Colliers’ New EVP, Jihane Boury, On Her Switch To Tenant Representation

Jihane Boury starts a new position today as executive vice president at Colliers International’s Dallas office. After more than a decade as Harwood International’s vice president of leasing and development, Boury brought the nine-building campus (with No. 10 on the way) to 98% occupancy. Prior to that, she worked at Boka Powell and Corgan. Now, Boury is changing her career path again to become a tenant representative. 

Bisnow: How did your new gig at Colliers happen?

Boury: After 14 great years at Harwood International, I felt it was time for me to change directions. I wanted to focus more on serving clients. The needs of clients change constantly, and business models change. I wanted to be there for them not just in the beginning but throughout their whole lease. I’ve thought about that for quite a while. I felt it was time to make that move. 

Bisnow: You could be a tenant rep at several places. Why Colliers? 

Boury: After speaking with the top real estate firms in Dallas, one of the things that attracted me to Colliers was its entrepreneurial spirit. Their ways of viewing real estate solutions are very holistic and team-oriented. Working with an existing team and bringing in my knowledge and relationships and combining it with theirs will be a win-win. 

I’ve also known [Colliers’ president of the central region] Steve Everback for over 20 years. [Other firms] all have great people and knowledge of the market. But what drew me to Colliers was its creative solutions, entrepreneurial mindset and team-oriented ways.

Bisnow: Will you be strictly a tenant rep? 

Boury: Yes. Working for a landlord is a different aspect of real estate. You’re trying to lease up buildings and create relationships. Sometimes in the process you meet great people, but you don’t always end up getting them in the buildings you have available. I’ll be maintaining the relationships I’ve had throughout the years, and now I will be able to help my clients wherever they decide to go. This is an exciting component about it — being able to find out what their needs are based on requirements, location, price point, etc. I’ll strictly be a tenant rep. 

Bisnow: How will your background benefit you?

Boury: My background is working in architecture and interior design. That is similar because you’re dealing with client services. It’s more B2B. It is more of a service than selling a product, so it is working with relationships. I’ve done that successfully in the past at architecture firms. So this will be a continuation of that. I will bring my landlord background to the negotiation table. Most tenant reps work with landlords, but they don’t always know how the landlord is thinking. Plus with my 25 combined years with development, construction and design — I understand holistically what it takes to get a deal done. That’s a different perspective looking at it from a typical tenant rep.

Bisnow: Was your decision to leave Harwood and take this new position at all market driven? 

Boury: No; it has to do with the fact that I brought over 1.4M SF of office space to 98% occupancy. I felt I had done everything I could do and I wanted to do a little bit more.

The market in Dallas has been amazing for the past few years, and we keep hearing about more relocations. I have great hope that the next four to five years will be just as busy, if not busier.