Mulhern, who officially started on the job last Friday, was formerly with Phoenix-based Reliance Cos., an office and industrial development company he co-founded. His 25 years of experience also included a stint as vice president of development for Minneapolis, MN-based Ryan Cos., senior managing director of CB Richard Ellis' Phoenix office and vice president and portfolio for Koll Co., headquartered in Newport Beach, CA.

Mulhern says the Seattle-headquartered Colliers International approached him with the opportunity to oversee the area's 160-person operation and he listened willingly because of own past experience as a broker, manager and developer seemed like the ideal fit. "I'd left the broker-management business 10 years ago to go into development," he comments. "At this point, I understand much better how the marketplace works. So when the opportunity came up, I thought it would be a good chance to use past skills to help out."

Mulhern takes his new position at a time during which the Phoenix market has been particularly hard-hit by both a huge downturn in the housing market and the economic problems faced by the rest of the country. He tells GlobeSt.com that while Colliers' Phoenix and Scottsdale offices had been in expansion mode about a year or so ago at this time, things have clearly changed.

"My first priority is to meet with individuals and teams to make sure we have a solid plan for the coming year," he says. "Obviously the plans moving forward will be different than they were because the market has changed significantly."

Another goal, Mulhern continues, is to work toward aligning Colliers' operations with those of lenders and property owners that might be in financial difficulty due to defaults or late payments. "We'd like to work with those properties and provide help where we can," he adds.