The brokers are calling their company Kellogg Partners after Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in Chicago where their friendship began in 1993 and where they each earned master's degrees in business administration. In a prepared statement, Lampley-Pitts say they are "evaluating alliance opportunities with three of the country's largest commercial real estate services firms."

"After working for one of the largest real estate firms in the country for several years, we decided the time was right to start our own company to allow us to deliver focused service in a nimble manner," Pitts says. "We also intend to open the door for more minorities to enter the tough-to-crack world of commercial real estate."

At JLL, Lampley and Pitts participated in deals totaling two million sf. Among Lampley's clients were Aetna, Bank of America, L'Oreal USA, Xerox and Ernst & Young. Pitts represented Aon, General Motors, Sun Microsystems and Equifax. Lampley was a senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle; Pitts, a vice president.