"The opening of our new Jackson office marks the first time anational commercial real estate brokerage firm has entered thestate of Mississippi," he says in a press release, adding the teamwill focus on an "investment community that has been overlooked inthe past."

The team, with its office at 617 Renaissance Way, will cater tolocal and out-of-state investors interested in Mississippi's growthareas along the Gulf Coast, DeSoto County, Downtown Jackson andMadison/Ridgeland. Brent Yurtkuran and Brad Barham, localmultifamily investment specialists previously with Jackson-basedReal Estate Solutions, were made senior associates to help lead thenew team. Harry Noble, a retail and single-tenant net-leaseinvestment specialist, is joining the office from Greenville,MS-based Noble Development Properties Inc. The office plans toexpand to a team of eight within the next six to 12 months,Yurtkuran says.

"In my experience, each year I see an increase of growth in bothproperties being developed and investors wanting to place equitywithin Mississippi," Yurtkuran tells GlobeSt.com. "The need for usto have a national firm to have out-of-state investors place theirequity here has been building up pre-Katrina. It was after Katrinawhen the need became very noticeable. That's when incentives wereput in place by the federal government, along with otherregulations allowing more growth within Mississippi."