Real estate broker Herky Pollock got a text from a member of his team earlier this week.
“We’ve been fired,” Pollock said the message read.
“I was out of the office with my partner, whose wife was having a baby. I had no clue,” he added. “This caught me totally off guard. This is a sad day.”
Pollock and his team had been let go by CBRE, Inc., the company in which he was a co-founding partner of the Pittsburgh location 29 years ago. The parent company in Texas owns the Pittsburgh location, Pollock said.
A call to the Pittsburgh office was not returned. A media representative at the Dallas office offered an email address for a Pittsburgh contact. The email was not immediately returned.
Pollock said he and his five team members were not given any reason for the firing and he didn’t call to ask why.
He said they plan to stay together as a group but have not decided on an exact plan. He said this sometimes happens in his business, and clients can choose to stay with CBRE or go with Pollock. He said some have reached out to him and his phone has been constantly ringing.
Pollock and his team have been involved in real estate deals throughout Western Pennsylvania, from The Waterfront shopping center at the former Rock Bottom to the Streets of Cranberry Shopping Center. He has leased retail properties in The Galleria in Mt. Lebanon, Station Square on the South Side, spaces on Pittsburgh’s North Shore, the Blue Spruce Shoppes in Murrysville and Bakery Square.
He has worked with SomeraRoad, Burns & Scalo, Forest City, the City of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pirates and Steelers and the Sports & Exhibition Authority.
He also owns several restaurants, including Ritual House in Downtown Pittsburgh, Shorty’s Pins x Pints on the North Shore, Shorty’s Tap x Taco in The Waterfront in Homestead, and several Burgatory restaurants.
“We are weighing several options,” Pollock said. “I am not worried. The real estate business is in my blood. I have been in the brokerage business for a long time.
“This business is about relationships, and I am confident my team and I will stand the test of time. We have many loyal clients. We are resilient.”
