® June 2015 The Managed Network of Owners Geoffrey H. Woodward (left), President, C-III Realty Services, and Jay B. Olshonsky, President, NAI Global OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS GO LOCAL IN...BOSTON & BAY AREA PLUS: CALIFORNIA’S WOMEN OF INFLUENCE ALternative Lenders’ NEW FOCUS Real Estate Forum Digital Edition: www.globest.com/realestateforum Cover Story The Managed Network of Owners NOW UNDER THE INSTITUTIONAL OWNERSHIP OF C-III CAPITAL, NAI GLOBAL COMBINES GREATER REACH WITH ITS MEMBERS’ ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT t began with a phone call. The caller identified himself as Jay B. Olshonsky, president of NAI Global, and set in motion a conversation that culminated months later in EVO Real Estate Group becoming NAI Global’s New York City member this past November. IIdentifying EVO as a likely candidate for the global network didn’t start with that phone call, of course. Outreach via telephone was just one step in an exacting procedure that has helped NAI Global become the world’s larg- est network of owner-operated commercial broker- By Paul Bubny age firms, with 166 members, 375-plus offices and more than 6,700 professionals. “It is not just about being the largest,” Olshonsky tells Real Estate Forum. “Striving for perfec- tion is an ongoing mission.” Now under the institutional ownership of C-III Capital Partners, NAI Global combines expanding global reach with its members’ deeply-ingrained Main Photo: Geoffrey H. Woodward (left), Jay B. Olshonsky Counter-clockwise from top: Mauro Keller Sarmiento, Bobbi Jean Formosa, William C. Hanson, Dana L. Moskowitz, Dean H. Geis, Andie Edmonds, Maribel Koella, Paul-Éric Poitras, Andrew V. Farbman, Elke Laughlin, Denise Kardonski, Jeremy S. Larkin, Andreas Krone, Kerry Saunders, David A. Petersen, Rachel Howitt, Steve K. Sombrero, Debra L. Graeve Main Photo: William Neumann + + + We’ve Got 375 6,700 380 Offices Local Commercial Million SF You Covered Worldwide Real Estate Managed Professionals Actively Managed to Perform for You Argentina Dan Robinson & Associates EVO Harcourts Italy Optimum Tosei Japan Vegas Venezuela For More Information : +1 212 405 2500 | [email protected] | naiglobal.com entrepreneurial spirit, which has been nur- “NAI has transformed tured since NAI Global’s founding in 1978 itself into a leading player as New America Network Inc. The basic in the commercial real model of a centrally managed network of independent owner-operators remains the estate services industry since same, but virtually everything else about our initial investment in the NAI has been significantly improved upon company in 2012, which is a in order to deliver greater value to members and their clients. Following NAI Global’s credit to Jay, his management 2012 acquisition by C-III Capital Partners, team and our 166 member the firm set forth on a course that moved firms worldwide.” the network from family ownership to a more substantial institutional platform. Olshonsky was appointed president and the Geoffrey H. Woodward C-III Realty Services firm’s headquarters were moved from Princeton, NJ to New York City. “NAI Global has transformed itself into a leading player in the commercial real estate services indus- “The acquisition by C-III unlocked tremendous opportunity for try since our initial investment in the company in 2012, which is a who we can be and who we can do business with,” William C. credit to Jay, his management team and our 166 member firms Hanson, a founding NAI Global Member and president of NAI worldwide,” says Geoffrey H. Woodward, president of C-III Realty James E. Hanson in Hackensack, NJ, tells Forum. “We’re capable Services. “We have 380 million square feet of property under man- of playing at a different level than we were before.” agement, making us one of the largest property managers in the Adds Paul-Éric Poitras, managing partner of Montreal-based NAI world, and conduct $18 billion of transactions annually.” Commercial, “We now have an owner that’s deeply involved in real Woodward adds that Olshonsky’s leadership and breadth of estate and understands the entire real estate landscape.” Founded by experience, including running CBRE’s Washington, DC opera- investment veteran Andrew Farkas, C-III is a fully diversified commer- tions during his 15 years with that firm, “have been paramount to cial real estate services and investment management company with our success. He is singularly focused on enhancing NAI Global’s portfolio companies that include C-III Capital Partners, C-III Realty capabilities and brand, and delivering best-in-class services to insti- Services, C-III Commercial Mortgage, C-III Investment Management, tutional clients and owners nationally and across the globe. He has C-III Asset Management, Real Capital Markets, US Residential Group, created a dynamic value proposition for our member firms and has the Planning & Zoning Resource Co. and Zodiac Title Services. placed the company on solid footing.” For David A. Petersen, CEO of NAI Hiffman, NAI Global’s Owners of member firms give kudos to both C-III Capital Chicago member since 1985, the C-III acquisition “brought a com- Partners and Olshonsky for helping them step up their own game. pletely new set of industry relationships.” Petersen had in fact worked for Farkas, who ran Insignia Financial Group prior to its 2003 merger with what is now CBRE, and says that C-III has given NAI Global members access to “a powerful national and international network that we and our clients are both “We say to our members, able to benefit from.” Rachel Howitt, president and CFO of ‘If you’re just going to be part NAI Capital, the network’s Los Angeles- of us to operate as a local area member, tells Forum that the entire company, that’s fine, but you’re operation has become “far more stream- lined and organized” under Olshonsky’s missing a whole component of leadership. She adds that it has “out- the firm that could be income- sourced several functions to best-in-class producing for you and the rest service providers that it manages carefully, improving the overall efficiency and effec- of the business.’” tiveness of the support NAI Global pro- vides to members. I’d say it has been taking Jay B. Olshonsky all the right steps to improve upon the NAI Global foundation of our network and elevate it into a leading, world-class organization.” Global Strength Built on Local Leadership 6,700+ NAI Global actively manages an industry-leading platform of local market knowledge and leadership, providing support and Professionals services that yield seamless integration and the consistent delivery of exceptional services to clients both locally and in all 375+ of our markets around the world. International Members include: Offices Around ASIA-PACIFIC EMEA EMEA (continued) the World Harcourts Australia/New Zealand Bahrain Serbia India Baltics (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania) Sweden Indonesia Denmark Switzerland Tosei Japan LATIN AMERICA Japan France/Lyon & THE CARIBBEAN Argentina Korea France/Paris Argentina Malaysia Georgia Bahamas Taiwan Germany Brazil CANADA Greece Chile Calgary, Alberta Ireland Costa Rica Italy Edmonton, Alberta Italy Jamaica Montréal, Québec Netherlands Mexico Ottawa, Ontario Norway Panama Vancouver, British Columbia Poland Peru Guelph, Ontario Romania Puerto Rico Venezuela Halifax, Nova Scotia Russia Venezuela +1 212 405 2500 | [email protected] | naiglobal.com International Domestic (North America) Mauro Keller Sarmiento Jay Olshonsky [email protected] [email protected] She adds that Olshonsky has proven “The culture of NAI Global himself “open and receptive to new ideas as far as marketing the company is con- hasn’t changed. We like one cerned. He genuinely accepts ideas from another and we like doing others, rather than being the type of indi- business together. We like vidual who says ’Yes, yes, yes,’ but really has no interest in listening to what you getting together. We like have to say.” trying to figure out how we Of NAI Global’s current ownership can collaborate to do more and leadership, Miami member Jeremy S. Larkin says, “They know real estate. They than any individual understand how we can support them company can do.” and also how we can support local com- munities.” Longtime president and now William C. Hanson co-chairman of NAI Miami, and recently NAI James E. Hanson named secretary of the NAI Global mem- bers’ leadership board, Larkin says Olshonsky is “a street broker. That’s his heritage. So when he talks to changed. We have always been a very tight-knit group, having so us, he has credibility because he understands what we’re going much in common as entrepreneurs but also as local market lead- through on a day-to-day basis and is better able to supports us.” ers. New members fit right in because they share the same attri- He adds that Olshonsky has begun pushing initiatives “to grow butes and see our combined, exceptional commitment to clients. our local business as well as the network business under the theory We like one another and we like doing business together. We like that a rising tide raises all boats. And that mentality has helped by getting together. We like trying to figure out how we can collabo- creating a level of consistency and fluidity through the system so that rate to do more than any one, individual company can do.” we’re able to present ourselves as a cohesive global network.” Howitt counts herself “very optimistic about where the business is While Larkin and other owner-operators point to the greater going, where the industry’s going, where NAI Global is going. efficiencies that have been brought about by the changes in cen- Whether you’re in a strong or a weak market, well-run, full-service, tral management, they also cite the commonality between NAI independent firms like we represent will thrive, because we’re quick Global in 2015 and the earlier years before the acquisition.