When it comes to choices, Baskin-Robbins has nothing on the commercial real estate brokerage industry.
“It has gotten very fine,” NAI Hunneman Commercial Co. Executive Vice President Peter J. Benke says of brokerage’s evolution into specialties, with clients able to select from a range of disciplines when seeking leasing, investment or building services advice. When he broke into the field 33 years ago, brokers were distinguished mainly by involvement in industrial or office properties, said Benke, and were given wide berth on the expertise provided, accommodating virtually every sort of tenant and offering assistance in both the sales and leasing arenas.
For Benke and other industry veterans who cut their teeth in that environment, the broad background continues to be an added value. “There are not a lot of things I haven’t seen before,” acknowledged Benke, who nonetheless concurred that the industry trend is towards targeted knowledge.
Greater Boston today features brokers who concentrate on retail, life sciences, financial services, telecommunications, apartments and even restaurant brokerage, while office and industrial brokers are also winnowing their scope. The focus could be technical, such as a broker concentrating on the legal community, or geographic. Most of the Bay State’s leading real estate services firms have tried to bolster their staff by hiring Downtown, Cambridge and suburban brokers, and increasingly have worked to beef up those teams by hiring professionals away from competitors.
The Codman Co., for example, recently brought over suburban expert David Campbell from Trammell Crow Co. Cushman & Wakefield has enticed such well-known professionals as Cathy Minnerly, Geoff Millerd and David Martel into their camp, while Meredith & Grew last year bolstered its investment sales group with the addition of Lisa Campoli. Boston-based Thompson Doyle Hennessey increased its exposure in the suburban market overnight when it merged with the Stevens Group of Lexington in 2002, bringing in new partners such as Mark and Debra Stevens and later adding veteran Downtown Boston broker Donald Hause from Spaulding & Slye.
Investment sales has become its own discipline over the years, with companies recognizing that the variety of product types being traded requires not only an understanding of specific facilities, but also a support staff which can crunch numbers and offer in-depth analysis on market trends and other factors that could impact pricing.
CB Richard Ellis/Whittier Partners has steadily expanded its investment sales group to feature experts such as retail brokers B. William Moylan and Christopher Angelone, who have contributed to several major retail sales of late, including the just-completed $5.75 million sale of the Bourne Shopping Center in Bourne. Simon Butler and Gary J. Lemire oversee a strong multi-family sales practice, while Elizabeth Carillo Thomas was added last year to offer insight on institutional financing.
Support staff is critical to a successful investment brokerage group in today’s environment, said Richards Barry Joyce & Partners President Robert B. Richards Jr. With that in mind, the firm has just hired a new research director in Brendan Carroll.
“I really think we have the best research person in the market today,” said Richards, noting Carroll’s previous role with Grubb & Ellis, for whom he conducted all research activities for the firm’s Boston office. From day one, RBJ&P has committed itself to data gathering and analysis, said Richards, maintaining that such attention helps its clients react to market changes and opportunities.
“We need to be able to interpret the data and project what it means for tenants and landlords as they make their daily decisions,” Richards said. “If you don’t have that data at your fingertips, you aren’t going to be able to service your clients adequately.”
Unlike old-line firms which have evolved after decades in the commercial real estate marketplace, RBJ&P was able to craft an entirely new-age operation when Richards and several colleagues launched the company in 2001. Along with its core founders, the firm immediately sought to garner new talent that would cover virtually every geographic region in Greater Boston, as well as every specific discipline.
Pay Scale
Another advantage at RBJ&P, according to Richards, is a compensation arrangement that encourages brokers and staff to share information and assist each other with client needs. The approach is counter to real estate brokerage’s commission-based past, but Richards said his firm believes it can provide greater value to the client by having a team mentality. “We’re not big on being historians,” said Richards, with the firm more intent on creating a new paradigm for the industry.
“We have assembled a lot of quality, energetic people who really enjoy working together and winning together as a team,” he said. “That’s one of the biggest advantages we have right now, and it has definitely helped us in pitching new business.”
For all the new emphasis on education, technology and special knowledge, Benke said certain aspects of brokerage remain the same when determining who will thrive and who will fail. “At the end of the day, you still have to make calls, you still have to talk to people, and you still have to know how to sell,” said Benke. Creativity, people skills and the entrepreneurial spirit continue to be major attributes, said Benke.
“The integrity of the person is also very important,” he stressed. “That has never changed.”
For some, the new world of brokerage might seem unnerving, but Benke said the key, as with all survivors, is the ability to adapt. When he began, facsimile machines were not even in vogue, and today that tool is virtually obsolete, Benke noted. Through its national network, NAI, Hunneman has been able to service such large clients as Gillette Corp. via an Internet network that provides valuable up-to-date information.
Benke also agreed that data remains critical to helping the client. While firms are no longer relied on to gather minute details such as which buildings have space available, they are more sought out to decipher the information after gathering it from a third source such as CoStar. “You’ve got to be able to analyze the data and provide good advice,” Benke said. “That’s where you add value.”
Even with the challenges facing brokers today and the need to remain constantly in tune with new twists, Benke said he remains interested in the industry. “It’s the kind of business you can do for as long as you want,” he said. “I know I still enjoy it.”
