journal.

Jacobsson is a veteran real-estate executive who spent 19 years at AREA Property Partners, an international real estate fund manager that's operated in the U.S. since 1993 and internationally since 1995.

Jacobsson fully intends to raise capital and expand the firm's business as part of his new leadership role in the company.

According to The Journal AREA previously belonged to Leon Black's private-equity company, Apollo Global Management. Jacobsson also oversaw U.S. and Mexican investments as a managing partner at the company.

At Related Cos., Jacobsson is specifically focusing on developing relationships through pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors.

"I'm going to be spending time on new deals, new businesses and particularly on capital relationships of the firm," he said in an interview with The Journal.

Coincidentally, both AREA and Related are located in the Time Warner Center at 10 Columbus Circle in New York, and only two floors apart.  AREA headquartered on the 20th floor while Related is situated on the 19th.

"I'll be spending a very tiny amount less time on the elevator," he told The Journal.

Related's founder and Chair Stephen M. Ross was recently listed as one of New York's richest veteran real estate moguls and featured in the Forbes Top 400 wealthiest in the world. Ross, a Miami Beach native, is also the majority owner of the Miami Dolphins.

Among the properties on the Related portfolio include the Time Warner Center.  It's also developing the anticipated Hudson Yards project on a 26-acre undeveloped property in Manhattan. Hudson Yards is expected to feature innovative architecture, parks, residential, retail buildings, arts and cultural neighborhoods all in Manhattan's West Side landscape.