JLL gets top Data Center Practice Team from CBRE

The broker services team that helped launch CBRE Group Inc.’s data center practice is leaving to join top competitor Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Leigh Martin, Wendy McArthur and Brooke Gothard have reached an agreement with JLL, according to the companies.

The team has been a leader in data services for years, but it’s also well known for representing companies such as IntercontinentalExchange and Elavon in large leasing transactions. The move to Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) also reunites Martin and Rob Metcalf, who leads JLL’s Atlanta region brokerage. In the 1990s, Martin and Metcalf worked with CBRE (NYSE: CBG) on several large transactions, including deals with companies such as Southern Co.

Martin and McArthur have been a top team at CBRE for at least 15 years. Gothard joined the group a little more than five years ago.

JLL’s Vice

The brokerage team immediately adds to the strength of JLL’s data center business, Metcalf said. Martin, McArthur and Gothard are top producers in the data center segment, where growth is being fueled by companies ramping up their storage and networking needs as more customers purchase goods and services online.

As a data center market, Atlanta continues to emerge, though it still has room to grow.

“Dallas and northern Virginia have probably jumped ahead of Atlanta, which remains somewhat in its infancy,” Martin said. “Atlanta is still ripe with many opportunities.”

Consider the recent activity. This month Atlanta Business Chronicle reported new players are expanding into the market, including Compass Data Centers, which bought almost 24 acres in Lithia Springs, Ga. Compass plans to build at least four data centers and says it has entered discussions with three Fortune 1000 companies.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/real_talk/2015/10/jll-lures-top-cbre-data-center-practice-team.html