Traci Jenks has been a commercial realtor with Trammel Crow since July 2003.
SPECIALITY
Office leasing.
FAMILIAR NAME?
She was with the Cornerstone Division of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce as a senior manager in business recruitment for two and a half years.
WHAT DID SHE DO THERE?
“We recruited companies to Jacksonville. If there were corporations looking to expand or relocate their business, we tried to get them to do that in Jacksonville, rather than other cities. I was actually part of the team that worked on getting Fidelity National Financial here. We also worked on the Citibank deal in order to keep them here. We worked with existing businesses that are here and other companies looking to relocate here.
DID SHE WORK WITH COMMERCIAL REALTORS TO DO THIS?
“Yes, I sure did. That was primarily my focus there because I was in charge of the commercial and industrial development task force. My experience before the Chamber was in real estate, so it was kind of a natural flow for me to be involved with the real estate side.”
PRIOR EXPERIENCE?
Jenks has also held the position of marketing associate with Lincoln Property Company and real estate asset manager and relocation specialist with Barnett Banks, Inc.
WHY COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE?
“I worked for Barnett Bank for six years and handled their real estate. NationsBank bought out the bank and my job was eliminated. I went to work for the outsource company who handled NationsBank’s real estate, which was Lincoln Property Company. We handled the sale of bank branches all over the state where there was a NationsBank and a Barnett Bank across from each other. I worked myself out of a job because we sold all of the available real estate. At that point in my career, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do. I thought about going into commercial real estate at that point, but I really didn’t have the contacts. Once I worked at the Chamber, I got a really great feel for the community, all the real estate that is available in the city and had a great relationship with all the commercial brokers in the city, Trammel Crow actually called me and recruited me. I wasn’t actually looking to leave the Chamber, but this is more of where I wanted my career to go.”
BIG CLIENTS?
Her team is the leasing agent for the Riverplace Tower on the Southbank. She also worked on the deal that leased 7,000 feet to First United Mortgage Corp in the Bank of America Tower.
FAVORITE THING ABOUT COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE?
“The flexibility and the negotiating.”
LEAST FAVORITE THING?
“The start-up time that it takes to start making money.”
WHAT HAS HELPED YOU MOST TO GET YOU WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
“My parents who gave me a strong background and who always told me I could do anything I put my mind to. That has been the biggest driver in my life. They always told me that if I wanted something to go for it.”
ADVICE TO NEW COMMERCIAL AGENTS
“Since we handle listings for landlords, we have to provide good customer service for the owners and let them know you are working on their project. Customer service is one of the main things to your owners and to other commercial brokers. I also think that it is really important to have your information ready to send out to people in an electronic format. I was working on a tenant representative deal where he was looking for some space and I would contact some brokers and ask the to e-mail me some information and they said they really didn’t do that. In this day and age you really need to do that.”
COLLEGE
Jenks has a bachelor’s degree in business with a major in real estate from the University of Georgia.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Jenks is a founding member and past board member of the Jacksonville chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW.) She is a member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, a Certified Commercial Investment Member Candidate (CCIM) and a trustee of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
HOMETOWN
Atlanta.
MOVED TO JACKSONVILLE?
Eleven years ago to work for Barnett Bank.
FAMILY
She has been married for seven and a half years to Mark Jenks, a residential Realtor with Re/Max Real Estate Specialists. They have two cats, Jake and Elwood, and a dog, Buck.
- by Michele Newbern Gillis