Colliers' President Says He's a Broker First

Aldrich is a deal maker who likes his phone to ring. It's been doing just that for two days, but it's not about a trade. "People have been calling me and asking where I am going," he tells GlobeSt.com. And, it's all because Allen Gump returns to the Colliers' fold as managing director tomorrow as he caps a near five-year run that includes a one-month stint as senior managing director with Kennedy-Wilson International in Dallas.

Aldrich voluntarily took over the lead role when John Crawford left in 2000, the same year that the operation sold its remaining 50% interest to Canadian-based CMN Inc. But Aldrich's heart is on the street, evidenced by his selection last week as NAIOP's industrial broker of the year in Dallas. "I'm really a broker. I'm not a manager. I never have been a manager and I never wanted to be a manager," he emphasizes. Office founder Pete Baldwin too is staying put.

Aldrich helped woo Gump to the brokerage business so he's pretty pleased that he's returning to take over the top slot. Gump goes from the fifth floor to the second at the 9400 NCX building in the job change. His mission is to double or triple the 10-broker staff. He brings one Kennedy-Wilson broker, Harold Gross, with him, but insists that he isn't channeling his energy on raiding the ranks three floors up. But make no mistake, he will be looking for seasoned brokers to grow the team.

Chief on Gump's "to do" list will be to review Colliers' location since the lease is nearing its expiration. Colliers' 8,000 sf won't be enough space once the rank and file starts ballooning, he says. Kennedy-Wilson too is exiting the high-rise in a plan to take its Dallas operations to one of its management assignments, Commerce Plaza Hillcrest.

The Kennedy-Wilson defections have been hot gossip around town. Corporate won't say just what is going on, but has shifted its Texas focus to Austin. David Alsmeyer in Austin has been tapped to commute between the two cities on an interim basis. The Dallas office laid its foundation with the 1999 acquisition of Fults/ONCOR, but even founder Jerry Fults' continued relationship with Kennedy-Wilson is under a local watch.