JLL selected by Gramercy Capital to provide property management services

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) was recently selected by Gramercy Capital Corp., as provider of property management services for the company's 14.5 million s/f commercial real estate portfolio in the U.S. The three-year assignment encompasses 400 office buildings, bank branches and operation centers across the country. The JLL team overseeing the assignment is led by John Wheeler, managing director, and includes Peter Riguardi, president, and Robert Hackett, regional director, all with its New York office. Richard McBlaine, international director of solutions development with JLL's Chicago office, will provide strategic support. "Gramercy Capital challenged our team to develop creative ways to enhance our service delivery, and to maximize efficiency and accountability across the Jones Lang LaSalle-managed portfolio," said Riguardi. "The company recognized that our professionals understood and shared their strategic objectives, and we collaborated on a plan to substantially improve its bottom line. Jones Lang LaSalle's broad services platform allows our professionals to combine corporate solutions expertise with savvy investment advice to build asset value for Gramercy Capital throughout its portfolio." Jones Lang LaSalle will assume property management responsibility for approximately 6.5 million square feet of office buildings and bank branches that are primarily located in the Northeast and in Florida. Since 2003, the company has provided similar services to Gramercy Capital for the 8 million square feet of commercial space it owns in all other regions of the United States. "Gramercy Capital executives expressed a high level of comfort in selecting Jones Lang LaSalle for such a significant assignment," said Wheeler. "Having established an excellent working relationship with Gramercy Capital over the past six years, Jones Lang LaSalle had already amassed an unmatched track record of delivering superior service." Gramercy Capital Corp. is a self-managed, integrated commercial real estate finance and property investment company whose Gramercy Finance division focuses on the direct origination and acquisition of whole loans, subordinate interests in whole loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, CMBS and other real estate securities, and whose Gramercy Realty division targets commercial properties net leased primarily to financial institutions and affiliated users throughout the United States.