CHICAGO-Two local firms are combining to offer full service commercial real estate representation here and in Latin America. Nove International, run by Tony DiBiase and Jim Whittington, have partnered with Dean Kutrumanes and Vasi Kutrumanes with GNP Realty Partners to form US Urban Realty.
Nove has been in operation for two years, specializing and investing in Latin America real estate. DiBiase tells GlobeSt.com that his firm started in Santiago, Chile, where the firm is leasing and managing 15 buildings totaling 3.6 million square feet. “We both came from US Equities, where Jim ran the Capital Markets group,” DiBiase says. “He’s the money guy, and I’ve been doing the traveling to Latin America, and our goal is to expand our presence there.”
GNP is the local firm, in operation since 2006 and already leasing and managing 3.5 million square feet in the Midwest, providing more than seven million square feet of leased and managed properties, including offices and multifamily, for the new firm. DiBiase says the firm wants to expand in the Midwest as well, but the real estate markets south of the border have been a lot more active.
“Latin America has just been on fire, especially Chile, you see cranes everywhere,” he says. “They’re converting residential neighborhoods to offices throughout the city. The only country with any problems is Argentina with some political concerns. There’s more than 30 hotels under construction in Brazil, and you can’t build hotels quick enough in Columbia.”
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
