Well-known commercial property broker Don Albright has left CB Richard Ellis after six years with the firm.

Yesterday was the last day at CB for Albright, whose official title was senior vice president. He was the firm’s top Nashville-area producer in 2007 and formed a formidable investment property team with fellow Senior VP Douglass Johnson and associate Morgan Hillenmeyer.

Albright said he stepped away from his role at CB after talks to restructure his role in that team – he was looking for flexibility to pursue some interests beyond real estate – produced no results.

“I can’t say enough about CB, its platform and the great group of people I worked with,” he said. “But it was time to step away and sort through my options.”

In recent years, Johnson and Albright have been involved in many of the region’s largest property deals, including the $80 million deal in late 2005 for One Nashville Place and the 2006 of the former Primus building in Cool Springs for $70 million. Separately, Albright helped Boyle Investment Co. buy the land for its Meridian mixed-use development in Cool Springs.

Albright was named broker of the year by the local chapter of industry group NAIOP in 2004. As a team, Johnson and Albright were honored with the top office sale by that organization each year from 2003 to 2006 as well as the 2005 industrial property deal of the year. Johnson also won both awards in 2002.

Albright intends to keep his hand in commercial real estate through Covenant Realty Advisors, the firm he ran before joining CB in 2002 and has since reincorporated. He said he won’t rule out affiliating with another brokerage team “if the right opportunity presents itself” – including with CB, where Managing Director Tom Frye has left the door open for a return.

"When he resigned, I told him that, in my mind, I think of it as a sabbatical," Frye said. "My fondest wish is for him to return. He's been running with that team for six years at a pretty rapid pace. Some guys can do that forever, others need to take a break. I respect his decision."

Johnson said Albright's move was “part of his plan and part of our plan.”

“He and I always said we were friends first before we were partners,” Johnson said. “He decided the time was right to move on to his next chapter.”