By Allen Kenney

A flurry of December deals put NNN Apartment REIT under the control of commercial real estate and investment firm Grubb & Ellis Co. (NYSE: GBE).

In December, Grubb announced that it had merged with commercial real estate firm NNN Realty Advisors Inc., which previously sponsored the non-traded NNN Apartment REIT. The newly merged company is sticking with the Grubb name. The REIT’s name, however, was changed to Grubb & Ellis Apartment REIT Inc.

Company executives immediately started touting the performance potential created by the two groups joining forces.

“The result is a new Grubb & Ellis that is poised to pursue growth and to provide a broader range of services to a global client base,” freshly appointed Grubb & Ellis CEO Scott D. Peters wrote in a letter to investors. “This powerful platform diversifies and enhances the company’s revenue base and creates a new company that is greater than the sum of its parts.”

The apartment REIT will benefit from the management, transaction and market research capabilities of its new management company, according to Grubb & Ellis Apartment REIT President, CEO and Chairman Stanley J. Olander Jr.

On the same day as the merger announcement with Grubb, NNN Realty Advisors said that it had acquired a majority position in real estate securities investment firm Alesco Global Advisors LLC. Under the terms of the deal, Alesco will become a subsidiary of NNN and manage a series of global real estate investment vehicles, including open-end mutual funds and separate accounts.

In addition, NNN revealed that Jay P. Leupp, founder, managing principal and senior portfolio manager at Alesco, would serve as the CEO and president of Alesco under the new arrangement. Leupp was also named an executive vice president of NNN.

Leupp won Portfolio's 2007 Stock Challenge.