Rebecca Griffin steps into the senior managing director's role at Newmark to lead the Texas team less than a month after her exit as corporate managing director for Julien J. Studley in Dallas. Her seven-year partner, Jason Lichty, a Studley associate director, went with her. The duo set up shop yesterday in Parkway Commons at 5068 W. Plano Parkway.
The Houston office opened two days ago in San Felipe Plaza at 5847 San Felipe on the downtown's outskirts. Southern Florida too is on the list for offices below the Mason-Dixon Line. In early April, Newmark launched a regional office in Atlanta with a 15-member Studley team.
Griffin and Lichty helped open the Studley office in May 2000. She says the opportunity to be Newmark's top exec for the regional office was just too good to pass up. Lichty holds onto the same title that he had at Studley.
"I wish them all the luck in the world," Greg Biggs, Studley's senior vice president in Dallas, tells GlobeSt.com. He is not looking to replace Griffin although she was only one of two corporate managing directors in the office. No one will have to absorb her duties, he says, since "we all are responsible for pursuing and cultivating business."
Griffin has started interviewing the Dallas-Fort Worth ranks to meet a June 1 deadline for the first round of hires. The focus will be tenant representation although Newmark offers a full gamut of services. She says she has no parameters when it comes to staff size, but does confide that she envisions "the ideal size" falling between six and 10 brokers. The final head count "will be market driven," she emphasizes.
Griffin brings a few big name clients to Newmark's Dallas play, including Salomon Smith Barney, Phillip Morris and Occidental Petroleum Corp., better known as OXY. And, she's looking to grab some more as she builds her team.
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