Shea Undergoes Re-Branding, Splits in Two

The brokerage division will become an independent franchise of Beverly Hills, CA-based Prudential CRES Commercial Real Estate, with a new president to be named later this month. In the meantime, Shea's development side will be reorganized as a REIT, with a new name to be determined. Current Shea Commercial president and CEO Jim Riggs will take the leadership reins of the new company.

"We've been working on re-branding our company since December of last year," Riggs tells GlobeSt.com. "The market is confused, right now, as to what we are because we do a lot more than simply commercial. To create a platform to continue growing, we had to change a lot of things."

Name changes and moving brokerage operations apart from development activities were also ways to simplify a company that had grown from small to medium. "We're an integrated brokerage and development company that didn't anticipate getting as large as we did," Riggs says. "I personally can't run both of them. It just got too big for one person."

The separate companies will likely become larger still. The new Prudential CRES operation plans to establish a stronger footprint in Arizona and Nevada, and will open 13 to 15 offices in Southern California within two years. "We've had development projects there in the past, but no offices," Riggs adds. "This will be our first time in the Southern California market."

Openings are available for a regional president to handle Southern California, and someone who can oversee the Phoenix area brokerage offices. Additionally, the existing staff in development and brokerage is anticipated to double in size in the coming year. "This is a growth change not downsizing," Riggs adds.