Jones Lang LaSalle

GVA Worldwide Names Michael Corbett 1st Ever Full-Time President, CEO
May 05, 2006
By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

Michael Corbett (pictured), 61, a founding partner of GVA Worldwide 10 years ago and a former chief executive and executive chairman of GVA Grimley in the United Kingdom, will become GVA Worldwide’s first ever full-time president & CEO on June 1, CPN has learned exclusively.
"It’s very much a leadership, ambassadorial and strategic role," Corbett told CPN this morning. Corbett expects to spend about 60 percent of his time in the United States, primarily at GVA Worldwide’s administrative center in Chicago, as well as at the company’s top U.S. offices like Seattle, Washington, D.C. and Boston. He expects to spend the other 40 percent in Europe.

Corbett takes on the new top role as GVA Worldwide, a leading international provider of commercial real estate services operating in 35 countries, continues experiencing rapid growth. The organization, which operates as an international partnership with more than 3,500 real estate professionals in 120 markets, had a 29.4 percent increase in transaction volume last year. In 2005, GVA Worldwide partners completed $22 billion in transactions and managed more than 150 million square feet of commercial space.

Corbett said the all-volunteer board felt the time was right to appoint a full-time president & CEO to oversee the organization and implement its goals and strategies for further growth. He added that it was also the right time for him personally because he was retiring as a partner at London-based GVA Grimley, where he had increased gross fee revenues to $200 million annually, quadrupled fee income and increased net profits more than sevenfold.

The new company leader has set several key goals that he wants GVA Worldwide and its partner offices to hit. Among the biggest goals is making GVA Worldwide, already a top 10 firm, the largest global privately owned real estate services partnership, within five years. His specific goals during that time include doubling transaction value and increasing growth fee income up to $1 billion.

Capital markets are one area within GVA Worldwide where Corbett sees strong future growth. Corbett said the organization’s capital markets practice "has seen spectacular growth on a global level," particularly form high net worth investors in tax friendly countries like Denmark and Ireland. Those and other investors are targeting areas including Eastern European countries like Poland and Russia, as well as China and India.