Alan Joel, newly installed president of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors, has run his own firm for the past 14 years while Dan Granot, a former GVA Advantis executive, went independent three years ago. The principals have at least 20 years of commercial real estate experience each, primarily in office tenant representation.

"Our goal, hopefully, is to become the dominant real estate firm in Atlanta," Granot tells GlobeSt.com. He points out that recent mergers among larger commercial real estate brokerages have taken away the type of direct access and relationship-based service demanded by small and mid-sized clients.

Joel adds that even though the recession is not a primary factor in the merger, realizing economies of scale and being able to offer greater local office market knowledge is helpful for both the firm and its customers. "It exponentially increases the value to clients," he says. "It gives them two firms for the price of one."