Kathy Permenter, managing director in Dallas for Santa Ana, CA-based Grubb & Ellis Co., has been McKnight's broker since they bought 3 and 4 Park Central towers in August 2005. The 15-year veteran, who lost her partner with the move from CB Richard Ellis, will regroup with two seven-year brokers at her side: Russell S. Johnson Jr., senior vice president, who followed her from CBRE, and Chris Wright, the firm's newest senior vice president. Wright took his seat on the team one week ago after spending several years at Dallas-based Stream Realty Partners LP, rising to senior associate in charge of 2.5 million sf of office space in Fort Worth and Dallas.

"The market probably thinks it was a given, but it wasn't a given necessarily with the team being split," Permenter tells GlobeSt.com. "We did present our new team and we won the business with our new team."

In today's economic climate, owners are leaning toward experience to see their assets through the hard times, according to Permenter. "That's what we're building here [Grubb & Ellis] is an experienced team," she adds.