In profile: JLL's director - office leasing, Adam Barrett

Name: Adam Barrett

Position: Director - office leasing

Company: JLL

Office location: Brisbane

How long have you been in the industry?

17 years

What’s happening in the area you specialise in?

The Brisbane office leasing market is challenging at present with limited demand and record high vacancies. Though we have witnessed general activity and tenant interest in new accommodation increasing significantly in 2014 due to the attractive incentive levels now on offer from landlords. We see general sentiment in the office market improving over the next couple of years as business confidence grows and economy gets back on track.    

Describe the most interesting property you have sold?

I have only ever sold some Strata titles units for Honourable Con Sciacca which was very interesting in its self as my focus is on office leasing. The most interesting and most rewarding project that I have been involved in to date was pre-committing 145 Ann Street for Leighton Properties.

This was done at the height of the GFC when securing both the tenants and the funding package for a new office project was very difficult. We were successful in securing 19,000 square metres of pre-commitments to GHD, CUA and Grant Thornton, enabling the commencement of construction of the 27,000 square metre office tower.

What are the ingredients to being successful in your job?

Office leasing is a game of highs and lows and you need to be able to stay focused through both cycles. Hard work and persistence is needed at all times. Building and maintaining relationships is the key to successful agent. 

What aspects of your role do you enjoy the most?

I enjoy the day to day contact with a variety of different people and personalities. It really is people persons game and the job  continually throws up many different challenges which keeps it interesting. 

Where would you invest a spare $750,000

I've normally been a high risk high returns type of person but now I have two kids at school and costs are continually growing so I think I would invest more cautiously in blue chip stocks like the CBA or BHP seeing the year on year profits these companies are making.

Which football team do you support?

Queensland Reds and Brisbane Broncos

What’s your favourite app or techno gadget?

I love my iPad. I read the paper on this most days and search the weather forecasts for the weekend when I go boating etc. 

How do you use social media?

I'm not overly into social media from a personal perspective, however I do ensure the JLL twitter account always carries details of deals, commentaries and trends. How do I use social media? I don’t really. I haven't caught on to whole twitter thing but I do have a Facebook account now.