Industry Mourns 'Father of Office Leasing'

Members of the real estate community are expected to pay their last respects at 10 a.m. today at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. Jack Box, president of the Frederick Ross Co., will be out of town and unable to attend. But Box has given Patrick Carter, who was one of Frederick's Ross' top brokers in the 1970s, a copy of the eulogy at the ceremony.

"When I reflect on my 30-year career in the commercial real estate business, George stands out as one of the handful of people who have most influenced me in the way I conduct business," Box states in his eulogy. "He truly was one of those who dreamed things that never were and said why not?"

Box notes when Gatseos joined Frederick Ross office leasing was performed as a function of property management. In those days, office buildings were built for major users like banks and insurance companies and property managers leased any excess space, Box explains.

"George became frustrated that he couldn't accommodate prospective tenants at the fully occupied building he was managing," Box says. "He would suggest that the tenant inquire at other building where he knew there was a vacancy and send them on its way. But then a light bulb went off in his head. It occurred to him after several months of sending prospective tenants down the street … that wait a minute … there might be a buck in this! George thought, 'What if I took the tenant down the street and maybe the landlord would pay me for bringing a tenant?' He received a few hundred dollars from a landlord for his first office leasing deal and a new industry was born in Denver."

Indeed, Box says if this was happening any place else in the country, Gatseos would not have been aware of it. "The office leasing business is so commonplace now it's hard to imagine the real estate world without it," Box says. "George made a creative and unique contribution to our industry."

He notes that at the height of his career in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gatseos was the lead broker with local developer Myron Miller when he developed three million sf of office space in the heart of Downtown. Miller tells GlobeSt.com Gatseos was wonderful to work with. "At the time of his retirement a short time later, George left behind the modern day Ross brokerage operation we have today," Box says.