In his role, Bellow will work to grab a larger slice of the Greater Houston market. "We believe in penetrating our local markets and owning them," he tells GlobeSt.com. "The way we define our success is that we want to be known as one of the top three tenant rep players in every market in the country."

Bellow emphasizes that last July's merger with Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle is going to help in reaching his goal because of its broad platform and national and international reach. "This allows us to talk to multinational and globally integrated companies not just to deliver real estate services worldwide, but other services like facilities management, deeper construction management and consulting services," Bellow says.

The Houston market also is cooperating nicely with Bellow's plans. He points out that the market is flattening out after several years of rapid rental increases, providing more opportunities for tenants to take advantage expansion or renewals, which is something that hasn't happened in awhile.

Although Bellow is optimistic for his area in 2009, he says there are no plans for huge growth in the Houston office. "We're not going to be seeking entry level people in 2009," he says. "If we do grow, we'll grow with experienced folks. We'll be looking at individuals who can immediately bring value to the table because they've already been in the business."