CresaPartners is growing its Boston office to support the expanding national and international scope of the tenant representation firm.
The company has brought on Dave Nuss as vice president of information technology (IT) and Karen Galvin as vice president of marketing to its Boston offices.
Before joining CresaPartners, Nuss was director of North American IT services for Marlborough-based International Power. In the past, he was director of global technology projects and network services at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, where he developed and supported a portfolio of technology solutions and services for 850 properties in more than 100 countries.
Galvin has 20 years in commercial real estate under her belt, most recently as director of marketing and communications for Colliers U.S.A., where she implemented the organization’s first national marketing program. She previously worked as director of marketing for the former Spaulding & Slye.
The additions reflect the company’s across-the-board expansion. That growth includes partnering with UK-based Savills, a global real estate services firm, to refer clients to the many markets the British firm covers. For CresaPartners, one of the main focuses is on Asian markets, especially China, where more of CresaPartners’ clients are seeking to open offices, said William Goade, chief executive officer.
"We have more and more clients asking us to help them worldwide other than just North America," Goade told Banker & Tradesman. "Savills has extensive Asian coverage. Half of their commercial business is now in Asia. We’re seeing more referrals for first time ever to Asia more than to Europe. They wanted a U.S. partner by 2011, which was part of their business plan."
Based on the firm’s current workload, Goade thinks they could be making about 100 transactions per year through this relationship, and that by marketing it the number could "very easily grow by a factor of many, not just double."
Goade said brokerage fees will be typically paid to Savills unless a client prefers to pay CresaPartners, and most of the time the referrals will be from Cresa to Savills, and not the other way around. If it is a "large enough" transaction, Cresa could be compensated, but the referrals from Cresa to Savills are meant to be just an added benefit to their clients, Goade said.
"We’re willing to do it for clients because we’re making money in the U.S. [through that client]," he added. "If there were no revenue in North America, we’d need to figure out a different way to be paid."
