Morrison Joins CB Richard Ellis Team

DENVER-CB Richard Ellis, in a move to bolster its presence in the Central Business District, hired David Morrison to join CBRE’s Denver Downtown Office Team. Morrison joins Chuck Zeman, Phil Sweeney and Matt Zeman. Together, the team has more than 78 years of experience in Denver commercial real estate. Sweeney and the Zeman brothers are relocating from the firm’s Southeast Suburban office.

Chuck Zeman says that Morrison is a welcome addition to the CB team. “It is our intent to replicate downtown the market domination CB Richard Ellis enjoys in the northwest and southeast office markets,” Zeman says. “Having a seasoned crew with proven entrepreneurial marketing instincts will only accelerate our goal of creating a dominance in downtown.”

Morrison is a 20-year veteran of commercial real estate, spending virtually all of his career at Brookfield Properties. Most recently, he was vice president of office leasing, responsible for Brookfield’s 2.5 million-sf portfolio. The portfolio’s crown jewel was the 56-story Republic Plaza. Its holdings also include the World Trade Center and the Colorado State Bank Building.

“I told each the half dozen or so managers that I interviewed with (at various commercial real estate firms) that I had done maybe a half dozen investment transactions, but I had completed more than 1,200 leases,” Morrison tells GlobeSt.com. “Leasing is what I will be doing for CB.” Morrison also oversaw office leasing, asset management, property sales, and Denver market development for Brookfield Properties.

Zeman is a 22-year veteran of the Denver real estate market and has closed more than nine million sf of office leases, representing both landlords and tenants. Zeman has closed some of the largest lease transactions in the metro area including two leases with Aurora Loan Services (a Lehman Brothers company) totaling over 370,000 sf. In addition, he has closed deals with a variety of national and international companies such as Nissan North America, Pfizer, Nortel Networks, and the law firm of Cooley Godward. Chuck was a Senior Managing Director for Insignia/ESG prior to its acquisition by CB Richard Ellis Inc. From 1992 to 1997 Zeman was vice president/director of leasing for HMB Property Services Inc. where he directed the marketing and leasing of an office portfolio of over one millionrentable sf. Prior to joining HMB Property Services, Chuck served as marketing director for the Denver office of The John Buck Co., a Chicago-based commercial real estate firm. He began his commercial real estate career in 1982 with the Del Webb Corp.

Sweeney is a 20-year veteran of the Denver Commercial real estatemarket and has closed more than five million sf of office leases, representingboth landlords and tenants. Tenants that Phil has worked with include RTD,IBM, ING, Stewart Title, Westport Resources (recently sold to Kerr Magee), Trinity Petroleum Management, AIMCO, Citigroup, Land Title, Delta Dental and Centura Health. Phil currently represents ING, CMD, Archon, Lankford, Starr Realty and Lamar Company in their building ownership positions in Denver. Prior to joining CB, Phil worked with Chuck Zeman at Del Webb.

Zeman is a 16-year veteran in the Denver office market and has closed more than 5 million sf of office leases, representing both landlords and tenants. Matt began his career in the downtown office of Grubb & Ellis, where he leased such properties as 1801 California and the Colorado State Bank Building. Matt Zeman was with Insignia/ESG prior to CBRE, where he handled the leasing of 1999 Broadway.