Fielding a new team at Grubb & Ellis. (Grubb and Ellis of Florida Inc.)(Real Estate Monthly)

It works to get back on track after a tumultuous year

TAMPA

It wasn't pretty.

A strong team, suddenly shaken by the loss of three star players and the abrupt departure of its coach, appeared on the verge of crisis.

That was the picture a little more than a year ago at the Tampa office of Grubb & Ellis of Florida.

Ever since, the commercial real estate brokerage firm, led by Bruce Dodge, has worked to rebuild itself. Dodge, a self-described sports nut, had been in the Denver office of the firm. He was promoted to senior vice president and district manager and moved to Tampa last May, following the resignation of Jeff Thaxter, long-time head of the office.

Arriving here, the Denver native faced a number of immediate challenges.

The office's top-dollar producer, Lou Plascencia, along with two other leading brokers, had recently left to form The Plascencia Group. Thaxter, having already experienced the difficult process of rebuilding a brokerage, decided to move on as well. The exodus unleashed a flurry of rumors that Grubb & …