CBRE Buys CB Richard Ellis Carmody to Expand Reach in Southeastern U.S.

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

John Ferguson, of CBRE

Expanding its reach in the Southeast, CBRE Group Inc., of Los Angeles, has acquired CB Richard Ellis Carmody, a Charleston, S.C.–based CRE services firm that has been a CBRE affiliate since 1997, CBRE announced Monday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Founded by Brian and Charles Carmody in 1992 and serving South Carolina’s coastal markets, Carmody today has 23 personnel handling leasing, investment sales, property management (of nearly 4 million square feet of commercial property), research and consulting.

“We have worked closely with Brian, Charles and their colleagues for many years,” John Ferguson, executive managing director for CBRE’s Southeast Region, said in the release, “and we see significant opportunities to expand our work together throughout the region.”

The Charleston area has seen healthy demand for office, logistics and flex space, driven by solid employment growth and the ongoing expansion of the Port of Charleston, according to CBRE.

The South Carolina Ports Authority is under way on a new 280-acre terminal that will eventually boost the Port of Charleston’s capacity by 50 percent. The terminal’s 171-acre first phase is anticipated to open in fiscal 2019 or as market demand requires, according to the state agency.

In June, the Port of Charleston ended its fiscal year up 9 percent over the prior year, having handled 1.56 million TEUs. In calendar 2012, the port was ranked eighth in the United States in terms of dollar value of goods handled ($63 billion).

In addition, the $50 million South Carolina Inland Port opened last month. The Norfolk Southern Railway is now shuttling intermodal freight traffic 212 miles between Charleston and Greer, S.C., which is along I-85 between Greenville and Spartanburg, near I-26.

The Carmody transaction was CBRE’s second purchase of a local company in the Southeast this year. In January, CBRE announced its acquisition of the CRE services businesses of Atlanta’s Resource Real Estate Partners L.L.C. and TPA Realty Services L.L.C. The acquisition added more than 13 million square feet of office and industrial assets to CBRE’s Atlanta property management portfolio.

The approximately 70 employees from the RREP/TPA businesses, including office and industrial leasing and sales brokers, property managers, building engineers, and support staff, were to be integrated into CBRE’s existing offices in the Atlanta region.

And on the other side of the continent, CBRE brokered the $81 million sale of a 221-unit luxury mixed-use (primarily townhome) development, Piazzo D’Oro, in Oceanside, Calif. The seller was an affiliate of The ConAm Group, and the buyer was TruAmerica Multifamily, of Los Angeles.