CALABASAS, CA—GlobeSt.com has exclusively learned that locally based Marcus & Millichap has expanded its Institutional Property Advisors division into the retail shopping center sector. IPA launched in 2010 to expand services for major investors in the multifamily sector.

IPA-Retail specializes in providing retail shopping center investment advisory, brokerage and capital markets services to institutional and major private investors through highly experienced brokerage teams across the country. “We are excited to build on IPA's success in the apartment marketplace by expanding our institutional platform into the retail market,” notes John J. Kerin, president and CEO of Marcus & Millichap.

Bill Rose, vice president and national director of Marcus & Millichap's retail division, will oversee IPA-Retail. “Bill's extensive retail experience and client relationships will be instrumental in meeting the needs and objectives of our major retail clients,” Kerin adds.

“IPA-Retail brings together our unique combination of helping clients source retail shopping center acquisition opportunities and form market and portfolio strategies by utilizing our industry-leading research and maximizing value through the sale of major retail assets.” Rose explains. “In addition to accessing institutional buyers, one of our key advantages is accessing private capital as a result of 43-year dominance in that market segment and collaborative platform driven by information sharing.”

Rose tells GlobeSt.com that "Consistently, we rank in the top five brokerage firms serving institutional shopping center investors and are well known for dominating the private client sector. Focused on clients' objectives, we organized a team of senior investment advisors who concentrate their efforts to best service the needs of institutional clients, whether that is acquisitions, dispositions, finance and/or research." He adds that "This collaborative team ensures clients are apprised of changing market trends and deal flow."

IPA-Retail focuses on major shopping centers and currently features a team of 15 seasoned advisors located throughout the nation including Joseph French, Craig Fuller, Jon Hendrickson, Drew Kristol, Alvin Mansour, Kirk Olson, Erin Patton, Lori Schneider, Sean Sharko, Steve Siegel, Mark Taylor, Jason Vitorino, Austin Weisenbeck, Scott Wiles, and Dean Zang.

“As a supplement to our private client focus, the launch of IPA-Retail is a key part of our overall growth plan into various specialty segments and helping our clients move capital and access a broader selection of investment opportunities,” explains Hessam Nadji, senior vice president and chief strategy officer, who oversees Marcus & Millichap's national specialty divisions.

Nadji tells GlobeSt.com that since IPA Apartments' inception, its apartment property sales, valued at $15 million and above, has nearly quadrupled. "This is a reflection of the positive market reception to the firm's ability to execute a national institutional platform and also access private capital given the firm's roots and dominance among private, high-net-worth investors, partnerships and private funds."

The company's IPA-Capital Markets division is also being leveraged as part of the overall services to help major investors with access to equity and debt financing as well as capital markets advisory services, Nadji adds. The IPA Capital Markets division is led by William E. Hughes, senior vice president of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp.

Marcus & Millichap is the leading broker of retail properties nationally by number of transaction and by expanding IPA into the retail segment it is expanding its services for larger shopping center owners and investors, explains Nadji. "Using its industry-leading research as a foundation, IPA-retail teams have already established relationships with larger regional and national retail investors," he tells GlobeSt.com.