UPDATED Nov. 14, 10:40 a.m.: Colliers International South Florida just closed on the acquisition of Warren Weiser and Carol Greenberg Brooks’ CREC, boosting its retail division.
Coral Gables-based Continental Real Estate Companies was founded in 1989 and now has two additional offices in Jacksonville and Orlando with a portfolio of more than 12 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space.
Brooks and Ken Krasnow, Colliers’ executive managing director and market leader, declined to share terms of the acquisition.
Brooks said that over the years, CREC has been courted by national companies, but that the firm found itself “at a critical inflection point” amid continued consolidation at a national and global level. “This is the one that felt like a natural cultural fit,” she said. “Nothing changes; everything is enhanced. Nobody’s leaving, nobody’s retiring.”
Brooks and Weiser are now vice chairmen at Colliers.
Krasnow said acquiring CREC is “the rocket fuel to really expand our presence and footprint in the lifestyle and urban retail space.”
In addition to its sales and lease brokerage services, CREC offers property management and project management. The company’s listings include One Clearlake, 800 Brickell, 2121 Ponce de Leon, Downtown Dadeland, Kendall Place, and The Galleria at Beach Place.
With the acquisition, Colliers now has 48 retail-focused brokers controlling more than 155 retail tenant representation accounts throughout Florida; and more than 160 broker professionals across the state, according to the release.
CREC’s clients include Zurich Asset Management, Ivy Equities and Deutsche Bank/RREEF.
Brooks has pushed for gender equality in the industry, mentoring a number of her employees. In an interview earlier this year, she said more than half of her employees were women.
Colliers has offices in downtown Fort Lauderdale, on Brickell Avenue in Miami, and in Boca Raton. In 2016, it hired hired brokers Mika Mattingly and Gerard Yetming to lead a new urban core division.
In 2015, Colliers acquired Miami-based Pointe Group Advisors.