Doupe's team to stay at CB despite rumors

Real Estate Alert, March 10, 2004

CB Richard Ellis' Los Angeles brokerage team, headed by executive vice president David Doupe, is staying put, ending several months of speculation that it might jump to a rival firm.

The team, which includes senior vice president Lawrence Krasner, moved over to CB last July when the brokerage acquired Insignia/ESG. But their employment contracts had "out clauses" in the event of a merger, and there were soon widespread rumors that the team would move to Jones Lang LaSalle or Trammell Crow.

Jones Lang approached the team last fall--apparently without making an offer--when it was seeking to replace Tom Miller, who had left for Crescent Real Estate Equities. Trammell's hiring of former Insignia executive Robert Shibuya led to speculation it would make a run for Doupe's services, although the brokerage ultimately did not talk with Doupe.

Doupe said this week that he had not approached other firms and instead entered into talks with CB on a new contract. "A number of people at CB reached out to us," Doupe said. His team came to terms with CB on a new contract last week.

Some observers thought Doupe's arrival at CB would lead to irreconcilable turf wars. At Insignia, his team had a regional presence handling various asset classes, while CB already had well-established office and retail teams in place in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego County.

But Doupe expressed confidence that there would be few conflicts, saying that most listings are generated by relationships that brokers have developed over the years. If clients were unsure about which team to use, he added, senior managing director Mike McMenomy and president Greg Vorwaller, who head the institutional properties group, could direct them.

Late last year, Doupe settled a breach of contract dispute with former employer Greenwich Group International. Greenwich initiated the claim shortly after Doupe left the brokerage for Insignia in 1998. The ongoing dispute, which did not affect other members of his team, was seen as a potential roadblock that might keep him from jumping to another firm.

Meanwhile, Kimberly Schneider will join Doupe's team as an associate broker, beginning May 1. She was previously CB's director of operations.