Notable among today's appointments is the return of Brian D. Parker, who will replace Bress as CFO. Parker held the position of chief financial officer at Grubb from 1996 to 2000. Responsibility for Grubb's transaction services group will be split between executive vice presidents of transaction services Richard Fulton, who will handle the Eastern region, and Robert H. Osbrink, who will head up the group's Western region. Property and facility management services will be run by Maureen A. Ehrenberg. Parker, Fulton, Osbrink and Ehrenberg will report directly to Kojaian and will serve as the firm's senior management team, overseeing day-to-day operations.
"These changes are designed to maximize Grubb & Ellis' effectiveness," Kojaian says in today's statement. "We believe that our clients, employees and shareholders will be best served by streamlining our organization and directing new investment dollars to our core transaction and management services businesses."
The new structure stands in marked contrast to Barovick's "Project Iowa," an integrated-services concept that appeared to enjoy widespread internal support. But while industry insiders say Barovick's vision of global integration implemented at the local level was not without merit, the financial backing needed to make a go of it failed materialized.
"The resources were never really there," one source tells GlobeSt.com. "So Barry decided to leave. It all comes down to money." The source notes that although Kojaian was named chairman last June, shortly after investing more than $15 million in Grubb and just as "Iowa" was getting off the ground, "Kojaian didn't want to support the vision that Barry came in to do. Now they've gone back to what they were before, back to transaction and property management."
Kojaian seems to give credence to that assessment in an internal document obtained by GlobeSt.com. "While change often brings uncertainty," he says in the memo, "I trust you share my belief that these announcements underscore our commitment to providing our clients' high quality real estate services by ensuring our transaction and management professionals have the best platform from which to operate globally."
But a Grubb spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that the essence of Barovick's strategy remains in place. "Our commitment to the global integration platform still remains," he says. "The emphasis on transaction and property management is more to streamline the organization; to provide true value through our professionals to our clients."
The spokesman also disputes industry sources who express skepticism about what they say is a reversion to the kind of management by committee that contributed to the firm's fiscal woes. "It's a way for Micheal [Kojaian] to assure that the day-to-day operations are focused on," he tells GlobeSt.com. "He is going to rely on [the senior team] on a daily basis. It's too early to tell how long that [structure] will remain in effect.
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