On Friday, Chris Rohrer and Pete Kostroski were working for Chicago-based JLL – Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. – one of the largest commercial real estate services firms on the planet.
But on Monday, the pair were working for their own new company, Minneapolis-based Rokos Advisors. The firm has a small office in the North Loop area of downtown Minneapolis.
“I really have nothing but the utmost respect for JLL,” said Rohrer. “For me and Pete Kostroski, it was just a time in our lives when we were ready to start a business of our own.” Both Rohrer and Kostroski were with JLL for 12 years; Rohrer has more than 20 years of experience in the industry.
Rohrer said that the new boutique firm aims to focus on providing service primarily to local business leaders and clients. Rokos Advisors will offer brokerage, tenant representation, and consulting services to its clients in the office and industrial market sectors. Rohrer said that Rokos is centered on “tenant-focused services.”
A long-standing industry adage holds that “all real estate is local.” In other words, even global firms rely on local experts in their various markets.
How big is JLL? For 2018, the publicly-traded company reported revenue of $16.3 billion. The company ranked 189th on the most recent Fortune 500 list. It’s a global firm: 43 percent of its real estate services revenue comes from outside of North America. At the end of 2018, JLL had approximately 90,000 employees across the globe.
Rokos Advisors is opening its doors with just three staffers: Rohrer, Kostroski, and Liz Rahn, also formerly with JLL, who serves as director of client operations.
Rohrer had a big role at JLL. Serving as its market leader, he grew the firm’s local office from five staffers in 2006 to more than 45 today.
In mid-October JLL announced that Brent Robertson, who has been with JLL since 2011, had been tapped as the new Minneapolis market lead.