Jim Underhill Named Executive Chairman of TenantBase
Jim Underhill, former CEO of Cresa and Americas CEO of Cushman & Wakefield, joined TenantBase as Executive Chairman in 2021 to accelerate national growth. He remains in the role today.
In May 2021, TenantBase announced that Jim Underhill had joined the company in the newly created role of Executive Chairman — a hire that brought one of the most credentialed names in tenant representation into TenantBase's leadership. He remains in the role today.
- Role: Executive Chairman, TenantBase (since May 2021, current)
- Prior role: CEO of Cresa, the world's largest tenant-only commercial real estate firm
- Also: Americas CEO at Cushman & Wakefield; regional founder of The Staubach Company
- Focus at TenantBase: accelerating national and international growth strategy
The Announcement
The appointment followed a period of rapid growth for TenantBase — at the time, the company had expanded to 35 markets, 20 of which launched that same year, with more than 170,000 tenants having accessed the platform's on-demand service delivery model.1 Underhill's mandate was to collaborate with company leadership to accelerate strategic and scalable growth of the platform, both nationally and internationally.1
"How companies use technology to acquire commercial space is ripe for transformation, and TenantBase has clearly emerged as the leader, with a proven track record of closing transactions in markets all across the U.S.," Underhill said at the time. "I'm excited to be joining TenantBase's strong leadership team."1
His Background
Prior to joining TenantBase, Underhill spent five years as CEO of Cresa, the world's largest commercial real estate firm focused solely on advising tenants, where he led its growth into additional markets worldwide.2 His earlier commercial real estate roles include Americas CEO at Cushman & Wakefield and a regional founder of The Staubach Company, one of the original leaders in tenant-rep service innovation.1
Bennett Washabaugh, Co-Founder and CEO of TenantBase, framed the hire as a direct fit for the company's growth stage at the time: "Jim is an accomplished leader in the tenant rep industry and is highly respected for his ability to see the next great opportunity that will push commercial real estate transactions into the digital age. His experience and proven leadership style will help us in this period of rapid scale for our business."1
Why Tenant-First Representation Matters to Him
Underhill's own explanation for joining TenantBase gets at the core thesis behind tenant representation as a category: "TenantBase addresses the technology and client-focused solution gap in the market with a tenant-first, tech-enabled offering that provides the user experience expected by tenants today. Tenants paying rent are at the very top of the value chain in CRE — they drive the value of buildings, the land, the mortgages, and the leasing transaction marketplace. It's appropriate that there is a marketplace built for them, and that's what TenantBase has done."1
For the fuller company history — founding, funding, market expansion, and industry recognition — see Our Story: TenantBase's History, 2014-2021.
Backed by Leadership That's Done This Before
TenantBase's leadership brings decades of tenant-representation experience to a platform built specifically to make that expertise accessible to every business, not just the largest ones.
Find My Space — FreeFrequently Asked Questions
- TenantBase Press, May 2021. Jim Underhill Named Executive Chairman of TenantBase.
- Business Insider, May 2021. Jim Underhill Named Executive Chairman of TenantBase.
Looking for office, industrial, or retail space? TenantBase can connect you with a local tenant-rep broker.