James Arket, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Houston, TX

Jim is the senior broker of office tenant representation for Grubb & Ellis Company in Houston. He has over 30 years of real estate experience in negotiating major office building lease, purchase and sale, and build-to-suit transactions. His prior business experience includes the responsibility for contract negotiations with federal, state and local government accounts with IBM Corporation, as well as managing a distribution and manufacturing operation in Houston. Jim's early real estate background began with a partnership which developed and managed income-producing properties in Houston. He joined The Horne Company Realtors, a major Houston real estate firm in 1979. The firm exclusively marketed the premier CBD and suburban office development projects by Hines and Prudential. He was responsible for the project management and leasing of the highly successful Brookhollow Central Complex, a 800,000-square-foot multi-building office project then being developed by Prudential. Jim is a member of Grubb & Ellis’ President’s Council, the Company's premier symbol of achievement, bestowed on a select group of professionals who have consistently demonstrated a commitment to service excellence, teamwork and the advancement of the Company and the real estate industry. Jim graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Robert Bantly, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Austin, TX

Robert is a senior commercial real estate professional with solid grounding in marketing, finance and negotiations strategy. Over the years, he has been involved in numerous major and complex tenant representation and investment transactions. His negotiating skills have consistently brought measurable financial value to clients, whether on the lease, sale or purchase side of the deal. In his 11 years with Grubb & Ellis, Robert has negotiated numerous transactions exceeding 2 million square feet with a combined value of more than $225 million. He has been a consistent top performer for Grubb & Ellis and has ranked among the company’s Top 10 professionals in the state of Texas on several occasions. He also has been honored at the Circle of Excellence, which recognizes the company’s top brokers nationwide. Robert received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Cincinnati.

Randy Book, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Detroit, MI

Throughout his career, Randy has concentrated his practice on Tenant Representation for lease evaluation, renewal and new lease negotiations. He has completed transactions that included office space, building sales, and land leasing ranging in size from 5,000 to 500,000 square feet. Randy is a Senior Vice President at Grubb & Ellis in the office division in Detroit. He also serves as one of the lead strategists for the Tenant Advisory Group, a team of senior advisors within Grubb & Ellis, located in all of the major cities that represent multi-market corporate users of office space. Randy is directly responsible for team formation, creating and implementing the overall strategy, and overseeing all negotiations. He manages diverse transactions on behalf of clients ranging from complicated lease renewals to land site selection and negotiations for build-to-suit requirements. Randy’s success is shown by the many awards that he has received which include: Grubb & Ellis’ Circle of Excellence, Top Producer, Monthly Top 5 Brokers, and the Jimmy Valvano award for several years in a row. Randy was ranked “#5 Broker” in all of Grubb & Ellis is 2008. Randy’s professional affiliation is with CoreNet Global. He believes in the continued education of real estate professionals and continues to donate to CoreNets educational purpose.

Bob Busch, Vice President
Senior Leader - St. Louis, MO

Bob, Esq., CCIM is a licensed attorney and a Vice President with the Grubb & Ellis|Gundaker Commercial. His legal background has led to experience in contracts, negotiations, 1031 exchanges, lease agreements, financing and zoning issues. Bob can advise his clients on a variety of real estate related transactions, including representation and investment opportunities. His customer service oriented approach to traditional brokerage allows him to provide his clients with solutions to all their real estate needs. He specializes in landlord representation and exclusive tenant representation. In 2008 and 2009, he earned the honor as the #2 Producer in the company. Bob is a native St. Louisan and a graduate of the University of Missouri – Columbia and the University of Missouri – Columbia School of Law. He has worked in public defense and as an Associate Attorney. His commitment to the field of law has enhanced his ability to research appropriate solutions for every situation. Bob is currently a member of the St. Louis Association of Realtors, as well as the Missouri Bar Association and the Illinois Bar Association. He is also active in the Priory Alumni Association and Big Brothers / Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri.

Craig Cassell, Senior Vice President
Senior Vice President - Rosemont, IL

Craig joined Grubb & Ellis Company in 2001 and serves as one of the lead strategists for the Tenant Advisory Group, a team of senior advisors within Grubb & Ellis located in all of the major cities that represent multi-market corporate users of office space. Craig is directly responsible for team formation, creating and implementing the overall strategy, and overseeing all negotiations. Craig has completed over 400,000 square feet of transactions in the last 18 months in greater Chicago. Assignments in 25 cities have ranged from 800 to 92,000 square feet.  Strategic multi-market clients Craig has represented include Miller Brewing Company, Orbit Medical, Morton Salt, and Citgo Petroleum. Craig brings a detail management and service approach to his clients coupled with an innovative and entrepreneurial delivery in his advisory role. Craig received a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Marketing from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Craig was also a member of the varsity football and men’s track and field teams during his time at Miami University.

Jeff Chasan, Senior Vice President
Lead Strategist - San Diego, CA

Jeff joined Grubb & Ellis recently as the Senior Leader of the Tenant Advisory Group for San Diego and brings over 23 years of experience in the commercial real estate field. Jeff specializes in representing tenants’ for office, with a diverse background consulting for the legal, financial, hi-tech, telecommunications, and medical industries for both leasing and sales. Prior to Grubb & Ellis, Jeff served as principal at Commercial Realty Advisors, which recently merged with Grubb & Ellis. Jeff also worked with such firms as IPC Commercial Real Estate, Beitler Commercial and Langdon Rieder Real Estate. Jeff received a bachelor of arts degree in Business from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Gail Crowder, SIOR, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Atlanta, GA

Gail is a commercial real estate professional with a 24-year history of professional accomplishments in the Atlanta area, throughout the United States and in the international arena. Her experience includes real estate project feasibility, strategic planning, tenant and project representation for lease and sales transactions, financial analysis, site acquisition, investment sales and project development. Gail has a proven track record of providing innovative solutions to real estate challenges and is responsible for sales and lease transactions in excess of $276 million. Among her regional, national and international clients are the Canadian Consulate General, the Consulate General of France, IBM, MetLife, Northern Trust, The Hartford and United Technologies Corporation. Gail received a bachelor of science degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia.

Kay C. Davis, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Atlanta, GA

Kay specializes in tenant representation of major national law firms, professional service firms and Fortune 500 companies. During her 14 years in the industry, she has worked for developers, tenant boutique firms and such national firms as Julien J. Studley, Inc. and Newmark Knight Frank. Kay has crafted and implemented long-term strategic real estate plans and feasibility studies on behalf of corporate and professional service firms throughout the country. For these and other clients, she has executed a wide range of real estate services, such as lease renewal and restructuring, national account representation, property disposition and headquarters leases.

Brett Diamond, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Washington, DC

Brett has over 23 years of commercial real estate experience representing the office space needs of Fortune 500 companies, trade associations and professional firms. He joined Grubb & Ellis in 2006 from Transwestern Commercial Services, where he was consistently one of the firm’s top-producing brokers. Experienced in both leasing and sales, Brett has a thorough understanding of the factors affecting real estate transactions. Specializing in the representation of users, he has consummated over 5 million square feet of transactions providing a broad spectrum of services which include: tenant relocations, lease renewals, lease restructuring, lease buyouts, subleases, multi-market account management, strategic planning, investment sales, land sales, build-to-suit evaluation and equity lease negotiations. Brett received a bachelor of science degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland.

Larry Easterly, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Walnut Creek, CA

Since joining Grubb & Ellis, Larry has consistently been one of the top producing office specialists for Grubb & Ellis in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. In 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996 and 1997 he received the Outstanding Achievement award for the East Bay Counties comprising of six Grubb & Ellis Company offices. Larry made Circle of Excellence in 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004, which recognized him as one of the top producers in the United States for Grubb & Ellis. In 2003, Larry was nominated by the East Bay Business Times for Broker of the Year. In 2005, Larry was nominated to President’s Council and was the top producer in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties for Grubb & Ellis. In 2007, Larry was promoted to Senior Vice President for his continued excellence in service to his clients and the firm.

Richard Economou, Executive Vice President
Senior Leader - New York, NY

Richard joined Grubb & Ellis New York, Inc. in November 2008 to further establish its integrated real estate services platform, particularly with FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate) sector clients and to enhance the company’s coverage of corporate and institutional occupants and the owner and investor community constituents throughout the country. With over 20 years of commercial real estate experience, Richard works with corporate clients to maximize their real estate portfolio to its fullest potential. He is considered a real estate turnaround expert specializing in asset disposition and corporate accounts. His in-depth understanding of the economic and operational implications of real estate makes him a key contact for major corporate clients such as Citi, Travelers, CIGNA, Smith Barney, Canon, and Raymond James. During Richard’s career he has worked with institutional clients on restructuring partnerships, debt instruments, and project development and completion. He has been responsible for arranging lease transactions totaling over three million square feet and sales transactions valued at more than $1.5 Billion in over 30 states within the U.S. Previously, Richard was senior vice president of New York and National Accounts for UGL Equis Corporation. Prior to UGL Equis, Richard acted as senior vice president for CB Richard Ellis with a focus on tenant representation within the FIRE sector. While with CBRE, Richard won the Coldwell Colbert Circle Award, which is given to the top three percent of the producers worldwide. Richard received a bachelor of arts degree in History from Ripon College, and did post graduate study in Real Estate at the University of Connecticut.

Jerry Eggleston, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Downtown Los Angeles, CA

Jerry joined Grubb & Ellis in 2005 as a Senior Vice President contributing proven experience and success to any commercial real estate transaction. Prior to Grubb & Ellis, Jerry spent 31 years with Cushman & Wakefield. During his career he has acted as exclusive agent for a number of prestigious tenants within the Los Angeles area. Jerry has also been involved in the sale of a number of assets including Citicorp Center, 800 South Hope and 1200 W. 7th Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Jerry began his career in a management capacity for the Atlantic Richfield Plaza, 800 Wilshire, and the One Wilshire Building. Jerry was consistently one of the leading commercial brokers in Cushman & Wakefield’s Los Angeles office since 1978. In 1982, he was promoted to Vice President, then Senior Vice President in 1987, and in 1993 was named Senior Director of Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc. Jerry was named Cushman & Wakefield’s Top Producer in the Western Region for 1983 and 1992 and in 1992 ranked among the top ten nationally. He was the leading producer for Cushman & Wakefield’s southwestern region in 2000 ranking 26th in the company. During his career, he has supervised sales and/or leases on more than 2,500,000 square feet of office space and transactions valued at more than $1.5 billion. He has completed a number of transactions with technology tenants including MCI, Teleport Communications, ICG, AT&T, Equinix and LayerOne to name a few. Jerry received a bachelor of science degree in Finance, Insurance and Real Estate from Cal State Polytechnic University.

Wayne Fisher, Executive Vice President
Senior Leader - Philadelphia, PA

Wayne joined the Grubb & Ellis Company in 1980 and now serves as a Sr. V.P., Director of the Philadelphia office. Wayne’s career began in landlord representation where he has extensive experience. Since the late 1980’s his career has transitioned to tenant representation of corporate and non-profit users within the Philadelphia region. Wayne brings on in-depth knowledge of the tenant lease transaction to every engagement. Wayne has ranked as one of Grubb & Ellis’ top producers every year since 1986 and has been amongst the top twenty on six occasions. In 2007 and 2008 he received local honors for the Best Suburban and Best Urban office leases. Wayne holds a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a Masters in Finance from Drexel University.

Maury Gentile, MCR, Executive Vice President
Senior Leader - Torrance, CA

Maury brings 25 years of experience to Grubb & Ellis as a Executive Vice President of the Tenant Advisory Group and is the Lead Strategist for the Southern California Team. During his career as a senior broker with Julien J. Studley and Newmark, he earned the trust and respect of his national and international corporate clients by helping them evaluate, strategize and implement creative real estate solutions. His leadership and commitment sets the benchmark for the level of service the team provides for our clients. Maury graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Real Estate Finance. He is actively involved with a number of local charities and co-founded Kid Care LA. He enjoys golf, volleyball and is an amateur racecar driver.

Philip Giunta, Executive Vice President
Senior Leader - Boston, MA

Based in the Boston region, Phil has 20 years of experience in real estate investment sales, tenat advisory, landlord representation and lease consulting across all property types. Phil represents a group of prestigious clients nationally assisting them in property dispositions, lease negotiations, asset monetizations and lease expansions and extensions. Phil is a member of the Grubb & Ellis' Presidents's Council, the Company's premier symbol of achievement. Phil received a bachelor of science degree from Bentley College.

Joseph Harkins, Executive Managing Director
Senior Leader - New York - Midtown, NY

Joe joined Grubb & Ellis in 2006 and serves as Executive Managing Director in the New York office. Joe’s career spans over 23 years specializing in providing real estate acquisition, disposition and consulting services to a diverse group of corporate tenants and property owners, principally within lower Manahattan. Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis, Joe was a Principal with The Staubach Company where he established their lower Manhattan office in 2004, and earned national Top Achiever honors during five out of six years with the firm through his transaction management production. Joe had also been affiliated with Cushman & Wakefield and Tishman Real Estate Services. During his career, Joe has completed some of Manhattans largest lease transactions, including the representation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s new 235,00 Square foot lease at 3 World Financial Center while concurrently disposing of the SEC’s existing 170,000 square foot lease hold at the Woolworth building. Joe received a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston College of Management.

Tim Harrington, Executive Vice President
Senior Leader - Denver, CO

Tim joined Grubb & Ellis Company in 1985. Tim specializes in office properties, and has extensive experience on both the landlord and tenant representation side of the business, as well as site selection and investment sales. Tim was named Rookie of the Year for the Denver office when he joined Grubb & Ellis and has been a consistent top producer throughout his career, qualifying for the company's elite Circle of Excellence 13 times and ranking as one of the company’s top producers in multiple years. More recently, Tim was named as one of Colorado’s 25 most powerful salespeople by the Colorado Biz magazine. Tim received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Colorado.

Sam Hocker, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Dallas, TX

With extraordinary strength in tenant representation, emphasizing strategic lease negotiation and client-centric transaction structuring, Sam professional experience includes successful, established relationships with major tenants and landlords throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Having founded and operated his own company, Sam is acutely aware of his client’s bottom-line goals. In fact, since beginning his professional real estate career, Sam has been involved in transactions totaling more than $2 billion. Sam has negotiated a high volume of leases in excess of 100,000 square feet while being responsible for a several well-known corporate relocations into the Dallas area, such as the 240,000 square-foot relocation of Blockbuster Video, Inc., which was awarded in 1996 the “Best Deal of the Year” and runner-up for the “Best Deal of the Decade” in 1999 by the Dallas Business Journal. Again in 2005, Sam was awarded the “Best Deal of the Year in Developed Real Estate” for the 700,000 square foot relocation of First American Corporation. Sam has been awarded exclusive leasing assignments totaling over five million square feet with such buildings as the Renaissance Tower, 2001 Bryan Tower, Main Tower, First City Center, Pacific Place, and The Magnolia Building. Previous assignments include the representation of such tenants as Blockbuster Video, Inc., Atmos Energy Corporation, Caltex Petroleum, Mobil Oil Corporation, Chubb & Sons, Inc., CitiCorp, Southern Union Gas, Locke Purnell Rain Harrell, Gwinn & Roby, Principal Financial Securities, Inc., Hopkins & Sutter, Pacific Enterprises Oil Company, The Watson Wyatt Company, Qwest Communications, Koch Industries, Inc., Cowles & Thompson, Verizon Wireless, and First American Corporation. Production achievements at Grubb & Ellis include “Number One Producer” for 1995, 1996, and 2000; “Number Two Producer” in 1997; and a top-ten producer in 2001, 2003 and 2005. Sam’s professional credentials include a membership in the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors (NTCAR) and in 1993 he became an elected member of the prestigious Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR). Sam also holds the distinctive designation of Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) of the National Association of Realtors.

Clayton Hovivian, Executive Vice President
Senior Leader - Downtown Los Angeles, CA

Clayton has more than 25 years of real estate brokerage and consulting experience. He is a member of Grubb & Ellis’ Tenant Advisory Group which is comprised of senior executives in each major city across the country assisting firms by leveraging the strength of our local knowledge with intelligent and fully integrated services. Clayton specializes in tenant representation and he has been retained on a variety of assignments that include conventional leases, build-to-suit transactions, lease renegotiations, headquarter relocations/consolidations, subleases/expansions, and sales of office buildings, to name a few. He has also earned a strong reputation in his industry for his expertise, unparalleled service and proven results he provides his clients. Clayton holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.

Jerry Igra, LEED AP, Executive Vice President
Senior Leader - San Francisco, CA

Jerry is a Senior Vice President with the San Francisco/San Mateo county office. Since joining Grubb & Ellis in 1985, Jerry has consistently ranked amongst the top consultants within his office, as well as nationally. Jerry has a large national client base including such companies as Qwest, Bechtel Investments AirTouch Communications, Gillette, Littler Mendelson, Bank of America, and Verizon Wireless. Among some of the real estate assignments he as completed on behalf of clients are tenant relocations, lease renewals, lease restructuring, lease buyouts, subleases, multi-market account management and international representation. In addition to numerous awards for outstanding achievements, Jerry was given the Spirit of Grubb & Ellis Award, the highest individual honor within the company. Jerry is only the third recipient of the honor that acknowledges leadership and service to the company nationally. Jerry holds a Bachelor degree in business from the University of Oregon.

Chris Johnke, LEED AP, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Oakland, CA

With more than 13 years of real estate brokerage experience, Chris specializes in the representation of users of real estate both regionally in the Oakland Metro/East Bay marketplace as well as nationally. During his career, Chris has leased or sold over $3.0 million square feet exceeding over $0.5 billion in total consideration. Clients Chris has represented include Bayer AG, AT&T, the Regents of the California State University, and Regional Center of the East Bay. Chris graduated from Hofstra University with a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Resources where he played on the men’s NCAA division I basketball team. Chris is a LEED Accredited Professional.

Mike Kalmanson, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Sacramento, CA

Coming Soon!

Chon Kantikovit, MCR, LEED AP, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Newport Beach, CA

Chon specializes in the representation of national and regional tenants within the United States. In order to achieve client’s goals, Chon implements aggressive long and short-term strategies while in negotiations. He stresses the importance of in-depth local market knowledge and leverage, complimented with hard work and attentiveness to client’s goals in order to maximize his added value. Over the course of the 8 years that Chon has been involved in commercial brokerage he has personally negotiated and completed over 3,000,000 SF Tenant Representation assignments and has been distinguished on numerous occasions as one of Southern California’s top real estate professionals. Chon is a licensed California Real Estate Agent and a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics and Molecular Cell Biology.

Frank Lopriore, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Fairfield, NJ

Frank brings over twenty years experience encompassing strategic real estate planning in leasing and sale assignments. Frank has served both local and national clients with a broad range of real estate services with a particular emphasis on structuring a strategic real estate plan that blends into his client’s overall business program. Frank has tailored strategic real estate plans for many of the world’s leading corporations that focus heavily on two key factors; operational efficiency and cost saving solutions. Some of those corporations are Tyco International, Quest Diagnostics, Oracle, AGFA, Bowne, Liz Claiborne, McGraw Hill, Hunter Douglas, Mercedes, Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen to name a few. Prior to his real estate career, Mr. Lopriore established a manufacturing facility and an import company for leather goods. Frank received a bachelor of science degree in psychology from New Paltz University. Frank also did graduate work in psychology at Fairfield University in Connecticut, in addition to attending New York University.

Bruce McNair, Executive Vice President
Senior Leader - Washington, DC

Bruce has more than 25 years experience in the commercial real estate industry as a practitioner, manager, investor and owner of investment property and commercial real estate service companies. McNair co-founded a highly respected Washington, D.C.-based brokerage company, which was acquired by St. Joe Company and became an integral member of GVA Advantis. He remained with the company for seven years and was among the top five producers every year. He has excelled in representing public and private companies in leasing matters valued in excess of $1 billion. He has represented clients in the D.C. region and throughout the eastern United States. Bruce received a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard, and a bachelor of science degree in Economics from the University of North Carolina.

Mitchell Millowitz, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Miami, FL

Mitchell Millowitz joined Grubb & Ellis Company in 2007 to spearhead its Tenant Advisory Group in South Florida. Previously, Mitchell was a Senior Director with Cushman & Wakefield for twenty years. Mitchell is recognized as one of the top Real Estate Corporate Advisors in South Florida and has been responsible for many high profile assignments throughout South Florida, the U.S., Canada and Latin America. In addition to large scale transactions, Mitchell is known for assisting corporations in developing portfolio and real estate strategic plans, process development and workplace innovation. Some of the larger scale transactions include: DHL Air Hub (Riverside County, CA. 305,000 square feet), DHL US Headquarters(Plantation, Fl. 240,000 sf), DHL IT headquarters (Scottsdale, AZ 120,000 sf), Kaplan University Headquarters (Fort Lauderdale, Fl. 200,000 sf), and Jarden Consumer Solutions (Boca Raton, Fl. 144,000 sf). Mitchell is a graduate of University of Miami with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree (Finance). Mitchell has his CCIM designation and is a member of Corenet.

Tivon Moffit, Vice President
Transaction Manager - Boca Raton , FL

Tivon joined Grubb & Ellis Company in 2004 and is a member of the Tenant Advisory Group. He provides strategic real estate services on corporate office and industrial initiatives. In the past three years, he has completed over 300,000 square feet of transactions totaling approximately $35 million. His expertise includes strategic planning, tenant lease renewals and relocations, build-to-suit negotiation, purchase acquisition and dispositions.

Nancy Morse, CCIM, SIOR, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - San Jose, CA

In more than 21 years of commercial real estate experience, the last 15 with Grubb & Ellis, Nancy has distinguished herself among the clients she represents and her peers in the industry. Nancy is one of only 800 commercial real estate brokers nationally to have earned both the CCIM and SIOR designations. The level of knowledge and expertise it takes to maintain these designations provides her a competitive advantage in understanding the issues that impact real estate lease and sale transactions and the decision making process. Consistently one of the top advisors in the Silicon Valley office, Nancy has completed a wide variety of transactions – lease transactions to 203,000 square feet; property sales to 307,000 square feet; land transactions to 161 acres; as well as tax deferred exchanges and mineral rights titles. Nancy was recently recognized by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as one of the Women of Silicon Valley's Women of Influence. Nancy was also recognized by Globestreet.com and Southern California Real Estate Magazine as one fo the Women of Influence in Northern California Real Estate. Nancy was also recently voted as the first women president of SIOR.

Philip Palmer, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Chicago, IL

Phil joined Grubb & Ellis in July of 1999 as a Senior Vice President, and has consistently been recognized as a leading Advisor. Phil brings a detailed management and service oriented approach to his clients coupled with an innovative, bottom-line, entrepreneurial delivery in his advisory role. He has worked with a wide variety of businesses in their facility requirements including Global Accounts, servicing the full roster of their ongoing real estate needs. Phil works with a wide variety of clients including publicly traded and private Fortune 500 companies, closely held small businesses, startups and investment partnerships in leasing, disposition, acquisition, sales transactions and consulting. Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis, Phil worked with Tanguay-Burke-Stratton/Staubach Company, TRC/Palmer Publishing Company & Shlaes & Company and Continental Illinois Mortgage Company. Phil received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Lake Forest College. Phil also did graduate work at the Northwestern University and studied architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology. LEED AP and MCR Candidate. CCIM, 101 and 201. He is a member of the National Association of Realtors and the Commercial Real Estate Organization (CREO).Phil is also a member of the G&E President’s Council.

Claire Paulson, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Rosemont, IL

Claire joined Grubb & Ellis in 1985 and has consistently been one of the top professionals in the Rosemont office. Since joining Grubb & Ellis, Claire has represented tenants in transactions exceeding 19 million square feet. Claire has assisted clients such as Citicorp, Rockwell International, Zenith Data Systems and Nike, Inc. in office relocation, negotiation of existing leases, disposition and acquisition of real estate assets and development of strategic real estate programs on a local and national basis. Claire received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance from Saint Mary’s College of Notre Dame.

Robert Pearlstein, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Phoenix, AZ

Bob was recruited in 2010 by Grubb & Ellis to help form it’s new Phoenix office, leaving his own development company.. Bob began his real estate career in St. Louis, Mo with the Midland Group, where he specialized in the leasing of neighborhood and power retail centers. In 1996, Bob moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he joined CB Richard Ellis as a Senior Vice President specializing in retail leasing, sales and development..He was listed in the Top 24 Retail Brokers for CB Richard Ellis numerous times. Over the years, Bob has represented and worked with tenants, landlords and developers completing in excess 5,000,000 SF of real estate transactions. Bob’s focus is tenant representation, where he specializes in assisting corporate users with their real estate requirements and lease negotiations locally and nationally. As a member of the Tenant Advisory Group, Bob is directly connected to the most senior brokers in each major market, making it seamless to meet the needs of his national and corporate clients. Bob is a graduate of the University of Missouri - Columbia.

Daniel Rudd, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Dallas, TX

Since 1997, Daniel has exclusively represented corporate clients in managing their real estate holdings, lease obligations, and occupancy needs. He is keenly aware of the strategic aspects of real estate to support overall corporate business goals and objectives, on both a portfolio and individual basis… and then implementing accordingly. Daniel has diverse real estate experience having worked on numerous projects including: strategic real estate planning, portfolio analysis, portfolio transaction management, governmental economic incentive negotiations, sale-leaseback requirements, build-to-suits, site selection, demographic analysis, and general acquisition and disposition assignments involving virtually every property type including; office, industrial, retail, multi-family, medical, and call center space. He currently focuses on D/FW corporate office users. His account transactional work represents over $150,000,000 in corporate lease obligations. Daniel received a bachelor of arts degree in marketing and communications from Baylor University.

Howard Schmidt, Vice President
Senior Leader - Denver, CO

Howard joined Grubb & Ellis in 2005. His commercial real estate career spans over 15 years. Howard specializes in tenant representation, and has been involved in over $500 million in leasing and sales transactions. Howard has represented many well known companies with office requirements including, Liberty Mutual, Jani-King International, KBC Advanced Technologies, Equifax, Administaff, HNTB, Career Builder, Bank of Oklahoma, Noble Energy, MicroTek, Sun Microsystems and numerous energy related firms. Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis, Howard was with Jones Lang LaSalle and CB Richard Ellis. Howard received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing from the University of North Texas and is involved in various charities and organizations.

Doug Sharpe, MCR, LEED AP, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - San Jose, CA

Doug has more than 18 years of experience specializing in tenant representation and is a member of Grubb & Ellis’ Tenant Advisory Group. He has supported multi-market relocations, strategic development planning, implementation of occupancy cost reduction strategies, and advanced lease renewals. Doug’s practice is based on cultivating exclusive and long-term relationships with local owners, developers, public and corporate clients. Doug maintains his level of success by providing his clients with unmatched professionalism, comprehensive market knowledge and strict adherence to the highest ethical standards. Providing these core values has garnered him a reputation as a skillful negotiator, a trusted advisor and creative problem solver. Doug continues his knowledge of emerging trends in commercial real estate earning him designation as a LEED accredited professional and Master Corporate Real Estate (MCR) through CoreNet Global. Doug currently serves as the Programs and Learning Vice-Chair of CoreNet’s Northern California Chapter.

David Squire, Executive Vice President, Managing Director
Senior Leader - Portland, OR

Dave has over 23 years of commercial real estate experience with specific expertise in tenant representation, large multi-building developments, corporate advisory services and office investment sales. His mission statement is simple: To provide the strategic real estate consulting services with process-driven implementation that empowers his clients to reach their goals by making better real estate decisions. Dave has been the leading office producer in Portland and in the top 100 nationally for Grubb & Ellis for the past 10 years. In 2008, Dave was responsible for the sale or leasing of over 530,000 square feet valued at over $83 million.

Mark Stables, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Chicago, IL

During his 25-year industry career, Mark has garnered substantial corporate client followings and is a highly respected real estate professional. His niche is tenant representation and focuses on national multi-market accounts in addition to the Chicago metropolitan area. He has directed many client relationships including Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, New York Life, Prudential Securities and The Trane Company involving assignments exceeding $2 billion in value. Mark has representation experience in over 100 U.S. markets, providing clients with advisory and strategic planning services including corporate relocations, lease re-structuring and renewal negotiations, new facilities, Build-to-Suits, consolidations, expansions, buy-outs, purchases, sales and sale/leasebacks. His designation as a Grubb & Ellis Corporate Account Manager is a direct result of his extensive relationship management experience. Mark is also a past President of The Realty Club of Chicago (2002). Mark graduated from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

Sven Sykes, LEED AP, Executive Vice President
Senior Leader - Chicago, IL

In a career spanning over 24 years, Sven has earned a reputation as one of the most accomplished tenant representation specialists in the Chicago area. He has represented Fortune 500 tenants in assignments locally, regionally and nationally, completing more than 800 office leasing assignments totaling more than 18 million square feet. Regardless of transaction size – his assignments have ranged from 2,000 to 1,200,000 square feet – Sven works with clients to first understand their business and operational goals and then execute an appropriate real estate strategy. Strategic multi-market clients Mr. Sykes has represented include: Turner Construction, Wausau Insurance Companies, Compuware Corporation, McDonald’s Corporation, Hallmark Corporation, HNTB, DST Systems, Acosta PMI, Hub Group, Inc., Nationwide Insurance, American Cancer Society, NAVTEQ, Wausau Benefits, CorSolutions, Software Architects, and Canon Business Solutions.

Serge Vishmid, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - West Los Angeles, CA

A sixteen year veteran in the field of commercial real estate, Serge has a truly global perspective. As a multi-market transaction specialist, he has successfully executed numerous projects across the continental United States and Europe. His diverse skill-set allows him to actively work with his clients assisting them with strategic decisions that directly correlate to the economic goals of the organization. He is proficient in the acquisition and disposition of various property types. He has a strong ability to assemble and lead highly specialized and multi-disciplined teams. He prides himself on maintaining a high level of integrity, diligence, and professionalism as it relates to his client representation. His negotiating skills, accountability and creativity have enabled him to attract and represent, on a recurring basis, some of the nation’s largest corporations. Serge holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (With Emphasis on Finance and Business Economics) from the University of Southern California.

Shane Wilder, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Newport Beach, CA

Jerry Williams, CCIM, Vice President
Senior Leader - San Antonio, TX

Jerry, CCIM, is a Vice President of Transaction Services for Grubb & Ellis Company in San Antonio, Texas. Jerry is a founding partner of the Brumm-Williams Group in the San Antonio/South Texas office, which represents the top producing team in the local office. Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis in 2004, Jerry was a Senior Associate for Hubbard Brush Commercial, now Advocate Commercial Real Estate, in Atlanta, Georgia. There he was a part of a transaction services group focused on serving the real estate needs for office and industrial users. A true focus on clients’ objectives and business strategies is derived from Jerry’s extensive background of business development, sales, and operations. In addition to his experience in commercial real estate, he brings over 10 years of direct business knowledge from the retail, communications and construction industries to Grubb & Ellis. For approximately six years prior to obtaining his real estate license, one of the core aspects of Jerry’s job duties was site selection and development of wireless retail stores throughout Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Jerry is a graduate of the Leadership Development Program for the Real Estate Council of San Antonio, and a Certified Commercial Investment Members (CCIM) designee. He is experienced in Six Sigma, financial analysis, due diligence, market analysis, leasing, marketing, lease negotiation, disposition, and tenant relations. Jerry received his college education at institutions including the University of Texas at Arlington and Baylor University.

John Ziesmer, Senior Vice President
Senior Leader - Chicago, IL

John joined Grubb & Ellis in January 2007. He leads one of the most successful and trusted Tenant Representation Leasing teams serving Downtown Chicago and outlying markets. John’s background as a leasing agent gives him a unique understanding of the entire transaction, and distinct advantages in creating leverage when negotiating on behalf of tenants. He also manages national portfolios for major corporations. During his 23-year career, John has focused on providing strategic real estate planning and site selection to law firms, corporations, and investment banking firms throughout the U.S. Prior to his affiliation with Grubb & Ellis, John was with Trammell Crow Company from 2004-2006. Previous to his appointment at Trammell Crow he was a member of Studley’s tenant representation team for 14 years. In addition, he was a vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle for seven years representing landlords in leasing transactions. Before launching his career in commercial real estate, John was a banking associate at American National Bank of Chicago for three years. John earned his B.S. in Finance, with honors, from the University of Illinois and an MBA in Finance, with distinction, from DePaul University. John is a member of the Commercial Real Estate Organization (CREO) and the Chicago Office Leasing Brokers Association (COLBA), and is active in his church and community.