"This expansion brings us much nearer to our goal of becoming a dominant force in the Massachusetts commercial real estate market," NKF CEO Barry Gosin explains in a release acknowledging the pact that will owners of Codman will join his New York City-based firm as principals. The remaining staff will also be rolled into the Boston office, which is run by managing principal James Thomson out of One Federal St. in the Financial District.
Calls to Thomson and Codman principal Stephen Prozinski were not returned by press deadline. Prozinski had previously denied to GlobeSt.com that any such deal was underway, calling rumors of such negotiations "weird," followed by more than a week of non-response to telephone inquiries. Prior to yesterday's announcement, NKF had refused to discuss the matter at all, but industry sources repeatedly insisted that the firms were merging, as GlobeSt.com subsequently reported.
In the release, Thomson indicated that the deal will bolster market coverage and NKF's ability to meet the growing needs of its clients. "We are hiring the best local talent; people who can provide intimate, individualized service and who already have exceptional local knowledge," Thomson says.
The union not only helps NKF beef up its brokerage team, it also brings investment sales specialist James Belli on board as a principal, while Prozinski is expected to help on the property management side. The 5.5 million sf of properties under management at Codman will increase NKF's footprint in that area to 7.5 million sf. Besides Belli and Prozinski, other Codman officials who will become principals are north suburban broker Christopher Curley; versatile professional David Campbell, whose 21-year career includes both management and brokerage expertise; and Drew Nelson, a specialist with technology related companies. Codman principal Thomas Powers is also coming on board.
The Codman Co. is among the pioneers of commercial real estate services in the country, with the firm's Boston roots dating back to the 1870s. As detailed in the previous GlobeSt.com article, many of the region's leading real estate professionals spent time at the company, but the firm's influence began to diminish as new national players such as NKF arrived on the scene and Codman leadership either retired or matriculated to other competitors. Prior to the NKF deal, the company had supposedly been offering itself as a merger target, with one source claiming another New York City firm, GVA Williams, had also entertained such an arrangement.
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