Rupert returns to Griffin Capital as President

LOS ANGELES – David Rupert, former chief operating officer of Griffin Capital Corp. from 2000 until 2008, has returned to the company as president to continue the growth of the Company’s publicly registered non-traded REIT, GC Net Lease REIT Inc. Rupert’s return comes as Griffin Capital founder and current president Kevin Shields assumes the titles of chairman and CEO.

Rupert, who has more than 30 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, first worked with Shields in 1986 when the two were real estate investment bankers at Salomon Bros. He most recently co-headed the Olympia Hotel Fund, which targets the acquisition of distressed hospitality assets and is sponsored by the Olympia Cos., a Portland, ME-headquartered hotel owner-operator.

Shields said that Rupert’s longstanding working relationships with key employees of Griffin Capital as well as commercial real estate industry leaders and members of the company’s expanding broker-dealer network will help Griffin expand its investment offerings and real estate portfolio. “Like me, and other members of our senior management team, David has an equity interest in our properties and our REIT,” Shields noted.

Griffin Capital is the sponsor of GC Net Lease, which has been active on the acquisitions front lately and owns a portfolio of five office and industrial distribution properties totaling approximately 1.8 million rentable square feet. Among the GC Net Lease acquisitions have been a 35,785-square-foot office building in Sylmar, CA; a 320,800-square-foot headquarters property in Emporia, KS and a 700,200-square-foot warehouse in Monee, IL.