COLUMBUS—Newmark Grubb Knight Frank has just strengthened its position in the Midwest by acquiring Continental Realty Ltd., the Columbus-based leasing and property management divisions of parent company Continental Real Estate Cos., for an undisclosed amount. NGKF officials say they will not acquire Continental's development business, but uniting with the other divisions will help drive growth opportunities for their existing operations in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus. And for the brokers at Continental, the deal also opens up a lot of opportunities.
“It gives us a national reach,” Jim Clark, former executive vice president of Continental, tells GlobeSt.com. “We can now show potential clients a map of our offices with dots in all of the major cities in the US,” as well as places overseas such as Hong Kong and Beijing. “It changes the game for us.”
Founded in 1975, Continental is one of the largest commercial brokerage operations in Central OH. The firm handles all aspects of commercial brokerage including office, industrial, retail, land and investment sales. Clark will lead the office as managing director. He joined Continental in 2014, where his focus has been on new office and industrial development projects. Prior to joining Continental, Clark worked at Duke Realty, where he was part of a development team that built more than five million square feet of office and 10 million square feet of industrial in central OH.
Continental had been affiliated with Cushman & Wakefield, but when that firm was combined with DTZ in 2015, they went looking for other possible partners. “We talked to a number of suitors,” Clark says, “but Newmark Grubb was easily the best.”
“The acquisition of Continental Realty Ltd. is a strategic and opportunistic investment in our growth strategy to acquire businesses that are entrepreneurial at the core in key markets, both gateway and secondary,” says Michael Sheinkop, president of brokerage services at NGKF. “The blending of Continental Realty Ltd. and NGKF will be an attraction to other local talent because it reflects the synergy of local dominance with a global platform.”
“We plan to actively recruit more brokers and add capacity to meet the volume of opportunity we've been experiencing since the beginning of the year,” adds Clark.
COLUMBUS—Newmark Grubb Knight Frank has just strengthened its position in the Midwest by acquiring Continental Realty Ltd., the Columbus-based leasing and property management divisions of parent company Continental Real Estate Cos., for an undisclosed amount. NGKF officials say they will not acquire Continental's development business, but uniting with the other divisions will help drive growth opportunities for their existing operations in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus. And for the brokers at Continental, the deal also opens up a lot of opportunities.
“It gives us a national reach,” Jim Clark, former executive vice president of Continental, tells GlobeSt.com. “We can now show potential clients a map of our offices with dots in all of the major cities in the US,” as well as places overseas such as Hong Kong and Beijing. “It changes the game for us.”
Founded in 1975, Continental is one of the largest commercial brokerage operations in Central OH. The firm handles all aspects of commercial brokerage including office, industrial, retail, land and investment sales. Clark will lead the office as managing director. He joined Continental in 2014, where his focus has been on new office and industrial development projects. Prior to joining Continental, Clark worked at Duke Realty, where he was part of a development team that built more than five million square feet of office and 10 million square feet of industrial in central OH.
Continental had been affiliated with Cushman & Wakefield, but when that firm was combined with DTZ in 2015, they went looking for other possible partners. “We talked to a number of suitors,” Clark says, “but Newmark Grubb was easily the best.”
“The acquisition of Continental Realty Ltd. is a strategic and opportunistic investment in our growth strategy to acquire businesses that are entrepreneurial at the core in key markets, both gateway and secondary,” says Michael Sheinkop, president of brokerage services at NGKF. “The blending of Continental Realty Ltd. and NGKF will be an attraction to other local talent because it reflects the synergy of local dominance with a global platform.”
“We plan to actively recruit more brokers and add capacity to meet the volume of opportunity we've been experiencing since the beginning of the year,” adds Clark.
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.
Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
