The folks at Jones Lang LaSalle have made some significant changes to the roles their leadership is playing within the approximately 225-person Boston office. Executive Vice President Benjamin Heller is now leading and managing the overall Boston leasing team, and Managing Director William Motley is heading the downtown tenant representation business for the firm.
The two have negotiated some the largest leases in Boston and are past winners of the Commercial Brokers Association Deal of the Year awards. Heller leads the team that repositioned 99 High Street and leased approximately 300,000 square feet at Seaport Center. Motley brought Liberty Wharf to 90 percent committed just two months after delivery, and leads the marketing of Boston’s Rowes Wharf development for owner Equity Office Properties.
Benjamin Heller
Title: Executive Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle; Boston
Age: 36
Experience: 13 years
William Motley
Title: Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle; Boston
Age: 49
Experience: 23 years
Q: How has the way you do business evolved over the years?
A: Motley: I’ve seen it evolve more in the last five years than I have in the 25 years I’ve been a broker, particularly on the tenant representation side. There’s a consolidation of the industry and decision making. Real estate as a cost component is the second highest line-item expense for most corporations behind employment and staff. So you’re seeing that the companies that were once headquartered in Boston, the decision makers are now in other parts of the world or the country, and they don’t have the time or resources to manage a broad range of different brokerage companies for the various assignments, so they’re rolling it up, and technology is allowing them to be far more efficient than they ever have been before. That technology existed for Fortune 500 companies, but Jones Lang LaSalle … in 2010 we invested over $150 million, 5 percent of our gross revenue, in new technologies, so that provides us with vehicles we can provide to these mid-sized corporations to achieve these efficiencies and reduce cost. I see that as a trend that is going to expedite the amount of change of how companies manage their real estate portfolios globally and in the United States. So really, my drive is to focus on that, both here in Boston but also hoping to manage portfolios for companies based in Boston that operate in other parts of the world.
Q: On the flip side of that, what has stayed the same over the years you’ve been a broker?
A: Heller: As much as the business changes … building relationships is still the number one driver of business. The difference is that the relationships are now not necessarily with someone who rides the train with you, it’s someone that may live in a different country. It’s a different way of doing it, but at the end of the day it still comes down to relationships. And it comes down to sharing information and not being protective of information you have. You have to have a level of trust with your partners.
Q: Now that you have assumed leadership roles in the Boston office, will you be focusing on staff development?
A: Heller: We have some young people that have been in the business from five to 10 years and they’re still learning. It’s important for us to take the time to understand business ethics, as well as solid work ethics. It’s important for Bill and I to take the time to show them how to do things and allow them to learn on the job, but they need to know that everything has to be for the client. Every pursuit has its challenges, and at the end of the day it’s a sales role. It’s about dedicating time to be creative.
Motley: It’s also about accountability. There are responsibilities that we are all individually obligated to live up to to achieve the collaborative spirit of our team. Everybody in our team is basically assigned to understand all the dynamics taking place within individual office buildings in the downtown market, in terms of personal responsibilities. So if Ben needs particular information on a building, it’s my responsibility to make sure he has updated information.
Heller: And in our business that information changes so quickly. It’s important to us that we have all this information organized and readily available, because you never know the effect it can have on a project you’re working on. It’s something we take very seriously. If you’re assigned to track a certain category of information, you’re expected to do it.
Motley: And someone will come knocking on your door. It’s a culture where we think there’s strength in numbers. It’s the culture of collaboration where we feel that if we can collectively help each other, and the effect of that is a multiplier effect.
Heller & Motley’s Five Ingredients for Success:
- Be honest and open with people.
- Be coachable. You can always learn something.
- Maintain a high degree of integrity for your work standards.
- Keep your head clear and your thoughts organized.
- Be a respectful and loyal teammate of your colleagues and clients.
