CHARLOTTE, NC-CNL Crosland Commercial Real Estate has moved into its new digs and hired a retail heavy hitter to take its business to the next level. With the new office space, the company has room for its anticipated growth.

CNL Crosland moved into Charlotte Plaza, a 27-story class A office tower in downtown Charlotte. The company will share its new 8,200-square-foot office with Crosland Southeast, a recently formed development and construction management company. CNL Crosland’s office will open initially with 22 associates.

“The lease on our old space had expired,” Susan McGuire, principal of CNL Crosland, tells GlobeSt.com. “Charlotte Plaza is a great building in the hub of the city and we felt it offered a lot of advantages, both in terms of the convenience it offered our current and potential clients and in attracting the area’s top real estate talent.”

In June 2011, the retail division of Crosland joined forces with Orlando-based CNL to form CNL Crosland, which focuses on leasing and management of retail, commercial and multi-use properties in the Carolinas. The 38-year old CNL Financial Group is private firm in commercial real estate investment and development and has owned assets in all 50 states.

Joining CNL Crosland’s team is real estate veteran Tommy Trimble. He comes on board as a vice president to help strengthen the company’s brokerage efforts via providing leasing, tenant representation and land acquisition services.

Trimble co-founded Focus Property Advisors, a full-service commercial real estate firm specializing in land acquisition, retail development, retail leasing and tenant representation. Trimble also spent six years in retail leasing and brokerage at Lat Purser & Associates, where he handled the leasing on a portfolio of eight shopping centers totaling more than 800,000 square feet.

So what’s next for CNL Crosland? “Our focus will always be on providing our clients with the best service possible,” McGuire says. “But we are looking to expand our platform to provide new services, such as tenant representation and land brokerage. To do that, we are going to be recruiting a diverse team of real estate professionals across all disciplines, including office, industrial, retail and multi-family.”

McGuire is bullish on Charlotte’s retail market. She reports seeing a slight increase in activity as more retailers are talking about growth plans or strategic relocations. “The signs are all positive,” she says, “but I think retailers, and thus brokers, are trying to temper the optimism with a little caution as well.”