Sperry Van Ness Launches Operations in Canada

TORONTO—Boston-based commercial brokerage firm Sperry Van Ness International has established operations in Canada by signing a master franchise agreement with independent brokerage firm Rock Advisors Inc.

The new firm will operate as Sperry Van Ness/Rock Advisors and according to Sperry Van Ness/Rock Advisors, Inc. CEO Derek Lobo, the firm will be looking to bring in additional franchisees to cover all major Canadian markets through master franchisee SVN Canada Inc. The president of SV Canada Inc. is Jim Dimanis, the former COO of Rock Advisors.

Lobo, who was the CEO of the former Rock Advisors Inc., says his firm has signed a master franchise agreement for all of Canada for all real estate asset classes. Rock Advisors was an independent brokerage firm with about 30 employees. The company maintains three offices in Toronto, Burlington and in Ottawa. Rock Advisors has more than 25 years of real estate consulting experience buying and selling multi-family rental apartments and student housing across Canada.

He tells Globest.com that Canada is likely “the most logical market for any U.S. brokerage firm to expand into. It's not like it's another country.” He noted that most of Canada is English-speaking, its business practices are the same, its entitlement rules are the same and most locations are a short airline flight away. He adds that Canada-based firms are the number one investor in U.S. commercial real estate, yet he charges that there is no existing brokerage network connecting investors to US brokerage firms. In the coming months, the new Sperry Van Ness/Rock Advisors will look to connect Canadian investors to the approximately 190 Sperry Van Ness offices.

“The competitive Canadian marketplace is an excellent opportunity for U.S. investors who are looking for a new territory that is also familiar,” Lobo says. “We are happy to partner with a leading American company to bring institutional level services to the Canadian mid-market, all the while building long-term enterprise value to potential franchisees. Together, we can benefit from each other's experience and energy, generating business that is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Lobo says that he was attracted to Sperry Van Ness because it caters to middle-market deals and brokers engaged in the $5-million to $10-million range. He noted that his Canadian-based firm's goal was to bring institutional-like services to the middle market. Lobo also liked Sperry Van Ness' platform and a philosophy of co-brokerage. He says that the concept of cooperation among brokerages that Sperry Van Ness embraces is not prevalent in the Canadian commercial real estate market.

“The timing couldn't be better,” says SVNIC president and CEO Kevin Maggiacomo of the deal to expand its operations north to Canada. “In the U.S., 65% of all assets sold are purchased by out of market investors. In Canada, foreign direct investment is rapidly increasing due to its political and economic stability. With U.S. and Canadian buyers crossing boundaries into new markets, and many new non-institutional buyers diversifying their portfolios and becoming first-time real estate investors, we wanted to quickly expand the SVN market share in North America.”

Last month, Sperry Van Ness International announced it had joined forces with Raleigh, NC-based Howard Perry and Walston Commercial and Hotel Group to launch SVN Hotels, a national hotel brokerage franchise to work with more than 25 advisors in more than 10 offices throughout the United States.

Sperry Van Ness International, headquartered in Boston, serves 500 markets. Sperry Van Ness Commercial Real Estate Advisors provide sales, leasing, and property management services to more than 6,000 clients worldwide.