Trammell Crow Alums Bring Boyle to Metro

– The Nashville Business Journal –

Former Trammell Crow managers Jeff Haynes and Philip Fawcett have joined Memphis-based real estate services firm Boyle Investment Co. to launch a new Nashville office.

Haynes was previously the managing director of Trammell Crow in Nashville and Fawcett was the manager of the retail division.

"The business that we are going to be in will be completely different than what Trammell Crow was in," says Haynes. "Phil and I left amicably, and we tried very hard to leave on the right note."

Boyle President Henry W. Morgan says his company has been looking at Nashville for the past five years as a possible place to expand its operation and apparently had his eye on Haynes during that time as well.

Haynes had worked in Memphis for Trammell Crow prior to his move with the company to Nashville and had competed with Boyle for office leasing clients. "They were a formidable competitor," says Haynes.

Haynes had been with Trammell Crow for 16 years and Fawcett had been with the company for 8 years.

Boyle picked Nashville over other cities in other states for many reasons. "Nashville is close to Memphis, has an intricate and developed interstate system, and is the seat of state government," says J. Bayard Boyle, Jr. Chairman of the company.

The state’s fiscal crisis also played a role in Boyle’s decision to stay close to home. Real estate investors "outside of Tennessee may not consider us right now because of our current uncertainty," says Haynes.

Haynes sees this uncertainty as an opportunity to expand the company’s presence by acquisition or development and to make a significant impact on the Nashville real estate market.

Morgan says the goal for Haynes and the Nashville office over the next five years is to expand by acquisition or development into 500,000 square feet of office space.

Despite the downturn in the economy across all economic sectors, Boyle was not dissuaded from continuing with the plans to start the Nashville office.

David Huddleston, managing director for investment services for Grubb and Ellis Centennial, says Boyle has wanted to get into the Nashville market for a long time.

"I’m excited they’re coming to town and look forward to doing business with them," says Huddleston. "Haynes and Fawcett are smart real estate guys and they’ll do well."

Boyle will expand its Nashville presence not only through acquisition and development but through normal third party channels as well. Haynes confirms the Nashville office will be competing for landlord and tenant clients and will provide the regular array of real estate services even as it searches for investment opportunities.

Boyle Investment Co. also has a historic Nashville connection. The company was founded in 1933 by direct descendants of John Overton an early settler of Nashville who founded Memphis in 1819 in partnership with Andrew Jackson.

The Bole family has remained in direct control and ownership of Boyle Investment Co. for seventy years.