In his new role, Mobley will continue to manage the Chicago offices in addition to overseeing Detroit and Cleveland offices, and the company's 16 affiliated Midwestern offices. "We're fortunate we have the number of offices in the Midwest where we're at the top of the marketplace," he says. "It's a challenging time for all of us in the market, but we're pretty well diversified across the Midwest."

One of the company's goals in its realignment is to increase the connection between its various service lines and markets. "I want to make sure we are fully servicing our clients with all the services Grubb & Ellis has available, and we want to do more cross-selling across departments and regional borders," Mobley says. "If we have a client in Chicago who has an office in Cleveland, we want to make sure that client knows about our Cleveland capabilities. If we're doing leasing for a client, we want to make sure they know about our management services."

Mobley says the Midwest is a territory he believes is better positioned than some other markets given the struggling economy. "We don't see some of the highs and lows that you might see on the coasts," Mobley says. "But of course these are challenging times for the economy as a whole, and we're no different or special in that regard. In Chicago, we've held up better than most because of some of the recruiting we've done." In his three years at the company, Mobley has recruited 40 brokers.

The company is now in a unique position to make the best out of the hand the economy and market has dealt, Mobley says. "It is a very challenging set of market conditions right now, but for a company like Grubb & Ellis, it's a good opportunity to gain market share," he says. "When things are tumultuous, there's an opportunity to make some bold moves, which we want to do. We're looking to recruit and pick up talent and grow in all our business lines. We are definitely open for business and we look at this as the time to make our move."

While he is intimately familiar with the Chicago offices and market, Mobley says he will be spending the next several months familiarizing himself with those of other Midwestern areas. "One of the challenges I always face is not to do too much too soon," Mobley says. "What works in Chicago might not work in all cities, so I'm going to spend a lot of time listening in the next 90 days to evaluate what the opportunities are for us to work together on a more coordinated basis in the Midwest. I'll be spending time working with the leaders of the other markets to come up with creative solutions for the economy's problems."