Franklin Street Invades Orlando

Kurt Keaton and Melissa Hazlewood will head Franklin Street’s Orlando office.

ORLANDO— Franklin Street just opened an office in Orlando. The commercial real estate company also made the first of several hires for its new venture. Franklin hired Melissa Hazlewood as vice president of property management for the Orlando office . Hazlewood comes to Franklin after spending 13 years at JLL , where she most recently served as a regional manager overseeing more than 7 million square feet of office and industrial space as well as several retail buildings. Her institutional clients include TIAA CREF , Equity Office , TA Realty , Starwood and USAA . “It became increasingly important for us to have a presence in Orlando,” Kurt Keaton , president of real estate and management services at Franklin Street and newly-minted regional director of the firm’s Orlando office, tells GlobeSt.com. “Our clients are our top priority so first and foremost this will allow us to better serve their needs.  In addition to that, we saw an incredible opportunity to both grow and add high value talent that fits our core values perfectly.  With Melissa on board, we now have the right person in place to do that.” Franklin plans to add all its existing service lines in Orlando. Keaton expects to make some announcements soon regarding new-hires and the addition of new clients in the region. “Kurt knows this market extremely well, working out of Orlando for more than seven years prior to joining our firm in January,” says Andrew Wright , CEO and managing partner who founded the firm nearly10 years ago. Keaton will be responsible for growing the Orlando team and rolling out the company’s full-spectrum of services, which include real estate investment sales, leasing, management, capital markets, insurance, and valuation. “Rounding out our geographical footprint to include Orlando has always been part of our strategic plan,” says Wright. “We wanted to wait for the right time, with the right people in place and now that time has come. These are very exciting times for our company.”