Kennedy Wilson is making a strategic move to bolster its office tenant services with the addition of Corporate Realty Association, a four-member boutique brokerage firm focusing on corporate office tenant services. Kennedy Wilson did not previously have a corporate tenant business, and this move will expand the firm's services while providing CRA with a national platform to better service its existing clients. The team—which includes David Eagan, Jeremy Dee, Alan Gecht and Gary Goodgame—will be based in Kennedy Wilson's Beverly Hills headquarters.

“For Kennedy Wilson, the addition of corporate services gives us the opportunity to launch a new line of business for our services group,” Ed Sachse, president of Kennedy Wilson's Property Services division, tells GlobeSt.com. “We have not had a corporate services group as part of our book of services here at Kennedy Wilson, and this diversifies our services into office, because we do have a strong focus on retail. We have a robust property management and client services platform now, and by adding Jeremy's contacts, we have the ability to service mid-cap companies on their real estate needs throughout the country. There is a natural synergy for us to work together. It is a very natural fit for us.”

Both groups see expansion as a primary motivation for the union. Dee, the head of CRA, is hoping to better service clients as well as growing its current client roster,” he explains to GlobeSt.com. “We enjoyed 29 years of success as a boutique firm, and I have been interested in leveraging our services on a national level, but hadn't found a company that would be a good fit. Kennedy Wilson is allowing us to leverage our services on a national platform, and gives us the depths and resources to flourish. We didn't come into an organization that already had this platform, and they are not only respecting what we have done but they are embracing it. They are giving us the freedom to go after new business and service our existing clients in a way that I have always wanted.”

In addition to expansion, Sachse says that integrating CRA into Kennedy Wilson's property management and lease administration services is a primary goal. “Jeremy has already made introductions to clients to link his contacts to Kennedy Wilson's lease administration and property management business,” he says. “That is a goal for us. We would love to merge those two, and bring in new clients that we work with together. That is a premium goal. Our second goal is to increase our revenue and increase our net operating income. We are confident in Jeremy's team, which has already closed transactions in the first couple of weeks.

The two firms merged in mid March, and the CRA team has already closed a handful of deals, including a lease for Mercury insurance in San Diego for 20,000 square feet; a 5,000-square-foot lease for AAA in Rancho Cucamonga; and a 33,000-square-foot lease for Venus Insurance in Fresno. “The future potential is endless,” adds Dee. If you look at the market, there is a void in the tenant service market, and we are going to tap into that. I am looking an illustrious future here.”

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Why Kennedy Wilson Is Growing its Office Tenant Services

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