Grubb & Ellis forms new financial services group

Real Estate Weekly, Feb 19, 2003

Grubb & Ellis Company announced that it has formed a Financial Services Group to manage and coordinate investment sales and services for clients across the United States as well as globally, in association with its two worldwide services partners, Knight Frank and Avison Young.

Keith Misner, formerly the head of Grubb & Ellis' Multi Housing Investment Group, was named as the executive managing director for the newly formed Financial Services Group. Misner said that formation of the group evolved out of the need to more formally deliver coordinated and collaborative commercial, multi housing and investment services to Grubb & Ellis' clients and professionals. Grubb & Ellis closes over $3.5 billion worth of investment sales annually and has completed over $11 billion in investment transactions during the last three years.

The creation of the new Financial Services Group was the result of chief financial officer Ian Bress' commitment to strengthen Grubb & Ellis' institutional sales and investment services capability nation-wide. Bress worked with Grubb & Ellis' top investment sales professionals across the country and senior management staff to re-structure the financial services group and centralize the investment platform with Keith Misner as the leader.

"As part of our on-going effort to provide the marketplace with a fully integrated platform of real estate services, we are strengthening our focus and ability to offer institutional sales and investment services to our clients," said Ian Bress, CFO of Grubb & Ellis. "Grubb & Ellis has always had an investment sales capability, but this closely coordinated group will bring our client servicing capability to a much higher and consistent level globally," added Bress.

The new group will coordinate the delivery of investment sales, multi housing sales and investment expertise through a network of 200 Grubb & Ellis commercial and multi housing investment professionals located in all of the company's 92 offices across the United States. The global reach and impact of Grubb & Ellis' new Financial Services Group will be further enhanced through a dedicated investment sales and market focus with the firm's global alliance partners, Knight Frank and Avison Young.

The group's domestic activities will be coordinated by three regional managers, who report to Misner, including: Marie Balian, based in New York City, who will head the eastern region; Marshall Brantmeier in Dallas, who will head the group's central region; and Mark Howell, in Sacramento, who will head the western region. Coordination and business development activities with global business partners will be handled by Misner, based in Washington, DC, and Grubb & Ellis' director of international operations, Ray O'Keefe, in New York City.

The core of the Financial Services Group also involves the creation of two advisory boards, which are comprised of the most senior and tenured commercial and multi housing sales professionals in the Grubb & Ellis network. Misner said the creation of the 42-member Grubb & Ellis Investment and Grubb & Ellis Multi Housing Boards provide the platform which enables the firm's collective and collaborative experience and market knowledge to better reach and service investment clients.