Jones Lang LaSalle stakes claim in Ann Arbor real-estate market

One of Chicago’s primary real-estate players, Jones Lang LaSalle, is staking its claim in the Ann Arbor market, recognizing it as one of the up-and-coming areas in not only Michigan but the entire Midwest.Excerpt:Though Bluestone Realty Advisors L.L.C. is losing two brokers and most of its real estate listings, the company’s owner says the firm will still be an Ann Arbor presence — just much smaller.First reported in Crain’s Detroit Business, Chicago-based commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle hired Bluestone co-founder Neal Warling and principal Newcombe Clark as Ann Arbor leasing specialists.But Bluestone’s other co-founder, Jeff Hauptman, says the move is far from a business break-up between himself and Warling. As president of Ann Arbor-based Oxford Cos., Hauptman has hired Warling and Clark — through Jones Lang LaSalle — to oversee the leasing for most of Oxford’s 1 million-square-foot property management portfolio.However, Hauptman will continue to operate the Bluestone firm, though only to market smaller properties and short-term vacancies that Jones Lang LaSalle might not handle. “Neal will be handling properties that might draw a national or regional tenant,” said Hauptman. “And then we’ll keep Bluestone to focus on local, smaller-scale properties. The Bluestone name is out there and has a positive reputation, so it will be a presence, just scaled-down.”Read the rest of the story here.