6 Brokerages Merge to Boost National Alliance

Six commercial real estate brokerages that specialize in serving corporate tenants, including Brentwood-based Metrospace, have merged in an effort to improve the services and marketability of the nationwide Commercial Real Estate Service Alliance (Cresa).

The merged company, called Cresa Partners, is the latest product of rapid consolidation within the commercial real estate services arena. But it appears to be the first simultaneous merger among members of a national alliance of independent companies that serve a roster of corporate clients in several markets.

The four individual partners in what is now Metrospace /Cresa are shareholders in the new Cresa Partners, along with their counterparts from the Cresa alliance in Boston, Atlanta, Miami and a pair in the Silicon Valley area. Jerry Porter, co-founder of 17-year-old Metrospace and a founding principal of Cresa Partners, said as many as 15 other members of the independent 37-member Cresa network are expected to merge into Cresa Partners early next year.

The candidates include Cresa’s affiliates in Orange County and San Diego--Corporate Real Estate Advisors and the Irving Hughes Group, respectively.

The 5-year-old Cresa alliance is one of a handful of nationwide brokerage alliances primarily serving corporate clients within members’ market areas.

Among other major alliances with prominent local affiliates: Colliers International (Seeley Co.), Oncor International (Travers Realty), New America International (Capital Commercial) and GVA Worldwide (Beitler Commercial).

Porter said the 600-some professionals in Cresa should collectively generate more than $100 million in revenues this year. Porter’s partners in Metrospace, and now in Cresa Partners, are veteran brokers Matthew Miller, Roy Longman and John Stern.

Their clients include DreamWorks SKG and E! Entertainment Television.