Each week, REjournals.com runs a profile of a member of its most recent Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame class. This week, we look at the busy career of J.D. Graves, senior vice president with the Indianapolis office of CBRE.
Years in the business: 13
Clients first: J.D. Graves, senior vice president and member of the industrial services team with the Indianapolis office of CBRE, has earned a reputation for providing stellar client service. This effort has paid off: In 2007, Graves was named Rookie of the Year with CBRE. In 2016, he was named a top-five brokerage producer. He has also earned recognition as a top-10 brokerage producer four times.
Graves has amassed a deep roster of clients during his career of more than 13 years. These clients range from Central Indiana businesses to multi-market corporate users and institutional owners.
Big deals: While representing tenants, Graves has negotiated significant leases for Excel Industries of 655,000 square feet, 350,000 square feet and 96,000 square feet; Veritiv, for 317,000 and 144,000 square feet; Aurora Parts and Accessories for 306,000 square feet; and Cummins for 171,000 square feet.
Graves has closed big deals as a landlord representative, too. This includes leases of 2.9 million and 423,000 square feet for Exeter Property Group; 2.5 million square feet for Duke Realty Corporation; 2.1 million square feet for Transwestern Property Group; and 998,000 square feet for KTR.
Why so much success? Graves doesn’t point to any secret formula for his success. As he says, he believes in the value of hard work.
“I’ve put in a lot of hours making cold calls,” Graves said. “I show up and work hard every day.”
Giving back: Despite his busy career, Graves has found time to consistently give back to his community. He serves on boards for the Zionsville Community Development Corporation, Fathers and Families, The Villages Young Professional Advisory and the Heartland Fellows. He is also active wih the Indy Chamber Action Leadership/Community Events Committee and Oaks Academy Building Committee.
Out-of-office hours: When not working, Graves says he enjoys spending time with his church and family and challenging himself physically with CrossFit.
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