Grubb Launches Big Push Into Appraisal Business

LOS ANGELES-Grubb & Ellis Co. has launched a major expansion into the appraisal business, naming former CB Richard Ellis appraisal chief Douglas Haney to spearhead the opening of up to 10 new offices and 100 new hires nationally by the end of the year. GlobeSt.com has learned exclusively that the company, which will operate the business as Grubb & Ellis Landauer Appraisal & Valuation, will announce today that the new division will have a presence in every key market by year-end. Along with Haney, who most recently was with IDS Real Estate in Los Angeles and who will be president of Grubb & Ellis Landauer, the Santa Ana-based company has hired Eduardo Alegre, formerly a principal at Playa Capistrano Enterprises, as executive managing director to be based in Newport Beach.

Grubb & Ellis CEO Tom D’Arcy tells GlobeSt.com that the company believes that “the demand for appraisal services is going to be very significant over the next few years” and that the appraisal business “is well within our core competency.” Grubb & Ellis acquired Landauer & Associates in 1999 and historically has offered appraisal services in limited markets. The Landauer name is highly regarded in the appraisal industry, according to D’Arcy, hence the name of the new company.