SKB principal Bob Scanlan tells GlobeSt.com that Jay Fetherston will focus on real estate acquisitions in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain states. Fetherston does not replace anyone, says Scanlan, but rather will complement SKB principal Todd Gooding, who has been and will continue to be the company's director of acquisitions. "Jay adds an acquisition department to the one we've already got," says Scanlan. "We're trying to double our acquisitions pace."

The reason for the ramp up, says Scanlan, is that after 10 successful years in the business the company now has 375 investors, such that "there is more money available to the firm more readily." Currently, the firm has over $100 million worth of acquisitions in escrow, he says, and that's without anything having been tied up with Fetherston, who prior to National Retail Partners was an acquisitions analyst with Burnham Pacific Properties.

With things ramping up on the acquisitions side, SKB also recently bolstered its disposition department with the addition of Michele Frank, most recently an associate investment manager with Schnitzer Northwest. "If you're going to start accelerating your acquisition program, presumably that means selling more than you were," says Scanlan. "That's where Michele comes in."

As more money has become available to the firm, the average deal size also has increased. Scanlan says the company recently tied into a $45-million deal that will require $21 million of equity. "Two years ago that would have been very daunting to us," says Scanlan. "It's still not a walk in the park, but its no longer something we have to pass on.