Commercial Real Estate Profile: Doug Irmscher | Broker, Florida

Two years ago, commercial real estate brokerage and services firm JLL set an ambitious goal for its Florida operation: double its revenue by 2020.

Leading that charge is Doug Irmscher, a 46-year-old Ohio native and a former development executive who joined JLL as market leader for Florida around the same time the company embarked on its determined growth plan.

“A lot has to go right and we have to have the right people in place,” Irmscher says. “We're looking at what gaps we currently have in Florida and how we can fill those in. But we're on our way.”

To get there, the former Duke Realty Corp. executive — Irmscher led the company's Florida development — is beefing up JLL's retail and tenant representation divisions, and focusing on growing the firm's Jacksonville office.

He's doing that by recruiting talent and selling what he considers to be JLL's best attribute: its culture.

“A lot of companies talk about their culture, but it really means something when you actually have it,” Irmscher says. “With us, it's collaboration plus integration that makes the difference. While JLL is a huge international company, at the end of the day we're also a very entrepreneurial company that is investing huge money to be on the front end of things.”

Beyond people, Irmscher is working to boost JLL's scope of services, as well. Whereas the former Jones Lang LaSalle once focused on landing lucrative brokerage or property management contracts, today the company hopes to capture client work in the areas of investment sales, asset management, and tenant construction work.

And while growth through acquisitions hasn't occurred in a major way since JLL's 2008 purchase of the tenant rep brokerage Staubach Cos., Irmscher doesn't rule out future M&A activity.

He cautions, though, that being No. 1 isn't necessarily JLL's end goal.

“It's trite to say, but true: We don't want to be the biggest, we want to be the best,” he says. “We want to develop the best people, the best culture and have the best platform. We have some very formidable competitors out there, so we really drill down into the markets and sectors within those markets we want to be in.”

Retail is a prime example. Years ago, JLL retail brokers were “mall centric,” Irmscher says. But with evolving trends in the retail business, the advent of online shopping and the growth of lifestyle and power centers, the company's agents have shifted their efforts to a broader understanding of the way various merchants operate.

Those who've worked with Irmscher say he's up to the task of growing JLL while maintaining its unique culture.

“Doug plans things out well, he's very logical,” says Todd Johnson, who oversees Duke Realty's construction division and joined the development firm about the same time Irmscher did.
“And he's very steady. In 18 years of working with him, I don't think I've ever heard him raise his voice. He treats people with respect and in doing so earns the respect of the people he works with. And Doug works to make you successful.”

David McGarry, JLL's managing director for Eastern seaboard and Great Lakes markets stretching from Canada to Florida, says Irmscher's Duke Realty experience provided him with a unique understanding of the commercial real estate business from a client perspective.

“He has a very strong work ethic, and in a big geographic area like Florida, we need someone who can work on multiple things simultaneously, bring in talent, reach decisive conclusions and implement them. Doug does that.”

Like many commercial real estate professionals, though, Irmscher acknowledges that Florida is seven years into a typical seven-year growth cycle, timing that could impact his ability to fulfill JLL's revenue mission.

“You can only focus on what you can control,” he says. “We're not going to let the time frame define our outcome.”