We learned yesterday that Atlanta ULI head Jeff DuFresne has resigned and will start his own real estate portfolio management company. And not just for anybody: Jeff will manage the $100M portfolio of a Dutch family he's known for nearly two decades. “[The patriarch] is pushing 80, and his son doesn't want to run the business,” Jeff tells us. “It's one of those jobs that really doesn't fall off of trees. They have to trust you.” The portfolio is a “mixed bag” of retail and industrial up to 150k SF up and down the Eastern seaboard, including DC, the Carolinas, New England, and Montreal. He'll help determine what should be sold, what should be kept, and what could be redeveloped.
The self-confessed travel nut (from our recent profile of him here), Jeff says this job will likely take up to 10 years to see through. After which, Jeff (52), says he could likely retire. “I'm not sure I want to work until 100. But [this job] fits my long-term projections.” As for his replacement, ULI has yet to determine that. Regent Partners' David Allman (flanked here by Cousins Properties Larry Gellerstedt and Cushman & Wakefield's John O'Neill) sent out an email yesterday, announcing Jeff's resignation. After a search, it will be up to David (ULI's district council chair) and ULI's national execs.
