Bill Kee:  Gambling Man?

Pat Murphy (left) and Bill Kee (right) at the CBRE office.

Bill Kee has a bet with coworker Frank Fallon that someone will break ground on a new big-box distribution center on Atlanta's southside in 2010, especially as the tide of 500,000-square-foot-plus requirements lands, but Kee isn't entirely confident in his wager.

"It's hard to justify building anything right now, but someone will tell the story, 'you'll be the only one (with a new building),'" said Kee, Senior Vice President at CB Richard Ellis. "Someone will figure out a way to build one, but I don't think it will be 2010."

An Atlanta native, Kee started his commercial real estate career 25 years ago at The Myrick Co., and he later moved to Trammell Crow, which was acquired by CBRE.  Why real estate?

Watch out!  Bill Kee (left) and Blaine Kelley (right) fighting over deals!

"They tell me it's the perfect business for C-students, and, if you're going to sell something, you might as well sell something expensive," Kee said. "Going up or down, there's always money to be made in the real estate business. People are just in a better mood when it's going up."

Kee and Pat Murphy lead CB Richard Ellis' Atlanta industrial asset services team, representing a portfolio of approximately 18 million square feet and clients such as Invesco, RREEF and TA Associates.  In the current market, quality tenants have landlord reps playing limbo - how low can you go - Kee said.

"Seventy percent of the tenants moving today are moving strictly for economic reasons, and the owner just has to make up his mind whether or not he wants to play,"  Kee said.

Something you may not know: Kee is an avid collector of antique Southern pottery. He also made a goal to play the world's top 100 golf courses and has played most of the top 30. This summer, he'll hit seven of the top 100 when he and his son travel to New York for a week on some of the Empire State's finest links.