senior vice president, CB Richard Ellis
Company: CB Richard Ellis
Title: Senior vice president
Family: “A very sweet daughter, a beautiful woman I love and a teenage son about to drive.”
City of residence: Cedarburg
Hobbies: “Host of a three-hour radio show called ‘Rock & Roll Roots’ on Sunday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon on WKLH FM 96.5. Between that, work, the aforementioned family and the Packers/Brewers/Bucks … that pretty much leaves only eating and sleeping.”
What are you working on? “As you read this, I am working on my tan (my annual holiday vacation). I am also working on the office portion of the IREM forecast for Jan. 18, so please don’t ask me to reveal how the market looks to me.”
How does the market look to you? “On one hand, I am really concerned that southeast Wisconsin lacks an influx of companies coming into our area. And many of the bread and butter lease expirations that resulted in consistent activity and modest movement/upgrades are no longer around. But on the other hand, the Park East corridor is set to explode, there are big companies still doing big things and there are a myriad of exciting proposed projects, a lot of which are so good that you have to believe a few will undoubtedly come to fruition.”
What was the best deal you’ve ever been involved in? “To me, the best deals are when you intricately feel part of the company you are working with. I was proud to be involved in almost every aspect of GE Healthcare’s 500,000-square-foot building at the Research Park (in Wauwatosa), and I was also happy to be a part of the positive impact of the Manpower Inc. headquarters transaction (moving to downtown Milwaukee). It is also very gratifying to be working with great people at Cramer-Krasselt on another project that will positively impact our community. Although every deal is important, as a diehard sports fan, how can I not say the coolest deal was working on the office for The Commissioner of Major League Baseball?”
What was the funniest moment of your career? “There have been a lot of them in 20 years, but here goes: I was working on a top-secret potential real estate project for an unnamed local major company (one with a very recognizable logo). We needed to clandestinely tour a building that was still occupied. I concocted a story that kept their identity under wraps. On the rainy day of the final tour, I picked up about a half dozen executives from that firm in an undistinguished rental van. We pulled up to the building and all of the executives opened their umbrellas revealing the company’s logo on each one. They looked about as anonymous as Paris Hilton at an Amish barn raising. Weeks of work to hide their identity went down the drain. All we could do was laugh about it.”
