PHOENIX-When Jim Fijan and Tom Adelson joined CBRE's Phoenix office in 1983, the idea of broker teams was almost unheard of. "Everyone worked individually," Fijan tells GlobeSt.com. "There wasn't the interaction between brokers you see today. And people had a hard time understanding the advantages of a team. But for us, it was obvious – we could cover more ground."
Some 30 years later, the Adelson-Fijan team, which handles everything from office leasing, to tenant representation, to institutional sales, is still together. The team is somewhat larger than in its early days – 12 people are on it now – but it's still together. And many of the team members have longevity as well. Jerry Roberts came on board in 1988, while Kevin Calihan was hired in the mid-1990s.
The partners have received their fair share of accolades during their three decades at CBRE as well. Recently, Fijan and Adelson received National Association of Industrial and Office Properties' Arizona chapter's Office Broker of the Year award – the 18th time in 23 years the duo was honored. This year, the award was shared with team members Roberts, Calihan and Corey Hawley.
It goes without saying that Fijan and Adelson have seen trends come and go. One trend that has stuck around is that of broker teams and partnerships. "Today at CBRE, if you're first starting out, you won't be hired unless you go into research or go onto a team," Fijan notes. "The company prefers a team situation. Teams can cover more ground and can take better care of clients." Teams also can cover for one another, allowing brokers to take time off.
Other changes have occurred as the Phoenix area real estate market changed. Fijan points out, for example, that the city's population in 1960 was 60,000 – these days, the population in the city itself is approximately 1.5 million (with more throughout the region).
"I started my career doing leasing," Fijan says. "When I first started, 10,000 square feet was considered a pretty large tenant." Fijan, who focuses mostly on institutional sales these days, says a recent market survey showed 32 tenants seeking out office space 50,000 square feet and above. "Several tenants were looking for 100,000 square feet of space, and a couple even 200,000 square feet," Fijan says.
Through the years, the Fijan-Adelson team focused on different activities to meet different trends. These days, Fijan says the team is involved in selling vacant buildings. "There's a tremendous amount of buyer appetite for that product type," he observes. "We like to sell those to clients, lease them up for them, then turn around and sell them again."
And in the previous boom cycle, during which construction was the name of the game, the team worked with developers, from helping them buy the land, to consulting on designs and floor plates, to helping in the actual construction.
"The key to this business is recognizing what the client's needs are and responding to them," Fijan says. "In one sentence, that's what it's all about."
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