Recent Wave of Changes Sets Up One New Firm, Four Other Moves

Kevin S. McGovern, who spent four years as an independent, has started McGovern Commercial Realty Inc. after a two-year stint as first vice president with CB Richard Ellis Inc. in Dallas. McGovern, who's held executive roles with the former Insignia/ESG and Baker Commercial Realty, has set up a solo operation in Williams Square in Las Colinas, his longtime tenant rep territory. CBRE declined comment on McGovern's exit.

"I felt there was a big opportunity to go and do it alone," McGovern tells GlobeSt.com. "I thought if there was ever a time to go it alone, this would be it." He says he has eight more deals to wrap up for CBRE before the amicable split is final. The deals should be done in May, he says.

McGovern says there are no plans right now to hire or team with his longtime friend and business associate, Philip C. Baker, who left an executive vice president's role at CBRE in January 2004, transitioned into a COO's slot for locally based Wilcox Cos. and then formed Magellan Commercial Realty in June 2004 with Russell Cosby, a 25-year pro, at his side as a senior vice president, and Michael DeLier as a senior associate. McGovern groomed his skills as part of Baker's 20-broker shop, which was rolled into Insignia in 2001 shortly before it wound up as CBRE property. McGovern and Baker are both considered experts in the Las Colinas office market, where both have opened offices in Urban Center high-rises.

In other executive moves, Rochelle Mercier joined Fort Worth's Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. as asset management director for the Dallas region. She will oversee the joint venture properties, which now exceed more than five million sf in Dallas and Miami. The 24-year executive previously was vice president for Fobare Commercial LP in Dallas.

Dallas-based Mohr Partners Inc. added Bruce Berman as a senior broker. The 32-year veteran of the industrial sector has held senior vice president titles for Henry S. Miller Commercial and CB Commercial in Dallas. His client roster includes numerous Fortune 500 corporations. During he career, he has sold or leased more than 15 million sf of industrial and manufacturing space in the US.

The San Francisco-based IA Interior Architects brought on Tim Terry as director of operations and technical director for the Dallas office. With 28 years' experience, Terry's architectural forte is pre-design and real estate portfolio planning.

After a five-year hiatus from IA, Terry returns with responsibility for client services and overall financial management of the Dallas office. In 2000, Terry moved to Jones Lang LaSalle as regional manager of strategic occupancy planning and principal of CRE Analytic Systems after working as IA's director of workplace strategy.

"It feels great to be back at IA and practicing the fine art of architecture," Terry says in a press release. "My professional practice had migrated from architectural services up through the project origination process to real estate portfolio planning services." His black book of client names includes Coca-Cola, Aetna Life Insurance Co., SBC Communications and ING Mexico.

In the wave of changes, McCarthy Building Cos. added Craig Christian as a senior estimator for the Dallas division. He was senior estimator for Martin K. Eby Construction Co. in Dallas before joining the ranks of the St. Louis-headquartered McCarthy.