Meet Our Leadership Team
At The CABOT Group, our leadership team embodies the depth and breadth of commercial real estate experience that sets us apart – and delivers meaningful value to every client we serve.
With decades of hands-on expertise spanning property management, brokerage, tenant representation, project management, facilities management, and more, our leaders understand the unique demands of the diverse real estate sectors we support – from healthcare and higher education to corporate offices and multi-family developments. This unmatched knowledge drives strategic, customized solutions to your real estate management needs designed to enhance productivity, maximize profitability, and optimize the long-term value of your real estate assets.
As trusted advisors and advocates, our team is committed to navigating your challenges and seizing opportunities alongside you, always focused on your success, today and into the future.
J. Michael Smith, CEO
Mike Smith founded The CABOT Group in 1971. Mike has extensive experience in the management, leasing, financing, disposition, and adaptive re-utilization of real estate.
Mike has deep real estate experience and has supported wide variety of corporate, educational, municipal, health care, and not-for-profit organizations. In fact, Mike has represented a number of financial institutions needing assistance with troubled real estate and has served as a court-appointed Receiver for a wide range of real estate properties throughout Upstate New York.
Mike is an graduate of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and pursued advanced studies in the University’s MBA program.
Steve Leonhard, CFO
Steve has over fourty years of experience in the real estate management and development industry. At The CABOT Group, he is responsible for the financial reporting, tax accounting, budgetary planning, and internal control procedures.
In addition, he supervises the accounting and information technology department, assists with the preparation of project financial projections, administers the cash management systems, and interfaces with financial institutions and investors. Prior to his appointment as Vice President/CFO of The CABOT Group, he served as the company’s corporate controller.
Prior to his activity in the real estate industry, Steve served as a Senior Auditor for an international public accounting firm responsible for client audit engagements in the real estate, banking and commodities industries.
Steve holds a B.S. in Accounting from Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and is currently a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and New York State Society of CPAs.
Daniel Saperstone, Vice President
Dan carries considerable expertise and experience in the marketing, leasing and management of a wide variety of commercial real estate assets – general office, medical office, retail and aviation related developments.
It’s these experiences that provide Dan a unique and well-rounded base of industry knowledge which has helped him successfully lease over 2,000,000 sq. ft. of commercial space during his successful tenure.
Dan joined The CABOT Group in 2009 as Vice President, focusing on the marketing, leasing and management of commercial properties. He has worked closely with a number of the firm’s largest institutional clients to successfully lease or bring to market a number of high profile properties. Dan has extensive experience working with federal, state and local governmental agencies – successfully executing lease transactions with both the State of New York and GSA.
Dan has also been a member of the senior management teams at several large real estate development firms in addition to his experience as a commercial mortgage lender. A graduate of St. John Fisher College with a M.S. from Nazareth College, Dan has served on numerous non-for-profit boards and is actively involved in the local real estate community.
Bruce H. Hunt, Vice President, Facilities Management & Director of Commercial Real Estate
Bruce has over thirty years of experience in asset management and facilities maintenance of commercial, medical, retail, manufacturing, warehouse assets throughout Western New York.
Prior to joining The CABOT Group in 2001, Bruce held positions as: Director of Real Estate for Richard Gollel & Companies; Property Manager for Wegmans Food Markets; and, most recently, Senior Facility Manager for Eastman Kodak Company. Bruce is experienced in proactive maintenance procedures, project management, financial budgeting, energy management, team leadership and customer service.
Bruce is a graduate of the State University of New York at Canton.
William R. Duchano, Director of Project Management
Bill has more than 30 years’ experience in various aspects of the real estate industry including residential and commercial development and construction management.
Bill has extensive experience in all fields of construction and has completed a multitude of projects including; medical facilities, commercial spaces, industrial facilities, and multi-family communities. Bill is a proven relationship builder and has been involved in complex projects that have challenged the status quo in terms of design, delivery, and cost efficiency.
Bill joined The CABOT Group in 2009 and has been responsible for the repositioning of assets, management of capital projects, and leading the project management team. Prior to joining The CABOT Group, Bill served as a member of senior management at Rochester area development firms.
Jordan Debes, Vice President, Multi-Family Asset Management
Jordan has more than a decade of experience in the real estate asset management field, successfully improving the net operating income and average occupancies of every portfolio he has managed.
Prior to joining THE CABOT GROUP in 2004, Jordan served in a variety of property management positions with Home Properties. Jordan has extensive experience in executive management of large portfolios, repositioning of distressed assets, administration of capital improvements, financial and operational analysis, market evaluations, expense reduction, team building, and strategic planning.
Jordan is a graduate of Boston University, holds the designation of Certified Property Manager (CPM) from the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), and is an active member of the Western New York Chapter of IREM.
Adam Smith, Vice President, Corporate Services
Adam serves as the firm’s Vice President of Corporate Real Estate Services working closely with the firm’s largest clients to provide tenant representation, lease administration, and lease auditing services.
Adam has extensive experience helping both large-scale institutions and small businesses. He guides his clients through the real estate acquisition process – developing real estate needs assessments, performing market studies, identifying potential solutions for client requirements, calculating comparative analyses of alternatives, and negotiating their lease and purchase agreements. Adam ensures clients understand their current and projected expenses, maintenance responsibilities, critical dates, lease options, and other key lease terms.
Prior to joining The CABOT Group in 2008, Mr. Smith was employed in sales and marketing positions with Paxar Corporation and Daktronics. Adam received a B.S. in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a licensed Real Estate agent in the State of New York and previously served on the Board of Directors for the Rochester Area New York State Commercial Association of Realtors.