Grubb & Ellis Company.

Grubb & Ellis Company has announced that the Independent Order-of-Foresters (IOF), a leading fraternal benefit society with more than 1 million members, has selected the national commercial property firm to dispose of its entire U.S. real estate portfolio, consisting of 30 commercial and multi-family properties in eight states.

Grubb & Ellis will manage the transactions by using state-of-the-art web-based technology for communications with the client, within Grubb & Ellis, and potential buyers.

"After careful consideration, we have decided to sell our real state holdings in order to reallocate those assets into investments that are more closely aligned with our overall $6 billion portfolio," said Barbara Smith, vice president of Investment Administration for IOF. "Grubb & Ellis' ability to give local site-specific attention to each asset while providing a national perspective, combined with the strength of its core team, made the company our obvious choice."

The 2.3 million square-foot portfolio, valued in excess of $150 million, will be sold through a competitive bid process in four pools of product type: Multi-family, mini-storage, and office and retail. The properties are located in Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada, Oregon, New York and Texas. The real estate portion of the portfolio presents approximately two percent of IOF's total assets.

"The properties in the IOF portfolio are located in well-established submarkets that benefit from stable or growing economies," said Nick Forde, senior vice president and director of the firm's institutional services group. "In most cases, the properties have excellent visibility and access."

Grubb & Ellis established a national team of real estate professionals to assist in the portfolio disposition. The team is headed by Forde, and coordinated by Jon Busse, senior vice president, investment services group, and Brian Mulvancy, senior marketing consultant, industrial services group, both in San Diego.