Liberty Property VP Named NAIOP Chairman

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN-David Jellison, a vice president in the Minnesota office of Liberty Property Trust, has been named national chairman of the National Association ofIndustrial and Office Properties. Jellison plans to visit from 25 to 30 local chapters in the next year, as well as lead the fight on such critical local development issues as smart growth initiatives.

“Smart growth is a huge issue — Colorado and Arizona both defeated initiatives that would have severely restricted growth,” Jellison says. “It’s like terrorism — it seems to be popping up all over the place.”

Last year, NAIOP helped seed efforts to fight these initiatives in both Colorado and Arizona, and will serve as a resource for other states that face such efforts. Jellison will likely talk on that topic as he visits local chapters.

“I can will them that they need to be vigilant,” he says. “Here’s what happened, and here’s how fast it can happen.”

Given that the real estate industry will likely have another tough year, Jellison sees the year as both interesting and challenging. Transportation, always a big issue for developers in outer-ring suburbs, will also be a tough issue, especially given the dramaticdownturns in state budgets from a recent surplus to a deficit this coming year, he says.

Prior to this appointment, Jellison served NAIOP both locally and nationally as national chairman-elect, national vice chairman of public affairs, national executive committee secretary, Minnesota chapter legislative committee chairman and Minnesota chapterpresident.

Jellison says that as a leasing agent he learned skills and gained career-building experience from fellow NAIOP members and from the programs and courses NAIOP offered.

As vice president and city manager for Malvern, PA-based Liberty Property Trust’s Minnesota region, Jellison is responsible for the management of a 3.5-million-sf portfolio of office and industrial properties. He oversees marketing, build-to-suit developments,acquisitions, and property management and manages a staff of 24.

Prior to joining Liberty in 1999, Jellison served in executive-level positions with MEPC American Properties and United Properties. He was a broker with United Properties for 13 years and he headed the Minneapolis operations of MEPC for nine years. When Duke-Weeks Corp. acquired MEPC, Jellison became vice president and general manager of Duke’s Minneapolis office group.

NAIOP is a national association with more than 9,500 members in 46 chapters that represent the interests of developers and owners of industrial, office and related commercial real estate throughout North America.