Santa Ana-based Grubb & Ellis Co. said on Monday that Thomas P. D’Arcy will join the commercial real estate brokerage and investor as its president and chief executive, effective next week.

D’Arcy, 49, currently is chairman of Inland Real Estate Corp., a $1.5 billion real estate investment trust where he has served as an independent director since 2005.

Prior to joining Grubb, he was also a principal in Bayside Realty Partners, a privately held investment and development company.

D’Arcy’s appointment concludes a lengthy search by Grubb to find a full-time CEO.

Gary Hunt, a former executive at Newport Beach’s Irvine Co., had been leading the company on an interim basis since July 2008, when former chief executive Scott Peters departed.

The hiring also comes less than a month after Grubb announced a major refinancing plan that could lead to $100 million being invested in the company.

D’Arcy is expected to take Hunt’s position on Grubb’s board. Among other experience, he previously served as chairman and chief executive of another real estate investment trust, Bradley Real Estate Inc., from 1989 to 2000.