For Gilley, it's an opportunity to build and manage his own investment sales team after being the No. 2 guy at C&W for several years, having 14 years in the business compared to Congdon's 35 years. "I was with Congdon for five years and we had a tremendous business," Gilley tells GlobeSt.com. "Now it's time to recreate that somewhere else."

For Insignia, it's the best opportunity to gain dominant market share in a region heretofore covered by the Capital Advisors group office in Los Angeles, because that's where its Western Region director Dave Doupé is located. "Dave has done a number of high-profile deals in San Francisco, but we came to the realization that in order for us to penetrate the market and gain the kind of dominant market share we were looking for, we needed a senior broker in that discipline in that region," Insignia's executive vice president of the western region, Robert Shibuya, tells GlobeSt.com. "So we hired one of the top investment brokers in San Francisco."

Indeed. This past year was a mediocre one for investment sales, by all accounts, but in 2000, Congdon and Gilley sold nearly $1 billion of institutional quality real estate. The duo sold such trophy properties as 303 2nd Street, 650 California Street, 160 Spear Street, and China Basin Landing, each of which sold for between $100 million and $200 million.

"I've been asked about our San Francisco expansion recently, about why we recently leased such high-profile space," says Shibuya, referring to the company's new location on the 33rd floor of Embarcadero 4. "The Gilley announcement is a good example of why we made that commitment."

So what does Congdon think about his new competition? "I'm sorry he's gone, but he did what he should have done," he tells GlobeSt.com, adding that more than a few of his partners have gone onto to take top jobs with other firms. "It's a good move for him and I'm sure he'll be successful."

Looking back, Gilley says he left C&W "on excellent terms" and he's sad to leave. Looking ahead, Gilley says he's hiring an analyst and a junior associate "immediately," with decisions about other senior brokers to be made at an undetermined time on a person-by-person basis.

As to the financial package Gilley is receiving, there were no specifics available, but it likely included a signing bonus, nice commission splits and a piece of the profits. "I didn't come here for my health," quips Gilley. "They made it appealing."

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High Profile Investment Broker Leaves C&W for Insignia

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