Eddy, who was not available for comment, was a founding officer of Spieker Properties, the publicly traded real estate operation acquired by Equity Office Properties Trust in July 2001. He was also a founding partner the predecessor company, Spieker Partners, in 1987. Eddy started in the business in 1979 with Trammell Crow Co.

The other two non-family members, added to the board last June, are Richard A. Cantlin and Rey Ramsey. Cantlin is a real estate lawyer and partner in the Portland office of Perkins Coie. Ramsey, the one-time director of the Oregon Dept. of Housing, is the CEO of Washington, D.C.-based One Economy Corp. and co-author of "Managingnonprofits.org" (John Wiley & Sons). Prior to One Economy Corp, Ramsey was president and CEO of The Enterprise Foundation, a D.C.-based organization focused not on housing, child care, work force development and economic development.

Industry observers note that major real estate transactions today are significantly more complex and often more contentious (particularly when combined with the current economic unsettled and uncertain times), in terms of tenant needs or tenant lease or seller purchase requirements, lender financial requirements and the public policy initiatives often superimposed on new developments.