CPE’s 2018 Service Executive of the Year

FIRST PLACE:

Hessan Nadji
President & CEO, Marcus & Millichap

Hessam Nadji

Investor-Driven: Nadji has been with Calabasas, Calif.-based Marcus & Millichap for 22 years and has held his current position for two years. He joined the company in 1996 as vice president of research and advisory services and helped establish the company’s expertise in research and investment trend forecasting. He went on to lead its specialty brokerage divisions. In 2013, he played a leading role in the preparation and execution of the firm’s IPO.

The Big Picture: Marcus & Millichap is the largest firm in the industry specializing in real estate investment brokerage, financing and advisory services. The company was founded in 1971 and has grown to 79 offices and more than 1,800 investment professionals, covering every major property type in the U.S. and Canada. In the past year, Nadji appointed company veteran Mitch LaBar as COO, and together they renewed the leadership team through in-house promotions of key executives to oversee the company’s five geographic divisions. They also brought in new national leadership, including Jeffery Daniels to head the company’s Institutional Property Advisors apartment business, Scott Holmes to head retail and David Shillington to head the company’s finance business, Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. Nadji has also led a complete “platform refresh” that includes multiple key refinements and upgrades to enterprise systems, new technology and expanded branding for the firm. More initiatives in all areas are planned for 2019.

Strategic Acquisitions: With the acquisition of Cleveland, Ohio-based brokerage Pinnacle Financial Group, the company filled a service gap in key areas of the Midwest with proven financing experts. The acquisitions of Canadian-based commercial real estate firms McGill Commercial and Primecorp Commercial Realty give the company a presence in every major metropolitan area in Canada. “We bring them our platform, our technology, our management support.They bring us their client relationships and track record. Everyone benefits from the synergies, the ability to do more business. We are very encouraged by the opportunity to acquire quality firms and groups as a supplement to our strong organic growth model,” said Nadji.

Strong Financials: Third quarter 2018 revenues increased by 14.9 percent and NOI increased by 34.8 percent year over year. In the first nine months of 2018, revenues increased by 13.1 percent to $584.5 million, NOI grew by 41.8 percent to $61 million, the salesforce increased by 113 professionals and financing fees rose by 20.8 percent year over year. It closed 6,869 sales and financing transactions, with a sales volume of approximately $33.1 billion, during that time period.

Research-Centric: “Our research is a keystone of our client services and agent support. We produce over 1,000 publications and over 300 economic/market alerts. This content is becoming interactive and viral through our electronic distribution,” Nadji said. “In the age of information overload, how do you make sense of it all and boil it down to what benefits the client? We try very hard to be a part of that decision-making process with our clients.”

Corporate Culture: “From a cultural perspective, collaboration and camaraderie are a huge part of who we are. We have a host of internal events, networking opportunities and best practices we utilize to foster our collaborative culture,” said Nadji. — Sibley Fleming

HONORABLE MENTION:

Bob Sulentic
President & CEO, CBRE Inc.

Bob Sulentic

Global Leader: Sulentic has been leading CBRE since December 2012. Prior to becoming CEO, he served as president, with responsibility for all business segments. In 2009, he was the company’s CFO. Earlier, he was group president for CBRE’s EMEA, Asia-Pacific and Development Services businesses. He started in real estate with Trammell Crow Co. in 1984. He became president & CEO in 2000 and chairman of the board in 2002. Trammell Crow merged with CBRE in 2006.

Expanding Coverage: CBRE is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm, with 2017 revenues of $14.2 billion and more than 80,000 employees (excluding affiliate offices). While serving clients in more than 100 countries, CBRE is also the largest commercial property developer in the United States and has more than $104 billion in assets under management within its Global Investors business. CBRE is ranked No. 207 among the Fortune 500 and has been named a Fortune Most Admired Company in the real estate sector for six consecutive years. Over the past year, the company announced strategic investments in or joint ventures with service companies that expand the company’s coverage in markets (New England, San Antonio, Australia, Africa and the Middle East) and service lines (flexible office space, healthcare property consulting, technology-based procurement and facilities management, and energy efficiency and energy financing). — Therese Fitzgerald