Hal Ellis

Venerable commercial real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis Co. will sell its assets to the parent company of rival Newmark Knight Frank as part of a prepackaged bankruptcy, the firms said Tuesday. BGC Partners Inc., a New York financial services firm that acquired Newmark Knight Frank in October, agreed to buy essentially all the assets of Grubb & Ellis for an undisclosed price. Grubb & Ellis will conduct its asset sale under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and has commenced Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Venerable commercial real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis Co. will sell its assets to the parent company of rival Newmark Knight Frank as part of a prepackaged bankruptcy, the firms said Tuesday. BGC Partners Inc., a New York financial services firm that acquired Newmark Knight Frank in October, agreed to buy essentially all the assets of Grubb & Ellis for an undisclosed price. Grubb & Ellis will conduct its asset sale under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and has commenced Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Venerable commercial real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis Co. will sell its assets to the parent company of rival Newmark Knight Frank as part of a prepackaged bankruptcy, the firms said Tuesday. BGC Partners Inc., a New York financial services firm that acquired Newmark Knight Frank in October, agreed to buy essentially all the assets of Santa Ana-based Grubb & Ellis for an undisclosed price. Grubb & Ellis will conduct its asset sale under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and has commenced Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Venerable commercial real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis Co. will sell its assets to the parent company of rival Newmark Knight Frank as part of a prepackaged bankruptcy, the firms said Tuesday. BGC Partners Inc., a New York financial services firm that acquired Newmark Knight Frank in October, agreed to buy essentially all the assets of Santa Ana-based Grubb & Ellis for an undisclosed price. Grubb & Ellis will conduct its asset sale under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and has commenced Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

With his soft-spoken manner and carefully coiffed silver mane, veteran real estate executive Hal Ellis hardly fits the role of industry upstart. But the 74-year-old founder and chief executive of CataList Homes Inc. is engaged in a well-funded and sometimes caustic campaign to upend the traditional way homes are sold in California.

A small Santa Ana real estate company is taking over venerable commercial real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis Co. and will move the firm's headquarters from Chicago to Santa Ana. The merger announced Tuesday with NNN Realty Advisors Inc., a privately held real estate services and management company in Santa Ana, marks the latest consolidation in the increasingly competitive industry. "Companies need to be bigger to compete now," said real estate analyst Craig Silvers of Bricks & Mortar Capital.

Drewry Photocolor's profits fell 61% to $119,411, or 20 cents per share, during its first quarter ended July 27. Sales totaled $9.1 million, down 30% from the same period a year ago. Burbank-based Drewry is a wholesale photo-finishing company, processing film mostly for drugstore and supermarket customers. Hal Ellis, vice president for finance, said the company's weaker performance was caused by price cutting and loss of business to competitors.

In an effort to better compete with the biggest of the national residential real estate chains, Grubb & Ellis and Better Homes and Gardens agreed Monday to share support services and referrals among their offices in Southern California. It's not exactly a merger--neither is buying the other. The parties are choosing to call it an alliance. It will give Iowa-based Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Service a stronger presence in Southern California.

Ten top executives at Grubb & Ellis Co., the nation's biggest independent commercial brokerage firm, have taken a 15% pay cut, The Times has learned. Linda Greenlee, vice president of corporate communications for the San Francisco-based firm, said the officials--including Hal Ellis, the company's chairman and chief executive officer whose compensation package last year was worth $257,000--took the cuts voluntarily "to demonstrate their concern over the company's financial situation."

Commercial real estate brokerage giant Grubb & Ellis Co., with its stock getting battered in a softening market, announced Friday that its chief executive had resigned and that it would repurchase as much as $25 million worth of its own stock. The Santa Ana company, which helps arrange sales and leases of such properties as office buildings, stores and warehouses, said CEO and President Scott D. Peters, 50, stepped down "to pursue other interests."

A small Santa Ana real estate company is taking over venerable commercial real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis Co. and will move the firm's headquarters from Chicago to Santa Ana. The merger announced Tuesday with NNN Realty Advisors Inc., a privately held real estate services and management company in Santa Ana, marks the latest consolidation in the increasingly competitive industry. "Companies need to be bigger to compete now," said real estate analyst Craig Silvers of Bricks & Mortar Capital.

With his soft-spoken manner and carefully coiffed silver mane, veteran real estate executive Hal Ellis hardly fits the role of industry upstart. But the 74-year-old founder and chief executive of CataList Homes Inc. is engaged in a well-funded and sometimes caustic campaign to upend the traditional way homes are sold in California.

Time and time again, the good citizens of Arcadia have come before the Arcadia Planning Commission and the Arcadia City Council to oppose a new cul-de-sac or a monster house, which will alter the character of their neighborhood, block their view or destroy the privacy of their back yards. And time and time again, the city has responded, "The project meets all the code requirements" or "The developer has a right to develop his land" or "Sorry, but there is nothing we can do." So the people walk away, feeling destroyed and rejected, knowing that their lives and neighborhood are about to be radically altered.

Keizo Yoshida is the top officer of Sumitomo Bank of California, a big, profitable institution. Yet with an annual pay package worth $210,400, he earns only a fraction of what executives at similar banks take home. Yoshida isn't destitute, of course. But neither is he unique. Even as big money gets all the headlines, a surprising number of top executives are paid relatively modestly.