MOUNT LAUREL, NJ—NAI Mertz, a leading full-service commercial real estate firm serving southern New Jersey and greater Philadelphia, has named David Grove, a 28-year industry veteran, chief operating officer. 

As COO, Grove will oversee the daily operations for NAI Mertz's offices serving southern New Jersey, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and greater Philadelphia, as well as the NAI Mertz of PA office serving northeastern Pennsylvania.  He will be responsible for developing and executing corporate strategy focused on strengthening existing client relationships, generating new business opportunities, and working with the brokerage team and support staff to bolster existing marketing initiatives and internal processes.

“Dave's diverse background in commercial real estate covers all product categories and his experience has given him perspective on both the brokerage end and in-house real estate operations – and his track record of success is undeniable,” says Barry Mertz, CEO of NAI Mertz.  “I'm confident that Dave will strengthen our business development efforts and help us to build on our momentum of the past few years.”

With 28 years of commercial real estate leadership experience, Grove has a significant background in large and complex transactions and has closed over $1 billion in lease, structured finance and purchase/sale deals in an array of products including office, industrial, retail, ground, institutional and specialty/niche real estate.  As a veteran of both JLL and Trammell Crow Company, Grove has held executive leadership positions with oversight for areas ranging from strategic advisory services, to occupancy planning, to project management and investments.  He has managed Fortune 500 real estate portfolios, both in-house and as a service provider, for firms that include Unisys, Cigna, Glaxo Smith Kline, University of Pennsylvania, and ACE Insurance.

NAI Mertz has been providing premier real estate services to southern New Jersey and greater Philadelphia for over 30 years.  Along with the NAI Mertz of PA office in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the firm has the ideal territory to capitalize on emerging demand from big box warehouse users or energy services firms,” says Grove. “I'm excited to join a firm whose position as a market leader is well established and is poised for growth.”

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Steve Lubetkin

Steve Lubetkin is the New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com. He is currently filling in covering Chicago and Midwest markets until a new permanent editor is named. He previously filled in covering Atlanta. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. His audio and video work for GlobeSt.com has been honored by the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced audio podcasts on CRE topics for the NAR Commercial Division and the CCIM Institute. Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies. Steve also reports on-camera and covers conferences for NJSpotlight.com, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC. Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996. Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional. You can email Steve at [email protected].