'90s real estate team is back

Fallon Hines & O’Connor Inc., a Boston real estate player from the 1990s that was swallowed up by a national firm nine years ago, is going back in business.

Joe Fallon, Brian Hines, and Chuck O’Connor, who founded the company with others in 1988, were bought out by Texas-based Trammell Crow Co. in 1998. Late last year, Trammell Crow in Boston and elsewhere merged with the huge CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. — and yesterday most of the old Fallon Hines & O’Connor team broke off to reform.

Ten former Fallon Hines executives yesterday resigned from CB Richard Ellis. Eight of them — Fallon, Hines, O’Connor, and five others — will resume business as a full-service real estate and advisory business within the next week, Fallon confirmed yesterday.

Two others formerly with Fallon Hines & O’Connor and later Trammell Crow, Jim McCaffrey and Peter Joseph, are joining the real estate and investment services firm Eastdil Secured LLC, based in New York. A real estate executive briefed on the change, who asked not to be identified, said the new Fallon Hines would have a ‘‘strategic relationship’’ with Eastdil on investment matters.

‘‘We had the opportunity to join CB Richard Ellis and become part of their team,’’ Fallon, who is no relation to the developer Joseph F. Fallon, said yesterday. ‘‘My team felt it would be best to return to our entrepreneurial roots.’’

Rob Griffin, president of Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts Inc., who formerly worked at Fallon Hines, called the firm ‘‘the strongest company of the ’90s’’ and said, ‘‘They still have a lot of great brokers there.’’

Competition for real estate services is stiff in Boston. ‘‘The Boston market has never really been ‘owned’ by any one company, certainly in the last 15 to 20 years,’’ said David I. Begelfer, chief executive of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties’ Massachusetts chapter.

All eight executives forming the new company with the old name were principals in the original firm. They include Rick Fahey and Mike Brown, who were founding partners, and John Boyle, Peter Farnum, and Sean Teague. All will be partners in the new firm.

Andy Hoar of CB Richard Ellis in Boston said the CB Richard Ellis-Trammell Crow merger was a success but was "not predicated on retaining former Trammell Crow brokers.'' He called them talented and wished them well. (By Thomas C. Palmer, Globe staff)