The nation's second-largest manager of apartments is undergoing a leadership change.

Stan Harrelson, president and CEO of Pinnacle, which manages 164,525 units and came in at No. 2 on MULTIFAMILY EXECUTIVE's 2008 Top 50 Managers list, has announced that he will be stepping down as president of the Seattle, Wash.-based company. Taking his place on Sept. 1 will be Rick Graf, who is currently president of Pinnacle's central region. In that role, Graf is responsible for a management portfolio of more than 60,000 multifamily units throughout the South Central and Midwestern regions of the United States.

Harrelson, who founded the company with John Goodman in 1980, will stay on as CEO and continue to grow the firm's presence in international markets such as South Korea and the Middle East.

"Stan has been traveling overseas so much; they do a lot of work overseas," says Doug Bibby, president of the National Multi Housing Council, an industry association based in Washington, D.C. "[He] has always been called upon to be an ambassador for the industry."

As Harrelson's work overseas and on new business development opportunities grew, he realized he needed someone to take the reins of the company's massive management operation.

Head Honcho: Rick Graf (shown) has been named president of Seattle, Wash.-based Pinnacle, the second-largest management company in the multifamily industry. He succeeds Stan Harrelson, who will remain with Pinnacle as CEO and focus on overseas initiatives. "As the company has gotten larger and larger, the recognition that we need to have the direct focus for our company and our clients requires more and more time and energy," Graf says. "He recognized that, with the other things that's he's working on, it's hard for him to do that."

Graf, who has been with Pinnacle for 12 years, built the Central region from 5,600 units in 1996 to more than 60,000 units today. He has been in the industry for more than 34 years -- experience he will leverage to continue Pinnacle's growth and improve its customer service operations.

"My main focus is to continue to develop one Pinnacle strategy for the different units of the company and to be more consistent in how we approach our business and deal with our customers," Graf says.