JLL Adds Beers, Ficke to the Fold

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Bruce Ficke

Jones Lang LaSalle has bolstered its global corporate solutions team by adding seasoned real estate executives Jessica Beers, MCR, and Bruce Ficke, who will advise real estate outsourcing teams serving the world’s top corporations on emerging real estate strategies with JLL’s Corporate Solutions group.

With more than 30 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, Ficke joins JLL as a principal, where he will help JLL’s clients realize the full value of integrated corporate real estate services.

“Following my experiences elsewhere, I’ve concluded that JLL offers the most complete spectrum of products and services in the corporate real industry, along with the global footprint that multinational clients prefer,” Ficke told Commercial Property Executive. “And, despite its growth over the years, JLL has retained the collegial atmosphere of its roots while creating a highly effective global organization. And that’s why I look forward to getting up every morning to work here.”

This marks a return to the company for Ficke, who first joined JLL in 1998 following his tenure as co-founder and president of Compass Management and Leasing, where he led the global expansion of Compass across the United States and into South America, Europe and Australia before its acquisition by JLL.

“My first challenge is to learn about the sophisticated products and services that Jones Lang LaSalle has developed since my previous time with the company,” Ficke said. “The company is even larger now than it was then, and I want to get up to speed on the global organization as quickly as possible.”

Previously, he served as the global head of account management for the Corporate Occupier Services group at Cushman & Wakefield, where he led industry intelligence and brokerage strategies for both corporate tenants and investors, growing the division’s portfolio by 75 percent.

Ficke has a clear set of goals in what he hopes to accomplish both in the short and long term.

“First, have fun! Two, corporate real estate executives today are more challenged than ever to meet C-suite demands, so my goal is to keep learning every day about their needs and how we can help them succeed,” he added. “Three, JLL is all about helping clients improve the productivity, efficiency and performance of their corporate real estate portfolios, so I want to add to our value proposition wherever I can.”

Ficke is a member and former board director of CoreNet Global. He holds an MBA in real estate from Southern Methodist University and a B.S. in civil engineering from The University of Texas at Austin .

Beers, who was named a “Star to Watch” in 2012 by CPE, will take on the role of executive director in the firm’s Boston office. She comes to JLL from DTZ, where she was vice president of business development, ranked top facilities management business development professional globally for the past three years. Previously, she was a director at EMCOR Facilities Services and a consultant with UMS Facilities Consulting.

Jessica Beers

“In my global travels in previous work engagements, I was always impressed by the quality of talent at JLL. Some of the brightest minds in the industry are here, and the company has built a global team that is creative, collaborative and forward-thinking,” Beers told CPE. “I was really attracted to that, along with the company’s embrace of innovative technology and its mature, integrated global service platform. JLL is very results-driven and strategic, and excels at developing innovative new solutions as clients’ needs change—who wouldn’t want to be part of that?”

According to Beers, she is most looking forward to tapping into the tremendous resources that JLL offers to its corporate real estate clients.

“JLL has a congenial, team-focused culture, so I am also looking forward to collaborating with team members to create innovative solutions for potential clients,” she said. “Most important, I am excited about what I was brought on board to do: contributing to the growth of the company.”

In her new role, Beers will be focused on building strong internal relationships and learning the nuances of the diversified service lines. From there, she plans to work quickly identifying external relationships that can benefit from the company’s holistic platform and help clients use their real estate as a strategic investment.

Beers is a member and board director of CoreNet Global and is also a member of the International Facility Management Association. She holds a B.A. in political science from Brown University.