Ralston Leaves CNL Realty; Plans Retail Development Firm

Ralston tells GlobeSt.com he isn't leaving the commercial real estate sector altogether. He is staying on as a consultant for a year, with an office at CNL Realty's Downtown headquarters, and then plans to start his own retail development company.

"I will have gone full cycle at that time because that's the business I was in before I joined the CNL family in 1988 and that's what Jim Seneff and I were doing exclusively from about 1989 to 1993 when Jim started CNLR," Ralston says. James M. Seneff is the CEO and founder of 25-year-old CNL Financial Group, the privately held real estate and financial conglomerate and parent of several CNL subsidiary firms, including CNLR.

Ralston tells GlobeSt.com his planned developments will include "anything that has a cash register involved," including shopping centers and retail-related components in separate developments.

Extensive air travel time and a desire to spend more time with his family, were the two other primary factors in Ralston's decision to retire at this time. "We have (348) properties in 39 states (with a gross leasable area of about 7.4 million sf), so I was spending about 50% of my life away from my family," Ralston says. "Some of our people spend more than that in travel and away-from-home time."

Ralston says he has not heard any of the local buzz that has him leaving CNL Realty because of operating differences with Mcnab. "Our company has had the stamp of Jim Seneff on it since it was formed and it will continue that way as long as Jim is at the helm," Ralston tells GlobeSt.com.

In a prepared statement, Seneff says "Gary Ralston has been an integral part of the growth of our company from less than $15 million in 1992 to more than $1.2 billion today and we very much appreciate the contributions he has made to Commercial Net Lease Realty."

But when CNLR directors elected Mcnab CEO, some local commercial real estate followers were surprised, they told GlobeSt.com at that time. They had expected Ralston to be named to the CEO post which Seneff was vacating to spend more time as CEO of CNL Financial Group.

"One of the things that attracted me to Commercial Net Lease Realty was the strong management team and the quality of the balance sheet," McNab says. "Gary has done a terrific job providing the leadership over the past decade that has brought the company to where it is today."

Ralston served as president and chief operating officer of CNLR since February 1996 and is credited by many in the industry for spearheading the REIT's highly successful portfolio diversification over the last several years. The company's 348 properties are net leased to 128 corporations in 47 industrial classifications with an average occupancy level of 97%.

As a longtime shareholder, Ralston says he has "done well" owning the company's stock, as have other shareholders. He points to CNLR's record performance of providing shareholders with average annual returns of 13% to 14% over the past 10 years. "I'm proud to have had some small participation in creating that record," Ralston says.

Besides acting as president and chief operating officer, Ralston, at the same time, was director of services since May 1999 and a director of finance since 2000. From February 1996 until December 1997, he served as president of the advisor, a special CNLR position; and from December 1993 to February 1996, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Ralston previously served as vice president of the company from July 1992 through December 1993, and as vice president of the advisor from its inception in 1991 through December 1993. From 1988 to 1992, he also served as a senior vice president of CNL Properties Inc., a real estate investment and asset/property management company affiliated with CNL Group Inc.

Ralston was vice president of ENCO, a real estate investment and asset/property management firm in Lakeland, FL from 1983 to 1988. He holds the Certified Commercial Investment Member, Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, Specialist in Real Estate Securities, Certified Property Manager and Counselor of Real Estate designations. He is also a Florida licensed real estate broker, mortgage broker and certified building contractor.