CBRE Adds IVI to Services Platform

LOS ANGELES—CBRE Group Inc. has expanded its valuation and advisory services platform with the acquisition of IVI International, a construction consulting and due diligence firm that has advised on more than 5,000 projects ranging from Hudson Yards in Manhattan to L.A. Live in Los Angeles. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed; a CBRE spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that the White Plains, NY-based firm will continue to operate as IVI International, a CBRE Company.

“IVI has a 40-plus-year record of providing insight and analysis that helps investors, lenders and occupiers manage risk,” says Thomas B. McDonnell, president, Americas valuation & advisory services at CBRE. “Adding IVI's accomplished team to our existing capabilities provides a highly sought after service that we can now offer our investor, developer and lender clients throughout the country.”

Led by CEO Carl de Stefanis and president Robert Barone, IVI has more than 200 employees in locations across the US, including Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle and Washington, DC; in disciplines ranging from architects to engineers and accountants. Through affiliates, it also operates offices across South America, Europe, and Asia.

Mark de Stefanis, director of business operations and cofounder of the company in 1973 with Carl de Stefanis, says the CBRE acquisition represents “a big win for both our clients and employees.  CBRE affords us a significantly broader platform, both geographically and across an array of services, to serve our clients, and our people will have enhanced career development opportunities as we integrate with CBRE's professionals across the country and around the world.” Barone adds that “We help our clients identify the 'unknown' in potential construction projects, and investments and CBRE's global platform will bolster that effort.”

IVI's services include construction risk management, property condition reports, Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessment, cost segregation, construction cost auditing and telecom site compliance services. Along with Hudson Yards and L.A. Live, other high-profile projects for which IVI has provided services include 15 Central Park West and the Time Warner Center in Manhattan, and no fewer than three Las Vegas mega-resorts: Wynn Las Vegas, the M Resort Spa Casino and the Cosmopolitan Resort Casino.

IVI's client list includes Arbor National Commercial Mortgage, Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, Capital One, New York Life, Starwood Capital Group and Wells Fargo. It has also consulted on projects for what is now its new ownership.

For its part, CBRE has looked to acquisitions over the past year to enhance its valuation and advisory service line, both domestically and globally. Since November 2013, it has acquired KLMK Group, Whitestone Research and PKF Consulting in the US; Norland Managed Services in the UK; and Valteq Gesellschaft mbH and Preuss Gesellschaft mbH in Germany. Last week, it announced the formation of Occupier Advisory and Transaction Services to enhance the delivery of transaction-related services for occupier clients across the Americas.