Colliers International
480 offices worldwide.
$2 billion in revenue.
1.12 billion square feet managed.
25 million square feet managed in Ohio.
Predicted employment for new Dayton office: 30-40 people in three to four years.
Sources: Colliers International
One of the world’s largest development firms has a new local office. And its leaders are no strangers to Dayton.
Shenan Murphy, chief executive and principal of Colliers International’s Cincinnati office, was born and raised in the Queen City and knows Southwestern Ohio well. Pete Nichols and Paul Miller — brokerage vice presidents at the new local office — are names familiar to the Dayton real estate community, both veterans of CBRE Inc. in Dayton.
Those in the new Colliers International office have hit the ground running, announcing in recent days two key transactions. Colliers helped bring parts of GE Aviation’s Unison Industries division to The Greene. And Nichols and Miller represented the landlord of the Needmore Road property to which Assurant Specialty Property will bring 200 employees, STAG Capital Partners of Boston.
Other recent deals: Colliers completed the sale of four single tenant retail center assets for a combined value of more than $11 million, a company spokeswoman said. Two of the centers were in Cincinnati, one in Beavercreek — a T.G.I. Friday’s sold for $1.475 million — and the fourth is in Cleveland.
Further announcements are ahead, the men said, and the company intends to represent Ohio thoroughly as the manufacturing, retail and eventually office commercial real estate segments grow stronger.
“We’re the strongest brokerage firm in the state of Ohio,” Nichols said.
Manufacturers were the first to leave or close in the recent recession, followed by retail and office users, Miller said. Now, in today’s slowly recovering economy — Ohio’s unemployment rate today is 7 percent, better than the national rate — manufacturing is returning and the expectation is that retail and office will follow.
“Who would have thought that manufacturing is leading the charge on that,” Miller said.
The new office is independently owned, but Colliers prides itself on global reach, with a presence in more than 163 countries, represented by more than 16,000 employees, Murphy said. Besides Cincinnati, the company has Cleveland and Columbus offices.
“We really want to have a presence in the entire state of Ohio,” Murphy said. “And we want to have a presence in every market.”
Dayton has a lot of businesses, many of them serving Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, that themselves have a global presence. Some may have internal real estate departments that won’t necessarily have the resources or local knowledge that Colliers has, the three men said. Nichols’ focus will be retail, although he expects to work some office transactions with Miller.
The Greene is an initial location. Murphy said the company should announce a permanent office in August or September.
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