BRE Changes Execs, Unveils New Talent

SAN DIEGO-BRE Commercial/NAI, already one of the county¹s fastest-growing and most aggressive brokerage houses, has a new president and a host of talent cherry-picked from other brokerages.

As firms dicker to land rainmakers in what has become one of the most competitive broker recruiting drives ever in the county, BRE has announced that its longtime president, Ted Phoenix, a 31-year industry veteran, has stepped down. The retiring Phoenix has been succeeded by John D. Frager, a 16-year veteran formerly with CB Richard Ellis.

Frager¹s ascension to president and CEO of BRE Commercial is the latest example of locally focused firms luring talent away from national firms like CB Richard Ellis and Grubb & Ellis. The latter virtually folded the tent on its San Diego operation last month, with firms like BRE and Burnham Real Estate snaring its top-shelf brokers.