James M. Underhill Named Cresa CEO, Market briefs

James Underhill

In Boston, Cresa, a real estate advisory firm that exclusively represents tenants named James M. Underhill has been named Chief Executive Officer of the Boston-based Cresa organization, which has 60 offices around the world.

Underhill, who will be based in Cresa’s Washington, D.C., office, replaces Richard M. Rhodes, who became Cresa’s interim CEO in 2015. Rhodes continues to serve on the Executive Committee and the firm’s Board of Directors, along with being a Managing Principal of Cresa Washington DC.

Most recently, Underhill was Strategic Advisor on Cresa’s Board of Directors. Before that, he was CEO of the Americas at Cushman & Wakefield, the world’s largest, full-service, privately held real estate services firm. Previously, he was Founder and President of The Staubach Company, Northeast, which grew to become the company’s largest region before its sale to Jones Lang LaSalle in 2008.

Andre Granello leads the Houston office of Cresa, which recently relocated its offices to the Three Post Oak Central building in the Uptown area.

A number of executive changes have been reported in commercial real estate in recent days.

Marcus & Millichap reported the retirement of President and CEO John Kerin. He will be replaced by M&M’s Senior Executive Vice President Hessam Nadji.

JLL reported Christian Ulbrich will become company president on June 1, as the company splits the CEO and President roles. Colin Dyer will retain the CEO title.