Gary & Co. Sees Few Changes : Real estate: Some industry professionals predict that the death last week of the firm’s namesake co-founder will leave a large void.

Officials at James R. Gary & Co. Ltd. predicted no major changes at the real estate firm despite the death last week of its namesake president and co-founder, who built the company into one of the most successful residential brokerages in the San Fernando Valley.

“The company will continue exactly as it stands right now,” said Beverlee Ison, director of marketing at the Woodland Hills firm.

Judy Alpert, who founded the company with Gary in 1978 and most recently served as executive vice president, has been named chief executive.

A smaller, affiliated company, James R. Gary & Co. Ltd. East in Studio City, will continue to be run by its president, Temmy Walker, who co-owned that business with Gary since the pair founded it in 1986.

“The company was managed by others for a long time,” Walker said. “There’s no misstep here.”

And despite the protracted housing slump, Ison said James R. Gary & Co. Ltd. has had increased sales nearly every month this year compared to 1991.

“We have never been in a stronger financial position,” she said.

Gary, 51, died Sept. 21 after suffering a heart attack. He owned a majority stake in the Woodland Hills company and 50% of the Studio City office; those interests now pass to his widow, Linda Gary.

Alpert said she owns the second-biggest stake in James R. Gary & Co. Ltd.

Other real estate professionals said Gary’s death could leave a large void in his real estate network.

“This was a very special man who had a tremendous personal following,” said Los Angeles-based realtor Fred Sands. “It’s going to be difficult for anybody to just step in there.”

With 250 agents at the two Valley offices and a third office in Malibu, the James R. Gary network is small in comparison to local giants such as Fred Sands Realtors, the Jon Douglas Co. and Prudential California Realty, each of which have more than 1,500 agents in the Los Angeles area.

In the Valley alone, Fred Sands and Jon Douglas each have more than twice as many agents as Gary.

Nonetheless, Gary has long been considered one of the Valley’s most respected and successful brokers.

The Gary companies represent buyers and sellers of residential properties, from moderately priced condominiums to upscale single-family houses.

Ison said Gary had fielded several offers to buy all or part of the real estate business during the past 18 months. But no offers had been made in the few days after Gary’s death, she said. And Alpert and Walker said there are no plans to put either company on the block. “It’s not for sale,” Walker said.

Sands said that if the Gary companies were put up for sale, “there would be a lot of companies interested in buying” them, but he declined to say if he would be one of those interested parties.

Jon Douglas said the Gary brokerage “would be the kind of company we would be interested in.” But Douglas added that he didn’t expect a change in ownership.

Mike Glickman, executive director for Jon Douglas’ Valley operations, said the Gary companies would be attractive to a potential buyer because they are widely thought to be well-run and financially sound, and many of their agents have worked for Gary for several years--a rarity in the real estate business, where agents tend to change shops frequently.

“It’s a very professional, very classy group of people that Jim handpicked,” Glickman said. “I’m sure there would be a lot of people very interested in buying James R. Gary’s company.”

Glickman, whose own real estate company--once the Valley’s largest--was placed in bankruptcy liquidation two years ago, has said that he would like to own a company again one day. But he said he is happy with his position at Jon Douglas and wouldn’t have the money to mount an acquisition anyway.

In addition to the residential brokerages, Gary was also part owner of an affiliated commercial real estate brokerage firm, CIC Properties.