Getting To Know JLL's Greg O'Brien
JLL just named Greg O’Brien its new CEO of the Americas, so of course it was our job to find out what he does for fun.
Believe it or not, the former CEO of The Staubach Co tells us he recently tried skydiving for the first time with his wife Lynne and their oldest son Jack. (It obviously went well, because he's still here.) “That gets your heart going, to jump out of a plane at two miles up.” Greg and Lynne spend a lot of time with their three kids (college, high school, seventh grade) around sports, music, arts, and other activities. They also play golf, like to ski, and visit their home on Cape Cod when they can.
Greg earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in electrical engineering from Tufts University (your Chicago reporter's alma mater, above—Go Jumbos!). He fills the role following the departure of Lauralee Martin to become CEO of HCP last October. Here are his key trends to watch this year:
- Economy gaining momentum with improving consumer and business confidence
- Already robust capital markets activity expected to grow 20% as supply constraints in key markets and global demand for US assets push values and some investors head to second-tier markets to find yield
- Increasing leasing activity, with office vacancies projected to fall below 16% in 2014 and asking rents moving up
