For 3.5 years, Oden has been vice president of office leasing and development in the metroplex for Indianapolis-based Duke. "We'll miss him. There's no doubt about that," Jeff D. Thornton, Duke's senior vice president, tells GlobeSt.com. "He's got a good opportunity and we wish him well."
Oden's new job puts him into a post held by Moody Younger, who returned to Grubb & Ellis Co. as its Texas leader. Oden will oversee nearly 100 professionals in all institutional business lines in Dallas/Fort Worth. "My task is to coordinate the different things we can do for our institutional investors," Oden says. "This was a very unique opportunity for me at this point in my career to lead a group of real estate professionals in the largest real estate company in the world. Those opportunities don't come around like that all the time."
Oden has made the move without any down time, jumping into the job this week. His first order of business was to get to know his team and "getting my arms around a very impressive book of business." As he digs into the job, he says his other top priorities are learning about CBRE's existing clients and understanding their businesses and courting new clients for the group.
"I can bring a fresh perspective," says Oden, whose background includes launching different operating platforms and leading operating initiatives. "CBRE is great at listening to new ideas and looking for new and better ways to serve their clients."
Oden's duties will include teaming with Mark Fewin, North Texas' senior managing director, to align the capital markets and institutional groups and develop comprehensive solutions so they work hand in hand. "We look forward to getting him acclimated with our core values and then building upon our strengths as we move forward with new business inititatives," Fewin says in a press release.
If needed, Oden says he's on standby for Duke with respect to projects he started, specifically additional deals in the pipeline for three spec buildings, totaling 500,000 sf. "I felt like I was leaving the group in pretty good shape," he adds. "It's a cautious leasing environment, but it's not necessarily slow."
Thornton says Oden's replacement has yet to be picked. "It's a good position for the right person. We want to fill it as soon as possible," he says, "but more importantly we want to find the right person for the spot."
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