Impact Profile Series: Cousins' Thad Ellis

ATLANTA—Thad Ellis has been in the commercial real estate industry longer than some of the newcomers have been alive. He leads Cousins Properties' Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte and Raleigh office portfolios, has over 30 years of real estate expertise including development, leasing and property management.

Before joining Cousins in 2006, he was the managing director of GVA Advantis' Atlanta office and a member of the firm's executive committee. Ellish began his real estate career in 1984. He joined Peterson Properties in 1986 and rose to executive levels at Peterson Properties through its 1996 merger with CarrAmerica.

Ellis was the Managing Director for CarrAmerica's Atlanta and Florida offices. At CarrAmerica, he was directly involved with the acquisition, disposition and/or development of the office product and was a member of the firm's Investment Committee. GlobeSt.com caught up with Ellis to discuss where he came from and where he's going in this exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: How did you get your start in commercial real estate?

Ellis: In 1984, Atlanta was going through tremendous commercial growth and I was able to convince a developer to take a chance on me as a “green, green leasing agent.”

GlobeSt.com: What have been some of the key turning points in your career?

Ellis: I have always been most fortunate to work for high quality individuals and companies. Being acquired by CarrAmerica in 1996 was a major turning point because I was introduced to the public company side of real estate and the advantages of having access to major capital.

GlobeSt.com: What was the biggest challenge you've had to navigate in the commercial real estate industry?

Ellis: In 1989-1990 the oversupply of real estate really hurt our industry combined with little, to no job growth. We did not recover until sometime in '94. Those years were very difficult as there was little demand.

GlobeSt.com: How did you get through that challenge?

Ellis: I was at Peterson Properties at the time and as a team we all took significant reductions in compensation, we reduced our head count significantly, and we studied every possible way to reduce our overhead. We also had terrific JV partners, Northwestern Mutual, GE and others that did not give up on us.

GlobeSt.com: What are your goals moving forward?

Ellis: Working for Cousins Properties is and has been a goal of mine since getting into the industry. I want to continue to make a difference by setting an example of how to execute at a very high level in a professional manner. Specifically I want to be a part of our leadership team that grows our company in a meaningful way measured by multiple metrics.