Van Berkel joined NNN Realty Advisors as a senior vice president in August. The creation of the COO position and his appointment are part of a larger plan to "solidify our management team" following the December merger, according to Scott D. Peters, CEO of Grubb & Ellis Co. Before joining NNN Realty Advisors, Van Berkel spent more than four years at CB Richard Ellis as a senior vice president of human resources. He also held senior global human resource, operations and sales positions with First Data Corp., Gateway Corp. and Western Digital.

[IMGCAP(2)]With the merger of NNN and Grubb & Ellis, Triple Net Properties became a subsidiary of Grubb & Ellis and operated under the Triple Net name until Wednesday's name switch. As president of the newly renamed unit, Hanson will head one of the country's largest sponsors of securitized tenant-in-common programs, multi-member limited liability companies, joint ventures and investment funds. The company is also the managing member of the advisor to Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT Inc. and Grubb & Ellis Apartment REIT Inc.

In addition to his added responsibilities as president, Hanson will continue to serve as chief investment officer of Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors, a role he has filled since joining the then-named Triple Net Properties in 2006. Before joining Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors, Hanson served as a senior vice president with Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Institutional Investment Group, which he joined in 1997. He began his career in commercial real estate began at CB Richard Ellis in 1996.

Before the Grubb & Ellis-NNN merger, the position of president of Triple Net Properties was held by tenant-in-common pioneer Tony Thompson, founder of Triple Net, who also served as chairman and CEO of the firm. Thompson, who then became chairman and a director of the merged firm, recently resigned his posts with the company, effective Feb. 8, but remains the second-largest shareholder in Grubb & Ellis. Grubb & Ellis has named independent director Glenn L. Carpenter as nonexecutive chairman of the board, meaning a board chairman who is not a part of the company's executive management team.