Cab Grayson
Bio
As Senior Managing Director for CBRE Global Investors, Cab Grayson is responsible for pension plans $3 billion and larger in Canada and the U.S.
Prior to joining CBRE Global Investors, Mr. Grayson served as the Senior Managing Director of the CBRE Investment Properties – Institutional Group. The Institutional Group is CBRE’s higher value equity sales entity across the U.S., placing transactions into the capital markets at values exceeding $50 million. The Institutional Group was involved in approximately $38 billion in capital transactions at one point.
During his 41-year career with CBRE, Mr. Grayson has been active in all phases of the investment process, including capital raising, investor relations, mortgage originations, acquisitions, leasing, asset management and dispositions. For seven years he was first Director of Acquisitions and later Co-Managing Director of CB Commercial Realty Advisors, which subsequently became CBRE Global Investors.
Shownotes
My guest for Episode #3, Cab Grayson, sets the bar for his kind and good natured demeanor and his quick witted intelligence. Spending quality time with him is truly a pleasure. Cab downplays his success at CBRE, as from the beginning of his 41 year career he was continually recognized and asked to take on more responsibilities with success in sales leading to sales management, regional management of the #1 office in the company, and subsequently co-leading the CB Investors Group in Los Angeles. For various reasons he returned to the DC area to work with the brokers again as a regional investment sales manager until being asked to take his current position with CBRE Global Investors in fund raising. Here are a few highlights from our talk:
- Cab’s father, who was a fanatic athlete and an environmentalist extraordinaire, was a huge influence on his views and the way Cab wants to treat other people (8:30)
- Cab’s mother was a society woman but still one tough lady…she asks him on her death bed: “Cabell, do you think people will think I would be willing to lie down in front of a bulldozer?” She was tenacious in fighting Disney in its efforts to open a theme park in Northern Virginia in the 1990’s.
- His grandfather, Cary T. Grayson, was President Woodrow Wilson’s personal physician and “propped him up in bed” to meet dignitaries while recovering from a stroke (20:22)
- His struggles at St. Albans offset by the confidence that his friends and their parents had in him (27:00)
- His introduction to real estate from his roommate, Bill Janes (Iron Point Partners), who with him were the first two sales hires at Coldwell Banker in the new Washington DC office (predecessor to CBRE) that were not trained as office equipment salesmen (36:00)
- His success as a Sales Manager came from his attitude to help anyone he could and to “bust his butt” working hard (41:30)
- Promoted to Resident Manager of Tysons office and that office was #1 in the country for CB during the two years he was in that role (1986-88) (48:45)
- Promoted in 1988 to lead CB Investment Group, moved to LA, and shortly thereafter CB is sold by Sears to Carlyle and he was worried about his job (52:00)
- Survived difficult market and rumors of CB’s demise and started selling properties to raise liquidity (58:20)
- Discussion of CBRE Global Investors as independent from CBRE parent in incentives and perspective; however it offers brokers an investor to approach “off market.” (1:12:50)
- In context of discussing both of his sons’ real estate careers he cites advice about “networking” (1:25:50)
- Trip to Denmark while at Yale where he learned the Danish language quickly taught him that he learned best by “immersing himself” in his environment, which is his superpower (1:28:50)
- His answer to the billboard question (1:31:50)
Links
More information about Cab and CBRE Global Investors:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cab-grayson-791a887/
Website: https://www.cbreglobalinvestors.com/
Email: cab.grayson@cbreglobalinvestors.com
