2025 Marked A Changing Of The Guard For Atlanta CRE. It's Continuing This Year
Even though Keene Miller is just 64, he decided that 2025 would be his last year in Atlanta CRE.
Miller officially retired on Dec. 31 as president of brokerage with the storied Atlanta-based firm Ackerman & Co.
“I certainly could have gone on longer because I’m not that old,” Miller said. “For me, personally, it was a situation where I was never a live-to-work personality. I’m a work-to-live personality.”
Miller was not alone in his decision to hang up his commercial real estate spurs in 2025. A number of senior CRE leaders retired last year as the Metro Atlanta market saw a shift in leadership.
Other notable retirements from the CRE industry in 2025 include industrial veteran Lisa Ward, who departed Core5 Industrial Partners, Hines Senior Managing Director John Heagy, and Georgia Tech’s former head of real estate Tony Zivalich.
And in perhaps the most high-profile passing of the baton, Steve Selig, 82, stepped down from his eponymous firm, ceding control to daughter Mindy Selig and nephew Greg Lewis.
To Greg Boler, founder of Atlanta-based industrial developer KMT Partners, it’s clear the Metro Atlanta market is witnessing the older guard making way for a new generation of leaders.
“Over the last five to 10 years, everyone projected there was going to be a changing of the guard and generational change with the baby boomers retiring,” Boler said. “I think where the market is at right now, you at least have a clear picture from a succession standpoint how to move forward.”
What Boler is witnessing locally mirrors a national trend.
The real estate industry, in general, is graying faster than other industries, according to a 2024 Deloitte analysis of labor statistics. At an average median age of 48.9 years old, the industry holds the highest median age of any financial services sector by more than four years.
By the end of 2034, nearly 40% of real estate industry professionals will reach the age of retirement, according to the analysis. By contrast, only 23% of employees across all industries will reach retirement age in the same time period.
It is now CRE veterans of Generation X and the Millennial generation taking over the leadership roles, Boler said.
“You got your millennials, who really are your next largest group,” he said. “[They] should be in a place to take over more responsibility and leadership roles.”
There are numerous examples. Chris Ahrenkiel left Selig Enterprises to take over the Atlanta office of Cushman & Wakefield, former Savills Vice Chairman Chris White was named the market leader at Franklin Street, former Cresa head Chris Scott took over the leadership role at Newmark’s Atlanta office from Sean Moynihan, and Nathan Knowles is now heading Transwestern Real Estate Services in Atlanta.
The wave of retirements continued with a major announcement the first week into 2026.
Core5 CEO Tim Gunter announced this week that he is set to retire in March, ultimately ceding control of the industrial development firm to current Chief Financial Officer Linda Booker. He said it was the right time to step away.
“For me, personally, I’ve been wanting to have a little more freedom,” said Gunter, who plans to spend more time with his family and raising mules and draft horses.
Those retiring have seen huge changes in the industry during their tenures.
Miller said industry methods have changed dramatically since he was a cub in CRE. Back then, most firms — and much of Atlanta’s real estate ownership — were local. Today, the presence of institutional money in the sector has led to the growth of international brokerage firms like CBRE and JLL and created a new brokerage discipline solely focused on investment sales.
“Quite frankly, the whole investment sales discipline didn’t even exist when I started,” Miller said.
Miller also said technology has altered the way brokers conduct business in commercial real estate. They are now privy to exponentially more information today than they had access to a generation ago. With this, the clock by which younger brokers work has also changed, he said. They text and email at all hours of the day.
But Miller said one fundamental aspect of being a CRE broker hasn’t changed and likely never will.
“As I would say, I’m in the friends-making business. The fundamental part of building relationships to succeed in commercial real estate is unchanged,” he said. “The kind of personality that [comes] into the commercial real estate business, if they’re going to stick around, they’re going to be relationship people.”
