Grubb & Ellis has been operating with three co-presidents since May 2000, when Chairman and CEO Neil Young resigned. Management services president Maureen Ehrenberg, real estate advisory services president John G. Orrico and executive vice president Brian D. Parker have been in charge of the commercial real estate service firm.

"I have every confidence Barry will quickly make an impact on clients, employees and stockholders," says Reuben S. Leibowitz, who remains as chairman of the board.

Barovick's 27-year real estate career includes a stint as director of the corporate geographic service group at Landauer Associates, Inc. from 1982 to 1984. The consulting company is under the Grubb & Ellis umbrella.

"Grubb & Ellis is an established industry leader with great potential," Barovick said in a statement. "The company has already built a solid foundation around very talented real estate professionals who have exhibited a true commitment to client service. I'm very excited about this opportunity and look forward to what we can accomplish together."

Barovick, who was said to be out of the country this week, will assume the helm of Grubb & Ellis, which employs 4,400, May 15. Barovick has been with Ernst & Young since 1991, after leaving a real estate consulting firm where he was principal-in-charge of corporate real estate strategic services.

"Not only does Barry draw on his extensive experience aligning and executing business and real estate strategies for many global companies, he also has the vision and leadership qualities to take the company to the next level," Leibowitz says.

The lack of a chief executive officer has helped make Wall Street skittish about the company's stock. However, it didn't help earlier this month when Grubb & Ellis announced it would likely post a loss of $0.02 to $0.04 per share for the first quarter, compared to a $0.13 per share profit in the first quarter of 2000.

Much of that loss, about $1 million, stems from the company's oversubscribed tender offer. However, it warned 2001 results may be down from earlier estimates because of a softening economy that has many real estate owners and users on the fence until conditions improves.

Grubb & Ellis stock closed Monday at $4.90, up $0.12 a share, or 2.5% increase. The stock, which is now priced at 7.1 times earnings, has traded as high as $6.75 in the past 12 months. Most recently, Grubb & Ellis rose sharply more than 20% to more than $6 per share at the end of March, only to fall back quickly in the first week of April.

During the company's last earnings conference call in February, Parker reported the company hoped to have "someone in place in the next couple of months."