"Transwestern has an active investment services group nationally that's headquartered in Dallas under Steve Pumper," Desmond says. "There hasn't been one in Phoenix and this is a great opportunity to open one up."

Desmond came to Transwestern following a stint as senior vice president with locally based Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial LLC. Telephone calls weren't returned by deadline to comment on Desmond's exit.

Transwestern has a small nucleus of office leasing brokers in Phoenix. "We've worked together in the past. We actually sold four buildings together in the past two years so I've had good exposure to them and them to me," Desmond says. "This is a natural progression of development of their service capacity in Phoenix and the Southwest."

Desmond tells GlobeSt.com that his goal for the next 12 months is to get everything organized so Transwestern will be ready to jump in when the market turns around. "Current conditions are a dual-edged sword because not a whole lot of office product is being sold right now," Desmond explains. However, he says it's easier to build a good foundation when things are slower. When the groundwork's laid and the market rebounds, Desmond says more personnel will be hired for the institutional services' group.