JLL Promotions Streamline Central Florida Brokerage

TAMPA—Promoting from within, Jones Lang LaSalle has given one-time Staubach brokers a new assignment. Chris Butler and Chadd Rup have been named managing directors and will head the firm’s brokerage business for Central Florida.  

Based in Tampa, the duo aims to manage and grow the landlord and tenant representation teams for both office and industrial real estate in Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Butler and Rupp joined JLL when the firm merged with The Staubach Company in 2008. Prior to the seven years they spent running Staubach’s Tampa office together, the duo served with CLW Real Estate Group.

“Chris and Chadd had built a market leading business for The Staubach Company in Tampa and post-merger have done an excellent job of integrating our overall brokerage business there,” Kurt Keaton, Florida market leader for Jones Lang LaSalle, tells GlobeSt.com. “They are consistent top producers and ideally placed to deliver the best service to our clients and drive our fast-growing business in the region.”

A 23-year industry veteran, Butler spent his first 10 commercial real estate years in development with Opus. Now, he is responsible for more than 1.5 million square feet of office space across the Tampa Bay area. He has received consecutive CoStar Power Broker awards.  

Rupp has extensive experience representing tenant clients on their office portfolios. Also, one of the state’s top performers he has also been recognized with consecutive top producer awards including CoStar’s coveted Top 25 Broker award. Rupp was previously a pro baseball player with the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays.  

“We recently made the decision to organize ourselves into more of a Central Florida brokerage operation,” Keaton says. “We will gain some internal efficiencies and take advantage of some similarities in the markets as you cross the I-4 corridor from Tampa and Orlando and up into Jacksonville.”

JLL has about 526 employees across all major markets in Florida including leasing, both tenant and landlord representation, property management, project and development services and investment sales. JLL’s Florida leasing and management portfolio has more than doubled in the past year to 23 million square feet.

“Hopefully Florida coming out of the recession,” Keaton says. “Our unemployment rate is at a three-year low and that started to translate in our business. 2011 was a tremendous growth year for our firm in Florida. We’ve think there’s great things to come for the future of the state and our business here in the state.”