Colliers Grabs Florida Industrial Power Broker Duo

TAMPA-Colliers International Tampa Bay, Central & Southwest Florida has wooed two heavy hitting industrial real estate brokers to its Tampa team. Bruce Vaughan and Jan Boltres are switching allegiances as the industrial market makes its recovery.

“Emerging opportunities are being created by the tumultuous climate that exists right now for investors, lenders and commercial real estate firms,” Boltres tells GlobeSt.com. “This current market climate has made these entities increasingly more focused on the service providers to those assets, thus creating opportunities for top level professionals to excel.”

Together, Vaughn and Boltres have brokered deals valued at more than $250 million for regional, national and international clients. Both men join Colliers as managing directors in the Industrial Services division. And both join the firm from Grubb & Ellis, where they served as senior vice presidents focusing on the central and west Florida markets. Grubb & Ellis could not be reached for comment.

“The addition of Jan and Bruce takes our industrial real estate capabilities to another level,” Lee Arnold, chairman of Colliers International Tampa Bay, Central & Southwest Florida, said in a statement. With his growing staff, Arnold is ready to go toe to toe with any other Florida industrial real estate team.

As Vaughn sees it, opportunities are abundant in all areas of industrial real estate. Long-term depressed market conditions have driven rental rates and values down, creating opportunities for tenants, users and investors alike. “We have also seen the resurgence on the capital market side of the equation,” he tells GlobeSt.com, “as the number of buyers and bidders chasing class A and B net-leased properties and packaged note sales has increased dramatically over the last year.”

Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis, Vaughan was vice president and director of Industrial Services for Jones Lang LaSalle, working with that company and its merger partner, the Staubach Co. Boltres previously held leadership roles with West Shell Commercial and Carter & Associates. Both are members of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and held leadership positions in Grubb’s Industrial practice group and Logistics group.

“We felt the tools and resources that Colliers International provides would allow us to service our clients at the highest level possible,” Vaughn says. “Combining their strong leadership and well-respected brokerage teams with their ‘doing what’s right’ culture, Colliers, we felt, was the right fit for us and our clients for the long-term.”