Ben Gilliam

Ben Gilliam serves as Managing Principal and National Market Leader for Coldwell Banker Commercial Realty, overseeing Acquisitions, Dispositions, and Global Corporate Services for its parent company, Anywhere Real Estate, Inc. (NYSE: HOUS). Based in San Francisco, he also leads an office leasing team. He began his commercial real estate career in 1985 with Grubb & Ellis in San Francisco.
Anywhere Real Estate, Inc. is the nation’s most integrated real estate services provider, with brands including Sotheby’s International Realty, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial, Corcoran, Cartus, TRG Title, and more than 40 affiliated companies across the U.S. Mr. Gilliam is recognized as one of the company’s leading dealmakers in Office and Global Corporate Services nationwide.
In 2013, he partnered with Waterfall Asset Management to become Managing Principal of Coldwell Banker Commercial, expanding the company with longtime partner Jon Treter into markets including Denver, New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Houston. Their firm was named “Best Commercial Real Estate Firm” by CoBiz Magazine in 2015.
Throughout his 30‑plus‑year career, Mr. Gilliam has delivered strategic real estate advisory services to local, regional, and global corporate clients—including Fortune 500 companies—resulting in many notable transactions nationwide. These include a 221,000 sq. ft. headquarters for Xpressdocs in Ft. Worth, a 35,000 sq. ft. regional headquarters for Sotheby’s in Houston, the sale and acquisition of McGraw‑Hill’s 241,218 sq. ft. headquarters and 55‑acre land site, the 121‑property assemblage for the Lowell Center redevelopment in Colorado Springs, and the sale of Trilegiant’s 132,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Cheyenne. He has also represented the U.S. Olympic Committee, Travelport (a Blackstone company), and several nonprofit organizations, securing properties for Project Angel Heart, the Denver Scholarship Foundation, and San Francisco’s first free‑standing LGBTQ museum in the Castro.
Mr. Gilliam currently serves as Chair of the Board for the GLBT Historical Society Museum and Archives and President of Team SF (Gay Games). He has been honored with the Presidential Circle of Distinction for 24 consecutive years (top 2%), received the Coldwell Banker Commercial Realty Circle of Distinction Bronze Award in 2025, and earned DMCAR “Heavy Hitters” recognition from 2002–2024. While at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (2006–2013), he was named one of the Denver Business Journal’s “Top 20 Power Brokers.”
He has completed more than $8.6 billion in commercial real estate acquisitions, sales, development, and leasing, negotiating nearly 2,800 transactions totaling more than $5 billion. As the former CEO/Managing Partner of a self‑funded firm that grew to include institutional investors and a board of directors, he brings deep insight into operational, financial, and strategic decision‑making.
Before returning to Coldwell Banker Commercial, he served as Managing Director at Newmark (2006–2013), leading a Global Corporate Services and Tenant Representation team. From 2001–2006, he led Coldwell Banker Commercial Denver to become one of the top 10 performing global offices, ultimately serving as President of the Denver operations with more than 150 employees. He co‑founded the company’s initial Global Services platform and served on the Global Advisory Board.
Mr. Gilliam holds a B.S. from the University of Colorado, where he served as Student Body President, and an MBA in Strategy from Regis University, graduating summa cum laude.