Feature News

SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE), a leading real estate services and investment firm, today announced that Samuel Winterbottom has joined the company as senior vice president, director of the company's Hotels, Golf & Leisure Practice Group, effective immediately. Winterbottom brings 30 years of experience that includes senior leadership positions and extensive relationships with owners, investors and brokerage professionals throughout the hospitality industry.

In his new role, Winterbottom will be charged with expanding the company's existing hospitality capabilities. This includes recruiting experienced brokerage sales professionals to build a specialized team dedicated to providing strategic real estate services targeted toward owners and investors throughout the hospitality and leisure industries. He will be based in the company's Atlanta office.

"Grubb & Ellis has spent the past 18 months expanding and elevating its service offerings with the addition of experienced professionals who can leverage the company's integrated platform to better service our clients," said Greg Coxon, president, Brokerage Services. "Sam has incredible industry expertise and relationships as well as insight into what our clients need from their real estate services provider. We couldn't be more pleased that Sam has decided to join Grubb & Ellis."

Winterbottom brings a proven track record in development, operations and franchising that spans all aspects of the hospitality industry and includes the acquisition, development and disposition of assets with some of the industry's leading brands, including Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Carlson Hotels Worldwide and Ramada Worldwide, Inc.

"There couldn't be a better time for me to join Grubb & Ellis," Winterbottom said. "The company is leveraging its national footprint and scale to develop practice groups based upon the needs of its clients. Having spent my career in the hotel industry, I've been on both sides of the table as buyer and seller, and I know what owners and investors are looking for, and have the relationships, insights and skills necessary to bring a transaction to a close."

"As the hospitality industry looks for ways to operate more efficiently in the current environment and better position themselves for a recovery, there is a significant opportunity for service providers to assist owners and operators with their real estate strategies," he continued, adding, " Grubb & Ellis will be that service provider."

Most recently, Winterbottom was chief executive officer and president of eSuites Hotels LLC, a Tampa, Fla.,-based lifestyle hotel brand that was a new proprietary brand built from the ground up. Prior to joining eSuites in 2007, he spent four years as executive vice president of development at Carlson Hotels Worldwide where he directed all transaction activity and the growth of the company's five hotel brands throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Earlier, he spent 13 years at Starwood Hotels and Resorts and its predecessor, ITT Sheraton Corporation. While at Starwood from 1997 to 2001, he was the senior development officer of the Franchise Division before assuming the post of president, Franchise Division. Winterbottom also held senior positions with Ramada Inc. and the Howard Johnson Company.

Winterbottom holds a bachelor's degree from Illinois Wesleyan University. A frequent speaker and panelist at industry conferences he has presented at ALIS, the NYU Investment Conference, Meet the Money, the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference among others. He has been a member of the planning committee for UCLA (ALIS) Investors Conference, the Hunter Hotel Investor Conference and IREFAC. He is also a past board member of the Ohio Hotel Association and Texas Hotel and Motel Association and past Chairman of the AH&LEF charity golf tournament.

About Grubb & Ellis Company

Named to The Global Outsourcing 100(TM) in 2009 by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals(TM), Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE) is one of the largest and most respected commercial real estate services and investment companies in the world. Our 6,000 professionals in more than 130 company-owned and affiliate offices draw from a unique platform of real estate services, practice groups and investment products to deliver comprehensive, integrated solutions to real estate owners, tenants and investors. The firm's transaction, management, consulting and investment services are supported by highly regarded proprietary market research and extensive local expertise. Through its investment subsidiaries, the company is a leading sponsor of real estate investment programs that provide individuals and institutions the opportunity to invest in a broad range of real estate investment vehicles, including public non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), tenant-in-common (TIC) investments suitable for tax-deferred 1031 exchanges, mutual funds and other real estate investment funds. For more information, visit www.grubb-ellis.com.