KANSAS CITY, MO-Block Real Estate Services Group has taken over the management of more than 1,500 apartment units through the purchase of Overland Park, KS-based Bristol Properties. The price paid for Bristol, which manages properties in the Midwest and Southwest, was not disclosed.

Bill Larson, a 35-year veteran of the industry and former chairman of Bristol, was named president of the new Block Multifamily Group, which will stay based in Overland Park. Other Bristol employees will remain as Block employees, Ken Block, principal and chairman of the family-owned firm, tells GlobeSt.com.

Block has already been selling and buying apartments, as well as the sale and management of more than 22 million square feet of retail, office and industrial property. Ken Block says the time was right to get into running apartment communities. “We’ve been sort of looking how do we want to get into the business for the past two-to-three years,” he says. “We’ve had clients ask us why we’re not doing it, and when we sell or buy assets for clients, we have to direct them to other management firms. We were lucky to find Bristol, and they thought it wise to join with us to take their contacts to the next level.”

He says the acquisition is a baby step toward someday also developing apartment communities. “Our goal is to get into the development business, but we want to understand how they operate efficiently first,” Block says. In the meantime, he says the firm, through Larson, will try to add hundreds of units to management.

Instant Insights /

Block Takes Over Bristol to Add Management

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